Just because we have had a particular experience, or encounter with God, it doesn't mean to say that we can then build a doctrine on that. All personal experiences have to be interpreted in the light of what the Bible teaches not the other way round. We don't interpret the Bible through our experiences.

We can apply this rule in a two-fold application. First of all to personal experiences in the Bible (narratives) and secondly, to those that we have as individuals.

In Matthew 4: 18-22 we read about the calling of the first Disciples. We find that, 'At once, they left their nets and followed him... and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.'

Is this an experience that we should build a doctrine on? Should this be preached today in that literal sense? What does the teaching part of the New Testament have to say about this, and how should this passage be interpreted in the light of the situation we may find ourselves in at the present time?

In Acts 9: 1-9 we read about the salvation of Saul. When he met Christ he fell to the ground and was blind for three days. The account in Acts is Paul's personal experience when he got saved. We can't necessarily take everything at face value and build a doctrine on it, otherwise how many of us are saved? Because if we weren't blinded for three days, then we certainly didn't follow the Biblical pattern of salvation, if thats what we believe Paul's encounter to be.

In the same way we can't build doctrine on the fact that he fell to the ground. It is not a part of the salvation process but was just Paul's personal experience.

Likewise, we must avoid forming doctrine on our own personal experiences. The Bible is the Logos (general) word of God but occasionally it becomes the Rhema word (specific) as God speaks to us.

You may feel challenged to remain single. Perhaps God has been speaking to you from the Bible. Jesus was single, and in 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 in regards to being single, Paul writes, 'I think it is good for you to remain as you are.'

So we feel challenged and follow that path for our lives. But it is specifically to us that the Lord was speaking, in regards to His plan for our lives. We can't then try and impose the command of remaining single upon every other Christian.

But this is just what some believers do. God has been speaking to them and they then build a doctrine upon that area and treat it as if everyone else should also be following them.