The Importance of Doctrine
- Rev. Christopher Brademeyer
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
The Importance of Doctrine
The 3rd Wednesday of Lent – 3/4/2026
2 Timothy 1:6-14
Rev. Dr. Christopher W. Brademeyer
That portion from God’s holy Word for consideration this morning is our first reading from the Second Epistle to St. Timothy in the first chapter, with special emphasis on verses thirteen and fourteen which read as follows:
“ Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”[1]
Thus far the Scriptures.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. Paul writes to his young pastor colleague, St. Timothy, with urgency. He is urgent because he needs to warn Timothy. That is to say, he warns that some have swerved from the faith and turned aside to vain discussion. They desire to be teachers, yet they do not understand what they are saying. They speak confidently but falsely. And that, Paul says, is not a harmless matter.
This text confronts a temptation that is not limited to first-century Ephesus, where Timothy served as a pastor and bishop. In every age, including our own, there is pressure to treat doctrine as secondary. We are told that sincerity matters more than truth. That unity matters more than precision. That love matters more than clarity.
But Paul does not treat doctrine as optional. He treats it as a matter of life and death. And so must we. And not just Paul, but the Holy Spirit whose work is this letter of St. Paul the Apostle.
Why Does Doctrine Matter?
Why does doctrine matter? Many well-meaning, perfectly sincere people, Christian and otherwise, claim that doctrine, that is teachings, are options, not truths. But this is not the historic Christian position. We have creeds, the Nicene, Apostles’, and Athanasian, that we written to lay out the boundaries of Christian discussions. That is, they divide true things about Christ and false things that lead away from Him. To be brief, doctrine matters because it gives us Christ as He truly is.
Christianity is not built on religious sentiment or spiritual emotions. It is built on a real Lord who lived, died, and rose in real history. If Christ is real, then what we say about Him can be either true or false, right or wrong. The historical reality of Jesus demands specificity. He is not a collection of ideas or mythologies from which we may draw at our leisure. He is a true and living Savior, who really became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Who really suffered and died and rose again.
Paul contrasts empty speculation with “the sound doctrine that conforms to the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” The phrase “sound doctrine” literally means healthy teaching. False teaching is spiritual disease. True doctrine is spiritual health. Right doctrine gives us the real Christ: The Christ who came into the world to save sinners. The Christ whose blood atones. The Christ who justifies the ungodly. The Christ who forgives even persecutors like Paul himself. If we distort doctrine, we distort Christ. And if we distort Christ, we lose the Gospel. If we lose the Gospel we lose our way through sin and death.
False doctrine is the opposite. It, at best, gives you an unclear picture of Christ. At worst, it so confuses and misleads that it robs you of Him altogether. And you know this personally. When your conscience is troubled, vague spirituality does not help. General religious language does not comfort. What comforts is precision. The precision of knowing that Christ died for you. That your sins are truly forgiven. You are justified by grace through faith.
Paul writes in his first letter to Timothy that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”[2] That is not abstraction. That is certainty. Sound doctrine anchors the conscience outside of itself and in the objective promise of Christ. It provides security because it is not built on our fluctuating emotions but on the finished work of Jesus.
Doctrine not only gives us the Gospel; it also teaches us the Law. Paul makes clear that “the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.”[3] The Law exposes sin. It names what is contrary to God’s design: rebellion, impurity, lying, perjury, and everything “contrary to sound doctrine.” Notice that phrase: sin is not merely immoral; it is contrary to sound teaching. That is because doctrine includes both what we are to believe and how we are to live.
The Law restrains evil in society. It reveals sin in the heart. It drives us to Christ. Without clear doctrine, the Law becomes either diluted into vague moralism or weaponized into self-righteousness. But rightly taught, it does its proper work: it kills, so that the Gospel may make alive.
Where Do We Get Doctrine?
If doctrine is this important, we must ask: where does it come from? Paul does not invent doctrine. He receives it. He speaks elsewhere of “the gospel… with which I have been entrusted.”
The Church does not create truth. She confesses it. We receive doctrine from the prophets and apostles, specifically, from their writings, the Holy Scriptures. The Old Testament proclaims Christ in promise. The New Testament proclaims Christ in fulfillment. Together they form the apostolic deposit of truth that we hold in our faith.
This is why the Church binds herself to Scripture. Not because of traditionalism, but because Christ speaks there. If we depart from that foundation, we do not become freer we become untethered and adrift, tossed about by every wave and wind.
This is all to say that doctrine is not the product of human genius. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit inspired the prophets and apostles. The Spirit preserves the Church in the truth. The Spirit opens blind eyes and grants faith through the Word. Sound doctrine is not cold intellectualism. It is the Spirit’s living work, delivering Christ and creating faith. Whenever the Word is rightly taught, the Spirit is active in convicting, illuminating, sanctifying.
Why Must We Keep Doctrine Pure?
Why do we worry about the purity of our confession? Because Christ is real. If Christianity were a mere philosophy, we could tolerate contradictions. If it were merely symbolic, precision would not matter. But Christ is a living Lord. He truly became flesh. He truly died. He truly rose. Therefore, there are true and false statements about Him. To say that He is only a moral teacher is false. To deny His atoning death is false. To treat His Law as optional is false. To obscure justification by grace is false.
He does not treat this as a minor difference of opinion. False teaching harms souls. It confuses consciences. It obscures the Gospel. Keeping doctrine pure is not about pride. It is about love. Love for Christ, whose honor is at stake. Love for neighbor, whose salvation depends on hearing the true Gospel.
A physician who alters a life-saving prescription out of a desire to be accommodating is not loving. He is negligent. In the same way, the Church must guard the apostolic teaching, not to win arguments, but to preserve the medicine of immortality.
Conclusion
The heart of doctrine is the grace and mercy, even the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not academic precision for its own sake. Nor is it theological hobbyism. It is concerned first and foremost with the overflowing grace of Christ for sinners. We need doctrinal correctness because we need the real Christ. We need the Law to expose us. We need the Gospel to save us. We need certainty in a world of confusion.
And we have been given this treasure in the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and from these in the proclamation of the Church. So we do not apologize for caring about doctrine. We cherish it. Because through it, Christ Himself comes to us crucified, risen, and gracious. And like Paul, we can confess with confidence: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
In the holy Name of + Jesus. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] 2 Timothy 1:13-14 English Standard Version. All further quotations from the Holy Scriptures are from the ESV.
[2] 1 Timothy 1:15
[3] 1 Timothy 1:8