Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

Have you ever noticed how when you’re talking to someone else about what they believe on a particular doctrine and when the two of you believe differently that you both appeal to the Bible as the reason for why you’re right and they’re wrong?

So how do you tell? Do you just assume that they’re still wrong because they’re being blinded by their denominational preconceived notions? Do you begin to think that maybe you have denominational blinders on? Or do you begin to think that maybe both of you are making more of this than you should?

Sometimes we can lose sight of the main thing. We can’t see the forest clearly because the particular trees we’re disagreeing on are clouding our understanding of what is true and right.

There’s a lot in the Bible. There’s a lot in there that makes a lot of sense. Some things are tough to understand. Some things really stand out; some may not seem that important to us. And so on.

But there’s always that stuff in there we disagree on—and we both sincerely believe we’re right. How do we go about determining who is right? (And by the way, the purpose of determining who’s right and who’s wrong is not so we can win an argument—it’s so that we can be faithful to the Word of God.)

Someone has said that all theology is Christology. There’s one thing in the Bible that shines through clearly. One tree in the forest of the Bible that rises above the rest. The one thing that is the main thing. The one thing that if we do not keep as the main thing then we will not be interpreting the Bible correctly or understanding individual doctrines correctly.

Christ is the center of the Scriptures. He is the main thing. And if we do not keep the main thing the main thing then the other things will end up getting skewed. It’s true that we don’t get into heaven for perfect doctrine. But we must seek to be faithful to the Word of God.

The lens through which we view the Scriptures is Christ. He is the source of the Scriptures and the one to whom the Scriptures point. God Almighty has revealed Himself in the Scriptures and preeminently in Jesus. The Triune God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the Son is always at the center.

Any doctrine we hold to that does not hold up Christ in giving Him all glory is one that is not Biblical and therefore not true. The Bible points us to Christ and Christ Himself points us to Himself. His life, suffering, death, and resurrection are the hub from which the spokes of all the Biblical doctrines emerge. Our key to believing all doctrines correctly is to ensure that we are not believing anything that detracts from the main thing—Christ and who He is and what He has done for the sins of the world.