What is "doctrine" as defined in the Holy Bible?
What is doctrine?
Mark 7:7 "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
According to this verse, doctrines are teachings of God’s commandments. While the scribes and Pharisees should be teaching from the pure commandments of God, they have failed to do so, and instead they taught for doctrines the commandments of men.
Proverbs 4:2 "For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law."
Jeremiah 10:8 "But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities."
Embedded in the law of God is good doctrine. Likewise, embedded in the commandments of man are doctrine of vanities.
Isaiah 28:9 "¶ Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts."
Doctrines are teachings derived from the law of God. It is God’s commandments processed and understood by the hearer.
Deuteronomy 32:2 "My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:"
Isaiah 28:10 "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"
The key phrase here is “here a little, and there a little.” This is God comparing his doctrine to rain drops and dew, and it is given to us precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.
Mark 1:22 "And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes."
There is authority in the words of the LORD, and that authority is expressed by the teaching of doctrine: principles or truth derived from the commandments of God. Moreover, doctrines are built on words and phrases: precept upon precept, and line upon line. If the words are changed, it will also change the doctrine, and with that, God’s commandments will lose that divine authority.
John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Matthew 15:9 "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
Change the words and you change the doctrines. That is the reason why the 66 books of the Holy Bible is constantly under attack.
When the source of the doctrine is modified, it is no longer possible to teach God’s doctrine in its fulness, and without the ability to process and understand God’s truth, one cannot worship God in spirit and in truth. That’s why churches that teach for doctrines the commandments of men have worshipped God in vain.
Jeremiah 25:10-11 "Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."
When a church is in rebellion against God, these are the 6 things that God will take away:
voice of mirth;
Isaiah 24:8 "The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth."
The first thing God is going to remove will be the God-honouring music and hymns in the church. In their place, songs or music which sounds like they are honouring God, but are in fact honouring the Devil, will be installed.
voice of gladness;
Psalms 4:7 "Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased."
Instead of true gladness that come from God, it will be “happiness” that comes with the gratifying of the flesh.
voice of the bridegroom;
Ephesians 5:32 "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church."
Jesus is the bridegroom, and in removing the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the Lord will also be removed. In its place will be another voice: the voice of “another Jesus.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)
voice of the bride;
Revelation 19:7 "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."
The church is the bride of Christ, and so in removing the voice of the bride, that also means that truly born again believers will not be found in churches that teach for doctrines the commandments of men.
sound of the millstones;
Amos 8:11 "¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:"
A millstone is an instrument that was used to process grains and wheats for food. In taking away the sound of the millstones, God will take away their means to process his laws and commandments, so that churches that teach for doctrines the commandments of men will starve and thirst for spiritual food and drink that produce life.
light of the candle.
Proverbs 6:23 "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:"
Psalms 18:28 "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness."
In removing the light of the candle, God takes away the light of the word of God, and put darkness in its place, so that churches that teach for doctrines the commandments of men will never come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
Every word of God in the 66 books of the Holy Bible is profitable for doctrine. In fact, your doctrines will tell others about the “Jesus Christ” you claim to believe in, whether it is the Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible, or “another Jesus” in 2 Corinthians 11:4.
Galatians 1:6-7 "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ."
The gospel of Christ is doctrine because it is a teaching from the law of God on how sinners are saved, and being a teaching, that means that it can be perverted. There are principles laid out in a doctrine, and these principles are derived from the word of God.
Hebrews 6:1-2 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."
The doctrine of Christ is a system of doctrines based upon certain principles laid out in the Holy Bible. Some of the doctrines mentioned here in this passage of scripture include repentance from dead works, faith toward God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment, and these are all encompassed in the doctrine of Christ.
2 John 1:9 "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son."
Doctrine is important, and it will divide. A Christian falsely saved by a believing in a false doctrine is someone who professed to believe in Jesus Christ but was never born again to begin with. Well, it started with the perversion of the word of God. What is my doctrine of the word of God?
"What do you believe about the Holy Bible?"
Sometime ago, I was asked this question by another believer. I have written extensively on this topic in many of my articles of faith, but in this post, I just want to get to the crux of it. Many Christians I've met here and elsewhere generally have a high view of the Holy Bible. Some may not even use the 1611 King James Bible, but they believe that the doctrine of God's words (not the words) has been preserved in the bible version they are reading.
Well, what do I believe about the Holy Bible?
First and foremost, I believe that God is the sole Author of the 66 books of the Holy Bible, and that he inspired holy men of faith from Genesis to Revelation in giving us his words in the form of Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.
Secondly, I believe that the perfect word of God is found in the 1611 King James Bible in the English language. I believe that every letter, every number, every word, every book, every chapter and every verse numbering, the order and arrangement of every word and number are precisely and accurately used, divinely inspired, preserved and translated by God and God alone. While the words of the LORD can be translated into different languages, nothing can be put to it nor any thing taken from it. Tongues belong to men but the words belong to God. Even in a Bible translation, the words of the LORD must continue in spirit and in truth.
Thirdly, I do not subscribe to the Ruckmannite doctrine that the words in 1611 King James Bible are more superior than those of the underlying manuscripts, but that they have been faithfully translated across. I believe that the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic words have been faithfully translated to the English language in the 1611 King James Bible, and that there is no error and no room for a better translation, whatsoever.
Lastly, I do not subscribe to the dispensational interpretation of the Holy Bible. I do not believe in the doctrine that God has divided the entire history of mankind into 7 periods of time which CI Scofield referred to as "dispensations," and how these periods are marked off in scripture as drastic changes in God's method of dealing with mankind, and that the 66 books of the Holy Bible should be cut up into sets of scripture and arbitarily assigned to different people born in different "dispensations" (or ages).