Sound doctrine (or truth) is closely related to holiness. Remember that Biblical insight. It can help you spot sound doctrine which is so rare in our day. The converse is also true! So as sound doctrine leads to holiness, false doctrine breeds sinful behavior! Here is Biblical support for those truths:
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness (Titus 1:1)
The word translated godliness in Titus 1:1 can also be rendered holiness. The entire first chapter of Titus makes the aforementioned contrasting points very well. The ones who qualified for spiritual leadership, as an elder, have both sound doctrine and are living holy (vss. 6-9), while the false teachers referred to were immoral! The latter point is confirmed in Titus 1:10-16. The circumcision group, spreading false doctrine, was also guilty of deceit, lying, being lazy, disobedience in general, etc. Their false doctrine led to their sinful behavior.
The book of Jude substantiates the same connection between sound doctrine and holiness and the reverse. In Jude, the urgent problem addressed was created by false teachers who taught their license to sin under the Christian term grace, just like the eternal security teachers do today. The same false teachers were clearly ungodly (v.4) and shown to be immoral (vss. 7,8, etc.). This pattern is consistent throughout the Scriptures! The next example is with the false teaching woman, whom the Lord Jesus called Jezebel, and the servants of God she deceived into sin by her bogus doctrine:
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. (Rev 2:20,21)
It is again clear that, that female false teacher, and those embracing her false doctrine, were immoral. Their false doctrine bred sin as sound doctrine leads to holiness! The holiest example in the New Testament, after the sinless Lord Jesus, was Paul. He was holy, righteous and blameless in his behavior, as were his traveling companions (1 Thess. 2:10; etc.). Furthermore, the same holy man of God was also sound in doctrine and was the one God used to write half of the New Testament! Pure sound doctrine came from the same holy man! Remember, as sound doctrine leads to holiness, false doctrine breeds sinful behavior! Finally, slavery to God and righteousness also lead to holiness and eternal life:
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Rom 6:22)
Does that verse describe you?
