DOCTRINE

From the book, Taking God Seriously, by J.I.Packer:

Doctrine is the map that guides us on our cross-country journey through the thousand-odd pages of the Bible, on the one hand, and the complexities of godly living, on the other. Doctrine is the spectacles through which we discern the stepping-stones across the rapids and through the swamps that keep our feet on the path of life. Doctrine, indeed, is the surgical cure for the natural spiritual blindness that otherwise makes it impossible for us to find where the path of life begins. Doctrine is the data about the Lord Jesus Christ that makes faith in him possible. And then doctrine becomes, so to speak, the cookbook for life, giving the correct recipe for each venture in belief and behavior.