Doctrine and truth

Doctrine is defined as “something that is taught.” In the context of the Bible, doctrine is what the Bible teaches about any number of subjects. Whatever the Bible’s teaching may be, it is true; it is always true.

When it comes to what people teach from the Bible, there is true or sound doctrine, and there is false doctrine. That explains why we see in the Bible God giving instructions like these to those who minister on his behalf: “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Timothy 4:16). “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). “You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1).