Let us be clear about what the work of God is. There is only one thing that can be at the heart of God’s plan, work, and will, and that has to be the salvation of men’s souls. Why? Defend this from the Bible, David. Okay.
First of all, God is not limited or under constraint, but God makes and imposes “the rules of the game.” If God was to have wanted salvation to come by means of killing an animal, by works, by baptism, or by any of a thousand ways false religions say you get saved, God could have done it any of those ways. But God chose what He chose.
Doctrinal Dilution One of the things that marks the decline of a good church into a bad church is the gradual shift over doctrine. Starting with pure good doctrine, “other things” gradually enter in to force out the purity and concentration of the good. Marks of a Dead or Dying Church
Doctrinal Dilution
Doctrinal Dilution By David Cox
1Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
One of the things that marks the decline of a good church into a bad church is the gradual shift over doctrine. Starting with pure good doctrine, “other things” gradually enter in to force out the purity and concentration of the good. (Satan actually wants churches to have an appearance of good doctrine. What this does is it gives validity to the church. If the leadership is flexible in “his” hands, then he has the bait. Later he uses the pastor, leadership, people to contaminate many good people. The bait has to be good, and this is a good doctrine church. What happens is the slow drift because of the lack of resolve in the leadership.)
Notice that this is very real, but also very difficult to discern. What happens is that there is quality at the beginning, and then over time (all the while the church never stops teaching and preaching doctrine) the church changes its fervor and concentration of good doctrine into “something else.” Paul’s words to Timothy (1Tim 6:3) focuses on doctrine which causes godliness. It is unfortunate in our world that so many “men of God”, preachers, and pastors have taken the confrontation of sin as being something that is offensive and rejected wholesale by them. Sound doctrine causes holiness in those that hear and believe it. This is a key to understanding and preventing church decline in your church.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
I am an independent, Fundamental Baptist missionary of 30 years experience. We are currently on furlough and deputation in Florida. These are some of my observations of the state of Christianity as seen through the eyes of such a ministry.
Church attendance Getting Mad is an article on when people get mad and just stay home. This works against solving their problems not in favor of resolving them.
