PRINCIPLES, PROMISES, DOCTRINES, AND TECHNIQUES

Principles: principles are fundamental truths either stated or implied in any passage of Scripture.

Ex.: Human beings are totally depraved.

Ex.: God’s righteousness demands righteousness from each Christian life.

Each dispensation may have principles related to it specifically, but a principle valid in one dispensation does not guarantee its validity in another dispensation.

Ex.: Tithing was a principle of giving under the Mosaic Law, but tithing is not a principle of giving during the Church Age.

Promises: promises are God’s guarantees

Ex.: God promises to save the person who believes in Jesus Christ.

Ex.: God promises to reward those who serve Him properly.

Be careful. A promise to Israel may not be a promise to the Church. A promise to Abraham may not be a promise to Christians.

Doctrines: doctrines are data that has been accumulated and categorized by subject matter

Ex.: The Doctrine of Sin

Ex.: The Doctrine of Hell

Ex.: The Doctrine of Salvation

Ex.: The Doctrine of Giving

Ex.: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

Pick a subject. Begin in Genesis and end in Revelation, gathering all that the Bible has to say on that subject, and the result is a category of doctrine on that subject.

Techniques: techniques are “how-to’s”

Ex.: How to become saved

Ex.: How to confess post-salvation sins

Ex.: How to faith-rest

Ex.: How to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil

Ex.: How to become like Christ in His humanity

God’s intended results cannot be achieved in the life of anyone who distorts the decreed “how-to.”