Christians often sort doctrines into essential, secondary, and non-essential. The Bible never uses those categories, and they can quietly suggest that some of God's Word is optional. Theologica uses three biblical questions instead.
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”2 TIMOTHY 3:16–17 · KJV
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, so all biblical teaching carries His authority. Jesus spoke of the least commandments (Matthew 5:19), but He never called them unimportant or gave anyone leave to set them aside.
A doctrine's importance to salvation is not the same as its importance to obedience. No one must understand believer's baptism to be saved, yet baptism is not optional: Christ commanded it (Matthew 28:19–20).
Three Questions
- What must someone believe to be saved? The Gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). Scripture draws an unmistakable boundary around it (Galatians 1:8).
- What must a Christian believe and obey? The whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27): baptism, the Lord's Supper, church order, holiness, and every truth Scripture teaches. Paul preached the Gospel to bring people to Christ and taught the whole counsel to establish them.
- Where has God granted liberty? The particular matters Scripture leaves to conscience: foods and days in Paul's time (Romans 14:1–5), and in ours, matters such as dress, worship style, Bible translations, and entertainment.
This does not rank doctrines by importance. It recognizes the different ways Scripture tells us to respond. The Gospel must be believed for salvation. The whole counsel must be received and obeyed. Matters of liberty call for charity and personal conviction.
Liberty Is Not License
Romans 14 does not let believers disagree about whatever they like and follow their own consciences. Paul is speaking of particular matters where God has given liberty, which is different from disagreeing over something Scripture commands.
- Foods and days: liberty (Romans 14:5).
- Dress, worship style, Bible translations, and entertainment: liberty, governed by Scripture's principles and used for a brother's good (Romans 14:19).
- Assembling with believers: a command (Hebrews 10:25).
- Forgiving one another: a command (Ephesians 4:32).
- Baptizing disciples: a command (Matthew 28:19).
Liberty never means anything goes. Matters like dress and entertainment are not expressly forbidden, but Scripture's principles still govern them, and Romans 14 asks of every choice: will this help my brother? Paul tells us not to put a stumblingblock in a brother's way (Romans 14:13), to follow after what makes for peace and builds one another up (Romans 14:19), and to give up even a lawful thing if it makes a brother stumble (Romans 14:21).
Bible translations call for the same charity. God has preserved His words in the Hebrew and Greek, and we gladly use the King James Version, which faithfully translates them. Which faithful translation a believer or a church reads is a matter where Romans 14 charity applies, so we do not belittle a brother's Bible. See The Preservation of Scripture.
The essential and secondary framework often confuses Christian liberty with disagreement over interpretation. They are not the same thing, and Romans 14 cannot turn a command into a preference.
Error Is Not Always Unbelief
Salvation is not conditioned on perfect doctrinal understanding (Romans 10:9). Apollos was mighty in the scriptures, yet he knew only the baptism of John, and Aquila and Priscilla expounded the way of God to him more perfectly (Acts 18:24–26). He needed correction; he was not rejected as an unbeliever.
Imagine a Presbyterian pastor who believes Jesus Christ is God, died for his sins, rose bodily, and saves by grace through faith, but who baptizes infants. One of us is wrong about baptism, and Scripture teaches believer's baptism. But his error about baptism does not by itself prove he is unsaved. Doctrinal error requires correction; not every doctrinal error proves someone unregenerate.
Fellowship and Cooperation
Paul commands believers to mark those who cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned (Romans 16:17), and to withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly (2 Thessalonians 3:6). He calls them brethren, yet he commands separation. Recognizing someone as a believer is not the same as serving together in one church. Salvation and church practice are related but distinct questions.
Authority and Certainty
If Scripture teaches a pretribulational rapture and a literal thousand-year reign of Christ, as we believe it does, those teachings are true. They do not become secondary because other believers disagree. Truth is established by Scripture, not by how many Christians agree about it.
We should also distinguish the authority of Scripture from the certainty of our interpretation. We can be fully convinced that Scripture is infallible while recognizing that our reading of a difficult prophetic passage may need further study. That is not compromise. It is humility about ourselves.
Every doctrine clearly taught in Scripture is essential to faithful Christian obedience, but not every doctrine must be correctly understood for someone to receive salvation.