Faith and Practice, Message and Methods

Titus 2:1 KJV

But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

There is sound doctrine and there are those things that become it, that make it appealing, that act as the setting which brings the luster out of sound doctrine.

Sound doctrine is our faith.

These are the doctrines we hold dear and precious. They define us and distinguish us from this world and from others who may claim to be Christians but see the Word of God differently. Doctrine divides individuals into congregations of like faith. We could have no close fellowship with those who believe differently because we would always focus on the differences. It is natural and appropriate that a church be an assembly of people of like faith. 

Those things that become sound doctrine is our practice

It is the expression of our faith through our lifestyle. These have to do with fleshing out faith in daily life. It is putting what we believe to the test through sanctification. 

• Churches express their doctrine in a statement of faith.
• We then express our practice through a covenant and by laws 

Both faith and practice are essential pieces to our Christian profession. To say we agree in our message but not in our methods is to say we are not of like faith and practice. We have little to fellowship around. To change the message, as some have done; turning from Baptist doctrine to Reformation doctrine, always also changes the practice. To change methods and practice of faith, as is popular today, relaxing separation standards in favor of a more friendly relationship with the world, always eventually leads to a change in the message. 

The two must be held equally. We preach sound doctrine and we preach those things that become sound doctrine.