Grace Evangelical Society

P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202
  • About
    • Home
    • Beliefs
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • Resources
    • Grace in Focus Blog
    • Grace in Focus International Blogs
    • Grace in Focus Radio
    • Grace in Focus Magazine
    • Free eBooks
    • Journal of the GES
    • Book Reviews
    • Partners in Grace Newsletter
    • Audio Messages
    • Videos
    • Email Subscription
    • Bookstore
    • Online Tracts
  • Store
    • Main Page
    • On Sale
    • Return Policy
    • Your Cart
    • Your Account
  • Events
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Free Grace Church and Bible Study Tracker
    • Free Grace Jobs
    • Ministry Links
  • Donate
    • One Time Donation
    • Monthly Donation
    • Your Account
  • Search
Home
→
Blog
→
Doctrine Matters

Doctrine Matters

August 21, 2019 by Bob Wilkin in Blog - 2 Tim 3:16, Acts 20:27, doctrine matters, fundamental doctrines, non-fundamental doctrines, What is doctrine

I received a call from a Free Grace friend. He asked, “What is doctrine?”

My immediate response was, “Doctrine is anything that is taught in the Bible.”

He went on to say that he distinguished between doctrines and tenets. He called doctrines the ten or so fundamentals: the deity of Christ, the virgin birth, His bodily resurrection, His substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, justification by faith alone, eternal security, and inerrancy.

He called all lesser truths “tenets.” 

He separates with others over the fundamentals, but not the tenets.

I strongly agree that some teachings in the Bible are fundamental and some are not. If someone denies one of the fundamentals, then he cannot teach a class in our church or even try to proselytize people in our church to his errant views. He can attend our Sunday school hour. (We would exclude him from the Lord’s Supper meeting.) But he can’t spread his message.

However, it seems more accurate to call everything the Bible teaches as doctrines.

The main words translated as doctrine in the NT are didaskalia (doctrine, teachings) and didachē (doctrine, teachings). What is taught in the local church is Bible doctrine. Well, it used to be that way. Today many churches do not teach Bible doctrine. Many teach doctrines from self-help books on parenting, managing your finances, marital health, and time management.

Even Biblical teachings which may seem insignificant can be important doctrines.

The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem is an important prophetic doctrine (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:5-6).

Judas betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver is another key prophetic doctrine (Zech 11:12-13; Matt 26:15; 27:3-8).

Here are some examples of important but not core doctrines:

  • The pre-trib rapture
  • Trichotomy vs. dichotomy
  • One nature vs. two natures
  • Cessationism vs non-cessationism
  • Tithing vs. giving as the Lord prospers you
  • Having a full meal with the Lord’s Supper vs. just having juice and crackers
  • Women wearing head coverings when they pray aloud vs. not doing so
  • Men only being elders in the local church vs. men and women being elders
  • Using the KJV vs. using any other version.

There are some doctrines which some consider fundamental and others consider to be lesser doctrines. Consider, for example:

  • Young earth creationism (YEC)
  • Eternal conscious torment for unbelievers (ECT)
  • Assurance being of the essence of saving faith
  • Repentance not being a condition of everlasting life (or repentance simply being a change of mind about Christ, another name for faith in Christ)
  • Faith being propositional vs. faith having a volitional component.

What is the bottom line? Doctrine matters. We cannot grow as Christians without feeding regularly on solid Bible doctrine (1 Pet 2:2-3). And we must not allow people who deny what our church considers to be the fundamental doctrines of the faith to teach any class in our churches. Free Grace churches should be places where sound doctrine is taught verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book (cf. Acts 20:27; 2 Tim 2:15-19; 3:16; Heb 5:12-14).

Subscribe by Email

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
Bob_W

by Bob Wilkin

Bob Wilkin (ThM, PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the Founder and Executive Director of Grace Evangelical Society and co-host of Grace in Focus Radio. He lives in Highland Village, TX with his wife, Sharon. His latest books are Faith Alone in One Hundred Verses and Turn and Live: The Power of Repentance.

If you wish to ask a question about a given blog, email us your question at ges@faithalone.org.

Cart

Recently Added

February 3, 2023

Romans–Part 05–The Solution

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Kathryn Wright and Ken Yates conclude this short series as they get to the good part of the...
February 3, 2023

Here’s Why Your February Partner’s Letter Will Be Late

We send a letter each month to those who financially support the ministry of GES. We call the newsletter Partners in Grace. We try to...
February 2, 2023

Romans–Part 04–The Problem

Welcome to Grace in Focus radio. Today, Ken Yates and Kathryn Wright continue this short series about Romans. Jumping to Chapter 3, they begin with...

Grace in Focus Radio

All Episodes

Listen to Stitcher

Listen on Spotify

Grace In Focus Magazine

Grace In Focus is sent to subscribers in the United States free of charge.

Subscribe for Free

The primary source of Grace Evangelical Society's funding is through charitable contributions. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad.

Donate

Bookstore Specials

  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Paperback) $6.95 $3.00
  • Here Walks My Enemy: The Story of Luis (Hardcover) $13.95 $5.00
  • Inerrancy for Dummies $7.95 $5.00
  • Grace in Eclipse: A Study in Eternal Rewards (Second Edition) $15.00 $8.00
  • Grudem Against Grace: A Defense of Free Grace Theology $15.00 $10.00
Grace Evangelical Society

(940) 270-8827 / ges@faithalone.org

4851 S I-35E Suite 203, Corinth, TX 76210
P.O. Box 1308, Denton, TX 76202

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube