The study of Scripture is, at its core, a study of relationships – how God relates to us, our relationship with Him, and, of course, how we relate to ourselves and our fellow human beings. Just as our society and our own lives are constantly changing, it is also necessary to deal with the Bible again and again. Only in this way can living relationship take place. We reflect on ourselves and our understanding in light of the Bible. Only if the well is cleaned regularly, it can always provide fresh water.

The goal of biblical teaching

Biblical teaching is an attempt to reflect a coherent understanding of God’s statements. From this point of view, teachings are a kind of summary of the teacher’s understanding. Just as a book review should not be confused with the book itself, so biblical teachings cannot be confused with the Bible itself. Teachings are by definition limited in statement. Biblical teachings, however, are very helpful in showing us (different) ways to understand Scripture. The closer we get to the Word itself, the more the teaching fades into the background as the understanding itself grows. Sound doctrine shows the statements of the Bible in their own light.

The promise from God’s Word is meant to embed our reality in God’s reality. Teaching should help to take us into relationships, to bring us closer to God’s statements, to make them understandable. This approach, however, is quite different from the view that doctrine is something like a list of dogmas that one must rigidly agree to, or as a law book listing what one should and should not do.

Paul writes to Titus, “But you speak what befits sound doctrine!” (Titus 2:1). This is not about dogmas or doctrines, but about the way of life, namely, how we live out of the gospel. The call to “talk,” which befits sound doctrine, shows that it is about relationships, or rather, how we should talk in relationship with others. Doctrine serves as a guide for this. Arguably, it is also about a culture that sees people not individually, but as part of a community. And in this community should be talked what is “healthy”. This serves the speaker as well as the hearers, and it is a testimony to God who brings this about through the good news.

How doctrine plays out cannot be separated from doctrine. Paul did not write to Titus, “Always remember the list of dogmas and ideas, so that you will always have them before your eyes and so that you will say everything exactly as it was formulated in the assemblies.” That would be a very abstruse idea, directly alienating from any relationship. The goal of biblical teaching is never the teaching itself, which cannot be stressed enough. Teaching is not mere knowledge, for that puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1). But sound doctrine adheres to the Word (Titus 1:9) and is linked to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3).

Which healthy biblical teaching is not:

– Accumulation of knowledge (1Cor 8,1)
– Eloquence or wisdom (1Cor 2,1-5)
– Philosophy or tradition (Col 2:8)

Teaching in the community

Instruction is important in the Bible. Paul reports that Christ gives people to the church to build it up. It’s not just teachers, it’s multiple functions:

“He’s had quite a few as Apostles given, some as Prophets, some as Evangelists, some as Shepherds and Teacher, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to perfect manhood, to the measure of the full stature of the Christ.”
Eph 4:11-13 (Schlachter 2000)

All tasks together serve the one goal, namely for “the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edification of the body of Christ”. And what vision does Paul have in mind? He describes this immediately afterwards: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God”, which is equivalent to “to perfect manhood, to the measure of the full stature of the Christ”. This is a figurative language that describes a growth in faith with growing up. It is remarkable that Paul writes here “all of us”. Thus, this process is a career in fellowship with other believers (cf. Eph. 3:17-19).

In the church, it is not about “special” insights, but about God endowing us with spiritual wisdom and spiritual revelation, that we may receive enlightened eyes of the heart to know Him and what He has wrought in Christ (Paul’s prayer in Eph 1:15-22). So teaching is good and necessary, but it is always for edification (Eph. 4:11-12). The church is about all of us bringing a contribution to this growth process (Eph 4:15-16).

Structure instead of special effects

Paul has an overall understanding of the growth of the church. In it, he sees many individual parts working together. Certain things are important, others are less important or temporary. Here is an example of how Paul weights things:

Paul himself testifies about speaking in tongues that although he speaks in tongues more than anyone, he prefers to speak five words with his mind in the church so that he may also instruct others, rather than speak ten thousand words in tongues (1 Cor. 14:9-19). So the apostle is not concerned with “special effects”, but with building up the church. Speaking in tongues, he says, is not a sign for believers but for unbelievers (1 Cor. 14:22) and should once be dismissed (1 Cor. 13:8). So he is concerned not to get stuck on temporary things, but to get down to the essential and the permanent in the community.

A sound doctrine can be recognized by the following characteristics: In terms of content, God and His work in and through Christ are central. This is the good news. This good news is lived and carried in the congregation, with the fellowship and understanding of God’s work always in mind. This could be implemented like this:

“I exhort you therefore, brethren, in view of the mercy of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God: this be your reasonable worship. And do not conform to this course of the world, but be transformed [in eurem Wesen] by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, by virtue of the grace given to me, to each one of you not to think more highly of himself than is proper to think, but to be careful to be modest, as God has apportioned to each one the measure of faith. For just as in one body we have many members, but not all the members have the same activity, so also we, the many, are one body in Christ, and as individuals members one of another.”
Rom 12:1-5 (Slaughterer 2000)

Foreign teachings – stay away

Now what if we are confronted with other thoughts and teachings? Or what if we ourselves think we have recognized something particularly important? Then we check. What has been stated here above, in terms of sound doctrine, should be a guideline for our own behavior. And sometimes we stay away. Paul talks about other teachings in various places. He even speaks of a “different kind of gospel, which is not [echtes] different” (Gal 1:6-7 KNT), a mixed gospel of law and grace, such as is widespread today and which lacks power because it is neither fish nor flesh.

The first letter to Timothy states:

“If anyone spreads strange doctrines, and does not accept the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is puffed up, and yet understands nothing, but is sick of disputes and strife of words, from which arise envy, discord, blasphemy, evil suspicions, useless disputes of men who have a depraved mind and are bereft of the truth, and think that godliness is a means of enrichment – from such keep away!”
1Tim 6:3-5

“O Timothy, guard the good entrusted to you, avoid the unholy, vain babblings and the contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge”! Some have professed this and have missed the goal of faith. The grace be with you! Amen.”
1Tim 6:20-21

What does Paul mean by “foreign teachings”? There is this saying: “What the farmer does not know, he does not eat”. That means as much as: What is “foreign” he cannot accept. But this is not what Paul means. Paul himself reveals several mysteries that were previously unknown (such as Eph 3:4-5 and Eph 3:8-9). So Paul is by no means resisting everything that is “new”. Apollos also learned new things (Acts 18:24-28). The sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that corresponds to the fear of God – the warning is not directed against these. Foreign teachings are those that violate them. They end up in disputes, word fights and useless arguments arise. Whenever that happens, we still haven’t understood what it’s all about. Paul rightly says: Keep away from such! Because that does not edify. Timothy is to lead by example (1Tim 4:16).

We are used to quickly dividing everything into right and wrong, black and white. We move more quickly to condemnation than to judgment.

Paul, however, seems to come more to a judgment than a condemnation. He does not say, “Condemn this or that teaching,” but “Keep away!”, do not participate in it, do not also pretend. Foreign teachings are those that contradict the healthy attitude. If a correct knowledge is brought with sectarian attitude, this would also be rejected. By this he means then not in the first place the doctrine, but above all that, how the supposed “knowledge” leads to questions of dispute. Whether “healthy” or “foreign” seems more related to community and purpose for the community. We should contribute to healthy growth, but stay away from anything that violates it.

But it goes one step further.

Joint effort

There is a passage in Philippians that means a lot to me. It is an assessment by Paul of his own situation. I read this text once as a teenager, long before I entrusted my life to God. Always on the lookout, this text has almost “haunted” me a little. I thought to myself: this is how it has to be!

Not knowing the Bible, I read through the entire New Testament at least twice to find this text again. Twice, because the first time I must have missed the section. I would like to mention this text now.

Immediately after that, however, I want to read on, because the text itself tells us about two things: The first is that Paul writes about himself, about his attitude of faith. The second thing is that Paul speaks of living faith among one another. And in doing so, he also comes to talk about “differing opinions” and how we deal with them. When I read it like this, I can imagine that many a theological explosive was also hidden in these opinions.

Now here is Paul’s own attitude of faith:

“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ’s sake; yea, verily I count all things loss compared with the all-surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have forfeited all things; and I count it as filth, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, that I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. It is not that I have already attained it, or that I have already been accomplished; but I am striving that I may also lay hold of that for which I have been laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not consider myself to have grasped it; but one thing [tue ich]: Forgetting what is behind, I reach out to what is before, and chase toward the goal, the battle prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Phil 3:7-14

These are remarkable words. This Paul does not see himself as perfect at all. Even though he is an apostle, he writes in no uncertain terms that he is not yet perfected. But, he says, he hunts for it, he reaches out for it.

The first thing he mentions is that Christ took hold of him, Paul, pulled him, so to speak, skin and hair out of an old situation. Much like Isaiah once described for Israel, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you! I have called you by your name; you are mine.” (Isa 43:1). And because he has recognized this, Paul himself now wants to grasp what he was called to do by Christ. That is what our lives are about as well.

Paul puts this into practice without compromise. Forgetting what is behind him, he reaches out to what is in front of him and chases the goal. As a teenager, I was fascinated, even if I didn’t understand it yet. Paul wrote these sentences when he was about 60 years old. The description is timeless. What is crucial here is that Paul speaks of himself. This is his attitude, his desire, his personal aspiration. He starts with himself.
Immediately afterwards, the apostle writes the supplement for the congregation:

“… And chase toward the goal, the battle prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let all of us who have matured be of this mind; and if you think differently about something, God will reveal that to you as well. But whatever we may have attained, let us walk by the same standard and strive for the same! Be imitators of me, brethren, and look to those who walk as you have us for an example.”
Phi 3,14-17

His personal attitude, as he wrote of it just before, he now presents as an example for all. Or let us say better: not simply all, but more precisely he speaks of “all of us who have matured!” That is, all who have grown up in the faith and who want to grow up.

“And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal that to you as well.” There we are in the middle of the community, with all the different opinions. Paul brings his understanding into it. Not everyone may realize and understand this. He does not go to war with them as a speaker, but he counts on God to reveal this to them as well. So there is no discussion started, no argument, but again it is about what positively leads on and serves for edification. God works according to His grace there as well, despite all the differences. Let us also leave room for God’s work when we disagree.

“But whatever we may have arrived at, let us walk by the same guide and strive for the same!”

The existing foundation is the starting point. What has already been experienced and achieved together is central. We should walk along the same lines and strive for the same thing. It is about the attitude of faith, which Paul has just written about in detail before. If we become imitators with Paul, in this respect, we will imitate Christ like him (1Cor 11:1, cf. 1Tim 4:16).

While we may have different opinions (and we certainly will), we will find in these sections a good guideline for our attitude toward each other. This is about the way of life, not that we should have the same opinion.

Suggestions for conversation

• How do you handle it when someone comes in with new, different views? Are you curious? Irritated? Interested? Bored? Overwhelmed? Challenged? Tense? Relaxed? Suspicious? Pleased? Confident?
• Are arguments good? Are conversations good? Is learning good?
• What is needed in a conversation where everyone thinks differently?