We have been saved by God to know God. He becomes our chief delight. He does not change in order to become our chief delight. He changes us so that we come to realize that He is our chief delight.
Delight is a good word for this post. To delight in something means to take great pleasure in it. We cannot delight in God without taking at least some time to gaze upon His glory.
This is why theology is vital for the Christian life. If the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever then how could we ever say that theology is unimportant?
Why Make Theology Such A Big Deal?
I can hear it now: “Can’t we just love God and love others?” Loving God and loving others involves acting from what we believe about God, others, and love. What I believe about God determines how I relate to Him and how I understand how He relates to me. What I believe about “love” determines how I will relate to them and how I expect them to relate to me.
“Some of you worry too much about theology and not enough about helping others.” First, this objection puts the focus too much on what we are doing and too little about delighting in God. Maybe I am cynical and pessimistic about this but I have significant worries that the majority of churches today think that Christianity is more about doing than it is about worship. Both are necessary but there is a proper order. Worship always comes before doing because worship is what enables and empowers doing.
We certainly can be too focused on knowledge in itself and too little on serving others (1 Cor. 8:1). But, the good news of the gospel of grace is that we get God and can delight in Him. He is our chief end!
We must pursue theology because right thinking about God produces right living. As Eugene Peterson once said, the inverse of this is also true: “A lie about God is a lie about life.” This is why theology is a big deal.
To say that theology is unimportant is a theological statement.
Everyone Is A Theologian
Theology is the study of God. All of us have thoughts about God and ourselves.
Basil the Great (4th Century): “Everyone is a theologian, even those who have stains on their souls.” R.C. Sproul titled one of his great books Everyone’s A Theologian. We are all theologians because we are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). It is ingrained in our bodies and souls.
There is no choice on whether or not we “do theology”. The choice is how we do it.
“The purpose of theology is not to tickle our intellects but to instruct us in the ways of God, so that we can grow up into maturity and fullness of obedience to Him. That is why we engage in theology.” — R.C. Sproul
Your Theology Determines How You Live
“Theology doesn’t matter” or “theology doesn’t matter as much as…” are both theological statements. Ps. 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us the very purpose of the Bible is so that we might do theology that changes the way we live: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Without theology we will not grow up into spiritual maturity.
You Must Be Born Again & Believe in Jesus Christ
Can anyone do theology rightly? Jesus would say “no” to this. John 3:3, 5 “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’”
How can we expect to think rightly about God if we can’t even see the kingdom? This is why we must be born again by the Holy Spirit. He makes us new creatures (2 Cor. 5:16-17). This new nature means that our thinking, feeling, and doing changes. Though we are not perfect in this life, and although even the greatest saint makes only the smallest progress in this life, we nevertheless do have a new nature that changes the way we think about God.
Paul makes it clear that when we have the Holy Spirit we have a new way of thinking.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. — Romans 8:5-8
This is why faith is a prerequisite for theology.
Anselm says to know God involves “faith seeking understanding”. Notice that understanding can’t happen unless there is faith.
Before him, Augustine once commented, “Believe so that you may understand.” Another great pastor-theologian in the 4th Century, Gregory of Nazianzus, said, “For one who is not pure, to lay hold of pure things is dangerous, just as it is for weak eyes to look at the Sun’s brightness.”
You Must Seek Theology for the Purpose of Worshiping God (NOT As Pride In Self)
One of the biggest deceptions of the Evil One is that we might study theology for the purpose of self-centered ends. This is one of the worst forms of self-righteousness and blindness. There are those who know about theology but don’t know the God of the theology they only know about. Most of the time these people are typically just repeating what they have heard from others. They have read but not meditated. They have listened to podcasts but not prayed. They have watched YouTube debates but they have not bowed low before God. Even then they tend to not know as much as they pretend to know. They usually speak this way as a form of coping with their own insecurity.
When this infiltrates churches it is like a hidden skunk, a leaking pipe, and growing mold. This is why we must speak, teach, and preach theology in such ways that applies to real life.
Let us never forget that Satan knows more about theology than any Christian this side of heaven. The true Christian knows theology—it is not merely knowledge but wisdom for all of life.
One must ask: Why do we even have theology? Why has God revealed Himself to us? 2 Peter 1:3 says, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence”. The knowledge of Him is for all of life and godliness. No matter of theology goes unapplied. We can also say that no matter of living should go without theological reflection.
Theology Helps Us Worship Rightly
Theology is a matter of worship. Jesus says in John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” We worship God wrongly whenever we are ignorant of the truth or arrogant in believing what is false. On the other hand, pursuing biblically faithful theology is always for the purpose of worship.
We might have good intentions in our worship services but those good intentions are still full of error and sin when they are not according to God’s Word. God is the one who sets the principles for how we worship Him.
You Must Submit To God’s Holy, Inspired, Inerrant, and Sufficient Word
We do not come up with theology. It is revealed to us. And because it is revealed to us, we must submit to the revelation. That is what Scripture is.
In Matthew 4:10, Jesus was being tempted by Satan to turn from the Father’s plan of redemption. Jesus rebuked the devil in return. “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.”’” How does Jesus fight Satan? With the Word of God. Even though Satan cannot and will not be saved, He is still commanded by God to submit to the revealed truth of God.
God’s Word is inspired. By that we mean that God has “breathed out” all Scripture. If God is the one who has breathed out all of Scripture, and if God cannot lie or err, then we believe that all of Scripture is inerrant. And if God’s Word is inspired and inerrant then it means it is sufficient to speak into all of life at all times.
Because of what God’s Word is, we can only do theology rightly when we submit to God’s Word as what it is—inspired, inerrant, and sufficient.
Scripture Governs All Theology and Defines All Theology
This is the logical next step. If God’s Word is what it is then God’s Word governs all theology and defines all theology. We don’t make it that way; that is the reality. While we attempt accessible ways to teach God’s truth we must always do so in ways that speak the truth. We cannot alter the truth because it is not our truth—it is God’s truth.
There are times when it is right and appropriate to teach people certain words and concepts that Scripture uses (i.e. propitiation, justification, covenant, Trinity, sanctification, predestination, atonement, etc.). At the same time, we must always be defining these words and saying what we mean (and what we don’t mean).
Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” A lamp illumines the path. It reveals what is true and what is dangerous. This is what true theology does.
What Does Scripture Say? What Does Scripture Not Say?
We say what Scripture says. We don’t shy away from that. Sometimes it can be hard to piece things together and see how all truth is in sync. When certain statements in Scripture seem to not be in harmony then we must submit to God. Scripture interprets Scripture. There are times when doctrines are simply too big for our understanding. When in doubt, we say what Scripture says.
At the same time, we don’t say what Scripture doesn’t say. We go as far as God’s Word goes and no further. We don’t manipulate God.
It is by breaking these two rules that Christians go wrong.
This is one of the major reasons why creeds, confessions, and catechisms have been developed. It is for the purpose of stating what Scripture is saying and what it is not saying.
Deuteronomy 4:2 says, “You shall not add to the Word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.”
Revelation 22:18-19 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”
You Must Reflect Upon Scripture With Wise, Biblically-Minded Believers Who Are Pursuing The Same End
This means that if we are to do theology faithfully then we must do it in community. Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers…And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes…”
Most portions of the New Testament epistles are addressed to the people in the plural rather than the singular. It was clear that these letters and Gospels were meant to be read and preached to the entire congregation (1 Thess. 5:27). We conclude from this that all theology must be personal but never private. It is meant to be confessed by the individual and confessed corporately.
We need to hear others teach us. We can’t live without the preaching of God’s Word. It is hugely important for us to discuss these truths with other Christians. Theology is done together.
This also means that theology must never be done strictly in our current age. Once again, the Scriptures are very clear that we are to remember what has happened in the past. Psalm 77:11 says, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” In Deuteronomy 6:12 we can see that God desires His people to not forget what He had done in the past: “Then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
This means we ought to not only discuss theology with those around us but we ought to read the works of those before us. If God is the same and never changes (Mal. 3:6) then the God of today is the God of yesterday. And the God of yesterday is the God of today. This is exactly what Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
That means that wherever and whenever there have been right thoughts of God they are also right thoughts today.
There has not been one age where God has not had some men and women who have held onto biblical truth and written about it. Take up and read!