We must be careful to distinguish the faith from doctrines related to such things as the keeping of days, dietary regulations, the method of baptism, speaking in tongues, and foot-washing. Remember that our faith consists of those things which a person must believe in order to be saved. To be a genuine Christian it is necessary to believe in the Triune God and in Christ, the Son of God, our living Savior, who died on the cross for our sins and was raised bodily from among the dead. However, it is possible to be saved and not believe in foot-washing or in tongues-speaking.
Although Paul in Ephesians 4 makes a clear distinction between the faith and doctrine, many Christians confuse these two things. Instead of contending for the faith, they contend for their particular doctrine. Nowhere in the Scriptures are we told to fight for doctrine. However, we must contend for the faith that is related to our “common salvation” (Jude 3). Our common salvation comes from the common faith. Although all genuine Christians have the faith and salvation in common, we may not have all doctrines in common. The different denominations emphasize different doctrines and hold on to them. Although we are not to fight for doctrine, we must be willing to fight for the faith. In 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul charges Timothy, “Fight the good fight of the faith” (Gk.). Therefore, we should contend for our faith, but we should not fight for our doctrine.
In Romans 14 Paul shows us that as long as someone has the faith, we should receive him, even though he may differ from us with respect to doctrine. We should not dispute over matters such as eating and the observing of days. If someone regards a particular day as special, he is free to do so. But if someone else views every day as the same, he is also free. As far as doctrines are concerned, we must be liberal toward others, because doctrines have nothing to do with our common salvation.
If someone comes to you denying that Jesus is the Son of God, you must earnestly contend for the faith. You must be ready to fight for the truth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God incarnated. However, you should not argue over things such as foot-washing. If someone comes advocating this practice, you may tell him that you care only for Christ and do not want to be involved in discussion about doctrine. How pitiful it is that so many Christians are under the dominion of doctrine and are preoccupied with it!
Many Christians play with doctrines just as children play with toys. From my experience with my grandchildren, I have learned that the best way to get a child to drop his toys is to offer him something good to eat. The same is true with helping Christians to drop the doctrines that preoccupy them. The more we enjoy Christ and are nourished by the ministry of Christ, the more willing we shall become to lay aside our doctrines. Years ago, the saints in a certain place were preoccupied with their doctrinal toys. But as the years have gone by and they have enjoyed the ministry of Christ, they have gradually dropped these toys. The more they have grown in Christ, the less they care for toys.
The only way we can drop our doctrines is by the growth in life. We need to grow until we arrive at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. Although we all are saved, we have come into the church life from different backgrounds. Because of these different backgrounds, we have different doctrines and philosophies. We may say that we care only for Christ and the church, but we may still be occupied with doctrine. Do not try to teach others to set aside their doctrines. Just as children will play with their toys until they grow up, so the believers will be occupied with doctrine until they grow more in Christ. If the saints grow in the Lord, eventually they will lay aside the doctrines which preoccupy them.
As we grow, we shall arrive not at the oneness of doctrine, but at the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God. This is the kind of oneness we desire in the local churches. Our oneness is not a oneness of Bible knowledge; it is a oneness in the knowledge of the living Christ, a oneness constituted of the common faith and of the knowledge of Christ. Our main concern is not that the saints acquire the knowledge of the Bible. It is that they know the Lord Jesus in a living way. In the meetings of the church our emphasis is not on Bible teaching; it is on helping the saints to know the living Christ and to grow in Him. Only by growing in this way shall we be no longer children tossed by waves and carried about by winds of doctrine.
Through the growth of life, we shall also arrive at a full-grown man and at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. The fullness of Christ is the Body of Christ, Christ’s expression. With this Body there is a stature with a measure. When the Lord’s work in His recovery began in this country a number of years ago, we could see very little of the measure of this stature. Praise the Lord that over the years the measure of the stature has increased! This increase is the result of the perfecting of the saints through the ministry of Christ. However, as we all admit, we are still in the process of growth. The more we grow, the more we shall be able to function and to have the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love. This is our need today.