Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

What do you believe that is distinctly Christian, and not merely American or Texan?

What Christian beliefs do you hold in common with those Christians who live in Afghanistan or China?

How about with those Christians who lived 100 years ago… or 1,000?

What Christian beliefs do you hold that your non-Christian friends, or neighbors, or family members do not?

I guess what I’m really asking is… What are those beliefs or doctrines or truths that every Christian must believe in order to be a Christian?

Back in the 1950s, C.S. Lewis wrote a book, called “Mere Christianity,” in which he set forth an intelligent apologetic for what he thought were the basic beliefs of the Christian faith.

He wasn’t interested in defining the beliefs that divide one church from another, but rather in defining those beliefs that divide Christian from non-Christian.

Lewis wanted to argue for those the beliefs that united Christians from all times, geography, and even denominations.

He wrote, “The reader should be warned that I offer no help to anyone who is hesitating between two Christian ‘denominations’.

You will not learn from me whether you ought to become an Anglican, a Methodist, [or] a Presbyterian...” (Lewis, VIII).

Now, unlike Lewis, I am very interested in helping you understand that you should be a Baptist, and not an Anglican or a Methodist or a Presbyterian… though I have nothing but love for my disordered [1] brothers and sisters in Christ.

If we believe the same gospel, then we are citizens of the same eternal kingdom… even if we must be joined to different local churches.

But this sort of talk implies, and even necessitates, an understanding of doctrine that places different levels of intensity on different sorts of biblical teaching.

I think it’s crucial for us to remember that all doctrine (all biblical truth) is important, but not every doctrine or truth is important to the same degree or with the same priority.

Lord willing, I will explain this more in point 2 of my sermon today.

Over the course of the next year, I plan to teach/preach through a summary of basic Christian belief, using the earliest-known, standardized Christian creed or confession - The Apostles’ Creed.

Al Mohler described this creed by saying, “The Apostles’ Creed collapses time and space, uniting all true believers in the one, holy, and apostolic faith.

This creed is a summary of what the Bible teaches, a narrative of God’s redemptive love, and a concise statement of basic Christianity.”

[2]

Today, I want to do a lot of front-work, which will set the table for the doctrinal feast we are going to enjoy (should the Lord give us the time and opportunity).

Before we dive into various doctrines or Christian beliefs, we need to make sure we’re all on the same page.

Some of us have never heard of a creed, and some of us have familiarly confessed the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicean Creed, and a few others during church services.

Some of us have an allergy for creeds, and some of us cherish the historic creeds of Christianity.

Some of us wouldn’t have a clue about which words go where in the Apostles’ Creed, and some of us will readily notice that the version we are using is not exactly the same as the most common version in use today.

Since there is such a wide spectrum of experiences and perspectives among us, my goal with today’s sermon is to invite us all to begin in the same place… with the understanding that the Bible is God’s revelation of true doctrines, with a love for the truth God has revealed, with humility and a desire to learn from those Christians who have gone before us, and with a resolve that we will aim to believe and to apply what God has revealed… May God help us.

Let’s read together from Deuteronomy 6, where Moses spoke to the people of Israel about the importance of receiving, of practicing, and of teaching biblical doctrine.

Scripture Reading

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (ESV)

1 Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules — that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Main Point

The Bible is God’s revelation of true doctrines, in opposition to false doctrines, which we are to believe and apply.

Message Outline

What is doctrine?

Aren’t all doctrines important?

How do creeds relate to the Bible?

What uses are there for creeds or confessions of faith?

Which Apostles’ Creed are we using?

Doesn’t doctrine divide?

Message

1) What is doctrine?

The word doctrine simply means belief or rule or teaching.

In Deuteronomy 6, it’s the “commandment” (mitswa), the “statutes” (hoq), and the “rules” (mishpat) that “the LORD your God commanded [Moses] to teach” (v1).

It’s not only the content of what the people of God were to believe, it’s also what they were to “do… in the land… which [they were] going over to possess...” (v1).

Further, it’s not only the teaching that was to govern God’s peoples’ beliefs and actions… it was also the content of what they were to “teach… diligently to [their] children” (v7).

They were to teach God’s doctrine “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (v7).

They were to teach doctrine so diligently that it would be as familiar as their hand, that it would identify them as much as their own face, and that it would be as comfortable as going home (v8-9).

And the aim or ultimate result of receiving and doing and teaching according to this doctrine or instruction was “that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son” (v2).

This is the pattern throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament and in the New.

In the New Testament, the Bible explicitly commands Christians to learn and to teach “good” or “sound” doctrine.

To Timothy, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me...” (1 Tim.

1:13), and, “Teach and urge these things [i.e., sound doctrine].

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ… he… understands nothing” (1 Tim.

6:2-4).

To Titus, another young pastor, Paul wrote, “teach what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).

And to the whole church in Colossae, Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ [i.e., the doctrine of Christ] dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom...” (Col.

3:16).

Doctrine, then, is the content of Christian belief.

It’s the stuff Christians believe, which necessarily impacts what they do.

It’s the substance of biblical truth.

But not all doctrines carry the same weight… Some are of the essence of Christianity, and others are not.

2) Aren’t all doctrines important?

Yes, all doctrines are important!

Every truth the Bible teaches is divine truth… it is the word and teaching and doctrine of God!

“All of Scripture” is the sum and substance of those words that have “come from the mouth of God” (Matt.

4:4; 2 Tim.

3:16-17).

No, not all doctrines are essential.

All doctrine is important because it is God’s truth articulated, but not all doctrine is equally important.

Some doctrines are essential to the Christian faith, some are essential to doing life together among a local church family, and some are not worth dividing over at all.

Theological Triage [3]

Theological Triage is a phrase coined by Dr. Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

The phrase joins two concepts: one, diagnosing a medical emergency, and the other, the field of theology.

Theological Triage is the art of categorizing theological questions or topics in such a way so as to give priority to some doctrines over others.

First-Level Doctrines

These doctrines divide Christians from non-Christians.

The Triunity of God (Is God one or three or both?)

The true divinity and true humanity of Christ (How do we understand Christ as the unique God-man?)

The substitutionary atonement of Christ upon the cross (How did Christ substitute Himself under God’s penalty for sinners?)

The exclusivity of Christ as Savior (Is there any way for someone to be saved apart from personal trust in Jesus Christ?)

These First-Level doctrines build a fence around Christianity… focusing on the essential content of the gospel.

These doctrines are those I am willing to die for (with God’s help).

To disbelieve or to believe contrary to biblical teaching on any of these points places a person or an organization outside of Christianity... even if he/she calls him/herself a “Christian” and even if the organization calls itself a “church.”

Second-Level Doctrines

These doctrines divide one local church from another.

The authority of Scripture (Is the Bible the final court of arbitration when we have a difference of opinion?)

believer's baptism (What does baptism mean and who should be baptized?)

church membership (What does membership mean and how is membership to be practiced?)

The Lord's Supper (What does the Lord’s Supper mean and who should participate?)

These Second-Level doctrines build a fence for us around each local church.

These doctrines don’t destroy my friendship with other Christians, but they do prevent us from joining the same church and cooperating in church planting and revitalization efforts together.

During our last members’ meeting, we made it clear that we were leaving the Harmony-Pittsburg Baptist Association over some differences on Second-Level Doctrines… and these are the doctrines that form our church unity.

Third-Level Doctrines

These doctrines often divide one Christian perspective from another (especially in the application) without necessarily dividing Christians or local churches.

Specific eschatology (When will Jesus return?

What is the millennium?

Who is the anti-Christ?)