Beliefs and Behavior: Sound Doctrine
By Dr. Ronald Q. Moore
Sound doctrine is, to our Christian faith, the basic foundation for our beliefs and our behavior. Christian disciples build our belief systems upon the life, ministry, and teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ–the son of God, the savior of the world, and our soon coming King of kings!
As a Disciple of Jesus, we are to learn His teachings until they become our BELIEFS. Also, we are to follow/obey His commandments until they become our BEHAVIOR, because what we BELIEVE affects how we BEHAVE!
There is a direct correlation between BELIEFS and BEHAVIOR!
Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) me.” He also said, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you FREE.” (John 8:32)
To KNOW involves a process of integration. We receive the TRUTH by hearing, and we acknowledge it through cognitive awareness into our brain (HEAD Knowledge). Then, we meditate on the truth in our HEART, as the Holy Spirit makes application to our spirit! It is from the Head and the Heart that we BELIEVE!
Now, to BELIEVE means: We TRUST IN, We RELY ON, and We CLING to this TRUTH!
Believing truth transforms us from the inside and changes our outside behavior! Our behavior has changed, because we believe God’s truth!
Therefore, because we are a BELIEVER of truth, we now have become
an Obedient Doer of the truth. (Changed Behavior)
There is a direct correlation between what we BELIEVE and how we BEHAVE!
Please, always remember: “What you BELIEVE is what you do,” and “You DO What You do, because you BELIEVE what you BELIEVE!”
It is vital that WE BELIEVE—trust in, cling to, rely on—the TRUTHS of the WORD OF GOD! SOUND DOCTRINE!
ILLUSTRATION:
A story is told of a high-wire walker, who pushed a wheelbarrow across a steel cable stretched over the Niagara Falls. As he returned from the other side, he asked a gentleman who had just witnessed the feat, “Sir, do you BELIEVE I can do that again?” The gentleman promptly replied, “Yes, I BELIEVE you can!” To which the high-wire walker said, “Get in the wheelbarrow and let’s go!”
To BELIEVE means we are ready and willing to “GET IN!”
We are willing to commit our all, in loving OBEDIENCE, to our precious Lord Jesus Christ!
