Why Study Theology?

Theology for Life

#1 Why Study Theology?

INTRODUCTION

What do you think about when you hear the word theology? (Offer some examples)

Well our new series is on just that…theology…for life.

Is this a contradiction in terms? (Explain).

If that’s where your mind goes, then I think this series will be especially helpful for you.

Each week we will be giving a brief sketch of a major Christian doctrine, and then connecting it to our lives.

I want you to walk away from this service wanting to know theology better. Not because you don’t care about how you live. No. I hope to convince you from the Bible that your theology is the foundation for how you live.

Here is the real question… is it even necessary for teenagers to learn theology?

THEOLOGY IS FOR TRANSFORMATION, NOT JUST INFORMATION

No matter who you are, and no matter how long you’ve been in church, there is a dominant force that is shaping your thoughts powerfully—the flesh. Even if you are a faithful Christian, you deal with fighting the flesh and worldly thinking in your everyday life. But the flesh is not just an external thing - our sin nature goes all the way down to our worldview and beliefs, our assumptions about how life works. So if we want to change the way we live, it starts with changing how you think. You must allow the Word of God to shape your ideas, to correct your wrong ideas, and do that over and over again. (i.e., comparison/correct). Biblical doctrine can inform your thinking and thus transform your life.

The Bible is the result of a loving Creator unpacking what is true so that they will know how to make sense out of life. Without his loving revelation, we wouldn’t know how to know, we wouldn’t know for sure what we know, and we would have no way to know if what we think we know is true or not. Christian theology is not just for a classroom or pulpit. It belongs in your workplace, your living room, your mind, your conversations. "The doctrines of the Bible are not so much ideology as they are living and divine tools of salvation, transformation, identity, and guidance.” Paul Tripp

There is a beautiful metaphor for this kind of transformation in Isaiah. The prophet describes God’s truths being like rain or snow, falling down to the earth. And what happens next?

Isaiah 55:13 “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

What a strange picture! If you had a thorn bush in your backyard, you would not think “get enough rain and that will turn into a cypress tree!”

Isaiah’s picture describes radical transformation. The plant being watered becomes an entirely different thing.

So it is with God’s people as we respond to, feast on, and absorb God’s truth. The primary purpose of Christian teaching is not information only, it is transformation.

2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

What does this mean? Gazing on Christ means not only looking to accounts of his life, but everything the Bible explains about them. Doctrine is essentially explanation. (Explain).

THE GREAT COMMISSION CONNECTS DISCIPLESHIP WITH LEARNING ALL JESUS’ TEACHINGS

Let’s consider the great commission in Matthew 28.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” . What does it mean to “teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you?”

Pastor Burk Parsons: “Jesus doesn’t simply say “teach them all I’ve commanded.” Nor did he say “Only teach them doctrine.” He said teach them (that’s doctrine) to obey all I’ve commanded (that’s behavior).” Discipleship happens when believers grow in their knowledge about Jesus’ commands, AND simultaneously grow in their obedience to Jesus’ commands.

We see other Biblical references that make it clear that teaching theology was a centerpiece of New Testament ministry.

Acts 2:42 - they continued in the apostles doctrine 1 Timothy 4:13 - Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:16 - Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them... 2 Timothy 3:16 - all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for Doctrine. Titus 2:1 - but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.

To be a follower of Jesus, that is, to live in the Jesus way, is not to just be aware of the events of Jesus’ life, even the history of the Bible, it is to grow in the knowledge of what it all means, of what it is about. OBJECTION: “I can take Jesus’ life advice without caring about theology.” Nope. That’s impossible.

EXAMPLE Ephesians 5 and marriage. A man may claim he wants a Christian marriage.` But what is a Christian husband supposed to be like, according to Jesus? We go to Ephesians 5, and do you know what happens? We run up against theology!

Atonement, justification, sin, the church, sanctification. Your understanding of what it really means to be a Christian husband will only go as deep as your grasp of these doctrines. Discipleship is not just behavior modification. (Explain - Rom 12:2.)

WE NEED TO KNOW THE GAPS BETWEEN WHAT WE BELIEVE AND HOW WE BEHAVE

This dichotomy separates behavior from doctrine. My ultimate goal in this series is not just that you would be more familiar with theology. Rather, it is to expose in our hearts the gaps between what we confess as true on Sunday and live on Monday.

***Biblical examples: Jonah. Peter.

Without ever intending to, many of us live theologically contradictory lives. We live out the dangerous dichotomy of separating the practical from the doctrinal.

We say we believe that God is both sovereign and in control, but when we are in difficult situations, we try to be in control of our circumstances, we even try to control other people. We say we believe God is good, but when something negative happens to us, we question his goodness. We say we believe God is omnipotent, but we don’t pray. We say we believe in the Bible as God’s Word, but we don’t read it. Or we do read it, but we react in ways that are opposite of what it teaches! We say we believe in the doctrine of sin, but when we get confronted about our sin we shift blame. We say we believe in eternity but we are more concerned with laying up treasures here on this earth and our last thought is often how we can invest in eternity. We say we believe in justification but constantly fret over guilt and shame, and we worry God is after us. Theology that’s correct in your head does no good unless it correctly shapes your life. The enemy would love nothing more than for you and I to have just enough theology to think we’re right, but not enough to live right. So let me ask you, are you willing to let God show you the gaps? John Coe’s question. “God, the next few weeks, will you show me the gaps between what I believe about you and how I live for you?”

Closing remarks and dismiss.