I agree that doctrine is important.
But I caution that it makes a poor god and that not everyone agrees on their doctrine.
Putting doctrine on a pedestal leads to division not unity.
A religious cult is easy to identify. They attend the church across the street from yours.
And they feel the same way about you. Where does that get us?
This is precisely why doctrine is so important. There are beliefs that are necessary for followers of Christ to believe and that if denied, show that such a person or denomination do not belong to Christ.
Rom 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. (ESV)
1Co 11:18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,
1Co 11:19
for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. (ESV)
1Ti 1:3 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine,
...
1Ti 1:10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, (ESV)
1Ti 6:3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, (ESV)
Tit 1:9 He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (ESV)
Those and many more passages show the centrality of correct doctrine and what can result from incorrect doctrine. So, no, a religious cult isn't simply those who "attend the church across the street from yours."
Having said all that, we must all walk in humility:
1Co 13:9 For
we know in part and we prophesy in part,
1Co 13:10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1Co 13:12
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. (ESV)
Doctrine as a god - bow down before the one you serve...
There is no salvation in doctrine. Only God can save.
--- Agree or disagree? ---
It is true that it is God alone who saves, but what do you say to those who whose doctrine disagrees with your doctrine that "Only God can save"? Do you agree that correct doctrine of who God is and who Jesus is are necessary for salvation?
Believing in the necessity of correct doctrine does not mean that doctrine has become a god; it is something that is taught throughout the NT. It's a matter of knowing which doctrines are of central importance to salvation, that is, to believe as a follower of Christ, and which doctrines allow for freedom to have differing opinions.
