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Those in the contemporary Church who look askance at sound doctrine – preferring instead some combination of mere experience and spiritual pep talk – are, to their credit I believe, after the very thing sound doctrine is able to produce. Doctrine gets shunted aside because people perceive it as merely intellectual and even a little snobbish. They want a much more practical and loving faith than they often see in those who insist that they have the right doctrine in every matter. What they want is a sincere faith, an unhypocritical approach to following Jesus that demonstrates love for God and neighbor with the kind of spontaneity that doesn’t have to be conjured or scripted. According to Paul, sound doctrine – combined with a pure heart and a good conscience – is the way to achieve such a laudable faith.
The word, “sincere,” in our text literally means, “without hypocrisy.” This is the life of faith to which every Christian should aspire. It encompasses a true and constant walk with Jesus, a relationship of prayer, meditation, worship, and obedience which proves love for Him at every level, and in every situation. A sincere faith also reaches out to others with a pure and disinterested desire to bless and serve. A sincere faith doesn’t condemn others; doesn’t consign them to irrelevance; and practices the kind of patience and forbearance that Jesus showed with His disciples at every turn. A sincere faith enjoys talking about the Lord, and always has something new and interesting to contribute to the conversation. A sincere faith gives generously of time, treasure, and talents to the work of making disciples, building the Church, and advancing the Kingdom of Christ. Those who have a sincere faith love the world, as God Himself does, and long earnestly for it to know the saving and restoring touch of the grace and truth of God.
Now this kind of faith – faith without hypocrisy – seems to be in short supply in the churches today. Do you suppose there might be a correlation between our scorn of doctrine and our inability to demonstrate sincere and unhypocritcal faith? Is it possible that the Church is failing in its lived witness because it has abandoned the very thing that is capable of engendering a sincere faith? I think it’s not only possible, but quite likely. The followers of Christ are not going to grow and mature into a sincere faith apart from daily and faithful feeding on the sound doctrine of Scripture. The sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we’ll be able to get back on course with our calling in this world.
The kind of instruction that leads to sincere faith begins with sound doctrine and engages a pure heart and a clean conscience as it works through the practical, lived implications of the teaching of God’s Word. If we swerve from such teaching, Paul warns (vv. 6-10), we will be vulnerable to smooth-talking know-nothings whose vain and vapid teaching produces more in the way of covenant disobedience than a sincere faith. Lives that do not glorify God in praise, worship, thanksgiving, obedience, and service to others are actually contrary to sound doctrine and contrary to our callings as the followers of Christ (Jn. 15:1-11). But then, what should we expect when sound doctrine, the food and fuel of a sincere faith, is ignored or scorned?
If you’re not being fed on sound doctrine in your church, you need to have a talk with your pastor. He is called to equip his church members for works of ministry, for a sincere faith that, as it touches the lives of others with the love of Jesus, builds the Church, advances the Kingdom, and glorifies God. This is only possible when pastors and teachers persevere, as Paul instructed Timothy, in providing the meat of sound doctrine to their hungry flocks.
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VP Sound Doctrine
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