The importance of Settled Doctrine |
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Elder
John (Pat) Young |
Written for
The Primitive Baptist - Christian Pathway – Gospel Appeal,
in September, 2017 Editor
Colossians 1:23 “If ye continue in the faith grounded and
settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel,
which ye have heard, and which was preached to every
creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a
minister;”
First let us establish, what the term settled means; both
from the standpoint of the Scripture, and from the
understanding of the translators: To the translators,
according to Webster's 1828 Dictionary, it means: “To be
placed; established; determined; composed; adjusted (all of
which are past tense, which indicates the condition of being
settled, placed and established, already exists).” In
Scripture, according to Strong's it means: “Sedentary,
immovable and/or steadfast (which seems to indicate it has a
seat and cannot be moved).”
Many times we read a passage of Scripture and overlook what
a word or phrase “infers” or “refers” to: Like the phrase,
“If ye continue.” Paul infers here with this phrase, that
the Colossian brethren were already “settled” and grounded
in the faith which was once delivered to the saints; they
were already blessed with a knowledge and conviction of the
truth, and the true gospel, full of the hope of life and
immortality, which the Lord Jesus brought to light among
them through the gospel which Paul preached: “That they were
reconciled (to God), in the body of His flesh through death,
to present them holy and unblameable and unreproveable in
his sight.” See v. 21, 22. What a settled position to be in;
what a blessed doctrine to hear; what a drink of pure water
from the wells of salvation; what a true message of the hope
in Christ welling up in them through the preaching of the
gospel! How could they not desire to remain settled, in the
grounding of such truth, which their hearts have believed;
and there being no other well from which to draw, nor any
other house but that which God has built and consecrated to
the service of His true worship, which our mouths can
confess.
Yet, with all the many wonderful things we can say about the
blessings the Colossians had received through the gospel
worship of the Lord Jesus Christ; we must acknowledge the
conditional nature of the phrase; “If ye continue.” If ye
continue in the faith (one faith) grounded and settled, AND
be not moved away from the hope (The object of hope
preached) of the gospel, which is not another gospel than
that which was preached by the the apostles to all the
churches as commanded by the Lord Himself. Then and only
then, will you be able to return to the well time after
time, with the sweet and full assurance of faith, that the
water drawn out will be that which fills the thirst for
truth, and will be the same pure drink which Christ
preached; called His apostles to preach, and yet calls men
of like passion to preach: Not to preach the values,
capacities and thoughts of men, but the settled, sure and
immutable truth of God our Savior.
Precious brethren; it cannot be said, “we should not settle
for less” (implying negotiability where there is none): But
that there is no less we can have and be settled, as the
apostle is here directing. If we will not continue in the
present truth (which is also the past and future truth of
God); grounded upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, with the Lord Jesus Christ as the Chief
Cornerstone; we can never be settled; but will be carried
about with every wind of doctrine, having no place of sure
rest: But if we are grounded and settled we will not be able
to be moved away from the hope of the gospel, which is in
Christ our Lord.
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