Issues, What To Do With Them

1
Issues, What To Do With Them

• The fact of the existence of sensitive doctrinal
  differences regarding which there is disagreement
  is repeatedly taught
• 1. 2 Peter 2 1, 2.
• 2. I John 4 1.
• 3. Jude 3, 4.
• 4. I Corinthians 11 19.

2
Issues, What To Do With Them

• There are a number of things done regarding
  issues
• 1. Ignored.
• 2. Denied.
• 3. Determined by majority sentiment.
• 4. Decided by party affiliation.
• 5. Positioned by family circumstance.

3
Issues, What To Do With Them

• The question of importance is what do the
  scriptures teach regarding the treatment of
  issues (cp. John 8 32, 2 John 9-11)?

4
Issues, What To Do With Them

• We are to possess authority for what we believe
  and practice.
• 1.Express command Acts 2 38.
• 2.Necessary inference Matt. 22 32.
• 3.Approved example Phili. 4 9.

5
Issues, What To Do With Them

• In this study, we shall consider approved
  examples to arrive at what we should do regarding
  issues
• 9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and
  received, and heard, and seen in me, do and the
  God of peace shall be with you (Phili. 4).

6
Issues, What To Do With Them

• One big issue of the First Century was the Law of
  Moses, the gospel, and salvation. Some wanted to
  bind the Law on all for the purpose of
  justification while some insisted that
  Gentiles coming to Christ had to keep parts, at
  least, of the law (Acts 15).   Paul courageously
  refuted such teaching and confronted those
  who promoted this doctrine.  Justification by law
  excludes justification by grace and the two
  cannot concurrently be effectual.

7
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
  Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
  again with the yoke of bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul
  say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ
  shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again
  to every man that is circumcised, that he is a
  debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ is become
  of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are
  justified by the law ye are fallen from grace"
  (Gal. 5).

8
Issues, What To Do With Them

• The apostle John dedicated much of his writings
  to the new heresy of Gnosticism.  John forcefully
  showed that Jesus Christ had "come in the flesh"
  and that Christ was not imaginary but actually
  dwelt in a material body, contrary to both
  Cerinthian and Docetic Gnosticism (I John 4
  2-3).Ponder the unequivocal teaching of John
  regarding Gnosticism that taught man could be
  save and not necessarily conform to God's
  commands (the old "once saved, always saved"
  doctrine)

9
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we
  keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know
  him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar,
  and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth
  his word, in him verily is the love of God
  perfected hereby know we that we are in him. 6
  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself
  also so to walk, even as he walked" (I John 2).

10
Issues, What To Do With Them

• James treated such subjects as materialism and
  worldliness in general and supplied remedies
  (Jas. 2 4).  These Spirit guided men were not
  ashamed to call sin, sin (cp. Jas. 2 9, 10). 
  Consider the cogent language of James as he
  writes to worldly minded brethren.

11
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "1 From whence come wars and fightings among
  you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that
  war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not ye
  kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain ye
  fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask
  not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask
  amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4
  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that
  the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
  Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world
  is the enemy of God" (Jas. 4).

12
Issues, What To Do With Them

• Due to the arrival of false teachers among God's
  people, Jude evidently changed his intended
  subject from the "common salvation" to matters of
  how some would corrupt God's grace, deny the
  Lord, and use monetary gain as their main
  impetus (Jude 3).  Examine how Jude held back
  nothing in describing these ungodly professing
  Christians in the church

13
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "4 For there are certain men crept in unawares,
  who were before of old ordained to this
  condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of
  our God into lasciviousness, and denying the
  only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ....8
  Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the
  flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of
  dignities....10 But these speak evil of those
  things which they know not but what they know
  naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they
  corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they
  have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily
  after the error of Balaam for reward, and
  perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are
  spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast
  with you, feeding themselves without fear clouds
  they are without water, carried about of winds
  (Jude).

14
Issues, What To Do With Them

• There were evidently a number of scoffers in
  Peter's day who denied Jesus second coming. 
  Peter focuses attention on them and exposes their
  fallacious reasoning of uniformitarianism (all
  presently continues as it has in the past) and
  sinful character.  Consider his manner in so
  marking them

15
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in
  the last days scoffers, walking after their own
  lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his
  coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all
  things continue as they were from the beginning
  of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are
  ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens
  were of old, and the earth standing out of the
  water and in the water 6 Whereby the world that
  then was, being overflowed with water, perished
  7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now,
  by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
  fire against the day of judgment and perdition of
  ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of
  this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as
  a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
  day" (2 Pet. 3).

16
Issues, What To Do With Them

• Jesus collided with the elite Pharisees of his
  day, those who perverted God's law.  Rather than
  avoid the issues, he attacked them with unequaled
  velocity.  He called them out in the most direct
  way when he said

17
Issues, What To Do With Them

• "20 For I say unto you, That except your
  righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of
  the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case
  enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5).
• "15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
  hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make
  one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him
  twofold more the child of hell than yourselves"
  (Matt. 23).

18
Issues, What To Do With Them

• Conclusion
• We need more preachers of the soul saving gospel
  and not the, "Accent the positive and eliminate
  the negative" mentality type.  The latter have
  increased numbers, but not souls they have added
  impetus for larger buildings, but not holy
  churches and they have popularized the hand
  shake, but not scriptural fellowship. 

19
Issues, What To Do With Them

• We need men such as Paul, John, James, Jude, and
  Peter, men who love the truth and hate error. We
  need men who emulate Jesus and not the purveyors
  of false unity.