The doctrinal warfare ends for good. Good riddance, that is. It was necessary for a while. But now it increasingly inhibits the believer’s life. How can I possibly say that? Because it has changed from a necessity to a blockage.

The doctrinal warfare ends for good, no longer needed

Churchians cannot even imagine the freedom of following the Lord more directly. Doctrines brought the church into feudalism. Armed fortresses with doctrines forming the outer defensive walls.

The age of doctrine is nearly completed

Doctrine is used to build a denomination. It’s necessary for a group which is breaking off from the overall church as a result of the effort to reform it. In a real way, Luther was the impetus for the beginning of the denominational wars. Don’t tell him, though. He’d be upset.

It was necessary because he was talking about a radical change in focus—something which had been lost by the church. It was basically a simple scriptural teaching. The problem was that no one had the scripture at their disposal. It was not available except to church-trained clergy. The doctrinal wars are still mostly on that level. It’s a battle between seminarians. But now they are denominational seminaries. Because of that, most of the Truth the Holy Spirit shows us has been reduced to a denominational stance.

The problem is that doing this to something important, like the necessity of being born again, renders it lifeless. Rebirth is not a doctrinal stance. It is an essential requirement to enter the Kingdom of God. But, it happens differently with every believer. The process of being reborn gives us the Holy Spirit as the Lord moves inside us. The Holy Spirit teaches us all things, so doctrine is no longer necessary—at all.

Of course, the Lord is not restricted. In the midst of all this He stepped outside the denominations and started something new to bring back the Holy Spirit into the church. In places like among the Cherokee in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and then in the livery stable on Azusa Street in Los Angeles, the Lord brought the Holy Spirit back into the life of the church.

The Holy Spirit had been driven out of the church well before Constantine. He just made the church leadership too uncomfortable. The Holy Spirit was a level of power that an institutional church could not allow. Of course, the loving Lord we serve just went along and stepped outside the walls of the churches. He didn’t need the church. We needed Him. 

Without the Holy Spirit the problems like what Luther dealt with were inevitable. But the church had learned. You can control the church with man made doctrines. They were like defensive walls of rigid containment.

The doctrinal stances of various denominations made it very difficult for believers to receive the teaching of the Holy Spirit within the church. Most of us have experienced the pain of rejection by the church which results from listening to the Holy Spirit. But thankfully, that is almost over forever.

Once we are pulled out, we’ll just be the Bride of the Messiah—no denominations any more. The time of denominations is almost over! Praise the Lord! They were necessary—but no longer needed… The freedom of the Kingdom of God is such a joy.