One Doctrine vs. Many Doctrines
“If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words….”
—1 Timothy 6:3-4
1. Christ’s Teaching — Singular, Clear, Expels Sin
- Name: “The doctrine according to godliness.”
- Goal: Produce righteous, sober, godly lives “in this present world.” (Titus 2:11-12)
- Evidence: Wherever it is preached, people “walk in the light.” (1 John 1:7)
2. Doctrines of Men and Demons — Plural, Complicated, Excuses Sin
Doctrinal labels multiply—moral depravity, dual nature, TULIP, faith-alone (without works), penal substitution, prevenient grace, fractured -isms (Calvinism, Wesleyanism, dispensationalism, etc.)
They differ on details yet share one refrain: “You can’t really live a holy life, so relax.”
| Measure | Doctrine of Jesus | Doctrines of Men |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | One | Many |
| Source | “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Pet 1:21) | “Private interpretation.” (2 Pet 1:20) |
| Effect | Self-denial, daily cross (Luke 9:23) | Permission to sin |
| Fruit | “Peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated … the fruit of righteousness.” (Jas 3:17-18) | Envy, strife, hypocrisy (Jas 3:15-16) |
| End | Eternal life (Rom 2:7) | Perdition (1 Tim 6:9) |
Scripture’s Warnings
- Private interpretations spawn doctrines that “turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness.” (Jude 4)
- Savage wolves arise, “speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:30)
- With “great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh.” (2 Pet 2:18)
Yet God’s word still pierces:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword … a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
—Hebrews 4:12
And He still searches:
“I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
—Jeremiah 17:10
How to Stay Safe
- Test every teaching by the words of Christ. (John 7:17)
- Reject any message that makes obedience optional: “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
- Remember the seal: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” (2 Tim 2:19)
- Lay hold on eternal life and “avoid profane and vain babblings.” (1 Tim 6:12, 20)
Choose the narrow way. Doctrines of men lead to ruin; the doctrine of Christ leads to life.