Where to Get Your Doctrine

This should seem obvious, but the only place where you should seek doctrine is the Bible.

“Jesus Told Me So” Doctrine

Unfortunately, in modern faith circles, there is a tendency toward direct doctrinal revelations where “Jesus told So-and-So this in person” becomes the primary reason why something should be believed.  The fact that someone says that Jesus said something is NEVER in itself a reason to believe ANYTHING.  It doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t really appear to the person, but unless Jesus showed them Scriptures to support the revelation, you need to lay aside that vision as far as doctrine is concerned.  Reject any doctrine that is not clearly supported by Scripture, no matter how passionately someone pleads that the Lord gave him a direct revelation.

I’ve read some wonderful revelations that line up with the Word, but I’ve encountered too many so-called revelations that actually contradict the Word and thus could not possibly have been from the Lord.  How will you know?  You MUST “prove all things” with the Word before accepting them.  The better you know your Bible, the less likely it is that you will be deceived by an offbeat revelation.  Such an offbeat revelation would be nothing new, as even in Paul’s day they had “every wind of doctrine” blowing through the church, the result being instability instead of maturity.

I am not asking you to believe ANYTHING I say in this book based on a divine encounter.  I have not at this writing had a face-to-face encounter with Jesus, though I’ve met several people who have had one.  You should only believe what I say if you agree that the Word backs it up.  If you don’t agree that what I say lines up with the Bible, go with the Bible instead of with me.

You cannot get doctrine from even your own “inner impressions.”  If you feel that the Lord is showing you something (this happens to me often), insist on seeing it in Scripture before teaching it to anyone else.

Experience-Based Doctrine

Many anti-faith people as well as faith people base their doctrine on experience, either their own or someone else’s.  Quite a few of these experience-based beliefs are found in the Objections Overruled! section of this book.  It is NEVER right to believe something because of what happened (or didn’t happen) to someone.  You MUST get your doctrine exclusively from Scripture if you expect to be a stable, mature Christian.  If you get your doctrine from a book just because it’s the new Christian bestseller, you are probably setting yourself up for failure, as a lot of books are better at selling than they are at telling the real gospel.

“I Saw It on TV” Doctrine

Taking a TV preacher’s word for something as opposed to going to the Scriptures for yourself will never produce strong faith.  The fact that someone else believes something won’t help you unless you have a Bible basis for believing it for yourself.  Ask the sons of Sceva how it worked out for them when they just went by what someone else preached without their own revelation of it!

“Lost Books of the Bible”

Some people try to get doctrine out of the “Lost Books of the Bible” that should have stayed lost!  There was a good reason that these books were not included in the canon of Scripture – they didn’t go with what the rest of Scripture said or they were just made-up stories to begin with.  Apocryphal books are not Scripture and should never be relied on for doctrine.

Your Church and Your Pastor

I hope that you have a pastor who preaches the Word without compromising or tickling people’s ears.  Even if you do, you can’t believe something just because your church’s statement of faith says it or just because your pastor says it.  If a doctrine is right, your pastor will have shown you in the Word where that doctrine came from so that you can look up verses for yourself, believe them and act on them.