You’ve heard the phrase “He can’t see the forest for the trees.” I’m afraid that when it comes to Bible study, that may describe many believers today. Too often we approach Scripture that way. We use the Bible like TV news sound-bytes, one or two verses at a time to prove our point. God’s Word is not just a collection of verses. It’s a unified story of God’s amazing love and redemption of His rebellious people.

We admire the trees but never notice the massive forest that the trees are a part of. In a nutshell, this is my heart as a Bible teacher: showing the relationship between the trees and the forest. That’s where it all starts, discovering the great themes of Scripture - in short, understanding doctrine.

Doctrine seems to be an unpopular word in this day and age. (I can almost hear the groans at the mention of the word.) No one wants to talk about doctrine. It’s too divisive… It has no practical relevance… it’s for theologians to argue about. But, really, the word doctrine simply means “teaching.” Doctrine is only a statement of what we believe. For instance, theologians talk about Theology Proper. A five dollar term that simply describes “what we believe about who God is and what He is like.” That sounds like something we ought to have a handle on, doesn’t it?

This is why I so enjoy teaching the book of Romans. Nowhere in the Bible is there such a concise and straight-forward presentation of the basic teachings of the Christian faith. I believe that a good understanding of Romans will carry us far as we study the rest of Scripture. Knowing what we believe is a good foundation as we go about the task of “doing church.”

Believe it or not, if you’ve ever studied Romans, you’ve been learning doctrine! Have you ever delved into studying Hamartiology? That’s just a big word for the doctrine of sin. How about Soteriology? (the doctrine of salvation) It wasn’t too painful, has it? I hope not. If you begin following my series on Romans (found in the Bible Study Guides page), it’s always my goal to make Bible study enjoyable and not too academic.

So that’s the starting point for my teaching philosophy - discovering how Scripture fits together, as a whole. Not that I think that’s where it should end. It’s not enough to get it right if we don’t do it right. When we know what we believe it’s time to act on it. Sound doctrine is the vehicle for life change! …and that’s the ultimate goal of any Bible teacher.