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Distorted Doctrine Destroys Lives · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Bible reading. We take Bible reading very seriously as a
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  Speaker 1: life priority and a daily discipline that we want to cultivate,
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  Speaker 1: and we're now halfway done reading the whole Bible together
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty five in the Navigator's Bible Reading Plan.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us if you have, of course, we
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  Speaker 1: have dozens of episodes covering just a host of very
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  Speaker 1: practical tips on how to overcome the challenges of studying
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  Speaker 1: the Bible for ourselves. Episodes on Bible reading, careful Bible study,
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  Speaker 1: choosing Bible translations, how to do Bible memorization, even the
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  Speaker 1: struggle will inevitably feel when it comes to Bible neglect.
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  Speaker 1: All of those are topics that have been covered over
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  Speaker 1: the course of many years in many episodes on the podcast,
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  Speaker 1: and that put that all together in one big digest
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  Speaker 1: to show you just all the ground that we've covered
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  Speaker 1: over the years. In the Aspestro John book, see that
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  Speaker 1: first section, that big first section, pages one to forty six.
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  Speaker 1: Related to all of this is this question, what do
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  Speaker 1: we lose if our doctrine is distorted? Is it harmless?
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  Speaker 1: Is there any real danger to be feared? Is the
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  Speaker 1: question from a listener named Regina Pastor Jahan, Hello, what's
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  Speaker 1: the real danger of having the wrong theology? Does misunderstanding
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  Speaker 1: God's character or his word lead to spiritual damage? Or
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  Speaker 1: is it just a matter of different interpretations. Many people
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  Speaker 1: believe that as long as someone sincerely loves God, doctrinal
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  Speaker 1: errors aren't a big deal, but others warned that false
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  Speaker 1: beliefs can lead to serious consequences in our faith, our worship,
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  Speaker 1: and even our daily lives. How should we think about this?
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  Speaker 1: What's at stake when our theology is off? Is there
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  Speaker 1: really harm that will come of it?
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  Speaker 2: The key sentence that needs clarification is many people believe
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  Speaker 2: that as long as someone sincerely loves God, errors aren't
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  Speaker 2: a big deal. The clarification that this needs is which
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  Speaker 2: God are you loving? Buddhist God, Hindue God, Muslim God,
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  Speaker 2: Christian God. In other words, in order for love of
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  Speaker 2: God to have any meaning at all, you need to
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  Speaker 2: know something about God. Which God are you loving? Is
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  Speaker 2: he worthy of love? Does he have enough factors, attributes,
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  Speaker 2: things about him that make him worthy of love? Are
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  Speaker 2: you loving and unworthy of God? What God are you loving?
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  Speaker 2: He's like this, or he's like that, He's not like
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  Speaker 2: this or he's not like that. It would be fair
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  Speaker 2: to say, wouldn't it that this knowledge of God that
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  Speaker 2: we need in order to love God is doctrine. Doctrine
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  Speaker 2: is just things we know. It's just things we know
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  Speaker 2: about God and his ways from the Bible. It's just simple.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody's got doctrine, either good or bad, and we can't
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  Speaker 2: live without it. Would it be fair to say that
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  Speaker 2: to make an error in the knowledge of God might
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  Speaker 2: mean you're loving something other than God. So the straightforward
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  Speaker 2: initial answer to the question is that the real danger
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  Speaker 2: of wrong theology mistaken doctrine is that it prevents or
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  Speaker 2: limits genuine love to God. You can't love God if
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  Speaker 2: you don't know God, and that knowledge is called doctrine.
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  Speaker 2: It's either right and it's the true God, or wrong
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  Speaker 2: and is the wrong God. Doctrine is simply the knowledge
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  Speaker 2: of God in his ways. Jesus, you shall love the
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  Speaker 2: Lord your God with all your mind. Why do you
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  Speaker 2: say that? That means at least you should use your
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  Speaker 2: mind to gather the kindling of true knowledge of God
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  Speaker 2: doctrine and throw it onto the flame of love in
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  Speaker 2: the furnace of your heart. That's what the mind is for.
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  Speaker 2: Gathering the kindling of truth and doctrine and throwing it
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  Speaker 2: onto the flame of love in the furnace of your heart.
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  Speaker 2: If God says to you, why do you love me,
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  Speaker 2: and you answer, I don't have any knowledge of you.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know who you are or what you're like,
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  Speaker 2: but I'll love you anyway. God will not be honored
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  Speaker 2: by that. You can't honor a God by saying I
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  Speaker 2: love you for no reason that you doesn't even have
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  Speaker 2: any content. It won't have any meaning. You can't glorify
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  Speaker 2: God by your love for him if your love for
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  Speaker 2: him is not based on any truth about him, which
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  Speaker 2: is what we mean by doctrine. So that's the basic answer.
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  Speaker 2: Now let's put some Bible under it, because that's what
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  Speaker 2: really matters. Does God himself, in his word in the
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  Speaker 2: Bible teach show us that doctrine knowledge of God and
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  Speaker 2: his reality is precious and worthy of our life's pursuit.
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  Speaker 2: Does the Bible teach us that making mistakes in doctrine
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  Speaker 2: is destructive to our love for God and our soul?
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  Speaker 2: And the answer to both those questions is yes. Here
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  Speaker 2: are three ways that the Bible shows us the importance
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  Speaker 2: of doctrine that is the importance of the true knowledge
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  Speaker 2: of God and his ways. Number one. The Bible urge
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  Speaker 2: Jesus to grow in our knowledge of God. Ephesians four
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  Speaker 2: thirteen Paul argues that the church should quote pursue the
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  Speaker 2: knowledge of the Son of God, so that we may
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  Speaker 2: no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves,
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  Speaker 2: and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning,
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  Speaker 2: by craftiness, and deceitful schemes. So he's saying, grow up,
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  Speaker 2: grow up into doctrinal maturity, so that you're not victims
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  Speaker 2: of human doctrine and deceit. Here's what people need to
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  Speaker 2: think seriously about. Life is not doctrineless. We are always
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  Speaker 2: believing somebody's view of reality. It's not like there's anything neutral.
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  Speaker 2: Let's be God's people and listen to God's word and
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  Speaker 2: believe his doctrine. That's the point of Ephesians four. Peter
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  Speaker 2: said in two Peter three eighteen, grow in the grace
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  Speaker 2: and knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Christ all said in
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  Speaker 2: Collusions one to ten, connecting right living and the growth
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  Speaker 2: of the knowledge of God. He said, walk in a
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  Speaker 2: manner worthy of the Lord. Fully pleasing to Him, bearing
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  Speaker 2: fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge
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  Speaker 2: of God. It matters. It matters for life, It matters
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  Speaker 2: for love that we increase in the knowledge of God
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  Speaker 2: and not be children anymore. The second way the Bible
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  Speaker 2: shows us the importance of doctrine is by teaching us
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  Speaker 2: the destructive effects of making doctrinal error. So Paul warns
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  Speaker 2: the Ephesian elders in Acts twenty that they need the
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  Speaker 2: whole counsel of God, not just fragments of it. And
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  Speaker 2: one reason is that wolves will come in and twist
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  Speaker 2: true doctrine and drag away Christians to ruin. So here's
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  Speaker 2: here's what he says. This is x twenty seven. I
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  Speaker 2: did not shrink from declare to the whole council of God.
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  Speaker 2: Verse twenty nine. I know that after my departure, fierce
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  Speaker 2: wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock,
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  Speaker 2: and from among your own selves will arise men speaking
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  Speaker 2: twisted things, in other words, distorting true doctrine to draw
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  Speaker 2: away disciples after them. And Peter says in tewod Peter
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  Speaker 2: three p. Sixteen ignorant and unstable people will twist Paul's
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  Speaker 2: teaching to their own destruction. That's the issue, that's the danger.
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  Speaker 2: Just what's the danger of bad doctrine? Answer destruction. It
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  Speaker 2: destroys people. Third, the third way that the Bible shows
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  Speaker 2: us the importance of doctrine is that it exists. The
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  Speaker 2: Bible exists. It's a book. Why did God give us
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  Speaker 2: such a big book? I profound own book? What to ignore?
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  Speaker 2: He gave it to us so that we read it
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  Speaker 2: and think about it and live by it. Sewodifty two
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  Speaker 2: to seven pulses. Think over what I say, Think over
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  Speaker 2: what I say my inspired words, think over my inspired words.
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  Speaker 2: For the Lord will give you understanding in everything, he
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  Speaker 2: says in the next chapter. All of it, all scripture
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  Speaker 2: is inspired and profitable. It's profitable, especially for how to
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  Speaker 2: live and do good deeds and glorify God and love people.
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  Speaker 2: And add to that the sheer existence of the Bible.
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  Speaker 2: Add to that the fact that the Bible tells us
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  Speaker 2: that God has provided elders in all the churches who
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  Speaker 2: must be able to teach. If the church needs good teachers,
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  Speaker 2: which it does. The Bible says, it's because there's good
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  Speaker 2: doctrine that needs teaching explaining, so we can grow. I
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  Speaker 2: live by it, and I would close by simply pointing
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  Speaker 2: to my fifty years of watching true doctrine make massive
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  Speaker 2: differences in people's lives for their good. For example, to
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  Speaker 2: have a right understanding of God. Right doctrine of God
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  Speaker 2: in the midst of suffering and tragedy is the difference
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  Speaker 2: between suicide and staying sane. It is people have told
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  Speaker 2: me this, knowing that there's a holiness of life without
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  Speaker 2: which we won't see the Lord could be crushing and overwhelming.
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  Speaker 2: To know that unless one has a right doctrine of
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  Speaker 2: how to pursue holiness. The whole issue of sanctification and
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  Speaker 2: getting it right or right. Knowledge of how you got saved,
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  Speaker 2: whether you were you yourself where the decisive cause, or
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  Speaker 2: whether God was that will make a huge difference in
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  Speaker 2: your assurance and whether you love God and give proper
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  Speaker 2: thanks to him.
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  Speaker 1: Oh.
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  Speaker 2: There are many reasons why wrong theology is tragic and destructive,
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  Speaker 2: and many reasons why good theology is life giving and
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  Speaker 2: full of hope. So I encourage everyone grow in the
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  Speaker 2: grace and the knowledge of God, like the Bible says
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  Speaker 2: we should.
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  Speaker 1: What's the danger of bad doctrine? Answer destruction? The high
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  Speaker 1: stakes of our theology. Thank you, Pastor John for going
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  Speaker 1: into so much detail here. And so, if those are
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  Speaker 1: the damning consequences of bad doctrine, how do we protect
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  Speaker 1: ourselves and others from false teaching? Well, there are four
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  Speaker 1: tests that we need to apply to protect ourselves and
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  Speaker 1: others from false teachers, and those four tests are up
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  Speaker 1: next time. I'm Tony RANKI. We'll see you on Thursday,