The bottom and the form

Sunday August 29, 2021

The bottom and the form

Seek justice, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord with a pure heart. Repel foolish and stupid speculations, knowing that they give rise to conflict. Now, a servant of the Lord must not have conflicts. On the contrary, he must be full of benevolence towards all, able to teach and to endure opposition. He must gently correct adversaries : perhaps God will give them a change of attitude in order to know the truth. 2 Timothy 2:22-25

Often, we speak of sound doctrine as the Word presents it to us as the "bottom." This sound doctrine deals with God, Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, the nature of man before God, salvation by faith, Christian hope, the Church, prophecies, etc. On all these points, it is obvious that man cannot trust his intuition or his imagination. It must relate only to what God has been willing to reveal in his Word. Knowing these points and keeping them is understandably the most important.

As for the "form", we equate it with the way of maintaining or making triumph these aspects of the truth. The form would be secondary, they say, compared to the substance. This assessment leads, in extreme cases, to using completely reprehensible means : pressure of any kind, injustice or slander... to defend what might appear to be a good cause. These methods can only produce bitterness, dissension and serious disorder among believers. The history of the Church is not lacking in examples of this type.

Let us not fall into this trap, because the defense of sound doctrine must not be done by using means which God cannot approve. We would easily forget that the truth is Christ (John 14:6) and cannot be separated from Him who embodies Him. One can only defend the truth by manifesting the characters of grace, patience, humility and righteousness which were those of the Lord Jesus. He himself set an example of this when he stood at the feet of his disciples to rid them of the filthiness contracted in the way (John 13:1-17).

So “form” takes on its full importance and we cannot qualify it as secondary. Let us never lose sight of the One who, in all things, remains the perfect model.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)