The Doorway of Doctrine
[Jesus said] I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
John 10:9 (NIV)
Right thinking about Jesus is essential to a true and authentic relationship with Jesus. But right thinking — accurate Christian doctrine — is not exactly the same as a true and authentic relationship with Jesus. Knowing about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus in a personal and intimate way. As with any intimate relationship, in order to have an authentic relationship with that person, you must know something about them and who they are. But knowing about that person is obviously not the same a truly ‘knowing’ the person. It is the same with our relationship with Jesus.
Good doctrine — right thinking about Jesus — is a doorway. Like all doorways, the object is not to become fixated on the doorway itself, but to walk through the doorway to what is on the other side. A doorway is simply a conduit to what is on the other side. In the case of Christian doctrine, it is the doorway which we walk through to discover the person of Jesus. Sometimes, as Christians, we can become fixated on the doorway, and forget the the doorway is only a conduit to the real object of our attention and desire - Jesus himself.
So — Christian doctrine is a doorway that leads to the person of Jesus. And, as Jesus himself says in John 10:9, He alone is the gateway to salvation and reconciliation with the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.