If you were shopping for a new house, you might neglect to check the foundation. But the strength of a building lies in its foundation. The main purpose of any foundation is to keep the structure above it standing. On the contrary, a poorly constructed foundation can be highly dangerous to its occupants for obvious reasons. If you were to ask many Christians what words they associate with "doctrine," you would probably hear, "boring." We tend to be pragmatists who view the doctrines of the Bible as something that interests only theologians or seminary students. But we want something practical. We want to know how to deal with the problems we face every day. So we tend to skip the doctrine and move on to the "how to's." The apostle Paul did not take that approach. He would view it as building a house without a foundation. In all of his letters, he first sets forth the doctrine and then comes the practice. In Romans, he spends 11 chapters laying the doctrinal foundation before he gets really practical. But even within the first 11 chapters, he can't resist drawing out the practical implications of the doctrines that he sets forth. In chapter 5, he gives us some wonderful blessings that flow from the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Justification by faith gives us peace with God through Jesus Christ!
