| What Is Christianity? |
| Is it a list of doctrines to believe in, or a relationship with a living Saviour? |
| by David A. DePra |
| The apostolic age, as it is called, began to come to a close |
| about 70 A.D., when Jerusalem was destroyed. It is probably |
| correct to say that it was totally gone by 100 A.D., or after the |
| death of the apostle John. With the original apostles all dead, and |
| the church generally scattered and persecuted, how could "the |
| faith once delivered to the saints" possibly be preserved? Would |
| not the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles eventually |
| become lost, watered down, or perhaps misrepresented all |
| together? |
| By the second to fourth centuries, many of these fears were |
| indeed realized. Christianity was under attack. This attack was |
| not, however, from a worldly government. It came from another |
| familiar source: The religious community. Christianity was being |
| bombared by heresy. Heresy had always been around. It was |
| the reason Paul wrote many of his epistles. But now it seemed to |
| be more formalized and organized. It was a real threat to the faith |
| of God's people. |
| When we think of heresy, we usually think of something bad. |
| And make no question, heresy, by itself, is bad. It is a lie about |
| God. Pure and simple. But have you ever seen the good use |
| God has for this bad heresy? The good use? Yes. Paul |
| speaks of it in his first letter to the Corinthians. He said, "For there |
| must be heresies among you, that those who are genuine may |
| be proved among you." (I Cor. 11:9) The lesson here is clear: |
| Heresy is never God's will. But He does allow it to come upon us. |
| He says there MUST be heresies among us. Why? Because |
| by facing heresy, we are motivated to seek the Truth. Often, it is |
| only by facing the attacks of error that I will ever seek out Truth on |
| the various matters of my Christian walk. |
| The church was faced with much heresy in it's infancy. This |
| made it necessary for God's people to find the answers. Thus, we |
| have the great councils of the early church, and the formulation of |
| the doctrinal statements and creeds which have been handed |
| down to us today. And all because of heresy. Unless God had let |
| it come, the questions may not have been faced. The answers |
| may have never been formalized into concrete teaching. |
| This happens on a personal level with each Christian, as well |
| as on a corporate level in the Body of Christ. When an individual |
| never faces tough questions; never has to seek out the Truth; |
| never has a need to overcome the attacks of error, he can remain |
| passive and undecisive. But if God allows him to enter a trial of |
| faith; one which demands that He seek out a greater knowledge of |
| God -- then the promise is there for us that God will reveal that Truth |
| to us. That is a wonderful thing. And all because God allowed the |
| heresy to come. |
| God is a mightly redemptive God! He takes even the errors and |
| sins of man and turns them into a tool which He can use to work in |
| us a greater freedom. |
| This was why God allowed heresy to attack the early church. |
| He knew it would motivate them to clearly state what they believed. |
| He knew it would result in the formulation of church doctrine. |
| Doctrine is the "on-paper" statement of what we believe about |
| God, and His Son, Jesus Christ. By doctrine we state our belief of |
| God's purposes and His plan. It is important that each Christian be |
| able to clearly state what he or she believes from the Word of |
| God. Doctrine is a good tool for doing that. |
| Once we understand that doctrine is important, however, we |
| need to also understand it's proper place. If we go back to the |
| early church, for example, we find this fact about the relationship |
| of doctrine to early believers: Christianity did NOT emerge from |
| doctrine. Indeed, doctrine emerged from Christianity. |
| Get that. It's vital to grasp it. Christianity did not start out as a |
| list of doctrines to believe in. Jesus did not hand the apostles |
| a piece of paper and say, "Here is a list of true things to believe |
| about Me." No. The faith of the apostles rested in a Person, |
| Jesus Christ. The doctrine which was later formalized, was |
| simply a matter of taking a living faith in a living Saviour, and |
| putting it down on paper in a formal way. |
| Many Christians today have made the mistake of putting their |
| faith in a list of beliefs about Jesus, instead of in Jesus Himself. |
| They have exalted teachings -- yes, true teachings -- ABOUT |
| Jesus, to the place where Jesus Himself should occupy. Thus, |
| we have many of God's people who know much about the Bible, |
| and much about Christian doctrine, but have somehow never |
| been personally set free by the Truth which they are able to |
| so easily quote. |
| One cultish group made this mistake. They always called |
| their list of doctrines "The Truth." If you believed the doctrines, |
| then you were "in the Truth." If you doubted, you were "out of the |
| Truth." They were blinded to the words of Jesus: "I AM the |
| Truth." They had much doctrine, but no personal relationship. |
| Christianity is NOT doctrine. It is a relationship. It is reality. |
| The doctrine is merely the expression, or product of that. This |
| does not minimize the importance of doctrine, or sound Biblical |
| teaching. Not at all. Indeed, doctrine should enhance and point |
| us towards the reality in Christ. But we must never make the |
| mistake of thinking that believing all the right doctrines is equal |
| to faith in Jesus Christ Himself. |
| So what should we do about the true doctrines of Christianity? |
| We should stand by them to the death. We should share them, |
| preach them, and teach them. We should be able to prove them |
| from God's Word. But above all else, we should allow them to |
| point us to the reality of which they speak: The Son of God. |
| Without that, our doctrine is merely a hollow shell. |
| Jesus said, "You search the scriptures thinking you will find |
| in them the secret of eternal life. But you will not come to Me." |
| An amazing statement. Afterall, the scriptures DO reveal how |
| we might receive eternal life. Yet unless you do what those same |
| scriptures tell us, place our personal faith in the living Christ, we |
| will not get far. The letter killeth, but the Spirit gives life. |
| This is a wonderful Truth, because it means that you don't |
| have to have a PhD in theology to place your faith in Christ. You |
| don't have to memorize every doctrine of the Bible before you |
| can be saved. It means you can come to God as a little child |
| and know that He will accept you in His Son, as you are, right |
| where you are. And then He'll change you by His grace. |