Theological Method
Biblical theology has to be developed before systematic theology can be produced. The first step to attaining the goal of correct biblical theology will be to gather all the relevant biblical passages on the doctrine being investigated. But before we can get at the meaning of the biblical passage, attention should be given to the procedures of exegesis. The objective in biblical theology is to determine what happened. It is important to take seriously what the biblical text claims and to evaluate those claims carefully.
Once I have carefully defined his methodology, it will then be important to make the broadest possible inquiry into doctrinal content. Our attempt for right thinking compels us to not have a blind acceptance of a particular set of presuppositions or doctrine, but to test each through humble exegesis. Therefore, the sequence in developing our belief system is as follows: exegesis-biblical theology-systematic theology.
Doctrine of Scripture
Necessity. The knowledge of God’s existence, character, and moral law, which comes through creation to all humanity, is often called “general revelation” (because it comes to all people generally). General revelation is distinct from “special revelation” which refers to God’s words addressed to specific people (Rom. 10:13-17). The Bible is necessary for knowing the gospel, for maintaining spiritual life, and for knowing God’s will, but it is not necessary for knowing that God exists or for knowing something about God’s character and moral laws.
Inspiration (Authority). All the words in scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God. In the New Testament, a number of passages indicate that all of the Old Testament writings are thought of as God’s words (2 Tim 3:16). For every word of the Old Testament, God is the one who spoke it, although God used human agents to write these words down.
The fact that all the words of scripture are God’s words should not lead us to think that God dictated every word of scripture to the human authors.
It must be emphasized that the Bible does not speak of only one type of process or one manner by which God communicated to the biblical authors what he wanted to be said. There are a wide variety of processes God used to bring about the desired result.
Inerrancy. We have no inerrant manuscripts; therefore, to talk about an inerrant Bible is misleading. Inerrancy means scripture, in the original manuscripts, does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. This definition focuses on the question of truthfulness and falsehood in the language of Scripture. The definition, in simple terms, just means that the Bible always tells the truth, and that it always tells the truth concerning everything it talks about. This definition does not mean that the Bible tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms that what it does say about any subject is true. Inerrancy has to do with truthfulness, not with the degree of precision with which events are reported. The Bible can be Inerrant and still include loose or free quotation.
Canon. The Canon of Scripture is the collection of all the books that belong in the Bible. The words of scripture are the words by which we nourish our spiritual lives. The precise determination of the content of the canon of scripture is therefore of the utmost importance. If we are to trust and obey God absolutely, we must have a collection of words that we are certain are God’s own words to us. Scripture itself bears witness to the historical development of the canon. This collection of absolutely authoritative words from God grew in size throughout the time of Israel’s history.
It is primarily the apostles who are given the ability from the Holy Spirit to recall accurately the words and deeds of Jesus and to interpret them rightly for the generations. Very early in the history of the church, the writings of the New Testament began to be accepted as part of the canon. New Testament writings are placed with Old Testament Scriptures as part of the canon of Scripture (2Peter 3:16; 1Tim. 5:17-18).
For a book to belong in the canon, it is absolutely necessary that the book have divine authorship. If the words of the book are God’s words (through human authors), and if the early church, under the direction of the apostles, preserved the book as part of Scripture, then the book belongs in the canon. But if the words of the book are not God’s words, it does not belong in the canon.
Ultimately, we base our confidence in the correctness of our present canon on the faithfulness of God. This is because the ultimate criterion of canonicity is divine authorship, not human or ecclesiastical approval. They need to be doctrinally consistent with the rest of Scripture and to the type of authority they claim for themselves. The church does not make something to be Scripture, but merely recognizes what God has already caused to be written as his own words.
Doctrine of God
Attributes. When we speak of the attributes of God, we are referring to those qualities of God, which constitute what he is. They are the very characteristics of his nature. We realize that we cannot say everything the Bible teaches us about God’s character at once. Several different methods of classifying God’s attributes have been used. Following the reform tradition, we speak of Gods attributes in incommunicable and communicable attributes. The incommunicable attributes of God are those attributes that God does not share or “communicate” with us. The communicable attributes are those qualities of God for which at least a partial counterpart can be found in his human creations.
We are not referring here to the acts, which he performs, such as creating, guiding, and preserving, nor to the corresponding roles he plays—Creator, Guide, Preserver. It is wrong to think that attributes are fragmentary parts or segments of God. The attributes are permanent qualities. They cannot be gained or lost. They are intrinsic. Thus, holiness is not an attribute of Adam, but it is of God. God’s attributes are essential and inherent dimensions of his very nature. While our understanding of God is undoubtedly filtered through our own mental framework, his attributes are not our conceptions projected upon him. They are inseparable from the being or essence of God.
Trinity. Definition: God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, and there is one God. The word trinity is never found in the Bible, though the idea represented by the word is taught in many places. The word Trinity means “Tri-unity” or “Three-in-oneness”. It is used to summarize the teaching of Scripture that God is three persons, yet one God.
There is one God
The three different persons of the Trinity are one not only in purpose and in agreement on what they think, but they are one in essence, one in their essential nature. (Deut. 6:4-5, Ex. 15:11, 1Kings 8:60) He is not speaking as one God among three who are to be worshipped. (Isa. 45:5-6, James 2:19)
God is Three Persons
The fact that God is three persons means that the Father is not the Son nor is he the Holy Spirit, but that they are distinct persons. (John 1:1-2, 9; John 17:24; John 14:26, and Rom. 8:27)
Each Person Is Fully God
1. God the Father is clearly God and is evident from the first verse in the Bible. God the Father is clearly viewed as sovereign Lord over all and where Jesus prays to his Father in heaven.
2. Next the Son is fully God. Explicit verses John 1:1-4.
3. The Holy Spirit is also fully God. Once we understand the Father and the Son, then the Trinitarian expressions in verses like Matt. 28:19 assume significance for the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, because they show that the Holy Spirit is classified on an equal level with the Father and the Son. Other Trinitarian passages: 1Cor. 12:4-6, 2Cor 13:14, Eph.4:4-6, 1Pet. 1:2, Jude 20-21.
Creation
The Purpose of Creation. God created the entire universe out of nothing; it was originally very good. Before God began to create the universe, nothing else existed except God himself. Col 1:16 is clear, all things were created through him and for him and he created it to glorify himself.
The inanimate creation glorifies God mechanically (Ps. 19:1), obeying natural laws, which govern the physical world. The animate creation does so instinctively, responding to impulses within. Man alone is capable of obeying God consciously and willingly, and thus glorifies God most fully. God had a purpose in bringing our realm into being, namely to bring himself glory and both the inanimate and animate creation fulfils that purpose of God.
Theology of Creation. Creation is an act of his will, not an act to which he is driven by any force or consideration outside himself. He is the only one who has brought reality into being. The original act of divine creation is unique. It is unlike human “creative” acts, which involve fashioning, using materials at hand. The doctrine of creation also means that nothing made is intrinsically evil. Everything that is not God has derived its existence from him (Gen 1:1-2).
Anthropology
Creation of Man/Woman. God did not need to create man, yet he created us for his own glory (Isa. 43:7; Eph. 1:11-12). The fact that man is in the image of God means that man is like God and represents God (Gen 1:26). Likeness refers to something that is similar but not identical to the thing it represents. Being in the image of God is shown through moral aspects— we are morally accountable to God, spiritual aspects—we have not only physical bodies but also immaterial spirits and mental aspects— having the ability to reason and think logically. In all, we represent God by being human.
The Fall. Gen 9:6 the image of God in us is distorted; we are less fully like God than we were before the entrance of sin. Since man has sinned, he is certainly not as fully like God as he was before. In every aspect of life some parts of that image has been distorted.
Original Sin. The sin spoken of does not refer to Adam’s first sin, but to the guilt and tendency to sin with which we are born. It is “original” in that it comes from Adam, and it is also original in that we have it from the beginning of our existence as persons, but it is still our sin, not Adam’s sin (Rom 5:12-21).
The Person and Work of Christ
The Atonement. This is the work Christ did in his life and death to earn our salvation. The nature of atonement was Christ’s obedience for us in which he obeyed the requirements of the law in our place. First, Christ was perfectly obedient to the will of God the Father as our representative. Secondly, Christ demonstrated obedience through his suffering for us, in which he took the penalty due for our sins by dying and paying for our sins on the cross (Phil 3:9).
The Mission of Christ. To accomplish the tasks of representative obedience. He obeyed for us where Adam had failed. He is our substitute sacrifice (Lk. 4:1-13). To fulfill God’s original purpose for man to rule over creation (Dan 7). To be our example and pattern in life (1 John 2:6; 2Cor 3:18 ). His mission is to bear the full penalty for all the sin of all those would believe him. Only truly the god-man can be the mediator between God and man (John 14:9).
Person of Christ –Two Natures. Jesus who came as a man (Jn. 1:30) was thoroughly known in His human origin (Jn. 7:27), confessed Himself man (Jn. 8:40), and died as a man dies (Jn. 19:5). Nevertheless, he was not only the Messiah, the fulfiller of all the divine promises of redemption, but also the very Son of God.
But He was not by nature merely a man, nor was He in His own nature subject to the fortunes of human life (2:6). By nature He was God, and He would have naturally lived ‘on an equality with God’ but he became man by a voluntary act, ‘taking no account of Himself,’ and, having become man, He voluntarily lived out His human life under the conditions, which the fulfillment of His unselfish purpose imposed on Him.
The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit
I. Interchangeable with God: In many passages, which refer to the Holy Spirit, He is referred to as if God were being referred to. Luke 1:34-35; Acts 5:3-4; I Corinthians 2:3-4; II Corinthians 3:17-18; Psalm 139:7.
II. Identity with God: The Holy Spirit is often spoken of as equal with God.
Matthew 28:19; I Corinthians 12:4-6; II Corinthians 13:14; I Peter 1:1-2.
III. The attributes of God: The Holy Spirit shares the attributes of God.
Omnipotence- Luke 1:34-35; Omniscience- John 16:13; Omnipresence- Psalm 139:7-9.
IV. The Holy Spirit acts on behalf of God the Father i.e. Genesis 1:1-2; John 14:26 etc.
The Church
The Nature of The Church. The church is the community of all true believers for all time. The church is made up of those who are truly saved. Both believers in the New Testament age and Old Testament age as well. The Church is Invisible, yet visible (2 Tim. 2:19). The invisible church is the church as God sees it. The Church is local and universal. In the New Testament the word “church” may be applied to a group of believers at any level, ranging from a very small group meeting in a private home all the way to the group of all true believers in the universal church.
Church Government. Plural Local Elders is a kind of church government that preserves the pattern of plural elders found in the New Testament and that avoids the expansion of elder’s authority beyond the local congregation. The elders govern the church and have authority to rule over it (Acts 20:28; Heb. 13:17). There is always more than one elder.
In this system the pastor(s) is one among the elders. He does not have authority over them, nor does he work for them as an employee. He has a somewhat distinct role in that he is engaged in the full-time work of “Preaching and teaching” (1Tim. 5:17). The pastor would have considerable authority to make decisions and provide leadership in many areas of responsibility that have been delegated to him by the elder board as a whole.
The Sacraments
Baptism. Baptism by immersion is the mode used in the New Testament. Baptism commonly means to plunge or immerse in water. This is the commonly recognized meaning in ancient Greek and literature inside and outside the bible i.e. Mark 1:5, 10 etc. The symbolism of union with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection seem to require baptism by immersion i.e. Rom. 6:3-4. The outward symbol of beginning the Christian life should only be given to those who show evidence of having begun the Christian life (Gal 3:27). Baptism is not necessary for salvation but it is necessary if we are to be obedient to Christ. The age varies—they should be old enough to give a believable profession of faith.
The Lord’s Supper. Before and after 1 Cor. 11:23 Paul is highlighting not just the vertical nature between God and individuals but also the horizontal nature between individuals and the community. Followers of Jesus are bound into a new human fraternity—the church. In 1 Cor. 10:16-17 the focus of community being a major factor in the Lord’s Supper is key. It has supernatural roots derived from God’s love in Jesus.
This community life is exhibited and visibly depicted by the sharing of the emblems of the body of Jesus. Each communion celebration is a local expression of the universal church. The word “covenant” appears in all the accounts of the institution of the Supper. It is safe to say that the Lord’s Supper in one aspect is a covenant rite, a personal pledge of loyalty, a promise of straight dealing on God’s part with us, and our part with him awaiting his triumphant return.
Regeneration
We believe that God created man in His own image; that he sinned and thereby incurred physical, spiritual and eternal death, which is separation from God. The consequence of man’s rebellion is that all human beings are born with a sinful nature and are sinners by choice and therefore under condemnation. We believe that those who repent and forsake sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and become new creatures, delivered from condemnation and receive eternal life. Genesis. 1:26; 5:2; Genesis 3; Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Eccl. 2:11; John 3:14; 5:24; John 5:30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:26;
Romans 9:22; II Thessalonians 1:9; Rev. 19:3,20; 20:10; 14,15; 21:18; Psalm 51:7; Jeremiah 17:9; James 1:14; Romans 3:19; 5:19; Proverbs 28:13; I John 1:9; John 3:16; John 1:13; II Corinthians 5:17; Romans 8:1 Acts 20:21; Eph. 2:1-9; Titus 3:5
Christian Conduct
We believe that a Christian should live for the glory of God and the well-being of others; that personal conduct should be blameless before the world; that each should be a faithful steward of possessions; and should seek to realize for oneself and others, the full stature of maturity in Christ. I Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-3; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 14:15,23-24; I John 2:3-6; II Corinthians 9:6-9; I Corinthians 4:2; Col. 1:9-10 Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 3:17-23; 1 Thess. 5:17,18)
Eschatology
Eschatology is a major theme permeating scripture, particularly Jesus’ teachings. The content of Jesus’ message was not only a future coming and a future kingdom; rather, with the advent of Jesus the kingdom of God had already arrived and will be consummated at the second coming. Although, in the Old Testament, the day of the Lord is viewed as a future matter, in the New Testament it is depicted as a present occurrence that will be fully realized during the final return of Jesus. This concept has become a definite historical reality. Eschatology has been fulfilled or realized. Instead of looking ahead for future fulfillment of prophecy, we should note the ways in which it has already been fulfilled. Eternal life is already our possession (1 Jn. 2:25) 1159. Indeed the kingdom and the consummation of Christ reign has begun and we are in the midst of the age to come and at the same time in the midst of the present age.