“Some preachers seem to be afraid lest their sermons should be too rich in doctrine, and so injure the spiritual digestions of their hearers. The fear is superfluous. . . . in our present state of mind we should prefer to receive the gospel in all its richness, as we find it in the word. Do not our readers sympathize with our preference? This is not a theological age, and therefore it rails at sound doctrinal teaching, on the principle that ignorance despises wisdom. The glorious giants of the Puritan age fed on something better than the whipped creams and pastries which are now so much in vogue.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I find it to be ironic that this statement from the great C.H. Spurgeon has transcended time as this is a problem that is so prevalent today. Too often the messages that dive deep into scripture are not the message many want to hear. I feel like many don’t want to be challenged and taught to pursue holiness, righteousness, and the mortification of our flesh – we want to be taught how to have more happiness and joy. We want a message that tells us how good we truly are and how we fit into the story of Jesus.
Why do we believe what we believe? Do we even know what we believe?
In the last 8 months or so I’ve had a hunger in my life that was beyond any other hunger I’ve known. The things that were once so appetizing to me, sports, cars, etc. are now things that leave a gaping void. My wife and I were never the TV sitcom watchers, but we loved anything sports. I feel like there was never a point in my life where I didn’t know what was going on in the sports world; I always followed the launches of new cars. I had a habit of spending a lot of time on jomashop looking at watches – mainly those that I will more likely than not never own. And you know what, there is nothing wrong with sports, cars, watches, etc. The Lord has ordained the creation of these things; they are good – when in proper order of our lives and priorities.
Over the last season of my life my priorities have been completely realigned. There is only one thing in my life that truly satisfies that that is the Lord. As I have undergone a bit of a spiritual awakening over the last 8 months or so, I have more than ever began to see the Word for what it is, the 100% inerrant, unchanging, perfect word of God. It’s not like I never got it before, I just feel like the foundation on which I was built was not as solid as it is now.
So what’s the difference? Desperately needing to understand scripture and theology in a deeper way. Theology is defined as the study of the nature of God and religious beliefs. And moreover, it has truly illuminated my mind to read scripture and see the nature of God, the attributes of God, and hear the voice of God more than I ever have. If you’ve been reading this blog along for the last few entries, you can see a pattern developing. Sound doctrine and sound theology is extremely important, it matters.
Why?
Because wrong doctrine and theology hurts people.
In my last entry I spoke on the prosperity gospel and how it was a train derailment waiting to happen in my life. Now, it’s been about a decade since I was listening to a minister even associated with it, but, there are things that take root in your heart that need to be unearthed and processed to heal. Through this I have learned the need for discipline in your walk with God and how it stems from your devotional time with God. Proper theology and doctrine helps set the foundation of faith that CANNOT wither away in moments of suffering and pain.
How many people like the movie National Treasure? It’s one of my favorites. It’s a nerd flick and my wife refuses to watch it with me, but the truth is, I love it and it’s like Home Alone 2 to me, if it’s on – I’ll watch it. The point is that there is a point where the main character, ironically named Ben (😂), gets his paws on these special glasses. They are old and rickety but they are these specs that are probably equally valuable to any other tool he might’ve had. The value in these ancient frames is that they help him see the coded maps on the back of the Declaration of Independence which would have not been visible to the naked eye. And all of the sudden…
BAM!
A whole new part of the mystery has been revealed. Each moment he flips the lenses it’s like spinning the tube of a kaleidoscope, each revelation more grandeur than the last. To me, I think of this and it’s exactly what I see in my minds eye when I think of our pursuit of God through studying theology. As we go deeper, it’s like changing the lens to see the mysteries of God more clearly. Now I am not a treasure hunter nor do I believe that sitting under some random graves is billions of dollars of treasure. However, I have come to find my own set of spectacles which has personally illuminated the Gospel and scripture to an even grandeur detail and that is Calvinsim.
I was first introduced to Reformed Theology a few years ago as I began to study Systematic Theology in a basic manner. And admittedly, in the very beginning, Calvinism was like studying Mandarin Chinese. Limited Atonement? So you mean God doesn’t save everyone on earth? No, he doesn’t. You mean I can’t do anything to influence God’s favor with me? Nope. Not a thing. I’m not an idiot by any stretch – somehow I did receive a doctorate. However, growing up I never read nor was I taught the Bible in this manner by anyone. When I read, It was all about me and how reading the Bible encouraged me. Human centered bible reading. I read deep enough to find out what the Bible said in regards to the current problem in life I was facing. I had no desire to study about WHO God is and WHAT He is about. I had no real desire to make Him LORD of my life and let Him reign over all things. This basic foundation that I started laying in my life with the help of some friends and one of our pastors helped solidify my faith and put me in a spot that, fast forward a few years, things could finally start to really make sense.
Rather than go over everyones head for now and start ranting about TULIP, I just want to share my personal conviction for the deeper study of theology in the Christian life.
1. Sound theology helps show us exactly how depraved we are.
I feel like it is impossible to truly understand the gospel and the Lord without first understanding that apart from Him, we are nothing but filthy rags. Romans 3:10-12 shows us:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
We need to call a spade a spade, we are sinners who are full of wickedness in our hearts before God reveals Himself to us. If we don’t truly study theology, we don’t fully grasp not just the perfect death in which Jesus died, but more so, the perfect life in which He LIVED. Jesus Christ became flesh and lived the perfect life that I couldn’t, wouldn’t, and am not living. Without committing a sin, He then knowingly went to the cross to pay for all the sins He didn’t commit. He went to pay the debt that He knew could never and would never be paid.
How many mortgage lenders will hand a mortgage out to those who say: “I can’t and will not pay this mortgage. I have no job, I have no source of payment, I will never be able to get a job. But I need a place to live, so how about you finance me at your best interest rate?”
That’s us. We have absolutely nothing to give to the Lord. We have nothing we could ever give to Him yet, He in His marvelous wonder gave us the greatest gift anyone could ever receive – eternity spent in paradise. Grace is a free gift, there is nothing that we could do to earn it, even in our absolute depravity. Studying the Bible from a human centered perspective will only put you in the worst possible spot – attempting to add something about you to the story. We are not the hero, He is.
2. Sound theology allows us to worship God for who He truly is.
When we begin to dive deeper into scripture and the Gospel there is an overflowing of awe directed at God. When you realize how wretched you were but how beautiful you’ve become because of the goodness of God there is only one response: worship. To fall to your knees and say “thank you, Lord.”
1 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! 3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:1-3 ESV
I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Psalm 7:17 ESV
We don’t sing to God for our righteousness or because we are good. We sing to God because of the fact that He is good and because without Him we are absolutely pathetic. We sing to Him because He is worthy of our praise. He is deserving of the best of our worship and all of our hearts and affection.
N.T. Wright says this:
“Put it this way: if your idea of God, if your idea of the salvation offered in Christ, is vague or remote, your idea of worship will be fuzzy and ill-formed. The closer you get to the truth, the clearer becomes the beauty, and the more you will find worship welling up within you. That’s why theology and worship belong together. The one isn’t just a headtrip; the other isn’t just emotion.”
“Jesus likewise states that gospel worship is to be of a kind which does not result from the man himself merely, but comes from God, and is a work of grace. This is implied in the sentence, “The Father seeketh such to worship him,” as if no true worship would come from any man unless God sought it. True devotion under the Christian dispensation is not merely human but also divine. It is the work of the Spirit in the soul returning to its author; or as our hymn puts it — “Prayer is the breath of God in man, Returning whence it came.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
I’m a crier – I admit it. Not ashamed of it at all – but the more I get closer to the truth of the Gospel, the more I understand what has been done for me and how I didn’t deserve it at all. It is impossible for me to not fall on my knees with tears of adoration for the Lord and all He has done and all He continues to do.
3. Sound theology allows us to better lead our homes and relationships.
19 We love because he first loved us
1 John 4:19 ESV
I tried the whole being a husband and father thing without properly loving my heavenly father, and yeah, it didn’t work out too well. If you view God as a genie in a bottle who you take out when you’re dealing with an issue, you won’t love God – you’ll hate Him. The reason you’ll hate Him is not because you’ll never see things happen for yourself – you’ll hate Him because you don’t understand Him.
John Piper has a very famous view on our relationship with God, it’s known as Christian Hedonism. This is the understanding that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. In my eyes, I also see this in my marriage, my children, and my friendships – they are the healthiest and thrive the most when I am most satisfied in God. When our Rome Campus Pastor, Mark Schilling, was our Youth Pastor he drove home how the only way he is able to best love his wife was to love God more than her. Me being the guy in the congregation who was ready to marry Dominique at day 1 was like – “yes, I got you dude. I’m doing that already!”
HA. Not really.
To those who do not believe, it may seem like folly. But, to those who believe, it’s a mandate. Diving deeper into scripture produces the purest love for another person because you first see how loved you are by God. It’s a love that floods the heart so much it pours out onto those who you are around because you physically cannot contain it in just you.
He so LOVED the world that He sent His only begotten son. Now I confidently believe I can speak on my wife’s behalf and say that she has never felt more loved and cherished than she has when she knows my relationship with God is far above my relationship with her. My two year old is speaking in broken sentences and it’s mainly about fire trucks, garbage trucks, or drums.
Nonetheless, he would probably also say he has seen more of his daddy and received more attention from daddy then he could have ever expected. He just doesn’t understand that it is because his dad is so filled up from his Heavenly father. Our 11 month old doesn’t count, he loves everyone who gives him food and feels loved by anyone who looks at him.
Our family’s walk with the Lord has become that of a little kid with a kaleidoscope, forever spinning the dial to see the next color, shape, and wonder. You could see it over and over again, but it looks better and better every time you see it. Thank God for the gospel. Thank God for His love. I pray that this encourages you to go deeper with Him.
God bless you,
BMT
The Fire & The Flood 