Disputable Matters

I did two blog-worthy things tonight that kind of ran into each other.

First, I read through the end of Romans (chapters 13-16).

Second, I had a long argument with someone about various things, including the concept of the Trinity, that Jesus was fully God, and that the Bible is in fact the Word of God.

Needless to say the argument frustrated me very much on multiple fronts.

Its kind of funny that I was reading through Romans 14 and 15 as we started talking about these other things, especially where it says "accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters" and "accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God".

Some notes in Romans 15 said this as well: "Can Christians agree on everything? No. But the goal is not to think alike or avoid all disagreements. The goal is to glorify God. It is very important to carefully distinguish between absolutes, personal convictions, and personal preferences. We can strive for a unity in Christ that supersedes our different preferences and personalities. Our differences need not divide us -- in fact, our diversity can enable us to multiply our praise and service for God."

This all made me wonder what constitutes a "disputable matter" and where the line is between applying acceptance/tolerance and standing firm.

When Paul wrote this part of Romans, he was only talking about whether or not it was okay to eat certain foods. We're talking about something a little more at the core of Christianity here.

The doctrine of the deity of Christ is very core, and so is the doctrine of monotheism. I don't see how it is possible at all to believe in the deity of Christ (i.e. that Jesus is God in the flesh) and in monotheism without accepting the Trinity! You cannot be a created being and still be God.

So I don't think this is a "disputable matter".

The doctrine of Biblical inerrancy is less core, but its still pretty important. Truth does matter. God's revelation does matter. If the Bible is not reliable, then what do we base our beliefs in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit on? Whatever we choose to make up? Whatever we take from the Bible that we like, ignoring the things we don't like? Absolutely not! The Bible's message must be taken as a whole. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ asks for trust, and that includes trust in what He says in His Word. Not liking something in the Bible is a bad reason to say that you don't accept it. God judges us, not the the other way around. The same should go for His Word.

So I don't think this is a "disputable matter" either.

"Disputable matters" today seem to be things more like drinking, smoking, clothing, dancing, acceptable movies, day(s) of worship, birth control, etc, and not key points of Christian doctrine.

Now does that mean that if two people are on opposite sides of this argument, one of them won't be saved because they got part of it wrong? I don't think so, as long as the have truly repented from their sins and have truly accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If that is really true, does that also mean that we should just allow people to continue to hold incorrect opinions about key doctrines without correcting them? I don't think so either.

As Paul says in 2 Timothy "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". So as I see it from what I have read in the Bible so far, we should correct those who are out of line with key doctrines, but we must do it as an act of love, not an act of condemnation.

This is very difficult for me to do well at times, especially when the Bible itself is the source of the disagreement! I find that I fail so miserably in the area of calmly and graciously presenting the truth at times, especially to those who are already steadfast in opposing beliefs. All I can do is apologize to God for my failure and ask Him to help me do better the next time around.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you reader.