Sound Doctrine (3)

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart…
1 Timothy 1:5

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I’m sure that one reason why there is so much antipathy to sound doctrine in the contemporary Church is that people have misunderstood doctrine’s purpose and proper use. Those who advocate for sound doctrine sometimes give the impression that knowing doctrine and believing it are the proper ends of doctrine. In such a case doctrine becomes a kind of spiritual trump card: if I know the right doctrine and hold firmly to it, then I enjoy a kind of spiritual superiority over those with whom I might be engaged in discussion or debate. Doctrine is for knowing and believing; the more you know and the more firmly you believe it, the more your faith is what it ought to be.

But simply knowing doctrine is never enough. The devil knows the doctrines of Scripture as well as the best theologians in the Church, but they don’t do him any good. Paul says the aim of teaching sound doctrine is love. In fact, he would say that we don’t really know doctrine – no matter how well versed in it we may be – until it issues in love for God and love for others in the way we live. “The aim of our charge is love,” Paul wrote, and the charge he had in mind was that of teaching sound doctrine (cf. vv. 3, 10, 11). When doctrine is having its proper effect on us, love is the result. And getting to love involves more than just what we know – or, think we know.

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Knowing doctrine is important, of course. The more we study the Scriptures, asking questions about this, that, and the other, the more we will be able to build up our store of doctrinal knowledge concerning all the Bible has to teach us. Every believer in Christ should be working hard to improve his stock of knowledge about the sound doctrines of the faith.

But if love is going to ensue from our study of sound doctrine, two other aspects of the soul must be engaged, and not only engaged, dramatically transformed. The first of these is the heart. Paul writes that the aim of our charge is love, “that issues from a pure heart…” (v. 5). Now the heart is the seat of affections – our attitudes, feelings, hopes, and aspirations. We all have such affections – love, hate, fear, disgust, anger, longing, compassion, zeal, and so forth. Studies in the field of neuroscience are beginning to confirm what Scripture has taught all along, that the emotions are an important component in a life of wisdom. We need to make sure our affections are pure, and this means that they must be focused on the right objects, and developed to the proper degree of intensity.

Affections are of two sorts: those that incline us toward something – such as compassion, love, joy, hope, and desire – and those that repel us from something – disgust, anger, hatred, and so forth. All these affections matter and have their place in our lives, but they must be properly focused if they are to do the work of bringing sound doctrine to expression in love. So we need to make sure that we love God, but hate sin; have compassion for the lost, but avoid those who are in rebellion against God; rejoice in the blessings of others and weep with their sorrows. The sound doctrines we are learning will help us to get our affections properly focused, and to make sure they’re ratcheted up to the proper level of intensity.

So while it’s important to get the right knowledge about sound doctrine, we also have to wrap our hearts around the teaching of Scripture as well. Because sound doctrine won’t issue in genuine love until it captures our imaginations and engages our hearts in ways consistent with the teaching of Scripture.

VP Sound Doctrine