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"Jesus
said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through Me." John 14:6
Jesus is the
only one who can stand as a man in the presence of God
and stand as God in the presence of men.
The first man and woman were created perfect and had
sweet fellowship with their Creator, but disobedience
separated them from their holy God. God had lovingly
prepared a garden paradise for them and gave them
permission to eat from every tree but one. He warned
them that the fruit of this tree would bring death into
the world. Of course it was there that the enemy met
them posing as a concerned friend saying, -"You
will not surely die, but have your eyes opened." The
serpent implied that God was withholding something good
from them but in reality He was only protecting them
from something very bad.
The very first doctrine or teaching that God gave to
man was to simply trust and obey Him. When man failed,
God’s solution was not to deliver some new teaching or
doctrine, but to send His own Son that we may receive
and live in His grace - a pardon and a reconciliation
that we could never earn or deserve, yet He freely gave
it and wants us to joyfully receive it.
Man had already shown that he could not be trusted to
follow God’s instructions under the duress of temptation
so it would be useless to give him another teaching.
Doctrine teaches us how to live and how to honor God,
but no doctrine or teaching has the power to cleanse us
from our sins. If the first humans had obeyed God before
sin was in the world there would have been no need for a
Savior, but because they had already disobeyed and were
now facing the penalty of that disobedience, doctrine
could not save them.
The only solution to sin is grace and Jesus is the only
way to grace. He is the only way to salvation - all
others who came before or after Him are imposters. Jesus
alone is the beginning and the end and has existed from
eternity as God. He alone emptied Himself of divinity to
become a man. He alone lived a sinless life and laid
down that life for the sins of others. He alone
conquered death when He rose from the grave. And in His
name alone can anyone be saved, -"And
there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other
name under heaven that has been given among men by which
we must be saved." (Acts 4) And
it is Jesus who is both Savior and Judge of all.
I know that it is a common belief that doctrinal
teachings lead us to God and act to transform us into
the holy likeness and righteousness of Jesus, but I
truly doubt that this is the way it works. I think it is
more likely that it is Jesus living in us who brings us
to His teachings after we receive Him. Paul wrote, -"I
have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I
who live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal.2) Jesus
is in us by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and it is the
Spirit which teaches and leads us into all truth, -"Walk
by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of
the flesh." (Gal.5)
Other than the Gospel, perhaps teachings do not lead us
to Christ as much as Christ leads us to His teachings,
-Jesus said, "If
you love Me you will keep My Commandments." Faithful
obedience is the manifestation of our love for Him -
love appears to come first and gives us a desire
to obey - then the Spirit gives us the ability to
fulfill that desire.
It is not the teachings of Jesus or of the Bible that
causes us to become more and more like Him - it is His
divine life living in us through the Spirit that moves
us to walk in His way. Obedience to His teachings is
evidence that He is living His life in us. Our role is
to yield to God and allow the Spirit to manifest the
sweet fruits of Jesus in us.
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