Sound Doctrine Matters!!

From the heart of Dr. Robert L. Taylor, Th.D. Moses says to us, (4) “The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! (5) For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5). Being people who love, we must also be people who hate. If we are to love what blesses people, we must hate what harms and destroys them. As followers of Jesus, we’re to love what God loves and hate what God hates! As we love and hate in these ways, we imitate the God who both loves and hates! God hates unsound, unhealthy doctrine because it deceives. It causes people to believe lies for the truth. In this teaching we see why God hates deceit. The context of our passage is Genesis 3:1–7. It tells the sad story of Satan’s deception of Eve as well as the drastic and immediate consequences which followed. What is deception? It’s defined as the act of causing someone to believe a lie for the truth. The Bible says that false doctrine is inconsistent with the whole of Scripture, and that it can be identified by: Adding to, taking away from, or contradicting God’s Word! Because of hating deception, you should examine all that you hear or read with God’s Word! Learn to hate deception as God does! Instead of being like God, Adam and his wife earn spiritual death (separation from God), as well as lives punctuated by frustration, conflict, and pain, resulting in physical death. Within the context of the story, the immediate consequence of being deceived is not expected and also tragic. Does it really matter what you believe? Absolutely, it mattered to Adam and Eve! Make sure you’re hearing and reading doctrine that’s sound, wholesome, nourishing, and healthy! Now before you imagine “sound doctrine” as anything other than extremely significant, please remind yourself of what sound doctrine is one last time: reliable and accurate Biblical teaching. It may seem unimportant to some people, but it’s vital! If the New Testament teachers were willing to risk their lives for it, why shouldn’t we prioritize it? The impact of sound doctrine is exponential and powerful. When sound, wholesome doctrine was taught in the early church, it exploded in all the right ways (Acts 2:40-41). If a generation of believers will teach sound doctrine and stand for the truth, they will be modeling faithfulness for those who will come next! In other words, they’ll be discipling the next generation of disciple-making disciples with the foundation they’ll need to bring honor and glory to God. Be encouraged!