Doctrines of men vs. Doctrine of God
In today’s world where so many winds of doctrine and beliefs are blowing across the landscape of the church, it would behoove us as followers of Jesus to KNOW HIM and KNOW what HIS doctrines are. Paul warned the believers in his writing to the Ephesians:
Eph.4
1. [14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
It is so apparent in the days we live in, that many have followed the teachings of men, cunning in their efforts to pull on the “old” heart strings of man with enticing thoughts of wealth, abundance, and power. These doctrines are also crafty in painting a picture of the Christian life that just isn’t so! Any string of our heart that gets pulled should be the strings of our new heart, the one that seeks after God with the “whole heart”. Craftiness is exposed in the teachings that the Christian has been called to be wealthy, healthy and happy! So how do we watch out for the doctrines of men? Well, according to the scriptures, falsehood can be spotted quite easily, if you have spent time with the “REAL”. Lets take a look at two verses in scripture that teaches us a principle of the dividing of God’s word.
Paul warned Timothy: 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Put these two following verses together about the word of God, and lets see what we get:
Deuteronomy 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass.
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
Let’s put these verses together and know where good doctrine is found and where the doctrine of men comes in. Since we know that all scripture is profitable, from these two we can come to this spiritual conclusion about the doctrines of men vs. the doctrines of God.
• Doctrine- Doctrine shall be dropped as rain throughout the scriptures..(if someone tells you a new found “doctrine” and can only give you one verse to back it up…that is not Gods pattern. Doctrine will be dropped as rain throughout HIS book. Anything less is man’s attempt to change an unchangeable GOD, instead of letting the unchangeable GOD change the heart of man.
• Reproof – When our GOD chastens those he loves, his desire is it will be as the dew that settles on the ground to us. If we will hear his voice and allow his reproof as we read his word, his reproof will settle upon us as softly as the dew settles upon the grass!
• Correction- What a loving Father we have! He will correct us as we read his word as the small rain would land on the tender herb. He does not correct us to destroy us, but to better us! Let us open our heart and life to his gentle correction.
• Instruction in Righteousness – What a wonderful instructor we have in Christ Jesus! It does not matter where you open his word and begin to read, in all of it like SHOWERS he is instructing us to be righteous and to be like HIM!
The Doctrines of men will have a distinctly different effect upon men, than the Doctrines of Christ! The ways of men, the end thereof are the ways of death! It may look like life at first, with its appeal to the flesh, but its end results must be observed.
What an opportunity we all have to accept HIS doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction as we read HIS word!
Be Blessed, Serve God with Gladness, and read HIS WORD today!