By maintaining the priority and power of the written Word, the Reformed doctrine of Scripture acknowledges and preserves its eschatological character. It is the Word of God which imposes upon the church the image of glory, investing her with the character of her risen Lord, and effectually calling her to the perfection of that image in the resurrection. Operative only in the eschatological environment of the Spirit who gave it, the written Word functions as revelation , communicating and pledging God Himself to the church of Christ. The imperative to the church to maintain its doctrine , is the imperative to continue in its doctrine. Doctrine is redemptive historical.
Teaching is eschatological.
The gospel imperative constrains us to live out of the gift which we were already given. The gospel is an event. Doctrine is interpretation. And the Scriptures relate no event in isolation from interpretation. Doctrinal purity is the product of the vital relation of dogma to event.