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“Charles Shultz, in his cartoons, once painted a
little picture of Lucy and Linus in their home
looking out a window at a thunderstorm. Lucy, in
typical candidness, said, ‘I hope it doesn’t
rain and rain until the whole world is flooded.’
Linus came back with, ‘Don’t worry. In Genesis
9:13-14 God promised Noah that He would never
again send a flood that would cover the whole
earth and He put the rainbow in the sky as a
promise that this would be true.’ Lucy sighed
and said, ‘That sure makes me feel a whole lot
better.’ Linus replied, ‘Sound doctrine has a
way of doing that.’“ From the book, Jesus
Author and Finisher: Messages on the Person of
Jesus Christ, compiled by Morris Chapman.
Sound doctrine does have a way of doing that,
doesn’t it? It gives us steady assurance of
continuity in a world filled with change. Sound
doctrine helps us to make sure of what we are to
believe and how we are to behave. Along that
line we need to make sure of these things:
-
Make sure we don’t mistake man-made
traditions for the true doctrine of God
(Matthew 15:9). If the doctrine we are
teaching is not the doctrine taught in the
Bible then it is man-made. We must make sure
we understand a distinction here. Simply
because we are able to fashion a doctrine
from a compilation of Bible verses doesn’t
make it Bible doctrine. The intended
biblical patterns of the New Testament are
for the church to follow for all time. The
invented patterns of many Christians today
are nothing more than Scripture taken out of
context and forced into supporting some pet
belief.
-
Make sure we don’t mistake “smooth-talk and
flattery” for the true doctrine of God
(Romans 16:17-18). Sadly many people can be
persuaded of just about anything depending
on the communication skills of the
communicator. We need to be a discerning
people who “do not believe
every spirit, but [who] test the spirits to
see whether they are from God, for many
false prophets have gone out into the world”
(1 John 4:1).
-
Make sure that we understand that “sound
doctrine” is not just about baptism, the
Lord’s Supper, how Revelation is to be
interpreted, etc. Sound doctrine is about
how we live our lives. Paul wrote to
Timothy, “Now we know that
the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
understanding this, that the law is not laid
down for the just but for the lawless and
disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners,
for the unholy and profane, for those who
strike their fathers and mothers, for
murderers, the sexually immoral, men who
practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars,
perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to
sound doctrine” (1 Timothy 1:8-10).
In all we do we should be “showing
all good faith, so that in everything [we]
may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”
(Titus 2:10)
-
Make sure that the church is regularly fed
“the good doctrine” from the pulpit and not
“irreverent and silly myths” (1 Timothy
4:6-7). Every elder or a preacher in the
church “must hold firm to
the trustworthy word as taught, so that he
may be able to give instruction in sound
doctrine and also to rebuke those who
contradict it.” (Titus 1:9). He must
“teach what accords with
sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). Only
when God’s people are consistently fed such
a steady diet can they grow into mature
Christian men and women. That they hear it
is no guarantee that they will grow, but not
hearing it is a guarantee that they won’t.
Like Linus said, sound doctrine has a way of
making you feel a whole lot better. It gives us
an objective standard by which to measure
ourselves and a promise of steadiness in a world
filled with change.
God bless you,
Brad Fry
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