DOCTRINE simply means a set of teachings or system of beliefs. In Christianity, we are called upon to earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. In this faith that we must strive for, we have a body of rich, solid teachings handed down to us from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through the early apostles as recorded in the New Testament.
BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI
According to 2 John 1:9 (KJV), “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in *the doctrine of Christ*, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”
This is an important piece of scripture. It speaks of the “doctrine of Christ,” which is the foundation of the gospel. But what is the gospel? It is the good news of salvation. It is a reference to the biblical teachings on salvation because scripture tells us that “For this [is] good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4, KJV).
The gospel, therefore, cannot be about money, houses, fruit of the womb and cars because even before Christ came, people had access to all these material things. In the same breath, you will realise that today, there are people who do not even believe in Christ but still have access to all these things and seem to be enjoying their own heaven on earth while the majority of Christians wallow in poverty.
If there is the “doctrine of Christ,” then it must necessarily follow that there should also be “doctrines of devils” as we learn from the scriptures. 1 Timothy 4:1 (KJV), “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils…”
When you stop contending (striving, pushing) for the faith, you open the door to seducing spirits in your life. Let me just explain to you how serious this thing is. “Seducing” is verb of seduction which the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines as the “act of persuading someone (you’re not married to) to have sex with you.” In the wider context, seduction is the process of deliberately enticing a person, to lead astray, as from duty or obligation; to corrupt… ”
So corrupted doctrines are not pushed by force: they are persuasive, sweet and often irresistible, but deadly. They erect strongholds in a person’s spirit and such people can even fight you if you try to instruct them in proper, sound biblical doctrine.
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Doctrines of devils are teachings that appeal to the flesh (mind) — because they make “sense” and excite — but cannot stand in the face of scriptural scrutiny. For instance, there could be someone reading this now and probably saying the reason why they are not married is because that is the pattern in their family: that most of the women don’t get married while those that marry end up in divorce or dealing with serious marital problems. In some families, perhaps the pattern is that all the females don’t succeed in education or they suffer asthmatic attacks, for example. These are demonic contentions. But you must contend for the faith!
Let’s get practical for a moment and deal with this thing right from its foundation. If you fit the description above, the first thing I want you to understand is that you no longer belong to the earthly family in which members suffer those things! Believe in your heart that God has transplanted you from that family into His own! 1 Peter 1:3 (TLB) says, “It is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family.”
In this family of God where you now belong, there are no ungodly patterns! You may be in a biological family physically, but spiritually, you don’t belong in that family.
Next week, we will explore this a bit further by unpacking one of the most controversial, but false, teachings of modern Pentecostalism — that of Generational Curses.
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