The Importance of Doctrine

The Importance of Doctrine

A Christian’s desire for the Truth, the Word of God, must be avid. A believer must give the highest priority in his life to learning Bible facts and principles. There are many examples in the Bible of the great effort made by people of God to obtain truth.

John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”

Matt. 6:28-34

Psalm 119:72 “The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.”

Psalm 119:127, 162.

Prov. 23:23 “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction and understanding.”

Psalm 86:11 “Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth; unite my heart to fear thy name.”

Examples of Eagerness for Truth

Temple worshippers in the time of Christ: Luke 21:37,38

Samaritans: John 4:39-42

Cornelius: Acts 10:30-33

Bereans: Acts 17:10-13

Col. 1:9-13, 21-23; 2:1-8

Eph. 1:17-23; 3:14-19; 4:11-16

Reasons Why Bible Teaching is Important

The Bible is the only source of knowledge of how to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as “love at first sight” in spiritual things. The believer must get to know Christ very well, and this requires the daily intake of knowledge about Christ through the Word of God, which is “the mind of Christ.”

I Cor. 2:16 “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

Phil. 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loves me not keeps not my sayings; and the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”

Daily Bible study leads to occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ, a daily walk with the Saviour.

Heb. 12:2,3 “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.”

Bible doctrine, learned under the faith principle of applied teaching, produces confidence during the believer’s lifetime.

2 Cor. 5:6-8 “Therefore, we are always confident, knowing that, while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, and not by sight). We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”

See also Job 5:24-27

The Bible is the only source of God’s viewpoint.

Isaiah 55:7-9 “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Bible doctrine is the basis for orientation to God’s plan during the believer’s lifetime.

Isaiah 26:3,4 “The one who is steadfast of mind thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting rock.”

Bible knowledge produces sanity and stability of mind. It is very important to get the Word of God into the mind before the times of pressure come. It is not too likely that an unstable person will respond to the Word of God. God’s deals with the pressures of life using “preventive maintenance”.

James 1:8 “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Bible doctrine is the basis for divine guidance.

Romans 12:1,2 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Without the Word of God, the believer’s mind will be corrupted by Satan and will become a repository of world-viewpoint and false teaching.

2 Cor. 11:3 “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

Eph. 4:17-25