Unity Starts With Defining True Doctrine, Pt 2

Quoting Martyn Lloyd-Jones . . .

	We are told that the Christian faith cannot be stated in propositions, that it is something mystical that cannot be analyzed or put down in a series of definitions stating what is right and what is wrong. By saying that, they are not only running counter to the practice of the church in the earlier centuries when she drew up her creeds and confessions of faith; They are also denying the teachings of the new Testament itself which maintains that the truth can be so defined that you can say that a man has departed from it. For how can you say that a man has departed from something if you do not know what the thing is? The whole presupposition is that it can be defined and described accurately. [Continuing from part 1] Nothing is so interesting as to contrast the ecumenical councils of the first centuries of the Christian era with the World Council of the Churches today. The great concern of the former was doctrine: definition of doctrine and denunciation of error and heresy. The chief characteristic of the modern movement is doctrinal indifferentism and the exaltation of a spirit of inclusivism and practical co-operation. But the apostle goes even further than that. He says to the Philippians, "Brethren, be followers together of me" (Phil. 3:17). He does not hesitate to put it like that. He appeals to them to follow him and his teaching and example. That follows from what he has already said: "Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing" (verse 16). They were to think the same thing, and to go on preaching and teaching the same thing. In 2 Timothy 2:8 he talks about 'my gospel'. He is contrasting it with 'other gospels'. He is not saying what I once remember hearing in a sermon on this text: "The important thing is that you should have an experience, that you should be able to say "my gospel". Of course, it may not be the other man's gospel, but the thing is, can you say "my gospel"?" According to that interpretation, the important thing is to have an experience, to be able to say that something has happened to you. The precise cause of the experience is regarded as being unimportant. But the apostle, surely, is teaching the exact opposite of that. He is saying that his gospel alone is the true gospel, not because it was his, or because of what it had done for him, but because of what God had done in Christ. The context in which he makes this statement is in the false teaching of others. He says "remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel". There were other teachers who said that 'the resurrection was past already', and they were overthrowing 'the faith of some' (verse 18). Do not listen to them, he says. The gospel that he, Paul, preached was the only true gospel, and any teaching that contradicted it was a lie. In other words, he not only defines it, and says that it can be defined, but he says, This is it, and every other is wrong. The same truth emerges in Hebrews 4:14-16: "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession" - our confession, the faith which we believe concerning Him - 'Jesus the Son of God'. The remedy for the unhappiness of those Hebrew Christians was not to cultivate a vague general spirit of fellowship, but to hold fast the cardinal doctrines. ... Everywhere in the New Testament, as we have seen, there is an insistence upon true doctrine in contradiction to false doctrine. That is only possible because doctrine can be defined and stated in terms and propositions. We have an objective standard by which we can test ourselves and others.
From:	The Basis of Christian Unity (1962)