The doctrine of the importance of Bible doctrine

1. Definition. Bible doctrine is the content of the canon of scripture, but the content which emphasises communication. Bible doctrine is what the Bible has to say when it is taught. It is the communication of Bible information on the basis of exegesis, classification, analysis, interpretation of scripture by authorised personnel - someone who has the gift of pastor-teacher and someone who is prepared through study to communicate Bible doctrine. Since Bible doctrine is the mind of Christ — 1 Corinthians 2:16 — it must be communicated by those who have been authorised, and beginning in the past this means the prophet, the Levitical priesthood, the apostle, and the pastor-teacher in this particular period of history.

2. In His dying breath the Lord Jesus Christ made doctrine the spiritual legacy of the royal family of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ died twice on the cross. His first death was a spiritual death bearing our sins, taking our place. He was judged in our place, He became our substitute. And because Jesus Christ completed the work of salvation while He was very much alive He said “It is finished.” Finished means that salvation was completed. Nothing could be added to it, nothing could be taken from it, salvation was a completed fact. Then Jesus Christ began that very quick process of dying physically. He exhaled one breath before He died, and in His last breath He uttered the words of Psalm 31:5 — “Into your hands I deposit my spirit, for you have delivered me O Jehovah, God of doctrine.” So the Lord Jesus Christ Himself explained where He had the spiritual stamina, the strength, the motivation, the courage, the nobility, to take the most awful course in history and follow it to the object which was the cross. According to Colossians 2:14,15, Hebrews 2:14,15 the Lord Jesus Christ broke the back of Satan on the cross, He accomplished the strategic victory, He provided everything necessary in that moment for our eternal salvation. Now something is added to it because of the work of Christ, because of the strategic victory, because of His resurrection, ascension and session the Age of Israel was suddenly interrupted. A new dispensation was begun, the dispensation of the Church, the age of the royal family of God, a dispensation in which we find ourselves today at this moment. And in order that the royal family of God might understand its mission on earth, its objective, Christ has passed on to it the regimental colours of Bible doctrine.

3. This legacy, this spiritual heritage of Bible doctrine, also existed in Old Testament times. Psalm 138:2 — this particular passage is talking about David as a soldier. This verse is generally misunderstood because two or three words are not quite correctly translated. “I will worship” — the hithpael imperfect of the verb shachah. The hithpael stem is a reflexive stem. Every time that you have a verb in the Hebrew it always has five possible meanings, depending on the stem. The hithpael stem is reflexive but it is also the stem of freedom. Shachah, again, is the word for worship. Actually, it means to bow down but eventually it came to mean worship. This is not quite correctly translated unless you understand that when it says “I will worship” the subject “I” is free to worship or not to worship. It means that no one must ever be coerced into worship. You must want to worship, you must be motivated to worship. You must worship because it comes from the capacity of doctrine in your own soul. That is why the communion service is such a wonderful examination, it tests to see how much doctrine you have in your own soul. So we translate that “I myself will worship toward the temple.” Problem: There is no temple at that time. It will be built in Solomon’s day. So what do we have here? Actually, the temple here refers to the fact that David is worshipping toward heaven. When he worships he is looking up, he is not bowing his head. David recognises where headquarters is, he recognises that heaven is the abode of God, he is occupied with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, as a great soldier he has a maximum amount of Bible doctrine in his soul, and when he says “I will worship toward the temple” he is talking about the real holy of holies. He is prophetically anticipating the fact that the veil would be torn apart at the cross and that you and I would live in the holy of holies. So here is a king looking forward to the day when there would be a royal family on the earth and every believer would live in the palace. You and I today live in the palace because of the dispensation in which we were saved. David will not be a king in heaven. We will be royal family in heaven and he will be there but he will not be a king at that time, but he was looking forward to it, and when he was looking forward to it he was recognising something else. He was recognising that God is perfect, and if God is perfect any time He has a plan it can only be a perfect plan. It is impossible for a perfect God to come up with an imperfect plan. Therefore he was recognising that everything depended on who and what God is, and that God had already set up the five paragraph field order, God had already made the issue clear and it was merely a matter of being oriented himself. And when David said, “I myself will worship” in effect he was saying “I am oriented to the plan of God”. In other words, we are looking at David at a time when he had maximum doctrine in his soul, we are looking at David on the edge of the supergrace life, on the high ground. David is on the high ground, he is holding the high ground at the time that he says this.

“of your holiness” — in other words when he takes the high ground his first look is an upward look. David never lost track after those dismal days as a battalion commander and as a mercenary force hired out to the Philistines. After he recovered from that stage of reversionism he never had any illusions as to the source of his grace and blessing. Therefore, this is actually a statement of occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. David is standing at a high spot, he has taken the high ground, he has made the point of maturity, he is now a supergrace believer as he utters these words.

“and praise” — the hiphil imperfect of the verb jadah. The hiphil stem is causative active voice. He is caused or motivated to praise. But it doesn’t really mean praise. Basically this word means to celebrate. You will never praise or celebrate the Lord until you are motivated, and you will never be motivated until it comes from inside you - not some herd-bound thing, but inside you. If it comes from inside you it comes from your soul, and if it comes from your soul it is because you kept going, you kept going, you never let anything stop you.

“your name” is literally “your person.” The word shem means reputation or person. Here it means person, later on we will see it as reputation — “and celebrate your person.” Ritual must have something in the soul to relate it to reality. Ritual without reality is meaningless and because we have doctrine in the soul we love and appreciate who and what Christ is, and because we have doctrine in the soul we love and appreciate the traditions of our freedom as they relate to our military organisations.

The next word is “for”, but it is not for at all, it is the causal waw which is almost like the Greek gar which has so many meanings. Gar can be explanatory, it can be inferential, it can be a lot of things. So with waw. This is what is called a causal waw and therefore you never translate it “for”, you translate it “because.” He is going to explain to us why he worships the Lord, why he is occupied with Christ, why he recognises the celebrityship of Jesus Christ. He is going to explain all of this in detail, very quickly.

“thy loving kindness” — lovingkindness is an old English word which is anachronistic, it really doesn’t have too much meaning to us any more because the word “love” has been so abused. In the Hebrew “lovingkindness” is a very short noun, chesedh, and it means grace. Grace depends on who and what God is. Under grace God does the planning, God provides, God meets the need. It should be translated “because of your grace.”

“for thy truth” — emeth, which means doctrine — “and because of your doctrine.”

“for” — once more it is a causal concept, but this time it is a conjunction. Instead of being the causal waw it is a little stronger, ki; and then we have “thou hast magnified” — the hiphil perfect of gadal; then we have “thy word” — im rah, which means categorical, analytical, exegetical discourse. We will simply translate it “doctrinal teaching.”

“above all thy name” — this is a prepositional phrase, al plus shem which means fame, renown, or reputation. It should be translated “over your reputation” — “you have magnified your doctrinal teaching over your reputation.” In other words, God’s character is no the line with Bible doctrine. The principle of doctrine is more important than reputation.

Translation: “I myself will worship toward the temple of your holiness [heaven], and celebrate your person [occupation with the person of Christ] because of your grace and because of your doctrine; because you have magnified your doctrinal teaching over your reputation.”

God is revealed, God utilises, God has centered everything for us in Bible doctrine. Therefore, Bible doctrine is more important than the air that you breathe. God the Father attaches the highest importance to doctrine because it expresses who and what Christ is, because it expresses His plan, because it provides the logistics for His plan, because it provides everything that we will ever need at any time. God the Father attaches the highest honour to the person and the work of Christ but that would be obscure apart from Bible doctrine.

4. Bible doctrine preexisted the human race. Bible doctrine is the thinking of Christ, Bible doctrine was the plan of God the Father, Bible doctrine is authored by the Holy Spirit; and since God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit always existed Bible doctrine preexisted with them - Proverbs chapter eight.

5. Attitude toward Bible doctrine determines whether the believer is going to be blessed or disciplined.

Proverbs 8:33-36 —

Verse 33 — “Pay attention to doctrinal teaching [heed instruction]” — listen to the teaching of doctrine. And what happens when you do? — “so that you will be wise” — wisdom is maximum doctrine on the launching pad. Wisdom is spiritual common sense, Bible doctrine on the launching pad, the utilisation of Bible doctrine. Wisdom is more than common sense though, wisdom is living by divine principles, basing your life on divine principles. It means to have principles — “do not neglect it”. How can you neglect it? When anything else is more important than assembling for Bible teaching.

Verse 34 — “Blessed” — ashere is “happinesses”, plural because as you advance and follow the colours to the high ground and to the tactical victory you have two kinds of happiness, spiritual and material. One is related to the person of Christ and the other is related to supergrace blessings.

“to the man who listens to me” — “me” is Bible doctrine. This is a personification of Bible doctrine — “watching daily” — the daily function of GAP — “at my gates” — the gates of the ancient world was the place for assembly, an auditorium — “waiting at my door posts” — that indicates a positive attitude toward the Word of God.

Verse 35 — “For he who finds me [Bible doctrine] finds capacity for life, and obtains supergrace from the Lord.”

Verse 36 — the other side for those who will not persevere. “But he who sins against me [negative volition toward doctrine] injures himself; and those who hate me [doctrine] love death [the sin unto death].”

6. Therefore, doctrine is the basis for the distribution of supergrace blessings — Isaiah 53:12, “Therefore I [God the Father] will distribute the spoil of victory to him [Christ]” — Christ is the victor in the great angelic warfare — “because of the many [believers, members of the royal family], then he will distribute the plunder of victory to the great ones [the heroes, any believer who GAPS it to supergrace], because he poured out his soul to death; prior to this he was identified with the [Levitical] offerings for sin;” — in other words, He fulfilled them all — “because he himself carried the sin of the many [human race], and about the offering for sin it was caused to fall upon him.”

The strategic victory of Christ began on the cross when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.

7. Bible doctrine is more real than empirical knowledge — 2 Peter 1:12-21. When a believer continues to take in doctrine it becomes more real to him than anything else. With this viewpoint he is motivated for everything in life for which God designed him to do.

8. The plan of God is advanced and vindicated through Bible doctrine — Isaiah 53:10. God the Father in eternity past appointed Jesus Christ the mission of eternal salvation for the human race. When he was on the cross bearing our sins and taking our place that mission was accomplished. Now we simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have eternal salvation. “He shall see his seed” — the royal family of the Church Age — “he shall prolong his days” — the future rule over Israel — “therefore the plan of Jehovah the Father shall advance by his hand.” The plan of God advances through the Lord Jesus Christ. The plan of God advances today because Jesus Christ has given to us the heritage of Bible doctrine. In another way, Romans 3:4 says the same thing — “Shall unbelief cancel the faithfulness of God?” If someone says I no longer believe, does that cancel anything? No. God remains faithful no matter what our instabilities may be in life. Answer: “Definitely not. Moreover, let God continue truthful though every man a liar; even as it stands written, That you might become vindicated by means of your doctrine [the doctrine you learn], and that you might become victorious when you are being maligned.”

9. Lack of doctrine destroys a nation — Hosea 4:1-6.

10. The communicator of Bible doctrine authorised for the Church Age is the pastor-teacher — Ephesians 4:11-13; Colossians 1:25-29; Hebrews 13:7,17.

11. The communication of doctrine establishes the balance of residency in the soul of the believer. When the believer is filled with the Spirit the Holy Spirit controls the soul as well as the body. There is something missing — minus doctrine in the soul. Therefore we have the word of God, we have the communicator authorised to do so, we have the local church as the classroom, in order that this minus might become a plus. The filling of the Spirit plus doctrine resident in the soul is the dynamics of the royal family on this earth. Therefore Bible doctrine is important to balance out the residency of the soul. Without Bible doctrine in the soul and only the filling of the Spirit you have unbalance and this must be rectified. It is rectified by doctrine in the soul — balance of residency.

a) Bible doctrine is transferred from the written page of the Word of God to the soul of the believer under the function of GAP. That means that there is doctrine resident in the Word. That means that there is a communicator authorised by God and a place to do it which is the local church. That means that when this doctrine is communicated under the ministry of the Holy Spirit it becomes resident in the left lobe only. But doctrine in the left lobe won’t do it. James says that you must be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only. A doer of the Word is one who has doctrine in his right lobe or on the launching pad. So hearing the Word is the first stage. Transferring it over is a grace function, but the point is that the doctrine you use is the doctrine you have transferred to your right lobe. We call that a grace apparatus for perception because regardless of your human IQ God has provided at the point of salvation a system, an apparatus of the soul, whereby you can understand doctrine whether you are two points above a moron or a genius. Your human IQ is never an issue. There is no such thing as a person who is a believer who cannot through persistence understand Bible doctrine.

b) The purpose of this transfer is to establish in the soul of the believer balance of residency, the stability necessary for us to fulfill our objective in life.

c) As a badge of royalty the body of every Church Age believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

d) When the believer is filled with the Spirit in compliance to Ephesians 5:18 a residency of the third person of the Trinity is established.

e) Since the Spirit works through the Word, or Bible doctrine, the filling of the Spirit creates a vacancy in the soul.

f) This vacancy is filled by the daily function of GAP creating a balance of residency necessary for the function of the royal family on earth.

12. Consequently, the importance of consistency in the function of GAP. It is important that we persist, that we continue to take it in, today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next, regardless of other circumstances in life — Hebrews 10:25.

Principles

1. The promise mentioned in verse 36 has to do with your paragraph of supergrace blessing.

2. The promise, then, refers to supergrace blessings promised in eternity past. These supergrace blessings come to you on the basis of persistence, of perseverance, in following the colours.

3. Consistency, then, is the secret to growing up spiritually, therefore the secret to taking the higher ground of the supergrace life.

4. The believer must be challenged to GAP it daily regardless of the circumstances which arise in his life. The principle is that no matter what we must realise the importance of Bible doctrine.

5. No matter what is perfectly expressed in this life it is always going to be distorted. Therefore, when you do not understand what is being taught from any given passage your persistence must recognise that your persistence will understand when the time comes.

The same concept is found in Colossians 2:6,7. Paul in Colossians 2 is setting up a defense perimeter to regroup the Colossians. They had been pretty badly mauled by some false doctrine. So in setting up a defense perimeter to regroup them, this is what he says. “According as you have received to yourselves Christ Jesus the Lord, so keep walking in him.” Now what he is saying is this. How did you begin the Christian way of life? Well at first you didn’t know anything. Then somewhere along the line you were squared away by hearing what the true gospel is. As a spiritual baby it was a brand new ball game and gradually you had to learn the whole thing, and it took a little time. Don’t be discouraged is the principle. Then in Colossians 2:7 Paul sets up that perimeter — “Having been rooted and constantly being built up in him, being stabilised by means of doctrine, in the manner that you have been taught, over flowing with thanksgiving.”