The Importance of Doctrine

This is the beginning of a series I want to do on the value of sound doctrine. Earlier, I wrote a post discussing the weakness of Arminian theology. Another name for Arminian theology that most of the non-reformed churches teach would be called Semi-Pelagianism. R.C Sproul in his classic on the subject of God's holiness says this about Semi-Pelagianism:

"Semi-Pelagianism still represents a theology of compromise with our natural inclinations. It has a glaring defect in its understanding of God. Though it salutes the holiness of God and protests loudly that it believes in God's sovereignty, it still entertains delusions about our ability to incline ourselves to God, to make "decisions" to be born again. It declares that fallen people, who are at enmity with God, can be persuaded to be reconciled even before their sinful hearts are changed. It has people who are not born again seeking a kingdom Christ declared could not be seen and entering a kingdom that cannot be entered without rebirth." Evangelicals today have unconverted sinners who are dead in trespasses and sin bringing themselves to life by choosing to be born again. Christ made it clear that dead people cannot chose anything, that the flesh counts for nothing, and that we must be born of the Spirit before we can even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it." Then he concludes the paragraph: "The failure of modern evangelicalism is the failure to understand the holiness of God. If that one point were grasped, there would be no more talk of mortal enemies of Christ coming to Jesus by their own power."1

Sproul makes a great point that most, in my experience, miss. I have made much effort with many people to help them understand this, but to no clear avail. God has recently taught me to look at these friends and relatives of mine with compassion and not judgment because they "ought to know better!" It simply is not my problem in all seriousness. It is dependent on God "turning on the light bulb" in their minds. Because I now understand this, I can experience true freedom. I will continue on with this theme in my next post. Man's inability to choose God; otherwise called man's Total Depravity is point one in the TULIP acronym that I want to discuss in the next post. For all those who cannot completely accept all of the five points of Calvinism, I hope these next 5 posts help to simplify and remove the misconception many have in the Arminian camp - not that my logic and evidence will convince anyone. I'll leave that piece to the Lord.

-Joe



1 Sproul, R.C; The Holiness of God; Tyndale House Publishers, 1985, p.p 182-83.