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Practical Applications
of God’s Word
Part 9 – Doctrine
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Many people discredit doctrine (Scriptural teaching), as not being important or relevant today. However, the Bible stresses the need for sound doctrine. We cannot have sound practice without sound doctrine. That is why Paul also said to Timothy, “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life” (2 Timothy 3:10). In other words, his manner of life and practice was based on the teachings of Scripture. He also told Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them” (1 Timothy 4:16). These and many other verses show that to live a proper Christian life we need to be familiar with the teachings of Scripture. We cannot have a truly fruitful life for God if we don’t have the proper foundation for Christian living.
Furthermore, we will never be able to detect or refute false doctrine if we don’t know the true doctrine. Titus was told, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). With this in mind, “Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13).
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