Doctrine 1. Introduction a. Doctrine, Doctrinal issues, review of Doctrine, etc. b. Today we are going to study this subject of doctrine, in this message entitled, “Introduction to Doctrine” 2. What is Doctrine? a. Doctrine – instruction, what is received. Teaching. i. Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary – Doctrine, from latin doceo ‘teach’. 1. That which has been taught 2. Jesus’ teachings were discursive, relating new interpretations of the law to his followers. a. His followers became known as ‘Christians’ b. His teachings are the basis for ‘Christianity’. ii.

Hastings Dictionary of the Bible – 1. Instruction, lit. what is received 2. The thing that is taught,( rather than the act of teaching) b. Sound teaching i. Barclays comments - 1. The Christian message is sound teaching 2. Sound means - Health Giving a. Dr. Ward “Sound doctrine is the teaching that will keep us spiritually well”. 3. Christianity is a healthful religion 4. Keep laws – live a good life a. Christianity, if it is real, is health-giving, it is the moral antiseptic, which alone can cleanse life. b. The Greek has the sense of healthy and then more generally rational intelligent, reliable and whole. Health implies a proper balance of the whole. Metaphorically, it conveys the sense of purity and wholesomeness. 5. We should want to explain our way of life to someone who asks… 6. Why? a. John 10:1-10 (pp) Christ came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly i. His sheep hear His voice, and follow His voice ii. They hear His voice because they have heard it before, they recognize it, and they know the difference.

b. I Timothy 1:3 c. Where do you go from here? i. :3-7 Disputes arise from false teachings or ‘doctrine’ ii. :8 The law is GOOD! iii. It is made for those that need it… iv. The law is made to help those that would be living contrary without it. :9-10. v. These things are contrary to sound doctrine (teaching) 7. Is Sound Doctrine important? c. Should we carefully follow sound doctrine? i. II Timothy 3:10 1. Timothy did follow sound doctrine 2. Avoid evil men and impostors 3. Deceiving and being deceived 4. The Holy Scriptures make us wise for Salvation a. They help us discern the error from the truth. b. Counterfeit analogy 8. Where does doctrine come from? a. II Timothy 3:16-17 b. Consider a Pyramid i. Direct Statements of Scripture (Base of Pyramid, foundation, highest % of doctrines come from base) 1. Matt 4:4 2. John 17:17 ii. Direct Implications of Scripture 1. Every word iii. Probable Implications of Scripture iv. Inductive Conclusions from Scripture v. Conclusions Inferred from General Revelation vi. Outright Speculation (tip of pyramid, small %)

c. We try to stay in the bottom 3 layers of the pyramid 9. Basic Principles of Doctrine a. There is a God and the Bible is His Word. i. John 17:17, ii. Regarding the books that are included in the canonization and those that are not. 1. In the book The Origin of the Bible, edited by Phillip Comfort, RT Beckwith writes, “What qualifies a book for a place in the canon of the Old Testament or New Testament is not just that it is ancient, informative and helpful, and has long been read and valued by God’s people, but that it has God’s authority for what is says. God spoke through its human author to teach His people what to believe and how to behave.” 2. BB Warfield in “The Formation of the Canon of the New Testament”, from the book The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible” states, “We rest our acceptance of the New Testament Scriptures as authoritative thus, not on the fact that they are the product of the revelation-age church, for so are many other books which we do not thus accept: but on the fact that God’s authoritative agents in founding the Church gave them as authoritative to the Church which they founded…It is clear that prophetic and apostolic origin is the very essence of the authority of the scriptures.” 3. It takes faith to believe this. 4. It takes faith to believe everything in the Bible. It is necessary to believe that God’s hand was in the inspiration of the Word, and the decision regarding what should be included in the Word, and what should not. b. God provided humanity with truth, both spoken and written.

i. II Timothy 3:16 ii. Inerrancy of Scripture 1. The Bible, it is original autographs, and correctly interpreted is entirely true, and never false, in all it affirms, whether relative to doctrine, ethics, physical, or life sciences ( P.D. Feinberg, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology). c. God’s Holy Spirit empowers and enables humans to know, understands and applies God’s Word. It will lead us to all truth. i. I Cor 2:9-14 d. Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone of doctrine in His Church. i. Ephesians 2:19-20 ii. Luke 20:17 – The chief cornerstone was rejected by men 1. It is important to see that Christ changed things 2. Introduced the spirit of the law a. Matt 5:17-22 b. Much more stringent. c. He healed on the Sabbath i. They thought this was a sin ii. Mathew 12:9 They plotted against Him iii. Christ challenged that which they thought was true. 3. His doctrine (teachings) were inclusive of others than the Jews 4. He both made the law more specific and more general. 5. He summed it up, Love God with all your heart, soul and mind: Love your neighbor as yourself. 6. He challenged the Pharisees and Sadducees, because they were looking for legal definitions, and Christ’s teachings, or doctrines, were on a spiritual plane. Having to do more with motivations, than rituals ( Matt 15:9 In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.) 7. He said his yoke was easy and His burden was light (Matt 11:25-30) e. God has provided doctrines necessary for salvation.

i. II Timothy 3:17 “That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” 1. The Bible does not tell us everything we could ever want to know. 2. The Bible does tell us everything we NEED to know. f. God intended that His Church grow in depth for understanding and application of His doctrines. i. II Peter 3:18 – Grow in grace and knowledge 10. God’s truth is simple - a. God sums up the law, in Love God, Love your neighbor b. The truth is always simple c. We simply believe the truth. d. We simply strive to do what the Bible says to do, and not do what it says not to do. e. The Bible never contradicts itself. f. ALL of it is true g. It contains EVERYTHING we NEED to know. 11. The Bible contains complete instruction a. We should follow the instruction completely b. We should not add to it (Rev 22:18) c. When other religions add to the requirements, they become unwieldy. d. A decision needs to be made about what to keep or not to keep.

i. This involves using human reasoning ii. It involves compromise in the mind of the believer. e. We do not have discretion in those matters regarding the truth. f. We may fall short of the standard set for us, but we are to strive to keep the entire law. g. The law defined as that which Jesus kept and taught. i. Matt 5:17 ii. He did not do away with the law iii. He magnified the law. He showed us how to apply it to our thoughts and motivations as well as actions. 12. Develop a Curriculum a. We should search the scriptures daily i. Acts 17:11 ii. Only by reading it ourselves can we know what it contains iii. Only then can we know our God iv. Only then can we recognize what ISN’T in there b. We should develop a curriculum for our study i. If we don’t have a plan we won’t get it done.

ii. www.freebiblestudyguides.org UCG Site iii. ABC, Bible tools, etc. c. We must grow in grace and knowledge i. I Peter 3:18 d. II Timothy 2:14 Be a good worker, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. e. This is the purpose and the origin of Sound Doctrine. 13. Conclusion a. Let us leave today knowing where sound doctrine comes from, how it applies to us, and with a renewed motivation to Study God’s Word. Addendum The Books of the Apocrypha – Should we include them as books of the Canonized Bible? 1. Do we have a complete Bible? 2. Define Canon – the group or list of books that are considered to be inspired by God. (II Timothy 3:16) Canon comes from the Semitic word “reed” or “stalk”. The secondary meaning is that it is used to measure, or as a standard, or benchmark. 3. Bible – from Biblia, or books. It contains the books (originally written on scrolls) that are acknowledged to be canonical. Or, inspired by God. Useful for the standard we should live by. 4. Define Apocrypha a. Online Bible Dictionary b. Secret, or Hidden. c. Examples of many of the books d. Many are historically accurate. e. Many are not, and thus considered fiction. f. Many go into further detail about events recorded in the Bible (Canon) 5. Pseudepigrapha a. Same root as pseudonym. b. Non canonical writings purported to have come from biblical characters. c. Books of ancient Jewish literature outside the canon and the Apocrypha d. Mostly classified as Biblical Stories. Like Veggie Tales. 6. Canonization of the Bible a. Many theories, mostly dealing with various council meetings b. OT Canon

i. No historian left a full account. ii. Ezra was responsible for one collection. 450 bc. c. NT Canon theories i. One, a gradual 300 year process. ii. Two, Peter Paul and John met and agreed iii. Three, (most likely) The Apostle John, author of Revelation and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and the last remaining disciple, who out lived all others wrote in Revelation 22:18-19. This indicates finality, that the canon was and is complete. d. Inspired by God i. What qualifies a book for a place in the canon of the OT or NT is not just that it is ancient, informative and helpful, and has long been read and valued by God’s people, but that it has God’s authority for what it says. God spoke through its human author to teach His people what to believe and how to behave. ii. It is inspired, which makes the Bible and the books in the Bible different from all other books. e. This takes faith i. We can rest assured that the eternal God had a sure hand in ensuring His Word would survive for future generations and we have exactly the writings He chose to be preserved for us.