Deacons, as we discussed this past Sunday, our first calling in life is to know God. This calling is common to all people and especially requisite of Christians. In fact, when Christians fail to obey this calling, their faith and the impact of their faith is weakened. By extension, a church that does not obey this calling is a weak church. All other duties laid upon believers and the church are dependent upon knowing God. If we do not know God, then we struggle and fail in our other duties; we are hindered in performing them by the weakness of our faith.
An effective means to knowing God is through, what we call, Biblical Theology. Biblical Theology is the study of God as he reveals himself throughout the whole of scripture. Note: when I talk about Biblical Theology, I am simply addressing the idea that if we want to know who God is, we will look no further than The Word of God. The theology of the Bible is the interest of the believer who wants to know God. The term itself has some negative connotations throughout history, but I use it in its oldest, purist and simplest understanding only. Biblical Theology points the believer to seek God not in his or her experiences and not in scholastic or philosophical study but rather, in the Divine Revelation of God from God: the Bible.
It is important to understand that both experience and philosophy play a role in our understanding of God, but they do not fully reveal God, perfectly define God or bring true knowledge of God. Only God’s word can do these things. Therefore, experience and philosophy must be interpreted within the confines of the truth of God’s Word.
I am stressing this point because of the vital necessity for the church to agree with and embrace the preeminent authority of God’s word as the sole means of knowing God and therefore fulfilling our first and highest calling.
Next time we will discuss some of the benefits of Biblical Theology.
Blessings, Mark
The basis for these writings on being a Healthy Church member are from Anyabwile,TThabiti M. What is a Healthy Church Member?. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2008.