[Darris McNeely] What do you think about doctrine? You know what a doctrine is. A doctrine is teaching from Scripture. We think about the doctrines of God, the doctrines of the Bible, teaching. And it's really truth regarding so many different topics about who God is, what man is, the purpose of life, what God tells us to do, and how to worship Him. We worship Him in spirit and in truth. And all of these make up what we call doctrine.

I teach doctrine at the Ambassador Bible College of getting my mind geared around for a new academic year, students come in to learn about the Bible and the doctrines of the Bible. One of the things I realized as I teach doctrine is that it has to be practical. We have to get it to the point where we understand why we do what we do or why this particular truth about God or about Christ is really important. It has to be a practical application.

I think one of the clearest examples that I can point to is, out of the book of Colossians, where the Apostle Paul, in the book of Colossians, talks about a lot of doctrines. He talks about the doctrine of God, Jesus Christ. He talks about angels in there. He talks about the Sabbath and the holy days. He spends parts of three chapters really talking about this and even some practical aspects of Christian living, but then it gets down to chapter 4 of Colossians, and it kind of shifts gears.And I think, as Paul may have been writing it this way, he shifted because enough of the heavy stuff. Let's show how this really works, how we translate a understanding of the truth of God, the Sabbath, His festivals, into a practical reality. In Colossians 4:2 and 3, he tells us to be watchful in prayer and to be earnest. And then he says in verse 3, meanwhile praying also for us that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ for which I am also in chains.

In a couple of verses here, actually about three verses, Paul talks about encouraging members to pray, to be watchful in prayer, and then to pray for an open door for us to preach the mystery of Christ. But he connects all of this teaching, all of this doctrinal truth with this very important Christian principle of prayer, talking to God, asking God, reminding God, crying out to God, beseeching God. Prayer takes many different forms. Paul's writing this from prison. He is teaching them truth, but then he says, "Look, pray for us. Pray to be watchful, but also pray that the word and the mystery of Christ has an open door. Paul expected to get out of prison. Paul expected to continue his work of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, and he was asking the members to pray about that, that the doors of the prison would open up and that he would then be able to go out and continue to preach "the mystery of Christ" as he calls it here.

Well, when you understand what Christ is, what He did, His role, and what He does for us today, and why that is important to us in our relationship with God, and eternal life, it's such a multidimensional topic. And understanding that, you know, it takes a lot of prayer to understand that and to apply it, and you want to see that spread, and taught, and available to as many people as possible. And Paul asks members to pray about that.

Doctrine, truth is important, searching the scriptures to prove what is truth, and understanding truth, and living a truthful life. But the real catalyst, it seems, as Paul brings it to this point here is to be able to pray in grace, the proper words, the proper understanding that that truth can translate into a godly, settled content, understanding life for each of us.

That's the importance of doctrine. That's where it should lead us to. That's the practical aspect of doctrine, truth, and teaching folks.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.