Doctrine

“Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers (Titus 1:9).”

“Teaching is the process; doctrine is the product (Towns).”

I.                Doctrine

a. Comes from the Greek word “didache”

                                                           i.      Means “teaching; that which is taught; doctrine)

b.                        It is used 56 times in the KJV

c. Acts  2:42 that, even though Christ and His disciples did not intentionally formulate doctrine, there existed certain theological facts that were the basis of their teachings

II.            Doctrine VS Love

a. The neo-evangelicals believe that our main goal is to eliminate doctrinal distinctive and to emphasize unity among htose claiming to be believers

b.                        One of the basic ideas of today’s philosophy of ecumenical evangelism is that love is more important than doctrine

                                                           i.      They say that doctrine divides whereas love unifies

1.They base this on I Corinthians 13

c. Is love more important than doctrine?

                                                           i.      I Cor. 13:6 states that “love rejoices in the truth.”

1.In essence, “faith, hop,e and love are virtues but truth contains a different status.

                                                       ii.      Virtues such as love and faith cannot exist without truth because it is what lays the foundation for them.

                                                    iii.      Love cannot be defined without truth

                                                    iv.      Truth establishes freedom (John 8:31 & 32)

                                                       v.      Ultimate freedom can only be achieved by total submission…unconditional surrender to the truth.

III.        God’s definition of love

a. Love without divine definition becomes the most horrible thing on earth

b.                        It can destroy human beings by the millions and can be reduced by satanic sentimentalism.

c. God defined love as doing for a person that which is best for him in the light of eternity, no matter what the cost may be (John 3:16).

IV.       Love obeys the truth

a. In John 14; 15, 21, 23 & 24, Christ stressed that obedience to the truth is the best form of love.

                                                           i.      This is the acid test of love

1.Does a man obey the commandments of the Christ (I Sam. 15:22)?

V.           Love teaches the truth

a. John 21:15-17 provides an example of someone who said they loved Christ but they did not fully love Him

b.                        How do we express our love towards Christ?

                                                           i.      Feed His sheep (Mt. 28:20)

c. Acts 20:26 & 27 shows the true love of an Apostle

                                                           i.      He kept nothing from them

VI.       Love leaves nothing out

a. It includes  both Jews and Greeks (Romans 1:16)

b.                        It is for everyone (Gal. 3:28)

c. Paul based his evangelism on sound doctrinal instruction

d.                        The gifts are for everyone (Ephesians 4:11)

e.Love is the manner and method of speaking truth

VII.   Love resists poisons

a. There is no living system known to science that can survive without an intricate, elaborate, and constantly used system to purity itself from poisons

b.                        It is impossible for any organization to survive unless it has a system of purifying itself

c. We are living in a highly poisoned environment (the world)(II Peter 1:4).

d.                        This world is of the devil (II Cor. 4:4)

VIII.           Love protects the flock

a. Jesus warned His disciples (Matt. 7:15).

b.                        The only thing worse than division is peace with compromise.

c. Truth is infinitely more important than the false unity of this world.

IX.        Love corrects errors

a. People cause divisions for the sake of truth (Romans 16:17)

b.                        If we love Christ, we will watch for anything that may destroy His truth

c. A good life or doctrine can always be contaminated by a bad environment or bad associations

                                                           i.      An association of good with the bad will never make the bad thing good

1.On the contrary, the good normally becomes bad (I Cor. 15:33)

X.            10 basic doctrines

a. Bibliology (The doctrine of the Bible)

b.                        Theology (The doctrine of God)

c. Christology (The doctrine of Christ)

d.                        Pneaumatology (The doctrine of the Holy Ghost)

e.Harmatiology (The doctrine of sin)

f.   Anthropology (The doctrine of man)

g. Soteriology (The doctrine of salvation)

h.                        Ecclesiology (The doctrine of the Church)

i.     Angelology (the doctrine of angels)

j.    Eschatology (The doctrine of last or future things)