By Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” 1 Timothy 4:16.

 ​We often hear the word doctrine in the church, but do we actually know what doctrine is? Doctrine is a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or any other group. Another name for doctrine is the teaching of a church. Every church has its own tenets of faith which consist of its articles of faith. We call it “This We Believe”. It is what defines a church’s distinctiveness. It is advisable to look at a church’s tenets of faith before joining! This will give you a sense of their beliefs so you know what you are getting yourself into.

IMPORTANCE OF FEEDING ON THE RIGHT DOCTRINE

As noted in the scripture above, Paul wrote to take heed unto yourself and the doctrine. Paul wrote that if we make sure we follow the right doctrine, we can save ourselves and those we teach. This means that if we are careless and imbibe the wrong doctrine, we can destroy our faith and that of those we teach. Wrong doctrine is like spiritual cancer that spreads among people and their belief systems. 

2 Tim 2:17-18 “This kind of talk spreads like cancer, as in the case of Hymenaeus and Philetus. 18 They have left the path of truth, claiming that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; in this way, they have turned some people away from the faith.”

We naturally avoid things that are cancerous. Shouldn’t we also avoid things that are spiritually cancerous too?

THE RIGHT SOURCE AND ARBITER  OF DOCTRINE IN THE CHURCH

Heb 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

Doctrine is also called the “Oracles of God” in some verses. Oracles of God mean messages direct from God, teachings based on the direct inspiration of God. This accurately describes the Holy Scriptures.

Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

This qualifies the Scriptures to be the only authoritative source of the oracles of God or doctrines inspired directly by the Holy Spirit.

1 Cor 2:13 “When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.”

THE SCRIPTURE IS INCORRUPTIBLE AND DOES NOT CHANGE! 1 Peter 1:23 “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever”

The Scriptures are not given to human interpretation. The Holy Spirit Himself interprets the scriptures to us by giving us the revelation of the meaning.  

1 Cor 2: 14 “But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”

THE MAIN DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

• • There are many teachings of the Scriptures but the main teaching is the Doctrine of Christ. The Gospel of grace, the teaching of the salvation of mankind through the grace of our Lord Jesus. This doctrine teaches that we are saved by grace and not by works. Jesus paid for us all!

Eph 2:4-10 “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” 8 This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone.”

• • This doctrine of Christ also reveals that the true nature of God is love. The following scriptures show how much God really loves us.

John 4:9-10 “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

Rom 5:8 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Our response to God’s love for us is largely determined by how we perceive who God is. We can clearly see from the above scriptures that God is love. When we have this revelation, it is easier to draw near to God, believe His promises and not try to pay Him for everything He freely offered us.  The right response to God’s love is to love Him too and love our fellow men.

1 John 4:19-20 “We love him, because he first loved us.20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

 It is very, very important to have an accurate knowledge of God and who He is. In Jeremiah 9:23-24, the Lord says “Don‘t let the wise boast in their wisdom,or the powerful boast in their power,or the rich boast in their riches.24 But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone:that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth,and that I delight in these things.I, the Lord, have spoken!”

There are two very important aspects of God’s love every believer should know.

1.  God’s love is unmerited, it is an act of underserved favor called Grace. It gives us what we do not deserve which is eternal life.

2. God’s love doesn’t give us what we deserve which is death and condemnation. Instead, God’s love forgives our sins at His own expense. This is called Mercy! 

Grace and mercy are two very important practical manifestations of God’s love.  The preachers of the true gospel must preach about the grace and mercy of God to mankind through Christ who brought us forgiveness and salvation. Salvation is freely given to all and freely received. 

Here are some examples of the true gospel being preached in the Scriptures.

• • Acts 13:38-40“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,”
  • Acts 14:3“But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders.”
  •  Acts 10:43“He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”
  • Acts 13:38-40“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight—something the law of Moses could never do. Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you.”

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor at Fountain of  The Living Word Church, New Jersey.