Doctrine and Duty

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · Aug 19, 1875

Doctrine and Duty.

THE first thing mentioned by Paul, for which the Holy Scriptures are "profitable" is "doctrine," (2 Tim. 3 : 15, 16), and then we have presented that which is practical : "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The intimate connection between doctrine and duty ought never to be lost sight of, yet there is a widespread tendency at the present time to divorce them, or at least to put doctrine on the background and bring what is called "practical teaching" unduly forward.

If we should say to a friend about to start on a journey, "It is a cold day, and you had better take an overcoat;" or, "It threatens rain, and you had better take an umbrella," there would be no difficulty in seeing the connection between the statement made and the counsel given. One naturally grows out of the other. And thus it is in the word of God. Take the following as a sample of the divine arrangement:—

DOCTRINE : "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." DUTY : "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Col. 3 : 4, 5.

DOCTRINE : "Our conversation is in Heaven, from whence we also look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." DUTY : "Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy, and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." Phil. 3 : 20, 21 ; 4 : 1.

DOCTRINE : "The Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." DUTY : "Therefore, comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4 : 16-18.

DOCTRINE : "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief : ye are all the children of light and the children of the day ; we are not of the night, nor of darkness." DUTY : "Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober." 1 Thess. 5 : 4-6.

DOCTRINE : "The end of all things is at hand." DUTY : "Be ye therefore sober and watch unto prayer; and above all things have charity among yourselves; for charity shall cover a multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging." 1 Pet. 4 : 7-9.

DOCTRINE : "The day of the Lord will come as thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. DUTY : "Therefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless." 2 Pet. 3 : 10-14.

DOCTRINE : "Behold, I come quickly." DUTY : "Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Rev. 3 : 11.

Thus doctrine and duty go hand in hand through the Temple of Truth. God has united them. "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."—is as applicable to a union of divine truths as to matrimonial alliance.—Messiah's Herald.