t the height of a Feast of Tabernacles, the seven-day end-of-harvest festival in the Jewish religious calendar, Jesus suddenly appeared in Jerusalem, teaching in the Temple (see John 7:14, 15).

Questioned by the religious leaders as to the authority on which He spoke, Jesus made a penetrating claim that every person must evaluate: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me; if any man’s will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority” (verses 16, 17, RSV).

Beyond Feelings
To deal with truth sent to us directly from God has to mean that it’s a matter not to be lightly regarded. Doctrine is important. But we are confronted with the question Why is it important to us now living in a modern world? Today’s popular mind-set has little place for religious doctrine. Why can we not all simply love God and love one another—something that Jesus taught—and leave it at that? Through the ages doctrine has been something over which people have differed. It has divided people, not united them. So the logic goes.

Though this all is true, there’s another side to the question. As nothing else can, doctrine allows us to know something for certain, building a solid foundation on which we become acquainted with God: who He is and how He acts. Letting go of this kind of solid connection would condemn us to drift aimlessly in a sea of speculative imagination. Exactly for that reason Jesus came, not simply as a wonder worker, but with the intention to reveal the person of God and His will, to plant immovably in our minds and hearts a solid assurance of who He is, and to see why we should place our fullest trust only in Him.

Beyond all that, in an incredible act that demonstrates for eternity the genuineness of His love, Christ voluntarily laid down His life in ultimate sacrifice, suffering the penalty for our sins. He bridged the gulf our sins had created between us and our Creator. To learn this is doctrine at its pinnacle, the ultimate good news. In Jesus God provides access to eternal life for every one who in faith and repentance lays hold of His salvation.

While we all are filled with joy when we learn of the benefits Christ has provided for us, we then are led by the Spirit to move beyond feelings to the stability of truth. The Bible has a great deal to say about truth, setting it against its opposite, falsehood. God, we are assured, is the source of all truth, and Satan the father of lies (John 16:13; 8:44). Given the deceptive nature of Satan’s approach to us, it is sorting out the difference between what he tells us and what God says that protects us from plunging into wrong under the conviction that it is right. Conviction is a blade that cuts either way, serving either truth or error.

Something else must distinguish between the two. In following Him, Jesus says: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32, RSV). What truly liberates us, then, is something that lies beyond feelings. It’s found in the truth, Christ being the fullest revelation of God’s truth.

A Shining Legacy
In the founding days of the Adventist movement the believers in that tiny band often spoke of “the truth,” their term for the body of beliefs they shared in common. For “the truth” they stood against the scorn and ridicule of a world that dismissed them. Where had they discovered these elements that made up “the truth”? In the Written Word of God.

 Early Adventists were diligent students of the Word of God, searching for new insights that would open for them the plans of God for His people. But from the beginning they were not united in doctrine. They had come from various backgrounds, bringing with them traditional beliefs, which they often defended. But they longed for the return of Jesus, and they earnestly wanted to know as much as possible that could prepare them for that great event.

So they turned to a penetrating study of the Word. They probed the prophecies and searched for doctrinal truths long overlooked in the popular religions of the day. Step by step the Spirit led them to new discoveries. The heavenly ministry of Jesus was opened to them, and the truth about God’s holy day. They came to understand the nature of death and eternal life in the resurrection, and discovered how God is concerned for our bodies and how we treat them. They came to understand how church organization is biblical and greatly strengthens efforts to spread the gospel in new places. This kind of Bible study led them to the great fundamentals of Bible truth cherished by the Adventist movement across the world today. Unfortunately, the passing of time has for some dimmed the urgency of searching the Scriptures, and we are the weaker for it.

All of us come into the world as individuals, created in the image of God. God chose to honor us with intellects that allow us to weigh possibilities and then make choices. Today, however, stained by the influence of sin, our judgment may lead us to assert opinions that rise from personal experience, which we then promote as true and right. The result becomes a dissonant chorus of thousands of voices, each claiming to have the best way to live, each trusting in its own judgment.

In the midst of this confusion, however, we have the Bible, an authentic message from God—written in human language, of course, but originating with Him—against which we can measure every human opinion and value. The Scriptures then become the final authority, the expression of how God would have us serve Him, both in doctrine and practical living.

One of the most precious treasures of the Bible is its practicality. Rather than confronting us with a series of dry rules or abstract principles, our heavenly Father chose to teach us His will by illustration. Through the experience of thousands of events and persons we can see how God is at work through the whole of human history, and how things go for those who choose to serve or to neglect Him. The Bible story brings to us God’s interpretation of ordinary events in life, and how that, whatever has happened, He continues to care for us as precious children.  The apostle Paul notes this when writing to the Roman believers: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4, RSV).

Consider the Thrill of It
From the scattered variety of human thinking, the Scriptures draw us together in one family, the children of God. They provide for us a common bond above all cultures, something that brings us again to a single Bible, God’s Word. There may be minor variations in how we understand details, but at the center stands a solid framework of truth that reveals the God who loves us and gives guidance in what is true happiness.

In the book of Revelation, especially chapters 12-14, we have opened before us a sweeping panorama of the final events of earth’s history. At the center stand God’s remnant people, apparently besieged by the forces of Satan as he works through the powers of earth. A beleaguered people, they await their doom. But these are God’s people, marked by the highest kind of devotion to Him. There they appear, united in faith with its certain foundations, united in commitment to the God in whom is their sole trust, united in anticipation of a coming deliverance, and united as one family awaiting the consummation of the ages as Christ comes for them. The story of chapters 15-17 is one of God’s intervention to rescue them from what appears to be certain disaster. They are marvelously delivered.

In the final two chapters we meet these people again, alongside multitudes who have been raised in the glorious resurrection connected with Jesus’ coming. No longer in peril night and day, they are now united before the throne of God upon the sea of glass. A vast throng stands gathered from all nations of the earth: they have reached eternal life.

It is our privilege and destiny to join with that assembly of saints in the kingdom of God. It is the revealed Word of God, on pages before us and in the person of His Son, that leads us to that fulfillment. So we rejoice in what God has given us, and today pledge ourselves to His service, faithful until His return.

Questions for Sharing:
1. Why is doctrine important? What do you say to someone who considers the question antiquated?

2. What might we learn from the example of the early Adventist pioneers?

3. What doctrines do you find most practical for your daily life? Which ones bring you the greatest hope?

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George Reid is the director of the Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Silver Spring, Maryland.