"... theology is ultimately relational in nature."
"At the end of the day, all theological enterprise should ultimately result in a relationship with the One who is the primary subject of all theology - God." - Dr. Horn's notes for NTBT
John 17:3 tells us that eternal life is wrapped up in "knowing God"; thus, the essence of having eternal life is theology.
2 Pet. 1:2-4 - "The primary task of every theologian is to study God's self-revelation in order to know God intimately (life) and live for God acceptably (godliness)." (same source)
Two thoughts:
- If our theology is in our head but not our life, it's not true theology; it's information.
- We have been given the Holy Spirit to enact our theology; He is the Person of the Godhead with whom we have the closest contact. We must learn to walk in the Spirit and thus live out our theology. Why do we read the Scriptures or the works concerning them? If we do not live them, we have failed.
Thank you for posting about this, Champlin. That thought gripped me as well. Sanctification is growing belief, and believing cannot occur without knowing.
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I've taken 3 courses in NTBT here. Even though I disagree with the main NT professor in several areas, he would always bring the class back to the glory of the Father through the Son as the theme of the New Testament. It truly was an amazing set of classes.
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