Bible Talk > Sound doctrine

The doctrine of Christ

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Isaiah9Six:
Hebrews 5:12-6:3 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. 1. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2. Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3. And this will we do, if God permit.

It should be noted specifically that there are certain elementary, basic, and foundational truths in the Christian system that should be known and received by all. These things are called here "first principles"; and there is not the slightest hint in this place and elsewhere that these basic things are not important; but, on the other hand, they are projected as vital.

The audience he is writing to is comprised of Jews who (because of persecution) are tempted to fall away from the doctrine of Christ and once again embrace Judaism. His word of encouragement is to move on past the first principles and go on to perfection. What are those first principles and could they be used here to explain what sound doctrine is? I believe so. I want to discuss them individually since they appear in the sequential order that they should be obeyed beginning with repentance.

Repentance; a change of mind that results in a change of action. A biblical example is found in the gospel of Matthew. Jesus is talking to the chief priests and elders in 21:28-32  28. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. 30. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

The first son had a change of mind. He initially said "I will not go work in the vineyard" his mind changed, he repented and went. What is it that causes us to change our mind? The apostle Paul in writing to the church at Corinth tells us it's Godly sorrow 2 Cor. 7:10. People can have sorrow over an issue and still not repent. They may feel sorrow that they got caught but that type of sorrow doesn't bring about change.

Where do we get the knowledge to know what is godly and what is worldly? James tells us in James 3:13-17   13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Putting this short piece together we see that God's truth is revealed from heaven without partiality and without hypocrisy. The heart of man can be touched by this truth causing him to question in his mind the direction he is going in life. A honest and sincere heart will feel godly sorrow for their actions and acknowledge that the works they're engaged in are dead works that don't lead to life. When the mind changes and admits that what they're doing in life is wrong, they will repent and turn to God.

I'll continue this thread later. The question that begs to be answered is "now that repentance has taken place what's a person supposed to do?" The answer, have faith in God.....

Fat:
Repentance is never a completed journey, you must change from your old ways forever.

Isaiah9Six:
Faith toward God;

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1 (HCBS) Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.

I wanted to give a biblical understanding of faith, that is why I have quoted from these different translations. By looking at what these versions collectively say we can be sure our definition is correct. Substance, confidence, and reality all point to an actual realization of the hope of salvation in our minds. Even though the evidence, assurance and proof of what we believe we have not actually seen with our eyes. Note that one’s belief is evidenced by acts of obedience. Though we did not see God create the universe nor hear Him verbally reveal the scriptures we believe that he did and evidence that faith by our obedience to His will. Faith then is a mental decision that each individual makes regarding the hope of eternal salvation and that decision is evidenced by our acts of obedience.

Why does the writer of Hebrews make a point of saying "faith towards God" when his audience is primarily Jewish who already believed in Jehovah? We can only speculate since the writer doesn't specifically say. But there are other places in the bible where we see what Jews placed their confidence in. Philippians 3 for example; 2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 4. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. 5. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more:   Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

It's speculation, but since the Jews who were receiving this letter were falling back into Judaism, the confidence in the flesh, the Law and their heritage with Abraham would have been things they rather trusted in to avoid being persecuted for following Christ.

Another question that begs to be asked is what is it about God that we are supposed to have confidence in that will ensure our salvation? Sin is what separates us from God and is what stands in the way of having peace with our creator. According to the writer the removal of sin is accomplished by blood (Heb.9:22). The apostle Paul confirms that is true in Rom. 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

One last question to be answered is where does faith come from? Is it a gift from the Holy Spirit as I have heard some people say? Or is it something better felt than told, a subjective experience that's special for each believer?

The bible says faith comes by hearing God's word (Rom. 10:17) there are numerous examples in the book of Acts where an unbeliever heard the story of a young carpenter who claimed to be the Son of God that came to offer forgiveness of sins to the world. He did good his entire life by amazing people with signs and wonders, giving all praise and honor to his Father. The chief priests and religious leaders saw him as a heretic and accused him of blasphemy which is punishable by death. They arrested him, set him before the courts where he was found guilty, and he was sentenced to die by crucifixion but he rose from the dead. The band of followers that worshipped him preached a message that said the faith that Jesus had in his Father to raise him from the dead is available to anyone who believed in the power of his blood to forgive their sins and raise them from the dead also. They said that Jesus went to heaven to prepare a place for anyone who lived faithful unto death. Jesus also promised to give the Holy Spirit as a seal to identify and protect them until he returned.

So there we have it......the conclusion is that story has the power to move a person to examine what they have their faith in, the things of this world or the power of the blood of Jesus to forgive sin. If the heart is honest that story of the resurrection of Christ will produce faith in God to also raise them from the dead. The natural thing to do will be to repent and trust in God to forgive their sins.

To be continued soon talking about the doctrine of baptisms......

Isaiah9Six:
I agree Fat.....It's what the bible calls sanctification. We are constantly in a state of putting off the old man of sin and putting on the new man who conforms to the image of our loving Savior.

Isaiah9Six:
I have been talking about sound doctrine as found in the bible, using what the writer of the letter Hebrews used to encourage the believers of his time to continue in the faith. The Hebrew writer described for me what the first principles of the faith are in Heb. 6:1-3, and those principles make for sound doctrine in any generation. I have discussed repentance from dead works and faith towards God, the next principle is the doctrine of baptisms.

Baptism; 907 baptízō – properly, "submerge" (Souter); hence, baptize, to immerse (literally, "dip under"). 907 (baptízō) implies submersion ("immersion"), in contrast to 472 /antéxomai ("sprinkle").

Because baptism is such a controversial subject I thought it wise to consult the Greek to properly identify what the word means. To submerge, immerse, to dip under water is the proper meaning and the one that I will use when talking about baptism.

Note the writer of Hebrews makes baptism plural to indicate more than one baptism. Since there are many baptisms we should follow the rules of interpreting scripture which is to always consider the context. The context for a discussion about baptism must begin in the Old Testament since the audience to whom we're speaking to had the torah as their frame of reference and not a modern day understanding.

After the tabernacle was constructed in Exodus, God gave instructions for worship and daily living in Leviticus. Included in those instructions was washing to make one self ritually clean. Lev. 14:8-9; 15:13; 17:15-16. On the Day of Atonement specific instructions were given to the priest concerning washing as well Lev. 16:23-28. In all of these examples immersion was done for purification or to be ceremonially cleansed. As we move through the Old Testament getting closer to when the Messiah would come, we see the prophets using the people’s knowledge of ceremonial cleanliness before God as a way to symbolize the people needing to cleanse their hearts from sin. The external act of immersion symbolized the cleansing taking place as the worshipper was unclean but now was made clean in the sight of God.

In the first 15 verses of Isaiah 1, Isaiah condemns the people for their wickedness. The people were full of injustice, bloodshed, and iniquity. Isaiah then declared in verse 16, Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; In speaking in Messianic language about what would come with the Christ, Zechariah prophesied: In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zech. 13:1)

Zechariah prophesied to the people telling them they needed to look forward to the day of the Messiah when a washing away of sin and impurity would take place. This picture would make perfect sense to the people of Israel. The blood of bulls and goats was not taking away sins. The ceremonial washings were simply symbols of a greater reality that was to come (Hebrews 9:10). Israel was awaiting the Messiah who would bring the reality. That explains why in John 1:25 it seems the people of Israel were expecting immersion in water as a sign of the Messianic age. “So they asked him, ‘Why then do you baptize if you aren’t the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?'”. Immersion in water was not a shocking new teaching but was expected by the people. The Messianic age would require the people to ask God for cleansing through baptism.

This quick look into the Old Testament gives us a better feel for what the New Testament reveals about baptism. Notice how the writer of Hebrews draws strongly on the ritual washings of the Old Testament and applies it to the act of baptism under the covenant of Jesus. “Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that He has inaugurated for us, through the veil (that is, His flesh); and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water” (Heb. 10:19-22). This is exactly what was commanded under the old covenant to the high priest on behalf of the worshippers. But that was only a symbol of the future reality that the Messiah would bring to the world. The atoning work of Christ is tied to our need to have our hearts cleansed and our bodies washed in water, that is baptism.

The New Testament speaks of more than one baptism and for more than one reason. I'll follow this post with one about that soon.....

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