Thread: Don't Give me Doctrine, I just Want to Follow Jesus......
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Don't Give me Doctrine, I just Want to Follow Jesus......
Posted : 10 Sep, 2011 12:55 PM
"Don't give me doctrine, I just want to follow Jesus"
When someone says, "Don't give me doctrine, I just want to follow Jesus", what they are really saying is "give me law, not gospel. Give me more imperatives and less indicatives. I just want something practical." But how is this any different than Mormons or theological liberals? Fact is, we need a Savior, not just a moral example.
You could not have believed the gospel of Jesus Christ without knowing its contents. You did not just follow a generic Jesus. To be saved you understood that you had no self righteousness of your own and you trusted in Christ's finished work... which included His living the life you should have lived and dying the death you deserved. This is doctrine. The idea of simply "following Jesus" is requiring more demands of the law because you are looking for Jesus to tell you something you can do. But you need the gospel, not merely law, to be saved or to grow in grace. Indeed following Jesus springs out of a renewed heart. As Christians we only follow Jesus when we know Who we are following and as such we need to preach the gospel to ourselves daily.
The Spirit first first brings an elect soul face to face with God�s holy Law, for �by the law is the knowledge of sin� (Rom. 3:20). It condemns and curses him because it demands perfect obedience in thought, word, and deed. Next, the Spirit brings before the soul the precious Gospel where the law's demands are perfectly met by Jesus Christ. The Spirit so works in his heart that He appears to him to be the most glorious object in the world; and so rests entirely upon His finished work.
No one is suggesting that we have right doctrine but do not follow Jesus, but the imperatives (Commands) always spring from indicatives (what Jesus has done). Look at Ephesians for example. The first 3 chapters are pure doctrine... - "this is what Jesus has done for you". Chapter four (4) then says THEREFORE, "live like this". But the opposite is not true Biblically... right doctrine does NOT flow out of right living.
To those who squirm at the word "doctrine" it simply means "teaching" - the Bible is full of teaching from start to finish. It does not matter if your church never used the word. Your eyes were opened an you believed because the Holy Spirit gave you understanding of the gospel and the teaching or doctrine in the Bible that Jesus is not just a moral example, but a Savior. You could not have been saved unless you FIRST understood the doctrine about these teachings about what Jesus did for you . You could not have been saved simply by saying "I am going to obey Jesus".... that is moralism --- and no one is saved by obeying the moral commands of Jesus. They will condemn you to Hell if you trust in them.
But anticipating your criticisms, let me also declare that a simple reciting of doctrine without a changed heart has no value. Having pride is how good your doctrine is would mean that they have not yet grasped the most basic doctrine that we are saved by grace ALONE. Such a tragic misapplication of the doctrine we have learned denies Christ because it is trusting in something else (how good ones doctrine is). but again, the opposite is most often true in this day and age ... that many people will say, "I don't want doctrine at all, I just want to follow Jesus." This is to want only instruction for practical living by giving them law.... and to shun the teaching of the gospel altogether. This is the root of all cults and heresy.
Most of the people who say "I don't want doctrine" are usually the same people would say in the same breath "just give me something practical from the Bible"- and what they mean by this is that they want instructions about WHAT TO DO... rather than hear about what God has done for them in Christ. The phrase 'Jesus follower' places the focus on my following and the moral imperatives of Jesus. "Theological Liberals" and Mormons are characterized by their sermons on moral instruction - not the priority of Jesus as God the Savior. While people in the above cults all say they want to follow the Bible, but look closely because they only want the LAW part of the bible because that is practical for me. They don't want to hear about the gospel part of it because it is doctrinal and, more importantly, it strips us of all hope in ourselves and places our hope in Another.
Don't Give me Doctrine, I just Want to Follow Jesus......
Posted : 10 Sep, 2011 04:40 PM
Satan does not Step Out from the shadows and show himself. He does not show us his true appearance. If he did we would run screaming away.
No�what the dark one does is �slip� a big fat Lie inside a Half-Truth. Anyone that does not Know what they believe in is Ripe for Digesting of Falsehoods. From these Lies come Division and Eventually Separation from The Truth.
The TRUTH is THE TRUTH! It Does Not Change! Christ was True back then�is True Today�and will be True Tomorrow. Doctrine (Truth) are The Walls of The Church. Doctrine is The Skeletal Frame to which God�s Word Fleshes out with Muscular Truths. Doctrine is the Immovable Riverbed upon which The Church Flows on�keeping Her moving Straight and True. Doctrine is The Means by which The Holy Spirit Guides us.
Doctrine is The Guard Dog of Scripture. We Need Doctrine�without it we are a Rabble�a Mob�Blind�without Direction�Smoke in the Wind!
Don't Give me Doctrine, I just Want to Follow Jesus......
Posted : 10 Sep, 2011 05:46 PM
JESUS COMMANDS, �LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!�
You can have great doctrine but without love you are nothing.
Jesus commanded his disciples many times to obey the OT command �To **LOVE** your neighbor as yourself� and on the day before his atonement Jesus added a NEW command �To **LOVE** one another as I have **LOVED** you� and this was just one day before he laid down His life for His friends.
John 13:34: Jesus says, �A **NEW** command I give you:rolleyes:: **LOVE** one another as I have **LOVED** you so you MUST **LOVE** one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples!!�
John 15:9-14: �As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Now remain in My **LOVE**. **IF** you obey My commands, you will remain in My **LOVE**,,, My command is this:**LOVE** each other **AS I HAVE LOVED YOU**!!. Greater **LOVE** has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends **IF** you do what I command!":angel:
Ephesians 3:16-19: �I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in **LOVE**, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the **LOVE** of Christ, and to know this **LOVE** that surpasses knowledge�that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God!!�
I Peter 1:22,23: "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth so that you have sincere **LOVE** for your brothers, **LOVE** one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again through the living and enduring Word of God.�
God's Word further explains what this new **LOVE** is like in I Corinthians 13:2,4-8: If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not **LOVE** I am nothing...**LOVE** is patient, **LOVE** is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. **LOVE** does not delight in evil but rejoices with the Truth. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. **LOVE** never fails!!"
John 14:23: Jesus says, �If anyone **LOVES** Me, he will obey My teaching, My Father will **LOVE** him, and We will make Our home with him.� He who does not **LOVE** Me will not obey My teaching.�
I John 2:3-5: �We know that we have come to know Him {Jesus} **IF** we obey His commands. The man who says, �I know Him,� but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the Truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God's **LOVE** is truly made complete in him!!�
Matthew 28:19.20� Jesus commands, �Go and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to *OBEY EVERYTHING* I have commanded you!� {See I John 2:3-5}
EVERYTHING would also include all the other commands in God's inspired Word from Acts to Revelation as per 2 Timothy 3:16: 4:2: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work...Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
Ephesians 4:15,16: �Speaking the Truth **IN LOVE**, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ! From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up ***IN LOVE***, as each part does its work!�
If we really **LOVE** our brothers and sisters in Christ we will lovingly teach them to obey all the approximately 400 commands of the NT with **LOVE** in the hope of countless eternal rewards when Jesus comes with great power with all His angels.
Revelation 22:112: Jesus says,"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done!?
Matthew 16:27: Jesus says, For the Son of Man is going to come in His **FATHER'S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS**{See Matt 24:30,31; 25:31-40 & 2 Thess 1:6-10}, and **THEN** He will reward each person according to what he has done."
Daniel 12:3: "Those who impart wisdom will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever!"
Jesus says in Rev 2:17; 3:4, 5, 21: �To him who overcomes...I will give a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.:rolleyes:....He will walk with Me for he is worthy... I will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels.... I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem.....I will write on him my New Name... and I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.� :applause:
Don't Give me Doctrine, I just Want to Follow Jesus......
Posted : 11 Sep, 2011 03:15 PM
GOD HAS PROMISED IN JEREMIAH 29:13: YOU WILL FIND ME WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH **ALL YOUR HEART**.�
John 14:23: Jesus says, �If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching, My Father will love him, and We will make Our home with him.�
Matthew 28:19,20: Jesus commands, �Go and make disciples:rolleyes: of all nations... teaching them to *OBEY EVERYTHING I have commanded you!�
I John 2:3-5: �We know that we have come to know Him **IF** we obey His commands. The man who says, �I know Him,� but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the Truth is not him. But if anyone **OBEYS HIS WORD**, God's **LOVE** is truly made complete in Him!!�
So let us read God's Word daily {Acts 17:11} and then *DO WHAT IT SAYS*! {James 1:22,25}
Acts 17:11: �The Bereans:rolleyes: were of noble character, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures *EVERY DAY*!�
James 1:22,25: �Do not merely listen to the Word. *DO WHAT IT SAYS*!... and he:rolleyes: who continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but *DOING IT*�will be blessed in what he does.
2 Peter 1:3-11: �His Divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith {a 100% Free Gift}; goodness, and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, LOVE. For if you possess these qualities in INCREASING MEASURE, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a **RICH WELCOME** into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!�
Matthew 16:27; Jesus says, �The Son of Man is going to come in **HIS FATHER'S GLORY WITH HIS ANGELS** {See Matt 24:30,31 & 2 Thess 1:6-10}, and *THEN* He will reward each person according to what he has done.� Revelation 22:12: Jesus says, �Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done!� {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels}
2 Corinthians 5:10: For we must all appear before the Judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, {When Jesus comes in His Father's glory with His angels} whether good or bad.�
Ephesians 2:8-10: "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is NOT from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So Salvation is the ***FREE GIFT*** of God's grace and good works can only be performed by the saved."
Salvation is a 100% Free Gift and REWARDS are 100 % earned.
Matthew 5:14,16: Jesus says, �You are the LIGHT:glow: of the world...Let your LIGHT shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
I Corinthians 3:6-9: Paul says, �The Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed. Apollos watered it, but God made it grow... The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers!�
Daniel 12:3: �Those who impart wisdom will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever!!�:angel:
So let our lights *SHINE*:glow: with the many gifts God has given us and we can have a REVIVAL with the hope of countless eternal rewards for faithful and loving service.
I Corinthians 1:7: For �You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be *REVEALED*!�:applause:
