To begin with, Paul says,
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
2 Timothy 3:16
First, let us agree that Paul is most likely speaking of Old Testament writings and not the New Testament. Paul, himself, referred to his writings as epistles, not holy writ. Therefore, “all scripture” speaks of the Old Testament that was given by inspiration of God.
Further, let us agree that the doctrine is not synonymous with scripture – doctrine is derived from scripture. Thus doctrine is always an approximation of our current understanding of our Lord and His will. It is a historical fact that as we progress deeper in our understanding of the Holy Writ, we modify our viewpoints. Take for example, the Catholic Church. Almost everything that formed the pillars of Catholic understanding has either been modified or done away with by further revelation. Icon worship, relic worship, indulgences, papal authority, priestly authority, penance, purgatory, etc, have all fallen by the wayside as God has revealed His truth. The scriptures have not changed, it is our understanding of Catholic doctrine that has.
Doctrine is divisive
It is fact that doctrine creates division within the Body of Christ. Those who hold various viewpoints sometimes literally hate those who do not believe the same way they do. In their minds, since doctrine is equal to God, they must defend their viewpoints with all the fervor that they would defend the Lord Himself. Like one of Jesus’s disciples, they would cut off your ear for attacking what they believe to be scripture.
People used to be tortured for doctrine’s sake in the Middle Ages. The Catholic teachings, derived strenuously from the same scriptures we have today, were used to justify burning fellow human beings at the stake. Joan of Arc, who almost single-highhandedly delivered France from the oppression of England through listening to God’s voice, met this fate. I suppose we could conclude that “doctrine kills.”
How could this be? God warned of this outcome of doctrine in the very beginning,
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 2:19
Our Lord forbid the knowledge of good and evil, telling us plainly that if we partake of it, it would bring death. Within a thousand years it did bring death to both Adam and Eve. In the Middle Ages, it did bring death also to those that dared oppose the Catholic Church.
Note: YHWH forbid the knowledge of both good and evil, i.e. all knowledge. Therefore, the only way to live is by revelation. This is what living by every world from the mouth of God means.
Moreover, the Law of Moses was an accommodation to Israel’s unbelief. Our of fear they withdrew when they heard the actual voice of God speak his commandments and urged Moses to go up onto mount Horeb and receive them in their place. The truth is, receiving the Law on tablets was a step down from how God originally desired to communicate to His people. It was a temporary stopgap measure used until such time as our Father could inhabit His only begotten son and communicate with us directly again.
Doctrine has a limited shelf life
Essentially, Jesus freed us from living under the law in order to walk by the Spirit. During the inception of the New Testament church, people lived by whatsoever proceeded out of the mouth of God. Whatever God said, even to the acceptance of Gentiles, was okay by them. In fact, only after God spoke new revelation, did it become a recognized teaching that God had accepted the Gentiles, too.
Doctrine is just our best guess as to what God wants us to live like during the time it is relevant. It is not meant to become a yoke of bondage which prevents us from moving on with God. Paul’s teaching during the first century was meant for those he wrote to, but was in no way designed to be a glass ceiling above which no one could rise for the next two thousand years.
The church was never perfected during the first century and therefore, going back to how the first Christians lived means that we will inherit their imperfections, too. We no longer need to wash each others’ feet because we do not all walk on dusty roads. Women need not wear head coverings because it is not a sign of submission in our society. Separating men to one side of the church and women to the other, is no longer a thing because we are not former Jews who used to frequent a synagogue.
Every move of God produces doctrine
Every time God moves significantly, people derive doctrine from what happens. We record and write about what God was doing and often, because it was so profound, that historical record becomes church dogma. Church movements form around certain teachings and they champion their doctrine as if it were the “word of God.” Their teachings become the foundation stones of their belief system and, eventually, it becomes heresy to challenge or disobey them. People within these denominations persecute those who do not believe as they believe, because, after all, they are just holding to the word of the Lord. “Look,” they say, “right here in scripture, it says exactly what my interpretation states.”
For example, there are believers who insist the doctrine of the rapture, of the catching away, must either take place pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, or post-tribulation. Furthermore, there or those who insist there is no rapture at all. Some people believe these doctrines so strongly that it prevents meaningful fellowship among them.
The truth is, there have been raptures all through history, beginning with Enoch. There will be raptures throughout the tribulation and after it. It is simply the way God moves people between heaven and earth when He so desires. However, incomplete understanding of this spiritual phenomena has lead to people forming doctrines around their partial understanding and separated God’s people.
If you want to go back to the Book of Acts, put away your Bible.
While valuable, the epistles of the apostles are not meant to be a limitation for believers in this present church age. God is giving us revelation that goes well beyond what people knew and saw in the first century. In fact, what our Lord is saying now cannot be held in that old wine skin. For example, people in the mystic movement in Wales fall all over themselves trying to “shoe horn” their current revelations into “scripture” which in reality is just old church doctrine. It does not work.
Moreover, attaching fifty scriptures to your revelation doesn’t make it any more true or untrue. Revelation either bears witness in the ears of the hearer or it doesn’t. It is either from God or it isn’t, and His sheep will only hear His voice.
In conclusion, resist raising your particular doctrine to the level of Old Testament scripture. Throw away all preconceptions. Humble yourself and allow God to lead and guide you today, in fresh and meaningful ways through direct revelation. Allow our Father to lead others individually in the paths of righteousness and stop trying to control them with antiquated ideas that were solidified into dogma before your great grandfather was born.
Amen.
