Need of Sound Teaching and Encouragement in Churches

Acts 13 and 14 give us the story of the first missionary journey of Paul along with Barnabas through Cyprus and the region which is currently called Turkey. In a Jewish synagogue in Antioch Paul used the opportunity awarded to him to highlight Jesus and His mission. To the Jewish audience Paul presented Jesus as the fulfillment of the prophecies given by the Old Testament prophets and King David. Regardless of his audience the good news that Paul preached was always the story of Jesus Christ. He focused on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the remission of sins for those who believed in Him. Some believed and followed ; the majority opposed the preachers and persecuted them. As they moved from town to town the same pattern repeated. In Lystra, they were almost worshipped because of a miracle God performed through them, then due to the instigation of some outsiders, were stoned and abandoned as if they were dead.

Though God performed miracles through the apostles, they did not highlight the miracles attempting to prifit from them or to enhance their name. When they were about to be adored as gods, they forbade the worshipers since their focus was the person of Jesus Christ, His suffering, death and resurrection and salvation of the Jews and gentiles through faith in Him. This is the essence of Christian doctrine -- what the apostles preached, the early church emphasized and the present church should continue to teach.

In the last letter Apostle Paul wrote to the churches, he gave this instruction:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

What Is Sound Doctrine (Teaching)?

Acts 14 communicates the following important concepts about the ministry of Paul and Barnabas from which we can gather important lessons on sound teaching:

• The goal of their ministry was to birth faith in the heart of the hearers (Jews and gentiles alike) so that they would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from their sinful condition.

• In spite of heavy opposition, they stayed in Iconium and preached with boldness trusting in the Lord.

• They were not advertising their miracle working power, but God bore witness to their ministry by performing miracles as they preached the gospel. The last statement in the Gospel of Mark is that as Jesus' followers obeyed His commandment and preached, the risen Lord who had already ascended to Heaven, worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it. (See Mark 16:19-20). The author of the book of Hebrews wrote later, "This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (2:3-4). The present trend of emphasizing miracles over the preaching of the gospel of salvation and teaching the principles of discipleship is putting the cart before the horse.

•  When the opposition in Iconium grew to the point of physical violence they fled to Lystra. As a result they were able to come back to Iconium later and meet with those who believed and became disciples to confirm their minds and encourage them. It may not be always wise to be stubborn and resist physical violence. There are other places where people need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

• In Lystra an unusual thing happened. A lame man was healed. The witnesses of this miracle mistook the apostles to be two gods because they knew ony a god can perform such spectacular miracles. Even the priest of the local temple was ready to offer sacrifices to them. But Paul did not enjoy such adulation even for a second. Instead they confessed that they were mere men, not gods, showed their disapproval of their intentions and with great difficulty restrained them. Sound teaching does not draw attention to the teacher or preacher even if a miracle occurs in their ministry. Only God is worthy of sacrifices and adoration.

• Sound teaching could lead to heavy opposition. The same crowd that was ready to venerate the apostles turned against them soon, stoned them, dragged them out of their town and left them assuming they were dead - not willing to give even a decent funeral! A repetition of what happened in Jerusalem a few years earlier. The same streets which reverberated with adoring chants of Hosanna to Jesus echoed the angry shouts of 'Crucify Him.' Doesn't this happen in the mission fields today?

• As long as the Lord enabled them, they continued preaching the gospel.

• They returned to the towns where they were rejected earlier. There were a few believers in each town. The apostles formulated local assemblies there, encouraged them and appointed able elders to lead them in fellowship, prayer, fasting and growing in the Lord.

• Encouraging the believers goes hand in hand with sound teaching. That is why Paul and Silas retraced their path in their return journey.

In Acts of the Apostles 2:37-47 we read that, after the advent of the Holy Spirit with powerful manifestations on the day of Pentecost, Peter preached a great sermon exalting Jesus Christ. In reponse to the crowd's question, "What shall we do?" Apostle Peter asked them to do three things, viz., repent, be baptized, and save themselves (separate) from this corrupt generation. He included thpromise of the gift of the Holy Spirit and implied that this gift is available to those who desire and seek for it. In addition, in this passage Luke enumerates certain practices of the early church such as devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, working of miracles and signs, and holding their material property in common. Many Pentecostal churches use this passage as the statement of their basic doctrine.

Most of the traditional churches recite regularly in their services the Nicene Creed or the Apostolic Creed as a statement of their doctrine. They talk of faith in the Almighty Creator God, in Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God, His virgin birth, death, resurrection, ascension, second coming, the Holy Spirit, the Church, forgiveness of sins, resurrection of the believers and everlasting life in the world to come. We need to hold on to these models of confession of our faith.

The formation of the Creeds became necessary because from the very early days false teachers and teachings crept into the local churches. The writers of the epistles in the New Testament had to deal with this problem. A formal discussion of the history of heresies or of the various present day heresies is outside the scope of this article. But the church should be aware of and vigilant about this ever present problem.

It is relatively easier to identify and be watchful about heretical groups that are clearly unscriptural or antiscriptural. Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Church of Jesus Christ Scientist, Unification Church, etc. belong to this set. But the danger we face is not such sects but those who believe most of what we believe and teach, but give new interpretations to scriptures, extrapolate Biblical teachings to suit their imagination, claim new revelations beyond what Jesus said or the Apostles taught and make doctrines out of personal experiences.

In this context a statement from Harold Brown, the author of 'Heresy in the Early Church' is relevant. He wrote:

"There is nothing new under the sun," the Preacher wrote (Eccl. 1:9). According to Professor Klaus Haacker of Wuppertal,Germany, one of the primary sources of error in theology is the desire to say something new. As a teacher of theology for a score of years, I have noticed this: It is extremely hard for a theologian today to say something that is not either borrowed from an earlier, orthodox writer or heretical. Indeed, even the newest heresies, sometimes presented as the latest discoveries in biblical scholarship, usually turn out to be plagiarized from earlier heretics.

From this quote it is clear that in the modern world, where people are tired of old concepts and beliefs and frantically searching for something new, it is only natural for heresies to appear or resurface. The fact that the demarcation line between sound teaching and a heresy is narrow or hazy adds to the problem. Unfortunately, the leaders of the church and theologians abdicate their responsibility to define the boundary and teach the people clearly in a manner they can understand.

Some salient features of sound teaching

• One true God existing in three persons.

• The physical and moral attributes of God. His interactions with people (not only of history, but of the present generation).

• Jesus Christ. His divinity, humanity, uniqueness, his life, ministry, teaching, vicarious death, resurrection, ascension, and relationship with the church.

• The Holy Spirit. His personhood and divinity. His ministry in the present world, Bible-based teaching of being filled in the Spirit and Spirit-led life.

• The Church. Relationships with God, with other members and with the world. Need for spiritual maturity.

These and other topics related to sound teaching must not be confined to seminary campuses or scholarly publications. They should be communicated with clarity in simple language to the ordinary church goers. Leaders should clarify their positions on any new teaching that arises and inform their followers of the danger of such teachings. They should have a unified approach against false teachings.

As we examine the ministry of the Apostles, it becomes clear to us they were bold in evangelizing. Their focus was the gospel of Jesus Christ and conversion of people by believing in Him and repentance and confession. They faced heavy opposition but were not deterred. They went back to the small churches to encourage, teach, establish them in faith and edify them. Also they wrote letters to teach them Christian doctrine, warn them against the infiltration of false teachers, false teachings and false prophets into the church.

Today, as in other periods of church history, there is an abundance of false teachings in the church, covering a large spectrum from legalism to antinomianism. In his letters to the Galations and Colossians, Paul warns against legalism. The Judaizers required that strict observance of Mosaic Law was required for salvation in addition to faith in Jesus Christ and his completed work on Calvary. Others instructed, "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!" In other words, sanctification is the result of submission to rules enacted by their leaders (with good intentions, of course!) and hard work on their part. Paul stated, "Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence" (Colossians 2:23).

At the other end of the spectrum, the antinomians (those who are against law) argued that Christians are freed by grace so that they do not pay attention to Mosaic Law at all. In other words, Jesus accomplished everything in His death, and so, those who profess a faith in Him can live any way they choose. They are under abundant grace always. As the Gnosticists of old times they argue that only the spirit has value, therefore whatever happens in the body has no eternal significance. They ignore the Apostles' instruction to mortify their fleshly desires, flee from lusts and live a holy life.

In our churches we face both problems. Some teach that grace was needed for salvation, but after that we should appease God through our efforts of behavior modification, abstinences and self-inflicted suffering. It is hard for anyone under such teaching to have a joyful life because they never feel that they are able to fulfill all the demands imposed upon them, be good enough to stand before the Judge, and be victorious in their Christian living. At the other end there is no need for sanctification because grace covers any lifestyle. It is completely up to the Holy Spirit to bring good life to them. Both are equally dangerous.

Let me conclude this article after mentioning a serious problem arising from the lack of proper Bible teaching in our congregations. As we emphasize emotional responses such as clapping and loud utterances of praises, people do not pay attention to the Biblical principles of the Word of God. In order to make a name for themselves the preachers misquote, misinterpret and even add their own ideas to the Scripture. Such preachings elicit cheers from the crowd that is illiterate in the Scriptures. As a result the preachers become famous and in great demand because they are great crowd pullers. The church leaders should be cautious about such preachers and encourage the churches to be like those in Berea; "they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:11).

Paul and Barnabas were not content with seeing people converted to Christian faith. They went back to them, even at the risk of their life, to ascertain that the believers remained faithful and held on to their teachings. Later letters were written to confirm them in faith, warn them against false teachings and encourage them. Only sound teaching will produce mature Christians and healthy churches.