Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. 19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?
1322 διδαχή didachḗ; gen. didachḗs, fem. noun from didáskō (G1321), to teach. In an act. sense it means the act of teaching, instructing, tutoring (Mark 4:2; 12:38; 1 Cor. 14:6, 26; 2 Tim. 4:2); in a pass. sense, teaching which is given, that which anyone teaches, the manner or character of one's teaching (Matt. 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22, 27; 11:18; Luke 4:32). In an absolute sense, it denotes the teaching of Jesus (2 John 1:9, 10); the Lord (Mark 11:18; John 18:19; Acts 13:12); the Apostles (Acts 2:42; 5:28; Titus 1:9); the things taught, precept, doctrine (Matt. 16:12; John 7:16, 17; Acts 17:19; Rom. 6:17; 16:17; Heb. 6:2; 13:9). Other doctrines: of Balaam, magic, gnosticism (Rev. 2:14 [cf. 2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 1:11]); of the Nicolaitans, similar to that of Balaam (Rev. 2:15 [cf. Rev. 2:6]); of Jezebel, adultery, idolatry (Rev. 2:24). Essentially didachḗ is the same as didaskalía (G1319), sometimes meaning the manner of teaching and sometimes the content of teaching. Both are used in the act. and pass. senses, i.e., the act of teaching and the content of what is taught. However, it is to be noted that the pass. sense is predominant in didachḗ and the act. sense in didaskalía. In didachḗ, we have incorporated the authority of that which is taught, and didaskalía predominates in the act or art of teaching. Didachḗ is used only twice in the Pastoral Epistles (2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:9) while didaskalía, with a stress on the art of teaching, occurs fifteen times.
Now that we have heard from Christ on the matter, and defined our terms.
I will answer your question.
The best way to know the will of God is to do the will of God, as Christ Our Lord clearly stated.
Solomon had somewhat to say on this topic as well
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. 3 Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
There are quite a few Reformers on my bookshelf, yes. Right beside the early Church Fathers, Puritans, Eastern Mystics, Hebrew and Greek Scholars, a wide variety of biblical manuscripts, translations and commentaries.
And none of these would be of any use to me whatsoever, were I not a child of God, washed in the Blood of Christ, and born of His Spirit.
But even then, once born of His Spirit, and with all of these invaluable resources at my disposal, unless I am daily endeavouring to walk in that same Holy Spirit, in willful obedience to the revelation which I have received, in humble faith and genuine repentance, these resources have little, if any value.
And this, is my doctrine.
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A few pertinent quotations
"If we are going to be imbalanced, better that we be doctrinally weak and have a vital prayer life and a real sense of God on the heart than we get all our doctrine straight and be cold and spiritually hard."
Timothy J. Keller
"Christianity is distinguished by the remarkable characteristic that it is the only world religion which begins by discarding its own founders creed."
Anthony Buzzard
"Doctrines are meant to serve man, not the other way around."
Amin Maalouf
"He that has doctrinal knowledge and speculation only, without affection, never is engaged in the business of religion."
Jonathan Edwards
