We are beginning our study about God which is called theology.
What is theology and how do we go about doing it? We will employ the following as a working definition:
Theology is an imperfect attempt to develop increasingly more accurate approximations of God's perfect system of truth: (a) by exegeting and organizing the facts and meanings of God's revelation of His nature, God's revelation of His works of creation, providence, redemption, and judgment, and God's revelation of His purpose and will for all created beings; (b) by constructing formulations that accurately define and interrelate the truths of God's revelation; (c) by expressing these formulations in terms of thought-forms appropriate to the current culture.
A Shorter Form of this Definition
Theology is the attempt to discover and express the truth concerning God and His relationships to the universe.
(a) How do we go about discovering this truth?
By exegeting and organizing God's general and special revelation, and by
constructing formulations of its facts and meanings
(b) How do we go about expressing this truth?
By defining and explaining it in terms of thought-forms appropriate to the
current culture.
MEMORY VERSES
John 14:21 and 2 Timothy 2:15
Proverbs 4:1-2 (KJV) - It is clear from the context in this verse that doctrine simply means instruction and that it imparts understanding to those who will be instructed by it. Note that this a loving father's instruction to his children, and not cold, hard, dry, academic details. A father's caring, wise advice to his beloved children is called doctrine.
John 7:14-17 (KJV) - Jesus teaches in the temple, and then says that His doctrine is not His own.
Despite the technical sound of the word "doctrine" in our ears today, the word simply means teaching; in fact, if you were to look up the above verses in a good modern translation (i.e., NASB or NIV), you would find "teaching" substituted for "doctrine". A doctrine class is one in which one is taught.
Proverbs 22:20-21 - In this course these "excellent things in counsels and knowledge" will be taught so that you will know them yourselves, and so that you can give a wise answer to those who ask counsel of you.
1 Corinthians 8:1 - Knowledge has a tendency to make people haughty (puffed up), but genuine love motivates one to want to build up (edify) others. Resist the sinful inclination for this teaching to go only into the memory and to become proud because you know a lot of facts. It is the way Biblical teaching affects how you live that counts: use it to strengthen yourself and others.
1 Corinthians 8:2 - If you find yourself getting proud of what you know, you don't really understand the doctrines properly. However, to never study doctrine for fear of falling into this trap would be a mistake. A better solution implied here is to realize that there can be a deficiency in the proper understanding of the material, and to study with a view toward avoiding that deficiency and its resultant pride (when we look into Man's Condition in a few weeks, it will be clear that no person has any reason to be proud of himself). A proper understanding of doctrine lends itself to true humility.
Romans 12:1 - This vital exhortation to present ourselves as living sacrifices to God and to give to God the worship of our service is Paul's conclusion drawn from the previous eleven chapters of doctrine (notice the "therefore"). This should be our conclusion after studying doctrine as well.
1) Out of love for the Lord.
"This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or let the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight.'"
Jeremiah 9:23-24
"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
John 14:21
Note that a real love for the Lord does not consist only of feelings, but it ALSO shows itself in obedience to what the Lord commands. No one can obey commands if they do not know what they are.
Matthew 23:23 - Notice that Biblical obedience to the Lord is not stiff and external only. The Pharisees are rebuked by Jesus for their mechanical tithing. Jesus charges them with having left out the more important matters of God's commands: justice, mercy, and faith. Notice that Jesus does not say that these more important heart matters should be observed instead of external obedience. Rather, He says that these heart matters should have been cared for without leaving the external matters undone.
A KEY VERSE:
1 John 5:2-3 - The way a believer knows that he loves fellow Christians is by acting in accordance with God's commands. This is very reasonable since many of these commands concern the interactions of men in general, and of God's people in particular. It requires real love to consistently live up to the self-sacrificial model of conduct which God establishes in the Bible. To obey commands which only seem to relate to one's relationship with God is another way to show love to fellow believers, since your example of true spirituality will encourage them to know the richer blessings of fuller fellowship with Him.
There are times when obedience to God's commands will cause people to call you cold, spiteful, and "unloving". For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:11, Christians are told not to associate with professed Christians who habitually practice, and who will not quit, certain gross sins. We are not even to eat with such a person. On the surface, this can seem harsh, yet consider the reason for such treatment (see verse 5). The goal is that the person will realize the seriousness of his habitual practice of a sin that is a sign of an unregenerate heart (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-10), and then repent and leave that sin so as to either become a believer (if this should be his first genuine repentance) or show himself to be a true believer.
In 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, we find that this result was indeed achieved and the Corinthians were then told to receive their repentant brother back into the fellowship, and to reaffirm their love to him. It really was far more loving in the long run to help this stubborn brother repent than to allow him to remain in his gross sin. By obeying the Lord's commands, the wisest practical love is shown for God's children, even when it can seem to us for the moment to be unloving. Remember, it is not wise to be more loving than God. It is not possible to show greater love than to know God's commandments and to obey them from the heart (1 John 5:2).
Proverbs 3:13-18-There is scarcely a man alive who would not want these blessings: happiness (verse 13), profit better than silver and gold (verse 14), long life (verse 16), pleasant ways and peaceful paths (verse 17), and real life (verse 18). These are all the possession of them an who finds and holds on to wisdom and understanding. To study so as to find wisdom and to get understanding is of great profit to the one who does it.
Why is this?
Prov. 14:12-Life is a minefield:
a) There are many seemingly pleasant ways of living that do little in the long run but exhaust a person until he is tired of life itself (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5).
B) There are many good sounding political, economic, and social theories that do not work because they over look real-life fact or sin the problems they seem to solve. An inadequate view of reality results in sorrow, dissipation, and failure. To know how the world really works, and to know how best to work constructively within those constraints, is the most reliable way to attain success and happiness.
Psalm 119:98-100-The psalmist says that God's commands have made him wiser than his enemies, who would certainly do him harm if they could out smart him. Because he meditates on God's testimonies, he is better than his teachers in understanding what he learns. The psalmist has even more wisdom than those with greater experience and age than himself, because he keeps the Lord's precepts.
Colossians 2:2-4 - Paul wants ALL Christians to come to the full assurance of understanding, so that they will not be deceived with persuasive arguments. We do not want to be dupes, changing our view of what is good and true every time we encounter a forceful new argument. It is far better to know from the Scriptures what the right conclusions are and then to evaluate what we hear against that standard. This leads to a stable, peaceful life rather than one which is characterized by wishy-washy changes and turmoil.
Deuteronomy 28-Notice that in verses 1-14, the Lord promises to bless the Israelites in all aspects of their lives if they will be diligent to obey His commands. Also notice in verses 15-68, that the same aspect so f their lives would be cursed if they would not obey the Lord. As is seen in 1 Corinthians 10:11-12, these things happened to them so that we can heed their example. The Lord's blessings and chastisements will be upon our lives as we learn the Lord's will and do it, or as we choose not to.
1 Timothy 4:13,15-16 - A Christian's close attention to his life and to doctrine will make his progress in the faith evident to all, and will insure the success of his ministry with others.
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."
2 Timothy 2:15
By being diligent in his study, a Christian can be a workman who has no need to be ashamed of his work, because he is accurately presenting the truth that the Lord has committed to his stewardship.
2 Peter 1:4 - By taking God's promises to heart, a believer is better able to escape the lustful corruption's that so characterize the world.
Deuteronomy 4:9-10 - Children are to learn about God from their parents, and not just from their Sunday school teachers.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 - The king was to make his own copy of God's laws and to study it so that he would not be proud of his position, and elevate himself above his fellow Israelites.
Everyone from children to the most important people in the land are to learn about the Lord and His will. No one is too lowly or too important to be concerned about doctrine. In fact, it seems that the more important a person is, the more he needs to study doctrine so that he does not become proud and arrogant.
1 Timothy 3:15 - The church is the pillar and support of the truth. It is God's instrument by which the truth is defended and upheld. Therefore, the church is to study doctrine.
Why?
1 Timothy 5:17 - A good church has elders who are busy at the work of teaching. These are men who have been elected to this office because they have demonstrated in their own lives the ability to make wise, godly decisions and to conduct fruitful ministries. These are good people to learn from.
Hebrews 10:23-25 - At a good church, there are other Christians to stimulate you to love and good works. In their fellowship and encouragement, they provide an excellent environment in which to take the Lord's commands to heart. Since these other Christians are also studying the Scriptures, they are able to bring new insights to your attention. A good church is a Scripturally organized place for Christians to come together in order to help each other to gain new understanding and live up to it.
Where does the church get its truth from?
2 Timothy 3:14-17 - We get our teaching from the Scriptures, because they are inspired by God so that the man or woman of God may be complete and equipped to do ALL good things. The Scriptures are given by God for a very practical purpose: to equip us to do what is right and good.
Joshua 1:8 - Again we see the teaching that when our minds and hearts are set on the instruction in the Bible, our lives will be successful, especially in the sight of the Lord.
Isaiah 8:20 - Those who would not go to the Bible for instruction are here said to lack the light of understanding (see also 1 Cor. 14:37-38). We will see some of the reasons for this in the lesson on THE SCRIPTURES.
Luke 12:47, 48 - The servant who knew his master's will and did not do it will receive a greater punishment than the one who did not know his master's will and did not do it. Because much knowledge had been given to the one servant, more was expected of him. There are two basic reactions to this idea: one is to learn doctrine and then to live by it. The other is to choose not to learn doctrine so as to (supposedly) not be responsible for it. In response to this second reaction:
"And you neglected all my counsel, And did not want my reproof. I will even laugh at your calamity I will mock when your dread comes."
Proverbs 1:25-26
Also note Leviticus 5:17:
"If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible."
Reread Proverbs 3:13-18 and Matthew 25:21. Now as you are beginning this doctrine class, think about these two passages and let them mold your view of what you want to get from the class, and how you will reach this goal.
Next lesson: The Scriptures