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Love or Doctrine?
by Doug Reed
A story is told of a conflict between two great leaders of
the reformation—Martin Luther and a fellow named Ulrich Zwingli. The two had
doctrinal differences which made unity among Protestants impossible. In an
effort to make peace, a man named Philip of Hesse brought the two together in a
conference hoping they could hammer out their differences. Luther and Zwingli
were able to agree on every single point of doctrine except one. They had
differing views on communion. Because of this one difference they refused to
shake hands with one another after the conference was over, and all hope for a
unified reformation was lost.
In our day
disunity because of doctrinal differences continues. Anyone who has frequented
internet forums knows how doctrine can cause hatred and downright disgraceful
behavior between brothers. Something is terribly wrong when we despise others
because we believe they do not know as much about God as we do. Rather than
showing how much we know God, such behavior proves that we do not know God, for
he who does not love does not know God.
(I John 4:7-12).
The
question is—can we seek purity of doctrine and still love our brother? That
is, can doctrine and love coexist? Some would say no. In fact, many are saying
that we are in the midst of a great paradigm change from the modern mindset to
the postmodern paradigm. The modern paradigm was based upon great faith in the
power of reason and humanity’s ability to find absolute truth. Postmodernism
is in some respects a reaction to the failures of the modern paradigm. The
postmodernist points to where belief in absolute truth has led us. And where is
that? Twenty thousand denominations, that’s where.
The postmodern solution to this problem is to throw out
absolutes altogether. The thought is that if we get rid of the idea that there
is absolute truth, there can be peace between brothers. This way of thinking
might bring a greater peace, but at what price? If we start down the path of
relativism, we eventually must lose the absolutes of the Lordship of Christ and
redemption itself. We cannot draw lines, because there are no lines in this
paradigm. Any and all beliefs must become acceptable—even those that deny
Christ. Therefore, the cost of eliminating the idea of absolute truth is not a
solution to the divisions among God’s people. The cost is just too high.
On the other hand, there are those who believe unity can
come through doctrine. I have heard some say that Preterism will become a
unifying force for the whole church. We just need to get everyone to agree, and
then we will be one. Through reason and sound arguments we will be able to get
everyone to see it our way. Such thoughts might stir the soul, but history
proves them unfounded. In fact, when we make doctrinal agreement the basis of
our fellowship, the result is not unity but division. We have five hundred years
of church history and thousands of denominations to prove this.
I agree with those who say that Christ Himself must be the
source of our unity. However, many of these then try to make what they think
about Christ the basis of unity, and the cycle continues. They cite belief in
certain creeds or traditions to determine what is acceptable, and therefore, who
is suitable for their circle of unity. Yet, as we all know, an increasing number
of believers are questioning some of the creeds. What about those
believers—are they no longer Christian?
If Christ
Himself is our only answer to the divisions among us, we must let Him—who He
is and what He has done—truly be the basis of our unity. To help us understand
how this is possible, let us take a brief look at first century
In Jesus’
day there were distinct ideas among many of the Jews about who was close to God
and who was far away. One place those distinctions were clearly seen was in
Herod’s temple. We have some pretty big church buildings in our day, yet none
of them would have compared to Herod’s temple. Herod’s temple was so big
that it took up 20% of
In all of its
beauty, Herod’s temple revealed something about the people’s relationship
with God. Moreover, it said something about the people’s relationship with
each other. If I would pick one word to describe that statement, it would be
“separation.” There was separation between God and man, man and man, and
even woman and man.
The temple
was divided into three courts. The outer court was called the court of the
Gentiles. In some respects this first court was for the tourists. People would
come from all over the world to see Herod’s glorious temple. In fact, it was
said in that day that if you had not seen Herod’s temple, you had not yet seen
a beautiful building.
A sign at the
entrance to the second court of the temple warned foreigners not to enter, under
the penalty of death. A person was refused access to the second court based on
who they were, and what they did. Those who were not descendents of Abraham, the
uncircumcised, or those who did not keep the Torah could not enter the second
court. If they tried to enter, they would be stoned to death. The Romans did not
allow the Jews to carry out capital punishment except for this one offence. If
you violated this realm, you would be put to death by man. This second, or
center, court was divided into three sub-courts. First, there was the court of
women. Like the name implies, Jewish women could go here as well as men and
children. Then there was the court of Israel, and only Jewish men could go in
here. Finally, there was the court of the priests. You had to be a priest to
enter here.
Beyond the
second court was the Holiest of Holies. The Gentiles had their court. The Jews
had their court. The Holiest of Holies was God’s court. Only He could dwell
here. It was surrounded by a veil so thick that a team of oxen could not tear it
apart. No one except the high priest could enter the Holiest of Holies, and he
only once a year at the Feast of Atonement. If a Gentile went into the court of
the Jews, man would kill him. If a person went into the Holiest of Holies
unlawfully, God would slay him.
The temple
was a picture of the relationship between God and man and also between man and
man before Christ came. There was separation in every place. There was
separation between God and man, Jew and Gentile, and even man and woman. Yet,
Jesus, by dying and rising from the grave, tore down all of these walls of
separation.
Therefore
remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by
what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time
you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near
by the blood of Christ.
For
He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle
wall of separation . . . . Now,
therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with
the saints and members of the household of God . . . . (Eph 2:11-14, 19 NKJV)
What middle
wall do you think Paul is talking about here? He was talking about the wall
between the court of the Gentiles and the court of the Jews. When the New
Covenant came, there was no longer any distinction between Jew and Gentile. God
had made them into one new people. You may have noticed in verse 19 Paul told
the Gentiles that they were no longer foreigners. Paul’s wording here is not
by accident. As you recall there was a great sign at the entrance to the court
of the Jews that said foreigners were not allowed. Now there were no longer any
foreigners with God. Moreover, it was God’s desire that the Jews no longer
count the Gentiles as foreigners or strangers but as equals before the Lord. It
was time to take down that sign.
For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are
all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians
3:26-28 NKJV)
What about
the distinctions in the middle court? Paul shows us that the distinctions of
this court also had been lost. There is no longer any distinction between male
and female. That does not mean there is no more gender. It just means that one
gender can no longer consider itself closer to God or more important than the
other. In Jesus’ day men were considered more righteous than women simply by
virtue of their gender. Jewish men were called the “Sons of Abraham” and
Jewish women, the “Daughters of Eve.” Men did not talk to women in
public—it was considered beneath them. Furthermore, education in theological
matters was for men only and never for women.
In our day we
don’t realize how radical Jesus was in these matters. He was the first to call
women the “Daughters of Abraham.” He not only talked with women in public,
but he allowed them to be His disciples. Jesus truly tore down the wall between
the court of women and court of Israel in His ministry, removing this
distinction in all finality at the cross.
But
you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness
into His marvelous light
. . . . (I Peter 2:9 NKJV)
The wall
between the court of the priesthood and the other courts is also removed in
Christ. Under the Old Covenant only those of the tribe of Levi were to serve as
priests. They would go to God on behalf of everyone else. Those not of this
lineage could not approach the Lord themselves; they had to go through the
temple priesthood. Now, under the New Covenant, we see a holy nation where all
are priests unto God. All may approach the throne of grace.
Seeing
then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High
Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV)
This passage
also contains a little temple talk. The throne of grace was the mercy seat in
the Holiest of Holies. Because our High Priest, the Lord Jesus, has come, we can
now come into the presence of God without fear. The veil between God and man has
been removed. Under the Old Covenant no one came into God’s presence boldly.
In fact, you could die if you went into God’s presence in the Holiest of
Holies unlawfully. Near to God was a fearful place. Now, under the New Covenant,
God’s presence is a place we come boldly. There we will not find judgment but
help and mercy in the time of need.
For
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him. (II Cor 5:21
NKJV)
God removed
all the walls. He removed the separation between God and man and also man and
man. This verse tells us how.
The various
courts and sub-courts of the temple showed levels of righteousness. The
righteousness of a Gentile—in other words, not much—was required to enter
the first court! The righteousness of a Jew was needed to enter the second
court. If you were a descendant of Abraham and you kept the Law, you could go in
there. If you had the righteousness of Jewish woman you could enter the court of
the women. If you had the righteousness of a Jewish man, you could enter the
court of Israel. An even greater righteousness was required to enter the court
of the priests. You had to be of an even more exacting lineage, the tribe of
Levi, and you had to keep more exacting laws and rituals. Do you know why no one
could enter the Holiest of Holies? Because no one had a righteousness as great
as God’s. All were stained by sin.
God, in
Christ Jesus, removed all the distinctions of the temple by becoming sin for all
and giving His own righteousness to all. While on the cross, Jesus became sin.
He became everybody’s having “fallen short.” He became the sin of both Jew
and Gentile. As He became sin, God rejected His own Son. He put Him outside the
house of God. We know this by Jesus’ own words while on the cross: “Father,
Father why have you forsaken Me?” His rejection ended our rejection, both Jew
and Gentile.
Then God gave
us the most glorious gift. He gave us His righteousness. When this great gift
was given, the veil between us and God fell. We would no longer be separated
from, but could now come boldly into, His presence.
We must
realize that when God gave His righteousness to all, the wall between God and
man fell. Yet, the walls between man and man fell also. If both Jew and Gentile
have the righteousness of God, can there be any distinction between the two? If
a man and a woman have the righteousness of Christ, can there be any distinction
between the two? If both the priesthood and the laity have the righteousness of
Christ, can there be any distinction between the two? No; all those walls had to
fall.
The entire
world as it was represented in the temple changed when Jesus died and rose from
the grave. They could never look at their relationship with God in the same way.
They could never look at their relationship with their neighbor in the same way.
Reconciliation between God and man had come; reconciliation between man and man
had also come.
“What does
this have to do with us today?” we might ask. We no longer fight over things
like bloodline and gender. We have “advanced” beyond these things. We have
created our own levels of righteousness today. We continue to put up walls
between who we see as “in” and who we see as “out.” One way we do this
is our understanding of the scriptures. Doctrine, in many ways, has become the
self-righteousness of our day.
Self-righteousness
is when we look at who we are, what we do, or even the doctrine we hold, as the
reason we have closeness and favor with God. We might be tempted to think
doctrine can never be self-righteousness. However, we only have to remember the
story of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli to see that it can. Doctrine kept
these men from seeing that they were brothers. It kept them from seeing that
what made them acceptable was not that they got it right, but the fact that
Jesus got it right through His finished works.
When I see
that who Jesus is and what He has done makes me acceptable to God, I must accept
my brother even if he disagrees with me. Believe it or not, a futurist and a
preterist are close to God because of Christ, not because of eschatological
beliefs. The futurist and preterist are brothers because of Jesus, not doctrine.
The fact that the veil remains torn gives testimony to the fact that we are one
with the Lord and with one another.
Isn’t this
how God relates to us all? He regularly meets with Christians of all traditions.
He does not seem to care who has the right doctrine about how we dress, the day
of the week we meet, or even who has the right eschatology. He does not look to
see who has it right; He looks instead at His Son. God has no other measure.
This is what matters most to Him. This is what should matter most to us, too.
Should we
then cease all debate over theological matters? No! These things are important,
so have at it. Debate and reason with your brother all you want. However,
realize that your doctrinal superiority does not make you closer to God than
your brother. There are no doctrinal courts in God’s house. Because of Christ
you can disagree with your brother and still love him as much as the one with
whom you agree. Yes, who Jesus is and what He has done is that big. And because
He is that big, both doctrine and love can live together. |
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