How Thinking Righteously About God Leads to Living Righteously in God: A Reflection on Biblical Spirituality

Introduction: Defining our Terms

Biblical Theology- The multiform redemptive-historical unfolding of God’s creative-redemptive works in the world which centre upon the Lord Jesus Messiah.

Systematic Theology- The organization of biblical data into subjects reflecting the variegated self-revelation of God in and through all of Holy Scripture.

Biblical Spirituality- Theologically informed reflection of God’s self-revelation for purposeful Spirit-wrought communion with God and man.

Biblical Passages Which Orient the Discussion

While it would be artificial and therefore alien to discern Scriptural pericopes or passages which specifically designate the realities described previously. Nevertheless, there are orienting passages which direct us toward viewing the way Scripture’s content may be organized in categories rather naturally. Furthermore, how the developmental nature of the Scriptural story—what may be called progressive revelation—is most reasonably viewed in terms of how biblical theology seeks to recount the unfolding drama of redemption as it reveals the Triune God through the sending of the Son and Spirit. Finally, if in biblical spirituality we have capacity for which humans uniquely in all creation are made to know God and respond to His self-revelation to us. Then it is fitting to view the biblical account—when animated by the life-giving Spirit—as a the means God will employ to bring about a deeper communion with Himself and form in us the image of His Son—who is what our glorified image will be.

Therefore, as we delve into a consideration of the biblical texts which create the foundation for the edifice of our discussion please consider the way in which these texts intertwine and integrate to one another. That is, how they weave both a tapestry, but in doing so form the integrity of one another as it is focused in our present discussion about being formed by theological disciplines as spiritual creatures.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 LEB

“Hear, Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is unique. And you shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might. And these words that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. And you shall recite them to your children, and you shall talk about them at the time of your living in your house and at the time of your going on the road and at the time of your lying down and at the time of your rising up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as an emblem between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorframe of your house and on your gates.

The Covenant-God YHWH is to these people He has set free there very source of life and apart from Him they can do nothing. The Law and all of what God has revealed to them is as life itself to them which in turn is why it was to be folded into every facet of life. The way through which they would know they were loving God was by their obedience to all He had revealed to them, but it was—of course—not enough to know it but only if they could live it. What does this indicate to us about the Word of God and it’s sufficiency to reveal what pleases God to us? I submit God saw that it contained all that was needed to give us the character of God and exegeted His mighty works of redemption to the people. Therefore, the cumulative effect should have been that they would love God wholeheartedly—no inhibitions. While that is neither how it played out for the 1st generation of freed slaves from Egypt nor the 1st generation of freed idol-worshipers from the Mediterranean in the 1st century. What is a constant is the goodness of God revealed in Scripture, the necessity to commit it to every aspect of our lives, and the way a discipline like systematics teaches us to think about how Scripture’s application may be applied to all facets of life.

Isaiah 46:8–10 LEB

Remember this and pluck up courage! Call to mind, you transgressors! Remember the former things from a long time ago, for I am God and there is none besides me, God and there is none like me, who from the beginning declares the end, and from before, things that have not been done, who says, ‘My plan shall stand,’ and, ‘I will accomplish all my wishes,’

This passage, building off the Law of Moses, being in the Prophets and from the greatest of the later ones. What Isaiah writes is profoundly helpful when we bring it into context of our fast-pace and idolatry-laden culture. Remember, you sinners! This is all of us, sinners—saved by the blood of Christ—who are forgetful as two-year old children when it comes to the commands of God. Then He points their gaze not first to His works—which He does elsewhere and only alludes to them here—but namely, to Himself. Remember, “for I am God and there is none besides me,” which is I am in a league all my own and deserving of your full devotion, attention, and therefore trust. What does a systematic knowledge of and devotion to remembering the “things from a long time ago” evoke in us if not to remind us of the ever-present realities of God and to focus our gaze on a person who far surpasses are the trifles of our age which promise to make us well, feel secure, and meet all of our needs—yet continuously fail to deliver. Instead, our meditation upon the one who, “from the beginning declares the end, and from before, things that have not been done,” will ground us and give us a vision that transcends the passing trends of this age.

Dan. 2:20-23

20 Daniel ⌊said⌋:

“Let his name, the name of God, be blessed ⌊throughout the ages⌋,

for the wisdom and the power ⌊are his⌋.

21 And he changes the times and the seasons,

and he deposes kings and he sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to wise men

and knowledge to men who know understanding.

22 He reveals the deep and the hidden things;

he knows what is in the darkness,

and the light dwells with him.

23 To you, O God of my ancestors,

I give thanks and I give praises,

for the wisdom and the power you gave to me,

and now you have made known to me

what we have asked from you,

for you have made known to us the matter of the king.”

Ps. 90:11-17; 94:8-12; 105:1-5

Psalm 94:8–12 LEB

You pay attention, O brutes among the people. And you fools, when will you show insight? Will the one who planted the ear not hear? Will the one who formed the eye not see? Will the one who instructs nations not rebuke, the one who teaches humankind knowledge? Yahweh knows the thoughts of humankind, that they are to no purpose. Blessed is the man, O Yah, whom you instruct and teach from your law,

Psalm 90:11–17 LEB

Who knows the strength of your anger, and your rage consistent with the fear due you? So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Return, O Yahweh. How long? And have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen calamity. Let your work be visible to your servants, and your majesty to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish for us the work of our hands, yes, the work of our hands, establish it.

Psalm 105:1–5 LEB

Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him; sing praises concerning him; tell of all his wonderful works. Boast about his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. Make supplication to Yahweh and his might; seek his face continually. Remember his wonders that he has done, his signs and the judgments of his mouth, Give thanks to Yahweh; proclaim his name; make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him; sing praises concerning him; tell of all his wonderful works. Boast about his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice. Make supplication to Yahweh and his might; seek his face continually. Remember his wonders that he has done, his signs and the judgments of his mouth,

Proverbs 1:1–7 (LEB)

Prologue

1 Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

2 To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand sayings of understanding,

3 to gain ⌊insightful instruction⌋,

righteousness and justice and equity,

4 to give shrewdness to the simple,

knowledge and purpose to the young,

5 may the wise hear and increase learning,

and the one who understands gain direction,

6 to understand a proverb and an expression,

words of wisdom and their riddles.

7 Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge;

wisdom and instruction, fools despise.

John 20:30–31 LEB

Now Jesus also performed many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not recorded in this book, but these things are recorded in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Lk. 1:1-4 - Acts 1:1-5

Acts 1:1–5 LEB

I produced the former account, O Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day he was taken up, after he had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after he suffered, with many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking the things about the kingdom of God. And while he was with them, he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised by the Father, which you heard about from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Mal. 4:5-6 - Mk. 1:1-8

Romans 11:33–36 LEB

Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how incomprehensible are his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given in advance to him, and it will be paid back to him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for eternity! Amen.

Ephesians 3:4–6 LEB

so that you may be able when you read to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ (which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit): that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow sharers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,

Ephesians 5:31–33 LEB

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” (This mystery is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.) Only you also, each one of you, must thus love his own wife as himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

An Early Christian Model in Athanasius of Alexandria

An Account from the Modern Missionary Movement: Through the Eyes of Adoniram Judson

Concluding Remarks: A Charge to Be Theologically Informed So We May Be Theologically Forming