We were able to close out Titus chapter one this morning, dealing with the responsibility of church leadership to be watchful of unruly members who seek to spread false doctrine. The cure for bad doctrine is sound doctrine!
As I stated this morning, there are two kinds of truth.
Vertical truth = dispensational truth from God that gives mankind a greater understanding than what was previously known. Horizontal truth = transdispensational truth that is constant throughout all the different dispensations of scripture — the holiness of God, His plan for man’s redemption, etc.
The simplest way to divide the dispensations of scripture:
Past (time past: 5 dispensations: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise / Patriarch, and Law – Ephesians 2:11-12)
Present (but now: the Dispensation of the grace of God – Ephesians 2:13)
Future (ages to come: the coming millennial kingdom and eternity future – Ephesians 2:7)
We studied Isaiah 28:9-13 this morning, revealing who can be taught doctrine – those who are weaned from the milk (1 Peter 2:2, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9) and how we are to study the Word – precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Immature / carnal believers are easily swayed and are manifested by envying, by strife, and by divisions. It is the responsibility of church leadership (pastors, overseers, elders, and deacons) to be in constant watch over the flock to keep out the grievous wolves who seek to divide the brethren though the leaven of bad doctrine. Please read Matthew 13:33, Matthew 16:6,11-12, Galatians 5:1-9.
We must make the Bible our final authority, comparing scripture with scripture to give us clear doctrinal understanding.
Right division requires three basic ingredients:
- A literal interpretation of scripture. The Bible says what it says. Someone wrote to a particular audience at a particular time. We must always take the Bible literally until is impossible to do so, as in eschatological language.
- We must acknowledge that there is a difference between Israel and the Church. Things different are not alike. The gifts and promises to Israel are hers alone to be fulfilled in the kingdom age. The Church does not supersede Israel nor replace Israel in God’s prophetic program. The Church is expressly and exclusively the focus of the mystery program.
- We must be able to recognize progressive revelation in scripture. God reveals more of himself, his grace, and his plans as each new dispensation is revealed in scripture. Noah was given more information than Adam. Moses was given more information than Abraham, etc. The mysteries of the dispensation of the grace of God were revealed to Paul, who shared them with the other apostles.
Titus chapter 2 will give us more insight into the roles of men and women in the structure of the church. I look forward to unpacking this vital information with you this coming Sunday.