DOWEL PINS OF SOUND DOCTRINE

by Steve Todd

". . . by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince..." Titus 1:9

There are old post and beam barns all across the nation still standing though they were built long ago. We have one on our property here at Wildcat Ranch. Ours is a unique double "A" frame construction, and I was told by an architect friend that it is an incredibly strong structure. One of the main reasons for the strength of these old barns is the system of dowel pins that tie the beams together. These barns, though there isn*t much to them, stand strong and weather the worst of storms and time because the dowel pins hold everything together. Each dowel pin itself provides strength and stability, but the system of dowel pins, positioned in key places in the beams, is the key to that strength and stability.

Each point of doctrine that we as grace believers drive in our structure is a dowel pin that will help us stand the test. Eph. 6:13-17 exhorts us to put on the whole armour of God that we may stand. Your barn is not complete unless its loins are girt about with truth (strong under beams); it has on the breastplate of righteousness (walls); its feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (built into a bank of earth with stone); it has the shield of faith (doors that can close to deflect the fiery darts); it has on the helmet of salvation (slate roof); it has the s*it*ord of the Spirit, the Word of God (the one who built, runs, cares for it. and lives there). We need to put on the whole armour of God to have a complete barn, but it is the dowel pins of sound doctrine that keep it together and make it strong.