"Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son."
Sometimes you will hear foolish and ignorant people say things like this: "Doctrine is bad. Who needs it? It only causes trouble and division among Christians." Actually, those statements themselves are doctrinal in nature--but they demonstrate very *bad* doctrine.
We cannot have Christ without doctrine; and this is one of the reasons it is so critically-important. Good doctrine leads the church directly *to* Jesus, and seeks to keep her there. Bad and vacuous doctrine leaves people out in the theological "cold." Don't be ashamed of Christ, nor His doctrine. You can't have one without the other.
[Puritan quote of the day: "A praying man can never be very miser-
able, whatever his condition be, for he has the ear of God . . . "
--William Bridge, in "A Lifting Up for the Downcast"]
