Why Study Doctrine? – 2
If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3).
Sound doctrine is necessary for godly behavior, too. I do not doubt that people may live in an outwardly moral, religious manner without doctrine; but you cannot live for Christ, to the glory of Christ, and after the example of Christ, without the doctrine of Christ. Paul tells us that the doctrine of Christ is that doctrine which is according to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3).
Our comfort as believers living in this world of woe greatly depends upon our grasp of the doctrine of Holy Scripture (Romans 15:4). Were it not for the teachings of Scripture regarding God’s sovereignty and grace in predestination and providence, Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and the Spirit’s efficacious grace, where would we find the strength and comfort we need to face and deal with life in this world?
We must recognize the importance of doctrine; and when men would destroy the foundations upon which our souls are built, we must cling to the Word of God.
In this world of chaos, the one thing that stands unchanged, unchanging, and unchangeable is the Word of God. Here is a foundation that cannot be destroyed. “the solid foundation of God stands” (see also Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8). Our house of faith is built not upon the shifting sand of human philosophy, but upon the solid rock of God’s own Word.
When the foundations are being assaulted from every quarter, we must earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3-4).
If, in these dark days, we would contend for the integrity of the Scriptures and the faith of the saints, we must prayerfully study and seek, by the grace of God, to comprehend the teaching (the doctrine) of the Word of God.
The study of doctrine is important, because it is foundational and because the doctrine we are studying is of God. The doctrines we believe, those doctrines taught in Holy Scripture and believed by all true Christians, are not of men, but of God. These are not mere denominational dogmas, church confessions, doctrinal debates, and theological theses, but the teachings of God Himself. Those things which are vital to our souls, vital to the knowledge of who God is, and vital to salvation are things which could not be known except by divine revelation (1 Peter 1:21).
They can be understood only by divine illumination (1 Corinthians 2:13-14). Both the man who attempts to teach and those who seek to learn the doctrine of Holy Scripture are totally dependent upon the grace, wisdom, and power of God, the Holy Spirit. If He is our Teacher, we shall be taught well; for we are taught of God.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 