Saturday, April 16th, 2011.
Christians have become specialists in extracting the
useful spiritual truth from the Bible.
“All of the Bible is useful for us!” they say.
This is true generally speaking, but not specifically. For
the Bible to become specifically useful we need to
understand the context of a passage.
Doctrinal Bible study creates the context of a passage.
It answers who is speaking, to whom, and are we in
the audience? It is the doctrine that gives each verse
a specific purpose.
Using spiritual truths without respecting the doctrinal
context leads to Bible verses being used for wrong
purposes and out of context.
Ignoring specific doctrinal study leads to a message
that sounds good, but just does not work all the time.
If you want to know the specific purpose and will of
God then study the Bible doctrinally.
You will find God’s specific purpose in the context.
For his glory,
Justin “doctrine-driven church” Johnson