A Confessional Church: Confessing Our Doctrines

Ephesians 4:11–15 “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”

P.O.P.

A healthy church seeks doctrinal faithfulness for effective ministry, grounded faith, and unity with Christ as the goal.

Kids

God gives us the church to help us know the truth of God’s Word.

I. We confess truth for mutirity of the church.

Ephesians 4:11–13“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,”

The call for teaching

The church has a clear call for teaching truth. Many criticize the church for so much teaching and so little doing. While these things must be rightly balance, the NT clearly has a primary place for Christians to be taught and teaching.

We need to avoid the pitfall of pitting teaching and serving against one another. The answer is NEVER an either/or but ALWAYS a both!

Notice the equation though, teaching occurs in the local church SO THAT the saints are equipped for the work. We do not do effective gospel work without effective teaching in the church.

If Paul is correct, which we believe it to be the Word of God, teaching God’s Word to God’s people:

Equips us to actually do the work of ministry (No ministry without the teaching of God’s Word).

Builds up the body of Christ (No building up without knowing what brings us together).

For unity

For maturity

For fullness

Equpping for working

Clearly Scripture is calling for teaching to be a foundational piece of the church.

Teaching without service is information without application.

Service without teaching is a lot of doing with no real direction.

Gifted saints not using their gifts is disobedience.

“Whatever spiritual gifts we have, they are not our own to use as we please — they are only entrusted to us that we may employ them to help our fellow Christians.”

Charles Spurgeon

Teaching in the church may look different depnding on ministry and needs:

We MUST always have the preaching of God’s Word in corporate worship (This is non-negotiable).

We could have organized groups like that of Sunday School, Small Groups, or Discipleship Groups.

These would be groups that may contain teaching from a leader or group discussion with a facilitator.

We could have discipleship relationships where believers are meeting together under the instruction of the Word of God.

This could be a Titus 2 relationship where older men are discipling younger men and older women are discipling younger women.

This could be a smaller group of friends, or peers, seeking to sharpen one another in the faith.

This could look like meeting with an unbeliever for intentional sharing of the gospel.

We could have counseling, seasons of specific instructions corporately, or a number of other ways to equip, build up, and fill one another from the Word of God.

**Here is the language I think could be helpful for us to use:

We want to seek gospel relationships built around biblical formation that leads to worship.

II. We confess as those firm in the truth of God’s Word.

Ephesians 4:14 “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

Maturity in truth

The reason we need teaching in the church is because upon salvation an instant download of information does not happen. We cannot have an effective teaching ministry in the church with no knowledge.

The dangers in an enemic and shalow ministry:

No maturity for lasting ministry (No growth of advancing the gospel, no disciples being made, no impact on future generations, no death to life).

No doctrinal roots to protect from false teaching.

No knowledge to defend the truth of God’s Word.

No ability to discern wisdom from God and wisdom from man.

No ability to know the difference between shepherds and wolves.

No protection from manipulation, being taken advantage of, or lead astray.

When sympathy, empathy, human reasoning, or persussion are offered we must find ourselves rooted in truth!

Here is where I will appeal to you for the historic confessions of faith:

Many do not have the time to deeply study all the theological positions.

Many do not know where to begin studying.

Historic confessions offer us summaries of theological positions, referrencing Scripture, as an attempt for equipping, maturity, unity, and worship.

One might critique the use of confessions, or any other document, by stating they are manmade. However, the term Trinity is manmade, how long a church service should be is manmande, how long a sermon should be is manmade, how many days a week we should meet is manmade. The criteria is not whether it was developed by man or not, but whether what is developed is from the Word of God and faithful to give all the glory to God.

III. We confess truth while seeking unity in Christ.

Ephesians 4:15 “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,”

Division inevitable

Because doctrinal disagreement is inevitable, we must find healthy and God-honoring ways to deal with our conflicts.

1. We can embrace disagreements and reject divisiveness.

2. We must assess our motives before engaging in debate.

3. We must pray before, while, and after engaging in doctrinal debates.

4. Speak reasonably and charitably. Don’t be timid or patronizing.

5. Offer gentle and loving correction when necessary.

6. We must handle constructive criticism and correction well.

7. We should know when to take the conversation elsewhere.

8. Our theological conversations should be characterized by the fruit of the Spirit.

Theological Triage

Tier 1 - Essential Doctrines - Must believe to be orthodox Christian.

Trinity, Word of God, death and resurrection

Tier 2 - Urgent Doctrines - Distinguishes local church, denominations, and ministries.

Baptism, Lord’s Supper, gender roles in ministry, church government

Tier 3 - Important Doctrines - Important but not worth dividing over.

Eschatology,

Unity approaching

While disagreement may be inevitable now, (1) unity on essential gospel truths must be pursued and (2) one day there will be no more division.

The aim of studying Scripture, growing in our knowledge of God, and studying theology must always be aimed at worship.