| How Much Doctrine?, Part 5 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, February 01 2010 00:00 |
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In our final study of the topic of the Christian and doctrine, we shall turn to the matter of knowledge as it relates to faith. You may have agreed with us that requiring knowledge of doctrine would mean justification by works, that we must separate justification from sanctification, and that a necessary part of our sanctification is the pursuit of sound doctrine. But, you may ask, “Does not the faith by which we are justified involve some level of knowledge?” Here we need to pause for a moment. Saving faith is trust. It is placing our trust in Christ for salvation. It is putting nothing between us and eternity but the doing and dying of another. Faith grows out of a heart made alive by the Holy Spirit, a heart brought to a conviction of sin. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would bring such conviction to the hearts of people (John 16:7-11). The publican was convicted of his sin. He stood before a holy God aware of only one thing: that he was a sinner. He threw himself on the mercy of God (Luke 18:9-14). One could argue that he had some knowledge of God, of His power and holiness and ability to extend mercy, of the law and of the fact that he was a lawbreaker. But the emphasis here is on the conviction in his heart of his sin, and the fact that he entrusted himself to the mercy of God. That the Holy Spirit uses certain levels of knowledge to produce conviction cannot be denied. But those levels may differ from person to person. The constant reality is the convicting power of the Spirit and the trust manifested by the sinner who seeks mercy. The publican was justified when he trusted God, and so are we. Abraham was justified by faith (Rom. 4:1-3). He knew there was a God, he knew he was childless, and he trusted God to perform what He had promised. He was justified. The particular facts the Spirit used to produce faith in Abraham differed from that of the publican, but again, there was conviction and there was trust. The Jews on Pentecost heard a sermon from Peter about Jesus being crucified and raised according to the eternal purpose of God. As a result of that one sermon they were convicted, “cut to the heart” (Acts 2:37), and repented, and were baptized. The Philippian jailer was told to believe and heard the word of the Lord. He believed and was baptized, he and his household (Acts 16:30-34). The Spirit of God takes the Word of God, implanted in the heart of the Lord’s sheep, and produces conviction and trusting faith. How much knowledge is required is not anywhere specified. We would assume the preaching of the gospel always involves teaching of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. However, we cannot limit the Spirit, and He can produce conviction and resulting faith at any point. He acts sovereignty, and we cannot define His work for Him. David wrote that God made him to trust in Him while he was on his mother’s breast (Ps. 22:9). I doubt that he had a very thorough knowledge at that tender age. Even today, we know of very young children brought to faith. Our job is to preach the word and then to leave the process of the generation of saving faith to the work of God. |
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