doctrine

Good doctrine … there I said it … the “D” word. It seems, in many churches, we’re afraid of the word and of calling many biblical concepts by their traditional or biblical names. I understand the value of making preaching and teaching relevant. But have we gone to such lengths to avoid using biblical terminology that we have become a generation of biblical illiterates?

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, doctrine is, “a set of ideas or beliefs that are taught or believed to be true.” Biblical doctrine is made up of the ideas and beliefs that the Bible teaches to be true. It’s the Bible carefully studied and understood.

Good doctrine matters because what we believe about God, His sovereignty, and His dealings with those He loves, determines how we’ll respond to the tests and trials of life, among other things. It also determines whether we witness, how we interact with others, especially our spouses and children, and whether we have peace at the end of our lives. Good doctrine matters more than we know and bad doctrine, even when it sounds very appealing, has a nasty downside.