I hold this opinion and will maintain it:
Truly right doctrine helps to yield a truly right life.
Again, if you truly understand doctrine and truly understand the word of God, you will have a life to match or that at least is heading that direction. The author is right in ascerting that a person CAN have the right theology but have a wrecked up life (i.e. pharisees...although even some of their doctrine was WAY off base...so even they do not meet this exact standard); however, that does not mean every theologian from the past were wicked, carnal men who only cared about being right about certain points but failed to even know the Lord. This article seems very dangerous because it condemns some nameless theologians (I assume the author actually could name some of them, but does not) and lumps them all up with those that were good and assumes that none of them loved and followed the Lord. It is a low tactic to prove a fainting point.
Yes! Fellowship with the Lord is necessary! Absolutely! 100%! But to suggest that maybe our doctrine is not important, so long as we have Jesus is a rather terrifying thought! How else are we to prevent from being swept away by every wind of doctrine? How do we prevent doctrines of demons from entering the church? At what point do we draw the line? The fact is, we don't. Scripture draws the line for us.
There are some things that are debatable. There are some things that absolutely are not. And there are some things that we need to work out through prayer and seeking the Lord. But if a doctrine is divisive, it does NOT mean that we should just forget it--that is not the mark of unimportant/false doctrines. The mark of false doctrines are that they lead to sin in the life of a believer. They ALWAYS will! Just look:
1 Timothy 6:3-5 states, “If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not agree with the sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the teaching that promotes godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing, but has a sick interest in disputes and arguments over words. From these come envy, quarreling, slander, evil suspicions, and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.”
Good doctrine promotes godliness.
and also 4:16 says, "Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers."
It is clear: The way we live our lives and our doctrine are knit together in such a fashion that they cannot be extracted one from another.
Am I saying that we should get into arguements and stuff over what verses mean? No. I am saying that we need to seek the Lord about things that are unclear, without pride, without prejudice, and without malice toward one another. If we discover that we disagree how about we drop pride and hit our knees and see what the Lord says! Let's dig into His word and find out what is truth! This is about us, not about me or you. Instead of "breaking" down doctrinal walls, why not pray and seek the Lord so we can relocate them to their proper place. THAT is much better than just saying, "So long as we both love Jesus, regardless of what we believe, everything will pan out."
Which doctrines are rooted in man-made terms, ideas and explanations??? It fails to say. Again, a very low tactic that works very well on those who are immature believers and on those who have grown weary from constant in-fighting.
Was Paul a theologian? YES! But he also had a life to match--both his theology and holiness were knit together and inseperable.
