Food For Thought...

Sound Doctrine Required
Posted by jerrywhite on May 19, 2010
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound (healthy) teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passion, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (ESV)
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The day when many who profess Christ will not endure sound doctrine is upon us. Many strange winds are blowing upon the church. In our day of instant gratification, pleasure seeking, and quick fixes, many professing Christians will not take time to diligently seek, study, meditate and pray over God’s Word so they can understand with mind and heart the vital doctrines of God. Too easily some accept what sounds spiritual from a winsome personality, when in fact it does not match up with God breathed Scriptures. Basic principles of Biblical interpretation are ignored. Fundamental truths the apostles considered crucial are overlooked. Many active in church cannot articulate sound doctrine and cannot even think straight about essential truth. Worse, these truths are not even considered important. “Don’t disturb me with what God truly says, I just want a happy and comfortable life.” The result is that many professing believers hold to a hodge-podge of beliefs that have absolutely no Biblical foundation.
We can show our love for the Lord Jesus by studying His Word so we understand exactly what He says and means. By this our lives can line up with His revealed truth. Otherwise we are spiritually crippled and cannot grow into His likeness. Truth is not about what makes us feel good; it is about what our Lord precisely says so we can stand upon solid Biblical truth, obey His clear commands, and rest upon His glorious promises.
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“It was doctrine in the apostolic ages which emptied the heathen temples, and shook Greece and Rome. It was doctrine which awoke Christendom from its slumbers at the time of the Reformation and spoiled the Pope of one-third of his subjects. It is doctrine which gives power to every successful mission, whether at home or abroad. It is doctrine – doctrine, clear ringing doctrine – which like the rams’ horns at Jericho, casts down the opposition of the devil and sin.”
J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)