Good Theology

There are many good reasons for studying theology, such as discovering who God is, and what He is doing in the world.  It gives us an understanding of the meaning of our lives as we learn the teachings of the Bible.  For instance, in Genesis 1:27 we read, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."  This is good theology.  We begin to learn about humanity's true identity from theology.  And we can also learn of God’s eternal nature and His promises to His people. 

 

Studying theology picks us up out of the darkness, brokenness, and sinfulness of this world.  In Christ, we receive the salvation of our souls and inspiration for living.  Discovering Christ transforms us back to "the image of God" and the image of Christ, and we then long to live for Christ in all aspects of our lives.      

 

My prayer for my family and friends is that they would discover the joy of knowing Christ and being transformed into His likeness.  Our culture is changing at an incredible rate and we cannot be indifferent to the call of living for Christ.  We will drift away from God without inspiration in good theology.   

 

The Holy Spirit speaks through all of Scripture, and in Romans 12:2, He says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  The will of God is to live for Christ, which as we see in 12:1 is described as, “your spiritual worship.”

 

God is calling us out of the world and to Christ and His word.  He is calling us to know Him and be transformed by Him.  This is good theology and it causes us to live for Him.  

Christianity In America

Recently WORLD magazine (www.wng.org), published an interview with Dr. Carl Truman, professor at Grove City College in PA.  He has written a book entitled, "The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self."   Although I haven't read this book yet I've heard from a handful of people that it is excellent and hits the bull's eye in describing the problems of our contemporary culture.  I highly recommend the interview and then the book.  

Also, Dr. Steve Nichols, president of The Reformation Bible College, and Teaching Fellow at Ligonier Ministries, has produced a new twelve-part teaching series entitled, Christianity in America, which is excellent. This also describes where we are and how we got here.  You can see this on the Ligonier App, where it is promoted as “Conviction or Compromise.”  It’s also available through www.ligonier.org, or Ligonier Connect, (https://connect.ligonier.org) where there are over a hundred other teaching series from Ligonier.  

Let’s encourage each other with a Veritas Fellowship as we see our culture disintegrating right before our eyes.  We need the Truth of Scripture, who is Christ, and our children need this same Truth for the years and generations to come.  A people centered, relationally oriented, emotionally focused faith cannot stand against the self-centeredness of contemporary culture.  It cannot strengthen us Spiritually.  We need the Truth of Scripture, with graciousness and mercy to everyone.  But, we need the Truth of Scripture.