What the Bible says about Does Doctrine Really Matter?
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Daniel 11:31-35 We have been warned that this is coming. There is always the possibility that God will not require that of us, and that He will take some—perhaps all of us—to the Place of Safety. Whatever the case, we need to take advantage of the time given to us to take the opportunity to stand firm in these days of training—our lives right now, when we are dealing with smaller tests of life—so that, when truly dangerous conditions arise, we will stand firm. John W. Ritenbaugh Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Four) Related Topics: Doctrine | Does Doctrine Really Matter? | Place of Safety | Standing Firm | Tests and Trials | Trials and Tests

Malachi 3:3-5 If we put this purging into a different metaphor, it means getting rid of the leaven (see I Corinthians 5:7); here people are being purged of sin. God shows that He will use persecution to purify His people through the testing of their loyalty. We know that our loyalty is being really tested all the time, but a time is coming when it will require a great deal more intense conviction about what we believe. This becomes very important because His purpose is to entrench these beliefs into our character. If people are truly convicted regarding their beliefs, they will conduct themselves far differently than if they are unsure. It is right here that this point becomes important—super-important really—because the dross of cowardly believers is going to be removed. That is what Malachi 3:3 is about. It will either be removed or else. That is very sobering. John W. Ritenbaugh Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Four) Related Topics: Does Doctrine Really Matter? | Purging | Purpose of Tests | Purpose of Trials | Tests and Trials | Trials and Tests

Hebrews 3:14 The author implies the faith that we had at the beginning of our conversion, the faith that led us to believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that it is by His blood that we are saved. It led us to repent, to change our minds in relation to God and the way that we were living, so that we were baptized, made the new covenant with God, and began to live His way on the strength of the conviction we had about the teachings we had accepted at that time. In saying, "For we have become partakers of Christ," he is now referring to an end result—"if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end." Just a few verses later (verse 17), He speaks about the corpses of the Israelites being strewn all over the wilderness. His point is that the Israelites did not hold their conviction to the end. When they left Egypt, they were full of joy. When God divided the Red Sea, they danced around and had a real celebration (Exodus 15). But it seems that, from that time on, God's great miracles on their behalf began to recede into their minds, and they did not hold onto the joy and faith and conviction that they had then. John W. Ritenbaugh Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Four) Related Topics: Conviction | Does Doctrine Really Matter? | Holding Fast | Holding to Faith | Motivation for Repentance | Partakers of Christ

 

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