God's Word, a Priceless Treasure

But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4)

"Doctrine isn't important. Just love Jesus." This is the mantra of the modern church as it marches toward cultural irrelevance. The irony is that those who promote this viewpoint are actually trying to become more relevant to the culture, apparently by imitating it. In the end, however, these churches are guilty of the same error that liberal churches are guilty of, denying the authority, inerrancy, and sufficiency of the Word of God.

How so? Most of the people that I come into contact with who deny

Huss Burned at the stake

the importance of sound doctrine would be appalled at such a charge. "Of course we believe the Bible is God's Word", they would claim. Be that as it may, do they really know what the Bible is worth? How is it that a Christian can sit in the pews of a Bible believing church for years on end and have no more knowledge of Scripture than the day he first entered the door? I dare say that if these same people were told of a vast treasure of gold and silver that would be given to them freely, they would pursue it with all that was in them to the ends of the earth. Do they really believe that "The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces"? (Psalms 119:72). Do they really believe that the Bible has "words of eternal life" (John 6:68)? Perhaps they do believe, but like most of us, they tend to take things for granted. Perhaps it is just too easy to go to a bookstore and buy a Bible for $1.50 (or write to the Gideons and get one for free). Perhaps the blessing of a low price has dulled our senses to the Bible’s true worth.

Let me stress that I am referring to those true churches who claim to believe the entire Word of God. The liberal and "emergent" churches will have to answer for their own folly. Even in todays Bible-believing churches, the Bible has been replaced with pop-psychology, biblical truth has given way to vague biblical "principles", and the gospel has been overshadowed by therapy. This is the problem with trying to achieve Christian "unity" at the expense of sound doctrine. When doctrine is removed from the church, it has to be replaced with something. As a result, true Christian maturity has become all too rare. As one writer put it, "if lambs never grow into sheep, something is manifestly wrong with the diet they’re being fed." (See The Perpetual Kindergarten).

The prophets, apostles, and martyrs of ages past knew the value of God's word. They knew nothing of a doctrinally neutral form of Christianity that is so prevalent today. They considered heresy to be worse than death, and sound doctrine to be of more value than their own life. The very doctrines that we sneer at today were doctrines that these great men purchased by having their flesh fed to wild beasts, or having it broiled in burning flames. O that we may once again come to realize the treasure that God has given us, that we may study it as if we really believed that they were the Words of Eternal Life, more precious that silver and gold.

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