Teachest Thou Not Thyself?
"Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?" Romans 2:21.
Christians today preach and teach against the human doctrines which have been introduced into the world by man. They devoutly stand against these doctrines in their preaching of God's word and yet in their own lives they show that they believe exactly what these human doctrines teach. This is exactly what Paul was teaching against in the above passage. He is simply saying to these people "practice what you preach."
We are commanded to do more than believe in the existence of God in order to be saved. Christians stand firmly against the doctrine of salvation by faith only, but let us notice how they practice their belief on this subject. We are taught to do good works (Jas. 4:17, Matt. 25:31) which includes: teaching others(Matt. 28:19-20); attending worship services (Heb. 10:25); giving of our means (2 Cor. 9:7); studying the Word of God (2 Tim. 2:15); adding to our faith the Christian virtues (2 Pet. 1:5-7); praying (Luke 18:1) and the many other things we are commanded to do. Many Christians become so wrapped up in their daily lives with worldly things that they have no time for doing good works. They don't try to teach the lost the truth and only attend services when it is convenient. Many do not give as they should or study their Bibles. They don't add the Christian virtues and don't even pray yet they PROFESS TO BE SAVED! How could they be saved unless faith only will save them?
Christians who act in such a way are unconsciously believing the doctrine of once saved always saved. They know that these works are required for entrance into heaven but they do not engage in them, thus they condemn themselves by their own teaching. However they PROFESS TO BE SAVED PEOPLE! They seem to think that others will be lost by refusing to do as God commands but that they will be saved simply because they belong to the Lord's church. This would seem to be about the same idea as the once saved always saved doctrine. In 2 Pet. 2:20-22, we are warned against letting sin entangle. us after receiving the truth. All who do so will find out on the judgment day that being a member of the Lord's church is NOT enough!
Many of the denominational institutions teach that one way is as good as another but would you expect to hear this doctrine taught in the Lord's church? This very doctrine is being taught when sermons are preached on WHERE THERE IS NO PATTERN. These sermons are preached in order to justify orphan homes and sponsoring church arrangements. If there is no pattern in these matters then one way is as good as another in doing God's work of caring for the needy and preaching the gospel. The people who teach this have no pattern it is true but certainly not because one has not been given. We see them trying to give scripture for what they teach but then if there is no pattern then there is also no scripture to give. If there is scripture on the matter, and there is, then we have a pattern. These people not only fail to teach themselves, they teach error to others.
Christ must come first in our lives. We see in Matthew 10:37 that even our Father and Mother must not come before Christ. Pleasing Christ is a Christian's goal. Philippians 3:7-15, just as it was Paul's goal, 2 Corinthians 11:22-28, and nothing short of putting Christ first will be enough to get one to heaven. Let us be able to say as Paul did when we come to that final hour, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me at that day." (2 Tim. 4:6-8).