Introduction to 12 Truths Every Teen Can Trust

1 Timothy 4:13 KJV 1900

13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Paul, writing to Timothy, encourages the young pastor to give attendance to doctrine. It’s Paul’s belief that the church, its pastors, and its members should care deeply about doctrine.

Can anyone define the word theology? (study of God / knowledge of God)

Can anyone define doctrine? Doctrine: teachings, rules and principles, dogma

Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul highlights for us the importance of knowing what doctrine is true or false.

Ephesians 4:14 KJV 1900

14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

We must know doctrine in order to stand upon doctrine. Doctrine anchors our faith.

Hence, the title of the series 12 Truths Every Teen Can Trust.

*illustration with the boxes

What you believe affects the way you live. (because you didn’t know which box you could stand upon, your decisions were a little nerveracking.)

“What you believe about God is the most important thing about you.” — J.I.Packer

That’s the aim of this class, to help you take what you believe and let it transform your living.

Often, however, there’s present in our lives a dangerous dichotomy, where what we say we believe doesn’t match with how we live.

Says: “I believe the Bible is God’s Word.” Lives: Only opens it at church and lets TikTok, friends, or feelings shape decisions the rest of the week.

Says: “Jesus is my Lord.” Lives: Makes choices about dating, purity, and entertainment with no reference to Christ’s authority.

Says: “God cares about my heart.” Lives: Excuses gossip, cruelty online, or bitterness because “everyone does it.”

Says: “I trust God.” Lives: Is controlled by anxiety about grades, popularity, or the future and never brings those fears to God in prayer.

Says: “I’m saved by grace.” Lives: Uses grace as permission to keep sinning instead of motivation to pursue holiness.

Says: “The gospel changes lives.” Lives: Is silent about Christ around friends because fitting in matters more than faithfulness.

Says: “Church is important.” Lives: Treats gathering with God’s people as optional when something more fun comes up.

Says: “God made me for a purpose.” Lives: Lives aimlessly, copying the world’s values rather than asking how to glorify God.

You may wonder, how are people able to live like that? or why do I make these choices? or why am I acting this way?

It’s because of this… Your thoughts always precede and determine your activity.

You don’t do what you do because of what you are experiencing at the moment. No, you do what you do because of the way you have thought about and interpreted what you are experiencing. Jesus taught this principle while he was still on earth:

Matthew 15:17–20 KJV 1900

17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

So what does this have to do with the doctrines and theology of God’s Word? What role does doctrine play in our life?

First, doctrine tells us the story of the Scriptures. It exposes for us the beautiful redemption story of the Bible. Every doctrine captures something about God, his work, and our need.

Second, every doctrine is an explanation. We did this on Wednesday night. I explained the doctrine of creation which exposed our need for God and compelled us to reach out to him for help.

But doctrine is not an end in itself, but rather a means to an end. We don’t look to doctrine or Scripture to merely know more. What’s the purpose of doctrine?

Turn to Isaiah 55. Isaiah highlights the purpose of doctrine/Scripture in a creative way.

Isaiah 55:6–13 KJV 1900

6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, Call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. 12 For ye shall go out with joy, And be led forth with peace: The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Verse 13 tells us something strange. The meaning is this: the truths (doctrines) of God’s Word primary purpose is NOT for information, but for transformation.

Biblical doctrine is much more than an outline you give confessional assent to. Doctrine is something you live in even the smallest and most mundane moments of your life. Biblical doctrine is meant to transform your identity, alter your relationships, and reshape your finances. It’s meant to change the way you think and talk, how you approach your job, how you conduct yourself in time of leisure, how you act in your marriage, and the things you do as a parent. It’s meant to change the way you think about your past, interpret the present, and view the future.

Let’s pause for a moment. The New Testament writers and especially Paul focus on the preaching and teaching of doctrine, of God’s Word. How then should what we just talked about change the way we participate in teaching times and listen to sermons? (pray to be changed. journal what challenges you. ask questions. seek to be different.)

Turn to 2 Timothy 3. Paul, writing to Timothy, continues our conversation on doctrine. He highlights for Timothy exactly what doctrine is to be used for. He gives four points. We’ll go through these and be finished. Look at verses 16-17.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 KJV 1900

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

DOCTRINE=TEACHING: the standard.

The truths of the Bible are God’s ultimate standard. The doctrines of the word of God provide the standard, lovingly revealed to us by our Creator, by which we can know, with surety, what we would never know without them.

Everyone looks to some kind of standard because we all want to know, and we all want to know that what we know is true. The Bible is the perfect standard handed down by the one who is truth.

REPROOF: comparison to the standard.

Reproof is the process by which you are compared to a standard and in some way found lacking. This word clues us in to what we are meant to do with the truths revealed in God’s word.

Truth is a mirror. God’s perfection = we are far from perfect. doctrine of sin = I am a sinner.

Every truth is a measuring stick to which we compare our thoughts, desires, words, choices, motivations, relationships, worship, and hopes. Knowledge of doctrine should produce not only knowledge of God, but a penetratingly humbling knowledge of self.

CORRECTION: closing the gap between where I am and where God wants me to be.

In the face of every truth in Scripture our question should be, “What does this truth reveal about me that needs to be corrected, and how will that correction take place in a way that is consistent with who God is, how he has revealed change takes place, and in light of what he has provided for me in the person and work of the Lord Jesus?”

This is progressive sanctification. Progressive sanctification, which is God’s redeeming work in us between our conversion and our homegoing, is a continual process of comparison-correction driven by the truths of his word and empowered by the work of his Spirit.

INSTRUCTION=TRAINING: faithfully putting God’s standard into practice.

In the face of every teaching of Scripture we should ask, “What new things is God calling me to put into regular practice in my thoughts, desires, words, and actions?”

Embedded in every doctrine of the word of God is a call to brand-new ways of living.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 calls us to handle the truths of Scripture in a way that results in a constant pattern of personal self-examination that leads to honest and humble confession, which produces a commitment to repentance, resulting in a life of increasing spiritual maturity and joyful obedience.

Again, this is where we call into question the dangerous dichotomy.

The truths you actually believe are the ones that you live. (*fear and anxiety illustration) Biblical faith is a commitment of the heart that radically alters the way you live.

This is why we must always shine the light of the doctrines of Scripture on the thoughts, desires, motivations, and craving of our hearts. Ask yourself the following questions:

Do we think as the doctrines of God's word have taught us to think?

Do we value what these doctrines have taught us to value?

Do we love what these doctrines have taught us to love?

Do we accept whom these doctrines have declared us to be?

Do we desire what these doctrines have taught us to desire?

Do we make choices that these doctrines would direct us to make?

Do we act, react, and respond in light of what these doctrines have taught us?

Where in our hearts is there a war of allegiance between what these doctrines call us to and what we want for ourselves?

Are their places where we have become comfortable with a dichotomy between what we say we believe in the way we live?

We are going to spend 12 weeks looking at 12 different doctrines. We are going to learn what these doctrines are, but then we’ll always end with how these doctrines are meant to transform us.

Closing Prayer Prompts:

Pray for hearts that are shaped by truth. Pay that we would be committed to knowing doctrine.

Pray that God would change the way we think. Help us to live in ways that reflect what we believe.

Pray for transformation. Pray that our study of doctrine would produce different lives. Pray for humility to change when we’re confronted with Scripture.