"Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life." (1 John 2:24-25)
Beloved,
The love of doctrine seems to be one of the hallmarks of Christian living that has fallen out of vogue in these latter days. A doctrine is simply a teaching or belief that is espoused as being authoritative for a particular group of people. Doctrine helps to define who we are, what we believe and how we are different from others. Doctrine is also the thing that has been recently “declared” to be ugly, divisive and unnecessary by many pastors who are attempting to appeal to the sensibilities of the masses and attract the lost to Christ by making all things “Christian” sweet and palatable to the lost world around us. Fortunately, scripture’s view of doctrine does not coincide with what most popular leaders of the modern church believe. The bible sees doctrine as the essential understanding of who God in His sovereign holiness is, who sinful man is and what is required to reconcile the two opposing ends; namely the foreordained death of Jesus Christ as a redeeming sacrifice and the necessity of our repentance of sin followed by genuine devotion to God. Although scripture does make room for the sharp distinctions that doctrine brings (this is labeled “divisive” by those who oppose doctrine), it does not consider the essential beliefs of God’s Church to be either ugly or unnecessary. Rather, the scriptures see doctrine as beautiful beyond human compare in that God’s loving commitment to demonstrate His glory through His mercy upon sinful human beings moves Him to act on their behalf in ways that they never would or could achieve. The fact that God has taken the initiative in the salvation of souls is a beauty that cannot be replicated by anyone but God. Secondly, this particular teaching is the very basis of salvation in the Christian Church and without it there is no discernable difference between those who are true children of God and those who are not. Sadly though, many claim to know and love God while at the very same time denying the nature and necessity of what God has said to those whom He loves, or in others words, His doctrine. How can you love someone when you are not willing to accept what they have said? How can you know someone when you patently reject what they have said as being offensive and bigoted? The simple answer is you can’t but that is exactly what many pastors and the people they lead are attempting to do. The apostle Paul tells us that if we have a genuine relationship with God, we will love what He says; we will love doctrine. It is in that very same doctrine that we find the promises of the God we claim to know and it is in that doctrine that those who have really found God abide.
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