“I’m just a simple Bible-believing Christian. I have no use for theology!"
How does one respond to a statement like this from another believer?
It is my sincerest belief that every believer is a theologian of some sort or needs to be. We are commanded (Matthew 28:19-20) as a believer to go out into the world with the message of the Gospel or the Good News (euangelion). In light of this some people live out the Gospel and their theology whereas some articulate it verbally to others. Regardless of the vehicle or medium, we as believers need a firm understanding of what theology is or more specifically, what our theology is. Otherwise we will not be able to do either of the aforementioned effectively.
Without an understanding of Biblical Theology (or any theology for that matter), we only have a worldview or belief system that may or may not be based in the Bible. If it is not based in the Bible it is apostasy and/or sin or both. Anything added to or taken away from the inspired Word of God is one of these. Usually things end poorly in these situations as people are steered away from the Almighty God whether the apostasy is intentional, or unintentional through negligence or ignorance. To live or apply the Word or the Gospel we must first know the Word or the Gospel. Why? It tells us of the attributes of God. Why does this matter? It is because God (Jesus) is the author and the central character in the Bible and theology. Let us look directly at the meaning of the word theology itself. Theos: meaning God; and –ology/-ologies meaning a branch of learning, thus a learning of God. Any learning of God including reading the Bible and getting to know Him personally amounts to some form of theology. To say that you don’t need theology is to say that you don’t need to learn about God or be in a relationship with Him. That’s ridiculous, especially since He is eternal and infinite and so are his attributes. He is worthy of all our praise…and also of our brain power in an effort to know about him and to know Him personally as He has revealed Himself within the covers of the Bible.
Every believer knows God. Some just seem to know Him better than others know him. If our eternal life is based on acceptance of Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him, it behooves us to get to know Him to the greatest and most accurate extent possible as it is He that we will be spending our eternity with. The way that we get to know Him is through His revelation of Himself through scripture and the documented historical events in the New Testament (Old Testament too in terms of theophanies). I figure it this way. If I have a best friend or a person I love and I do not get to know them and what they are about, I am an idiot. It’s like saying I wanted marry my wife but didn’t want to know how to please her and make her happy. How much of a relationship do I suppose I would have now if I hadn’t gotten to know her, what she likes and what offends her? We need to understand the ones and the things we love or we cannot truly understand how to love them properly. To understand them we need to get to know them by studying all their different aspects and attributes, otherwise they remain strangers to us even if they remain close to us throughout our lives. How often have you seen this in people's marriages. People living close together for years but barely "understanding" the people they live with? Using a marriage as an example...how many do this in their relationships with God?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23
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