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KNOWING GOD THROUGH HIS WORD
A. Introduction: We’re working on a series about the importance of developing the habit of reading the Bible
on a regular basis. To help encourage people to read, we’re talking about what the Bible is and what it will
and won’t do for you, as well as how to read it effectively.
1. The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books written by more than forty authors over a 1500 year period.
Despite the number of authors and years that it took to write its contents, the Bible has a continuity that
runs throughout because it was inspired by Almighty God. The Bible is actually the Word of God.
a. Altogether, these books reveal God’s desire for a family and the lengths to which He has gone to
obtain His family through Jesus. Every book adds to or advances this story in some way.
b. The Bible is essential to relationship with God because the Lord reveals Himself, or makes Himself
known to us, through His written Word. Through the Bible, God shows us His character, His plans,
His purposes, and how He brings them to pass.
2. Paul the apostle (an eyewitness of Jesus and writer of fourteen Bible books) stated that the Bible gives us
“the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes from trusting in Jesus” (II Tim 3:15, NLT).
a. The Bible informs us that all humans are in need of salvation because all are guilty of sin before God
who is holy. We’ve all violated God’s moral Law and are disqualified for His family.
b. The Bible reveals that Jesus came into this world to die as a sacrifice for sin and open the way for all
who believe in Him to be delivered from the guilt and power of sin and restored to the God’s family.
c. The Bible further reveals that the salvation God provides is more than being saved from the guilt and
power of sin. Salvation is the complete restoration of human nature to all that God intends us to be.
1. Human beings were created to be sons and daughters of God who are holy and righteous. We
were created to bring honor and glory to our Heavenly Father by the way that we live.
2. When a man or woman acknowledges Jesus as their Lord and Savior, a process of restoration
begins that will ultimately undo the damage and corruption that sin has caused. This salvation
will perfect them—make them fully pleasing or glorifying to God in every part of their being.
A. The Bible is vital to the process of being saved, or fully restored to our created purpose,
because through His Word God produces growth and change in those who hear and obey it.
B. The Scriptures are the unique instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to fully restore or perfect
us. I Thess 2:13; Matt 4:4; John 6:63; II Cor 3:18; etc.
3. Immediately following Paul’s statement that the Bible (the Scriptures) give us the wisdom to receive the
salvation and restoration that God provides through Jesus, Paul made another important statement.
a. He wrote: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, (thoroughly)
furnished unto all good works (II Tim 3:16-17, KJV).
b. We’ll elaborate on what each of those words mean in upcoming lessons, but for now, note this
short summary of what God’s Word does for us. The Word of God tells us what we need to believe
about God, shows us what needs to change in us, and then changes us as we read and believe it.
Tonight we’re going to talk about doctrine.
B. First, we need to define the word doctrine. Unfortunately, in our day, certain Bible words have been turned
into negative terms—words such as religion, law, and doctrine.
1. But each of these words is used in a positive way in the Bible. Religion means devotion to God. The
word translated Law in the Old Testament means instruction (towrah), and in Jesus’ day, doctrine was
understood to mean the Scriptures.
a. I’ve had sincere Christians tell me that they don’t need doctrine in their church because they just
preach the Bible. Perhaps this attitude is an effort to be more appealing (or user-friendly) to people,
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or it’s a rejection of negative experiences they themselves had in church. They equate doctrine
with rules and procedures set up to keep people in line. Or they see doctrine as dull, dry, and
boring, and they want relationship with God, not rules and regulations.
b. What these people don’t realize is that the Bible is doctrine. The Greek word that is translated
doctrine means instruction or teaching (either the act of teaching or the information). It’s through
the Bible that we learn about God. Doctrine means something that is taught.
c. You can’t have a true relationship with God without right doctrine (or right teaching) because there
are certain things you must believe in order to have a genuine relationship with God. It’s not either
or, it’s both doctrine and relationship.
2. We pointed out in last week’s lesson that the Bible is essential to our relationship with God because He
reveals Himself, or makes Himself known, through His written Word. We also said that Jesus is God’s
clearest, fullest revelation of Himself to mankind because Jesus is God.
a. Jesus is God become man without ceasing to be God—fully God, fully man. Two thousand years
ago He took on a human nature (or incarnated) and was born into this world so He could die as a
sacrifice for sin. John 1:1; John 1:14; Heb 2:14-15
b. Jesus is the Living Word of God, and He reveals Himself through the written Word of God—the
Scriptures (the Bible). Jesus Himself said that the Scriptures testify about Him. John 5:39
1. You can’t know God, you can’t know Jesus, apart from the Scriptures. The written Word of
God is the only fully reliable, completely trustworthy source of information about Jesus.
2. The Bible supersedes feelings, thoughts, circumstances, dreams, visions, and supernatural
experiences. All of that must be judged according to the standard of God’s written Word—or
according to right doctrine or teaching.
3. Doctrine is vitally important to Christianity because there are certain teachings (certain information)
about who Jesus is and what He has done that you must believe in order to be saved from sin.
a. Jesus Himself said so. In a challenging encounter with the religious leaders in Jerusalem He said
to them: For unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins (John 8:24, NLT).
b. The Scriptures tells us who Jesus is, why He came to earth, and what He did (that’s doctrine). John
the apostle was one of Jesus’ original followers. He wrote five of the books in the New Testament.
1. Here’s why he wrote: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which
are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31, ESV).
2. Christ means Anointed One. Through observing and interacting with Jesus. John came to
believe that Jesus was the Messiah that the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) promised was
coming. Messiah is a Hebrew word that means anointed one. Dan 9:25-26
3. The title son of was used at that time in that culture to mean on the order of (II Kings 2:3, 5, 7,
15; Neh 12:28). When Jesus called Himself the Son of God, listeners understood that He
was claiming to be God. That’s why Israel’s religious leaders tried to stone Jesus for
blasphemy “because you, a mere man, have made yourself God (John 10:33, NLT).
c. According to Jesus, there are some key issues (or doctrines) that must be believed to be saved. He
said that if people don’t believe that He is who He claimed to be, they will die in their sins. John
wrote so that people would know who Jesus is and receive the salvation from sin and restoration to
life that Jesus came to provide through His death and resurrection.
4. This is why doctrine (accurate information) matters. What you believe is just as important as sincerely
believing because, if what you believe about Jesus is wrong, it doesn’t matter how sincere you are.
a. I realize that there are areas of disagreement among genuine, professing Christians regarding the
faith, so we need some clarification at this point.
1. There are essential and non-essential beliefs. Essential beliefs are salvation issues or doctrines
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that you must believe to be saved from sin. Non-essential beliefs are not salvation issues.
2. Essential beliefs pertain to the Person and work of Jesus (who He is and what He did through
His sacrificial death). Non-essential beliefs include things such as: the proper order for
Christian worship; can women teach; how often should we take communion; is speaking in
other tongues for today; infant baptism verses adult baptism, etc.
b. John also wrote: Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not
have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son (II John 9, NIV). The
Greek word translated teaching is the same word that is translated doctrine elsewhere (II Tim 3:16).
1. John wrote these many years after Jesus returned to Heaven. By that time a number of false
teachings had arisen and were influencing even Christians. Among other things, these false
teachings denied the deity of Jesus (the fact that He is God), denied that He truly died on the
Cross for sin, and denied that He rose from the dead.
2. These teachings are all contrary to the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ includes
everything that pertains to the Person and work of Jesus (who He is and what He did through
His death). John echoed what Jesus said. If you don’t believe that Jesus is who He says He is
(right doctrine) you have no relationship with Him.
C. Let’s begin to look at the place doctrine (teaching from the Bible) held among the first Christians, by looking
at Paul the apostle. He was a highly educated Pharisee who at first zealously persecuted Jesus’ followers
1. About two years after Jesus’ resurrection, Paul was traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus, Syria to
arrest and jail Christians, when he had a personal encounter with Jesus. The Lord appeared to Paul.
a. When Paul asked the Lord who He was, He replied, I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
Jesus told Paul: I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to
tell the world about this experience and about other times I will appear to you (Acts 26:16, NLT).
b. The brilliant light of the Lord Jesus temporarily blinded Paul. His travelling companions took him
on to Damascus where God send a believer named Ananias to Paul.
1. Ananias laid his hands on Paul and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. “Instantly…he regained
his sight” and was baptized (Acts 9:18, NLT).
2. (Paul then) began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, He is indeed the Son of
God…and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah
(Acts 9:20-22, NLT).
2. Synagogues were a natural place for Paul to go. Synagogues were located throughout Israel. They
were places where Jews held religious services. All good Jews went to the synagogue on the Sabbath
Day, a solemn day of rest from all work that lasted from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
a. The Jewish people had regular access to the Scriptures through the synagogue. Although there was
some worship at the synagogue (a psalm and prayer), the main purpose of these gatherings was
religious instruction.
b. Paul proved to them (reasoned with them) from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Son of God, the
Messiah. Paul no doubt told them what he saw, his experience with the Lord. But he also
showed them the Scriptures (the Old Testament) because the Old Testament points to Jesus.
1. It has prophecies about the coming Messiah (Jesus) and types and shadows of Jesus (real people
and real events) that pictured or foreshadowed aspects of Jesus’ Person and work.
2. Paul would have shown them from the Scriptures that Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies about
the Messiah and explained what Jesus’ death and resurrection meant for all who believe in Him.
c. We noted that last week that that’s just what Jesus did on Resurrection Day when He appeared to His
disciples. Although they could see and touch Him, Jesus taught them about Himself through the
Scriptures. He showed them the Scriptures that pointed to Him (His Person and His work) and then
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He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-48). That’s all doctrine.
1. Even though Paul had a glorious encounter with the resurrected Lord Jesus, he appealed to the
Scriptures to make His case that Jesus is the Lord God. Remember, Paul wrote our key verse
for this series, that the Scriptures are profitable for doctrine, for accurate teaching about Jesus.
2. Paul knew this because he grew up with the Scriptures in the synagogue and recognized the
value of knowing God through His written Word.
3. We aren’t going to discuss this in detail now, but note that a few days before Jesus went to the Cross, He
told His apostles that prior to His second coming false christs and false prophets will abound and deceive
many (Matt 24:4-5; 11; 24). Jesus’ eyewitnesses echoed these words.
a. Note what Paul wrote: The Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away
from what we believe; they will follow lying spirits and teachings from demons (I Tim 4:1, NLT).
A time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own
desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear (II Tim 4:3, NLT).
b. Jesus’ return draws closer with each passing day, and religious deception abounds. If ever there
was a time to know doctrine—who Jesus is and what He accomplished through His death—it’s now.
Our only protection against deception is to know who Jesus is according to the Bible.
D. Conclusion: We’ll say more about knowing Jesus through doctrine and the value that the first Christians
placed on the Scriptures next week. But for now, consider these points as we close.
1. One of our goals in this series is to help us read the Bible more effectively. This year I’m encouraging
us to read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) through from several times, from start to finish.
a. These books were written by eyewitnesses of Jesus (or close associates of eyewitnesses) to tell
people who Jesus is, and what He did, so that men and women will believe on Him.
b. Ask God to help you see Jesus in the Scriptures as happened to Jesus’ followers on resurrection day.
Ask Him to open your understanding, as He did the apostles, so that you can know Jesus better.
1. I realize that reading the Bible can be challenging because there are things that are difficult to
understand. But much of that is due to the fact that the events described in the New Testament
took place two thousand years ago in a land and culture that is unfamiliar to us.
2. Good teaching from a competent Bible teacher can help with that—someone who can explain
the Scriptures to you (teach doctrine) and provide historical and cultural background.
A. An early follower of Jesus, Philip the Evangelist (Acts 6:5) was directed by the Holy Spirit
to a man (an Ethiopian eunuch) who was reading from the Book of Isaiah. Acts 8:26-39
B. Philip asked the man if he understood what he was reading. He replied: “How can I,
when there is no one to instruct me” (Acts 8:31, NLT). Philip used the passage the man
was reading (Isa 53:7-8) and many other Scriptures (doctrine) to proclaim Jesus to the man.
3. Sadly, much of what comes from many pulpits today is not teaching (doctrine), it’s principles
for living a good life as opposed to explaining the Scriptures to reveal Jesus and His work.
c. The night before Jesus was crucified He told His original twelve apostles that He was soon going to
leave them. But Jesus promised to continue to reveal Himself to His people through the Scriptures.
1. John 14:21—Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And, because
they love me, my Father will love them and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each
one of them (NLT).
2. Jesus’ apostles would have understood commandments to mean all that Jesus said to them while
He was with them, as well as all that was already written in the Scriptures.
2. We were created for relationship with Almighty God. The Scriptures are vital to this relationship, not
only because they tell us what we must believe (doctrine), but because Jesus makes Himself known to us
through His written Word. Get to know Him through His Word. More next week!