The Essential of Sound Doctrine
By David A. DePra
The Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. Consequently, it is the written
Truth. But ask: WHY is the Bible the written Truth? Well, because it was written
by the Truth Himself. In other words, the Bible is a written revelation that God
has given of Himself. It therefore contains only Truth. This is quite
elementary. But it is vital to see that the Bible is the Truth -- yes, because
of what it contains -- but more so because of WHO inspired it.
What I say that the Bible teaches is what I am saying
God has revealed about Himself. In other words, the DOCTRINES I form from the
Bible are nothing short of what I say God has revealed about Himself. Again,
this is quite elementary. But notice what it really means: It means that my
doctrines represent God. They go back to Him. Whatever I teach in doctrinal form
is my presentation of who God is, what He is like, and of His plan and purpose.
In short, doctrines are more than just academic theology. They are more than
just representative of my religious beliefs. My doctrines actually represent God
Himself.
Now, from this we see the definitions of true and false
doctrine. It is a fact that true doctrine IS true because the Bible teaches it.
It is likewise a fact that false doctrine is false because it contradicts the
Bible. But since the Bible itself is the written revelation of God, then the
doctrines I form from the Bible are what I say are the revelation of God. In
short, my doctrines must be taken back to God – yes, verified by the Bible –
but ultimately all doctrine must be taken back to God Himself – to the KIND OF
GOD being revealed. To put it in the simplest terms, true doctrine tells the
Truth about God. False doctrine lies about Him. The Bible is the written
verification.
This is what the Bible itself teaches. Jesus said,
"I am the Truth." And the Bible also states, "Thy Word is
Truth." Yet there is only ONE Truth – so we are here talking about the
SAME Truth. Thus, we have a written revelation of God that is the Truth. And we
have God Himself who is the Truth. The written Word of God will always agree
fully with the Living Truth who is a Person. The written Word is a perfect
representation of Him – His nature, character, purpose, and identity. But the
written Word is not the Person. It reveals the Person in written form.
If we had no Bible, but had only Christ Himself within,
the revelation of Christ that would be unfolded to us would nevertheless fully
agree with the Bible. Truth is Truth. There is only ONE Truth. Jesus is the
Living Word. The Bible is the written Word. The two always agree. Thank God for
the Bible. But thank God for Jesus Christ! He is our Living Lord and Savior. The
Bible tells us about it.
Now, it is here that we see the essential of true
doctrine. True doctrine tells the Truth about God – teaches His nature,
character, plan and purpose, and just as vital, true doctrine tells us how to
live and how to walk in the Truth. False doctrine lies about these things and
consequently leads us to walk in error. But again – this is not merely a
matter of walking according to certain principles. Rather, it is a matter of
walking with GOD HIMSELF. True doctrine directs us to walk with the one true
God. False doctrine directs us to walk with a false God.
Anyone can read the Bible and tell you what it SAYS.
But only God, through His Spirit, can reveal what the Bible MEANS by what it
says – in other words, only God call tell you what He means by what He
inspires. Do we actually think that God has left it up to us to muster up the
brain power to figure out the Truth? People have tried to do this. It always
ends in error – usually arrogant, destructive error. Truth comes by revelation
– it comes by the revelation of Jesus Christ, verified by scripture. But it is
entirely possible for people to muster up, "truth," not through
revelation, but through their imagination. And then it is possible to simply
READ INTO the Bible what they think. This is how people create God in their own
image, and then they can find Bible verses to supposedly prove their point.
If you read the Bible you will find that a continual
theme in the NT is that we might KNOW God through His Son. Read Ephesians 1:16
and the following verses. This was a prayer of Paul for the church – and
therefore reflects God’s desire for His people. God wants us to know the
Truth. Knowing the Truth is more than merely knowing the theology of the Bible.
True theology will agree with Jesus Christ because there is only ONE Truth. But
God wants us not only to know what He has written about Himself, He wants us to
know HIM. In short, it is one thing to learn teaching about Christ. It is
another to learn Christ.
There are many examples out there to prove the
essential of Truth. From time to time you hear of parents who let their kids die
because they believe it is wrong to seek medical attention. Is this terrible
error merely the product of a bad interpretation of the Bible? Well, that bad
interpretation is included in the problem -- people can have Bible verses to,
"prove," almost anything. But really, the problem in such a tragic
situation is an awful picture of God Himself. That awful picture of God is why
they make the Bible mean what they say it means. These people have a concept of
God that has brought them to believe such error. They have a false picture of
God. And because they do, everything they believe and do is governed by it. This
false picture of God even interprets the Bible for them.
There are other examples. The Roman Catholic Church
used to teach that it was a sin to eat meat on Friday. If you ate meat on Friday
even once, and died before you made it to confession, you would go straight to
hell. Is this merely a problem of bad theology? No, much more. This is a problem
of a false knowledge of God. The KIND OF GOD that would send people to hell for
eating meat on Friday is a much different KIND OF GOD than the true God of
scripture. Yet those who believed such error were not only controlled and
affected by this false picture of God, but they read it right into the Bible and
formed doctrines from it. Again – what kind of God are we talking about here?
That is the question. The theology and doctrines are merely the outcome of this.
What we believe about God and His Plan and purpose is
represented by our doctrine -- and that doctrine is a reflection of what we
believe is revealed in the written Word. The God of all love and grace is a
DIFFERENT KIND of God than the god of fear and condemnation. The god of
obedience and holiness is a DIFFERENT KIND of God than the god of license. The
God of freedom is a DIFFERENT KIND of God then the god of legalism and fear. Our
doctrines reflect the nature and character of God. That is why they must be the
Truth.
Today error continues. There are people who believe it
is always God’s will to make you rich. Others believe it is always God will to
heal. Or never to heal. There are those who teach that it does not matter how
you live. And there are those who live under the fear or self-righteousness of
legalism. Behind every one of these teachings are Bible verses. Behind every one
of them is a religious system. But they are in error because they lie about God
Himself. They contradict the Person of Jesus Christ.
So why is sound doctrine essential? Because doctrine
tells us about God. Doctrine directs us as to how to walk with Him. True
doctrine tells the Truth about God. False doctrine lies about God. We are
talking about Truth vs. error; light vs. darkness; freedom vs. deception. If the
Truth sets us free, then clearly, error keeps us in prison. That is the
importance of what we are dealing with in this matter.
Thankfully, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit – God’s
own Spirit, the Spirit of TRUTH – would continually guide us into all Truth.
Sure. Again – there is only ONE Truth because there is only ONE God. The
Spirit of Truth can reveal only Truth! And since we have this promise, we can be
sure that if we mean business with God that HE will always take the initiative
to reveal to us the Truth in Christ. He is the initiator. But we must respond
with an open heart. An open heart does not shape the Truth to fit us, or to fit
our religious system. An open heart is one that allows God to shape us in
accordance with Himself.
Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify
me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that
the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and
shall show it unto you. (John 16:13-15)