"Nothing can be rightly known, if God be not [rightly] known; nor is any study well managed, nor to any great purpose, if God is not studied. We know little of the creature, till we know it as it stands related to the Creator..." | Richard Baxter
The word theology comes from two Greek words, theos (God) and logos (word). From them we can see that theology is the study of God and his attributes, using the scriptures as the source of this truth. If God is the supreme being in all the universe, is it not of utmost importance for us to know him as much as we can? We invest time into things which hold significance for us. I remember when Anna and I first started dating....I wanted to know everything about her. I wanted to know her favorite color, her favorite candy, her favorite songs....the food she liked the people she liked...There was never a point where I felt like I knew too much information about her. As we've grown in our relationship, that hasn't changed. I want to know as much as I can about Anna, because I love her. The same holds true for Elijah and now Piper. I find pleasure in knowing all that I can about them, because I love them.
However, for some reason, when it comes to theology, people often times get squirmy and uncomfortable. There seems to be a negative association with the word theology, when in all actuality it simply means the study of God...which should be the one thing that we are most interested in.
The Bible tells us that God is:
- Omniscient (all-knowing, 1 John 3:20)
- Omnipresent (existing everywhere, Psalm 139:7-12)
- Omnipotent (He accomplishes whatever He desires, Jer. 32:17,27)
- He is eternal (Psalm 90:2)
- Holy (Isaiah 6:3),
- Merciful (Psalm 67:1)
- Gracious & Good (1 Pet. 2:3)
What's the point of Theology:
The ultimate goal of Christian theology isn't simply to gain knowledge so we can boast in our own intelligence and wisdom. The goal is to learn about God, His nature, and His will, and how they apply and relate to us. When we rightly understand how big God really is will in turn we will be brought to an understanding of how small we really are. Or to say this a bit differently the more we learn about God from his scriptures, the more our hearts will be humbled. Also, if faithfulness to God is our real aim, then we must make sure that we understand what the bible says God expects from us?
The Authority of Scripture as it relates to Theology:
The key to rightly knowing God is to rightly understand the inspiration and authority of scripture and how to rightly handle it. We cannot know God, or what he expects from us if we don't study the scriptures to discover these things. The bible has been given to us, by God, as a gift which contains these truths.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tell us:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.We are doing ourselves no spiritual service if we are not using the bible as our reference point to all matters of faith. As we see in the verses from 2 Timothy, all scripture is profitable for knowing God and helping us line our lives up with what he has called us to be and do. We study God's scripture so we can grow in holiness (1 Pet. 1:15-16), obedience (James 1:4) and faithfulness (Heb. 6:1)...and "that [we] may be complete, [and] equipped for every good work". Without a devotion to the study of scriptures, we set ourselves up to be led astray by false teaching and false understandings of God and his will for our lives. Our emotions start to drive us towards actions that are not godly and we start to become influenced by things that were never meant to guide and direct us. Things like our emotions, our culture, mysticism and philosophy...which are under the same curse of sin that we are. Only God (and his word) can perfectly guide us towards holiness, obedience and faithfulness and therefore we must study the scriptures to ensure we are rightly handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15).
"In space, astronauts experience the misery of having no reference point, no force that draws them to the center. Where there is no "moral gravity" – that is, no force that draws us to the center – there is spiritual weightlessness. We float on feelings that will carry us where we were never meant to go; we bubble with emotional experiences that we often take for spiritual ones; and we are puffed up with pride. Instead of seriousness, there is foolishness. Instead of gravity, flippancy. Sentimentality takes the place of theology. Our reference point will never serve to keep our feet on solid rock. Our reference point, until we answer God's call, is merely ourselves. We cannot possibly tell which end is up." | Elizabeth Elliot
It is my prayer that each of us will understand the importance of theology. I pray that the Holy Spirit will convict our hearts to study God's scriptures and make it crucial part of our very existence I also pray that he will bless our studies and will allow us, like David, to faithfully and honestly say...
"On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate." (Psalm 145:5 ESV)
Other Quotes on Theology:
"Theology is a serious quest for the true knowledge of God, undertaken in response to His self-revelation, illumined by Christian tradition, manifesting a rational inner coherence, issuing in ethical conduct, resonating with the contemporary world and concerned for the greater glory of God." | John Stott
"Questions of who God is and of what He is like can never be considered irrelevant to the practical matters of church life. Different understandings of God will lead you to worship Him in different ways, and if some of those understandings are wrong, some of those ways in which you approach Him could be wrong as well." | Mark Dever
"We're all theologians. The question is whether what we know about God is true." | Josh Harris
For His Glory,
Jason
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