There are foundational teachings which are vital to our eternal life. There are other teachings which are secondary or simply opinion, and must never be used as the grounds for eternal salvation or holiness. People too often confuse the two.

Please note here that I am not talking about heresies, which are teachings/beliefs which build walls against God. Here I am talking about teachings/beliefs which seem sound enough, but are interpretations and pet doctrine rather than Biblical.

It is not difficult to differentiate between teachings vital to our faith and holiness, and those which are for specific occasions or times, or merely cultural or personal opinion. Simply put, teachings that are about Church organization, human authority, religious rituals or cultural requirements cannot be used to shape righteousness (“doing the right thing for the right reason for the Right Person [God]”).

An obvious example is circumcision. Some early Christians felt that Christianity was a part of Judaism (correctly so) and then decided that all Jewish customs and norms had to be followed by all Christians (Galatians 5:2-6). We know that the Apostle Paul confronted this issue more than once, and was successfully able to have the Church declare this as unnecessary for salvation. This practice was not wrong; it just is not universally applicable.

Human beings are rebellious. Whatever God’s instructions may be, they pervert them, and have reams of justifications for it.

The thing that drives humans up the wall is the utter simplicity of God’s grace and our obedience in it.

Humans make the simple voice of God into doctrine. Whether it is the Five-fold ministry, speaking tongues, Church authority, we make doctrine and to embellish the word of God and argue about how it applies, instead of simple obedience.

Praying during worship in Tanzania

For instance, Colossians 4 describes the life of discipleship as two things: pray + witness. There is no division of ministry, no miraculous overlay and no hierarchy of ecclesiastical authority. Just two things define mission and ministry: pray and witness. No doctrine or systematic theology, no conferences to teach a perception of Jesus, just two things.

“2 Keep praying. Pay attention when you offer prayers of thanksgiving. 3 At the same time also pray for us. Pray that God will give us an opportunity to speak the word so that we may tell the mystery about Christ. It is because of this mystery that I am a prisoner. 4 Pray that I may make this mystery as clear as possible. This is what I have to do. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward those who are outside the Christian faith. Make the most of your opportunities. 6 Everything you say should be kind and well thought out so that you know how to answer everyone.” (God’s Word ©)

Why were humans driven from the Garden of Eden? Because they thought, “the tree had fruit that was good to eat, nice to look at, and desirable for making someone wise” (Genesis 3:6 God’s Word ©). The very face-to-face life with God was not enough; they wanted to be wise, and as a result turned into arrogant, egotistical brain fumblers.

The apostles had these instructions: “We told them that they should not eat food sacrificed to false gods, bloody meat, or the meat of strangled animals. They also should not commit sexual sins” (Acts 21:26 God’s Word ©). In other words, avoid cultural norms for compromised living, and keep sex for love-making!

Do you know how many thousands of words denominations have as regulations to be a proper church member? And have all these doctrines and all this polity made the present-day Church a more powerful witness in the world than in the first generation of the Church? No!

Remember this verse that almost all Christians memorize: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33 KJV). There is no instruction from God to follow, obey or serve doctrine and denominational peculiarities.

God first. Everything germinates from that.

In this blog I make a distinction between religion and spirituality. Religion is a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things” (Emil Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life). Biblical spirituality is the real and personal encounter with the real and living Jesus. Read more…

I reject the doctrine of the Trinity. But there is a good reason. Read more…

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