Jeremiah warns us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and des- perately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Left to our own opinions we will fool ourselves. Solomon adds in Proverbs 3:5 and 16:25: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding… there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death If individual Christians pick and choose which biblical doctrines to follow, we are in effect saying the rest of what God says doesn’t mat- ter. But the Bible says otherwise: “Every word of God is pure” (Prov- erbs 30:5). Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scrip- ture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- tion in righteousness” (II Timothy 3:16–17). Christ declared in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Which doctrines, then, are not re-
quired for salvation? According to this verse—none. Remain Upright God’s Word provides “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (II Peter 1:3). Eternal life is the reward of those who not only hear these doctrines but live them. Romans 2:13 says: For not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified. Once baptized, obedience to God’s truth (all of it) is what keeps a Chris- itan qualified to receive their inher - itance. Jesus Christ plainly stated in Matthew 19:17: So He said to him,“Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Christians are to follow Christ—do as He did—doing the will of God. Christ made no exceptions in Mat- thew 7:21: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Psalm 111:7–8 declares: The works of His hands are ver - ity and justice; All His precepts are sure.They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness. This verse gives us the formula for a stable, upright spiritual life. The spiritual organism—God’s true Church—must build on all of God’s commandments, every one of them. The Pillar and Ground Paul described God’s Church as “the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15). One identifying feature of God’s Church is that it does not teach part of the truth—it teaches the straight truth. It is built upon the foundation of apostles, prophets, and Christ, who is our chief cornerstone. God in- spired men to write and record ev- ery book of the Bible. All Scripture is literally “God-breathed.” Christ gave His ministers “for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ… till we all come to the unity of the faith” (Ephe- sians 4:12–13). The ministry in the Church accomplishes this through preaching, teaching, counseling, publishing, and exemplifying the
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