JohnOwen007
Puritan Board Sophomore
What I had in mind in my earlier comment is this: correct doctrine is dangerous. It's dangerous because it so easily makes us arrogant (so 1 Cor. 8:1 "Knowledge puffs up but love builds up"): I'm superior because I know more. Hence, correct doctrine without love can actually do great damage to our brothers and sisters in Christ, as Paul says:
"So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge." (1 Cor. 8:1)
So correct doctrine alone is actually dangerous unless it is accompanied with love. Correct doctrine is like a scalpel. If a scalpel is put in the hands of a surgeon he or she can bring about healing, but in the hands of someone less responsible great damage can be done.
I remember some 20 years ago when I first became aware of the doctrines of grace, I called an older brother in Christ in my congregation a "heretic" because he didn't believe in unconditional predestination. Looking back on it now causes me to be utterly ashamed. My cocky rhetoric helped put a relational wedge between us that really was never repaired. If I really cared for my brother I would've approached him in a more humble spirit, as a sinner, and with more respect for him without the name calling.
It's ironic how the doctrines of grace can produce arrogance, when the appropriate response is humility, because if I have good doctrine, it's only due to God's grace and not my own intellect or savvying brilliance.
"So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge." (1 Cor. 8:1)
So correct doctrine alone is actually dangerous unless it is accompanied with love. Correct doctrine is like a scalpel. If a scalpel is put in the hands of a surgeon he or she can bring about healing, but in the hands of someone less responsible great damage can be done.
I remember some 20 years ago when I first became aware of the doctrines of grace, I called an older brother in Christ in my congregation a "heretic" because he didn't believe in unconditional predestination. Looking back on it now causes me to be utterly ashamed. My cocky rhetoric helped put a relational wedge between us that really was never repaired. If I really cared for my brother I would've approached him in a more humble spirit, as a sinner, and with more respect for him without the name calling.
It's ironic how the doctrines of grace can produce arrogance, when the appropriate response is humility, because if I have good doctrine, it's only due to God's grace and not my own intellect or savvying brilliance.
