Looking Into The Future
Many evangelical churches provide a brief Statement of Faith. If they include a section on what they teach about eschatology or the doctrine of the future, it is even briefer. Such Statements of Faith usually just say they believe in a future resurrection and the Second Coming of Christ. It is becoming very unusual for a church to reveal if they hold to an amillennial, postmillennial, preterist, or a premillennial view about future things.
Some pastors do not teach on the doctrine of future things because they have not studied the subject and do not know what to say. Some find eschatology to be too difficult to understand so they avoid it. Some pastors believe that some doctrines in the Bible can be categorized as “A” doctrines, “B” doctrines, or “C” doctrines. They say that the “A” doctrines are the most important ones. The “B” and “C” doctrines are not as important and it is okay for church members to have different views.
No “B” or “C” Doctrines in Scripture
But does God consider some doctrines to be more important than others? Did God include some doctrines in the Bible that are not important and so it does not matter what we believe about them? Why would God have the prophets include doctrinal truth that is unimportant? The answer is not found in my opinion. The answer is found in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states,
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)
This passage tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed or written by God Himself. 2 Peter 1:20-21 reveals that God the Holy Spirit moved the writers of the books of the Bible to write exactly what He wanted written. This means that no word, no verse, no chapter, no book, and no doctrine is more important than another portion of Scripture because each word, each verse, each chapter, and each book was written under the control of God the Holy Spirit. That is, the Holy Spirit’s prophecies about the future are important and truthful or they would not have been included (Psalms 119:160; John 17:17 ). If all the doctrines are not of equal weight, then which ones should be removed from Scripture?
So, every doctrine is from God and is truth. The doctrines about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, man, sin, salvation, the church, and the future are all from God. No doctrine can be more important than another as our God moved the prophets and apostles to write about all of them for our edification and encouragement. Consider 2 Timothy 2:16-18 which records the apostle Paul’s rebuke of two men for distorting the truth about the future.
But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:16-18 (NASB)
On this occasion the apostle Paul is concerned that two men were teaching error about the future resurrection, which is part of the doctrine of eschatology or future things. Notice that the doctrine is so important that the apostle rebukes Hymenaeus and Philetus so that everyone will be warned about their error. This reveals that eschatology is very important. It is not to be avoided as many churches and pastors do today. There are no “A”, “B”, or “C” doctrines for every doctrine is an “A” doctrine. That is, every doctrine is equally important since God placed all of them in His Word for us. The doctrine of salvation is critical for eternal life. The doctrine of God is critical to understand God. The doctrine of the church is critical to know how the church should function. The doctrine of sin is critical to help us understand sin and to avoid sinning, and the doctrine of future things is critical to know God’s plan for the future. It is not okay for a church to tolerate or accept various opinions about what God wrote. Instead they need to seriously study the Word to determine its meaning.
So, every doctrine is equally important since God placed all of them in His Word for us. Each doctrine has its purpose. We will not be saved by studying only the doctrine of man. We will not discover that Jesus is God by studying only the doctrine of the church. If someone is not saved, they need the doctrines about Christ, sin, and salvation. God gave us the doctrine of future things because He wants us to know and understand what He has planned for us in the future.
Danger of Not Knowing Eschatology
There are serious dangers to avoiding eschatology. Many do not understand that most of the books of the Bible contain teaching about eschatology. For example, Genesis 3:15; 49:10 and Numbers 24:17 refer to the reign of the future Messiah. Failure to understand this will result in false teaching of those passages. Prophecies about the future are also contained in Deuteronomy, Psalms, all of the major prophets, most of the minor prophets, all four gospels, Acts, almost all of the other books of the New Testament, including the book of Revelation. Many of Jesus’ parables cannot be accurately understood without a knowledge of eschatology. Failure to have a correct view of the doctrine of the future will result in teaching error for which God will hold the pastor or teacher accountable. James 3:1 says,
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. James 3:1 (NASB)
This verse is a warning to every pastor and teacher to understand eschatology. It is a serious error to not study and understand the doctrine of the future. A wise Christian will want to know that the pastor has a correct understanding of eschatology. Otherwise, he will distort the meaning of Scripture.
Why Some Pastors Avoid Eschatology
Every doctrine is equally important since every doctrine is truth spoken by God. No truth should be considered unimportant, especially since our God wrote every word in Scripture. Yet, some pastors avoid eschatology because it is a difficult subject. It requires a great amount of time to correctly understand it. Unfortunately, some do not want to spend the time to understand which of the four major views or some other view maybe correct. It is easy to avoid studying the amillennial view, a postmillennial view, a preterist view, or a premillennial view, but such pastors will not be able to avoid God’s judgment of their teaching (James 3:1).
How will such individuals teach Matthew 24-25 since the amillennial view, postmillennial view, preterist view, and premillennial view have different interpretations of those two chapters? If the pastor does not care about the truth, then he may invent some story to use in these chapters. It is possible that he may just find some application and avoid explaining the text. If he desires to teach the truth, then he may try to quickly understand the two chapters, and hope he taught truth. The easy solution is for some pastors to avoid any passage that is about the doctrine of the future. As a result they are like the Pharisees in Matthew 23:16-22 where Jesus called them blind guides. John MacArthur in his commentary on Matthew 16-23 makes this important comment,
. . . Jesus did not call His opponents hypocrites but blind guides, emphasizing their unawareness that they were ignorant of the truth.1
That is those who fail to understand God’s plan for the future will distort the Scriptures and are like blind guides to the blind. The doctrine of the future exists from Genesis to Revelation.
Conclusion
There are several reasons churches may not include a summary of their view of eschatology in their Statement of Faith. The first is they do not want to offend anyone. So, they leave it to the visitor to discover what they teach by attending the church for a length of time. A second reason is that they may not be confident of what Scriptures teaches. A third reason is that they may fear people in the church will be offended and complain or even leave. One would expect that every pastor and teacher would want to understand God’s plan for the future and to be a faithful expositor of Scripture.
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (NASB)
References:
1. John MacArthur. Matthew 16-23. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Moody press. 1988. p. 381.
Suggested Links:
God’s Plan For The Future — What does the Bible say about the future?What does “this generation” mean in Matthew 24:34?
God’s Timeline For The Future
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
The Final Kingdom
Israel of God — The Church Has Not Replaced Israel
Are There A, B, and C Doctrines In The Bible?