The Ten Great Doctrines

of The Bible

Doctrine

• A belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.

• Synonyms: A tenet or a teaching

1. The Bible2. God3. Christ4. Holy Spirit5. Angels6. Man7. Sin8. Salvation9. Church 10. Future Things

The Bible is the foundation for what we learn about the other nine subjects, so it is first…

Jesus is our Lord…

The Bible is our Guide

Four Main Subdivisions of the Doctrine of the Bible

• Revelation

• Inspiration

• Illumination

• Interpretation

The Four Major Subdivisions of the Doctrine of the Bible Are:

Revelation

• The Bible was revealed to man by God

• Matthew 4:4. Jesus, the Redeemer and Savior of the human race, rebuked Satan with the words, “It is written … it is written … and again it is written.” Is it possible to believe that the Lord of Life, in such a confrontation, would have appealed to a book that was merely human, fallible or untrustworthy?

Jesus also said:

• In Matthew 19:5. “God said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother...” Jesus said this, thus attributing the authorship of Genesis to the Creator of the world, God.

• In John 10:34-36. In this passage, Jesus referred to the Old Testament as “your law … the Scriptures … the word of God,” adding that “the Scriptures cannot be broken.”

• In Luke 24:25. Jesus denounced as “foolish” those who did not “believe all” that stands in the Scripture.

Inspiration

• God saw to it that when men wrote down His revelation, they did so without error.

2 Peter 1:20-21 “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful

for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every

good work.

... Scripture is “breathed out by God,” which is the correct translation of a word sometimes translated “inspired.” The word means not that God breathed something into the Bible but that God breathed it out, or, in other words, that he spoke it. The written Word is God’s personal speech. It is nothing less than the divine voice. (John M. Frame, Salvation Belongs to the Lord: An Introduction to Systematic Theology, 63 [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2006])

Because Scripture is God-breathed, it is the very word of God.

Because Scripture is God-breathed, it is also useful or profitable.

It is inherently profitable by its very nature, of course. Paul explains four ways in which Scripture is specifically profitable:

Teaching: • The dissemination of information meant

to inform what and how we think.• Scripture (The Bible) lays both the

premise and the template for thought. • It lays out the lines for us to color in.

Rebuking: • It gives us specific information showing

where we are in the wrong in how we think and behave.

• It shows where we have crossed the line, exposes our sin as sin — heinous and indefensible

• And always with God as the primary injured party.

Correcting: • To make something straight and right

again. • God breaks us with the reproof of His

Word; then with His Word, He restores us, sets us straight, heals us and puts our feet on His path.

Training in righteousness: • The Word provides authoritative and

comprehensive instruction in God-centered living.

• It is, itself, an entire course of study in that life which serves, pleases, honors and glorifies God.

Given these four benefits combined, a thoughtful reader is forced to ask: What does that that leave out?• The net effect (and design) of all this is as the

apostle Paul himself says: "that the man of God might be equipped, for every good work…

• Thoroughly-equipped! Paul is saying that the Word of God represents the very words of God, and thus tells us everything we need to understand in order to know and serve God.

Illumination

• The Holy Spirit must enable people to understand and embrace the truth of scripture

1 Cor. 2:12-15 “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Interpretation

• We must be diligent students of Scripture to understand its deeper teachings

• 2 Tim 2:15-16 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Key Issue: Is man over the Bible

or Is the Bible over man?

• Your answer to that question will greatly impact your understanding/interpretation of the Bible.

• Why?• I want what I want and I want it now…• I deserve it…• I don’t want to hurt you to get it… but I will!

2 Tim 4:3-5For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

• What are some of the desires that we have?– Fun/pleasure… “What’s wrong with…?” “God

created me this way”– Possessions… “Doesn’t God want me to be

happy?”

• Programs I have seen as a Teacher.– Course work for professional educators

• Humanistic Education…Mandatory course!!! 1986• “I’m OK you’re OK” late 1960’s and 1970’s• “INREAL” Early 1990’s

• What kinds of teachers do we gather around ourselves today that may tell us what we want to hear?

• Friends, TV, Books written by “Authorities”

Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which

depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather

than on Christ.

Hebrews 4:12-13

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-

edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts

and attitudes of the heart.

The Answer…• The Word of God is over us…• It Judges us… • And it judges us to our inner

most thoughts and our attitudes!

God’s word is unique among so-called “holy” books in that it does not merely give moral teaching and say, “trust me.”

So how do we test it?

• By checking the hundreds of detailed prophecies that it makes.

• By checking the historical accounts it records.

• By checking the scientific facts it relates.

How are we not to test it?

• By checking to see if it fits my ideas, desires and opinions

• By checking to see if it fits others ideas, desires and opinions.

So what’s the Main Take-Aways?

1. The four main subdivisions of Bible teaching.• Revelation, Inspiration, Illumination, Interpretation

2. Our position in relationship to the Bible… We are not over it, it is over us… so we interact with it rightly.

• We do not evaluate it, It evaluates us.• Q: Why do people have a hard time with

this? • A: Stubborn self centeredness, arrogance

and a willingness to do harm