The study of the word: sure antodoto against doctrinal error

SUMMARY: It is important for spiritual leaders to prioritize the systematic education of parishioners and for believers to have an interest in studying God's Word. A church cannot rely solely on passionate sermons or emotional experiences, but must have a solid foundation of biblical knowledge. The Church in Latin America and the Third World needs to enter into greater theological and biblical rigor to combat the prevalence of false doctrine. It is not about repressing the movement of the Spirit, but finding a biblical balance between intellect and emotions, doctrine and anointing, order and spontaneity. Genuine pastoral teaching combines love with truth, affirmation with confrontation, and tolerance with discipline. The only sure antidote to seduction and doctrinal deception is a thorough knowledge of God's Word. The systematic study of the Bible leads to a healthy and sober spirituality and becomes a solid foundation for life and service to the Lord.

It is important that spiritual leaders place great importance on the systematic education of our parishioners. At the same time, it is important for each believer to be interested in studying God's Word, and to spend time learning about the great themes, characters, and principles of Scripture. A church cannot live solely on passionate sermons, enthusiastic praise, or so-called supernatural experiences. It requires the solid food of the Word administered day by day to become a stable and blessed community. As the apostle Peter points out, to virtue we must add knowledge. If not, what we have is a failed and fragile spirituality, open to deception, exposed to every wind of doctrine that blows in the cultural sphere.

The accelerated growth of the Church in Latin America and other parts of the Third World will sooner or later have to enter the discipline of greater theological and biblical rigor. There is too much foam in the teaching that a great part of the people of God currently receive, too much doctrine of men that has very little to do with the sound instruction of the word of God. This results in an emotionally and falsely anointed church, frequently intoxicated with the self-deception of disorderly and hysterical cults that create the false impression of a true visitation of the Holy Spirit, or of effective progress against the hosts of darkness, but in reality they do not greatly affect either the spiritual or the material world.