(Editor's Note: The following piece is by Tom and Cathy Schattke. They send out an email Sabbath study weekly. To get on their list, send an email request to tlschatt@homemail.com . ) Dear Friends in Yahshua, We've seen many scriptures that say you won't be in the kingdom of Yahweh if you don't have the right love; but is there a scripture that says you won't get into the kingdom if you have the wrong doctrine? Well, here's the definition of doctrine: The Greek is Strong's #1322. didache, did-akh-ay'; instruction (the act or the matter):--doctrine, hath been taught. The English dictionary gives the same idea. It says doctrine is "Something that is taught, a belief or set of beliefs that are taught." Doctrine may or may not be TRUTH. It is just the stuff someone teaches. As it turns out there are a few scriptures that relate doctrine to salvation: 1 Timothy 4:16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. Paul tells Timothy that if he pays attention to how he lives and to what he teaches and how he teaches it, then he can be saved and be an instrument of salvation to his hearers. Yahshua himself had a few words to say about bad teaching in the congregations: Matthew 16:6 "Then Yahshua said to them, 'Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.'" Matthew 16:12 Then they [the disciples] understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Revelation 2:20 "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:14 "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. 15 "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 'Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. 17 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the congregations. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."' Notice that having this wrong teaching is not the end of the line for those believers. If they repent of allowing those teachers to teach them, then they can receive the manna from on high. Yahshua is telling us that we have to be careful about who we listen to. Just because someone says he is a teacher doesn't mean we should accept everything he says. We need to be like those famous Bereans who checked up on Paul. Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. The teaching we receive is good only insofar as it promotes Yahweh's truth. But then a question arises. John 18:38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. . . . Yahshua had given his disciples the answer just hours before Pilate asked the question. As he prayed to the Father, he had said: John 17:17 "Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." Yahshua may have been quoting from Psalms 119:160, "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever." In particular we see that the Torah is truth: Psalms 119:142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Torah [law] is truth. The Hebrew word for truth is Emet. It is an interesting word: It is spelled Alef - Mem - Tau. These are the first, middle and last letters in the Hebrew Alef-bet [alphabet]. The Rabbis say that reminds us that Yahweh's word is truth from the beginning - in the middle - and to the end. So we need to stay close to Yahweh's word, His teaching, His law. John 8:31 Then Yahshua said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide [remain] in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." In 1 Corinthians 13 we saw that love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; (1 Corinthians 13:6) 1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from Yahweh the Father and from the Master Yahshua the Messiah, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. Shabbat Shalom from Tom and Cathy Schattke tlschatt@homemail.com