I.
Why
do we need to study our Bible?
A.
Our
doctrines have a divine origin (John 7:16).
B.
Our
doctrines are outlined in Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16).
II.
Adherence
to sound doctrine is vital to our faith.
A.
We
must continue in sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:16).
B.
We
guard doctrine by the Holy Spirit ( 2 Tim. 1:13-14).
C.
We
hold fast to sound doctrine (Titus 1:9).
III.
The
doctrines that affect salvation are what we call essential doctrine.
A.
It
directly affects our relationship to God (1 John 2:23-24).
B.
It
must center on the true Jesus, the true Holy Spirit, and the true Gospel ( 2
Corinthians 11:4; Galatians 1:6-9).
IV.
We
bear a heavy responsibility to teach doctrine correctly.
A.
We
will be judged by our teaching (James 3:1).
B.
Our
words should emulate the words of Jesus (1 Tim. 6:1-5).
V.
Some
variation on non-essential doctrines is permissible between Christian believers
without affecting our standing with God (Romans 14:1-5; Colossians 2:16; 1 Cor.
13:9-10 – we know in part).
VI.
Is
sound doctrine only a matter of interpretation?
A.
There
are proper and improper ways to approach Scripture. As evangelical Christians we stand for the literal interpretation
in contrast to liberal and allegorical interpretations.
1.
The
Bible is God’s infallible word (Hebrews 6:18).
2.
We
must use proper rules for interpretation, which are exemplified by Jesus and
the Apostles. We take the Bible
literally in its historical-grammatical sense.
B.
The
TEXT is studied in three main ways:
1.
Literary
genre—Jesus recognized figures of speech in John 6:48 and 15:5.
2.
Word
studies—each word is important as seen in Matthew 5:18.
3.
Grammar—Paul
emphasized the importance of the singular number of a noun in Galatians 3:16.
C.
The
CONTEXT is studied in three main ways:
1.
Immediate
context—the surrounding paragraph (example: the context of “perfect” in
relationship to “love” in Matthew 5:48).
2.
Wider
context—this considers the context of the entire book (1 John 3:6 may be
mistaken to say that Christians are sinless, but the context of the book, 1
John 1:7, tells us otherwise).
3.
Complete
context—the context of the entire Bible must be considered. Genesis 3:9 may erroneously be thought as a
limitation on God’s knowledge, but Isaiah 40:10 and Psalm 139:1-6 give the
proper and complete biblical context that God is omniscient.
D.
The
BACKGROUND is studied in three main ways:
1.
Cultural
background—Matthew 1:18-20 gives the custom for calling a betrothed person a
“husband” or “wife.”
2.
Historical
elements—history and archaeology give evidence for historical truth and
background (John 19:23 shows that Jesus and the Jews knew where Solomon’s porch
was, even though it had been built a thousand years earlier).
3.
Environmental
elements—the fauna, flora, geography, and topography plays an important role in
interpretation (Luke 19:28 and Matthew 13:26).
VII.
©
2000 – Kurt Van Gorden
A solid commitment to the
Bible and its truthfulness is necessary for an unashamed approval by God (2
Timothy 2:15-16).