Self Reminders

I have spent most of my life reading, talking, debating, and theorizing on theological topics. The focus has often been on controversial subjects: eschatology (Pre-trib vs. Post Trib), sovereignty in salvation (Calvinism vs. Arminianism), covenant framework of redemptive history (dispensationalism vs. covenant theology), apologetic framework (evidentialism vs. pre-suppositionalism), eschatology (a-mil vs. post Mil), biblical ethics (dispensational vs. reformed vs. prog dispensationalism), baptism (believers exclusively vs. believers and their children), church government (independent vs. presbyterian), miraculous spiritual gifts (cessationist vs. continuationist), and the age of the earth (old earth vs. new earth). It has been easy to get caught up in these topics. Search for meaning in order to choose a position. Read and discuss at length and miss the true value of theological inquiry. The focus can become on adopting and defending a position at any cost. It can become about being right…not righteous.

Below I have listed a few self-reminders about theological study that have been helpful to me:

1)The goal of all theological study is knowing God through his son Jesus Christ. The goal is not personal prestige, academic notoriety, ministerial effectiveness, or renowned debating prowess. If I study the scripture and miss Jesus, I miss the eternal life that I desperately need (e.g. NT Pharisees; Duke Professor Bart Ehrman). I am just another practical atheist with an interesting hobby.

2)The essential result of all theological study is personal change. I am fooling myself if I think that my understanding without my repentance is God pleasing. Again I have missed the point.

3)The true agent of my understanding is the Holy Spirit. I will not come to know God or master his revelation with a spirit of autonomy, independence, and self confidence. True understanding will only come to one with a humble, dependant, and teachable spirit.

4)The means of theological study are persistent, prayerful, and systematic hard work in the scriptures. It is not the studies that I begin and that quickly stall, but the studies that I begin and persist through to completion that are beneficial. In my reading of other writers I must not get too far from the scriptures.

5)The necessary context for theological study is within the community of faith: The Church. Theological study is best carried out within the guardrails of the church’s documents and fellowship. Mutual accountability helps us avoid self-deception, extremism, and theological novelties. It keeps us in the real world.