What Does God Expect?
The pressures of life can seem overwhelming. Sixty-hour workweeks. Razor-thin balances in the chequebook every month. Children who demand unending boundless bursts of energy. You’ve been there? Me too.
What words come to mind when you hear the term theology? Dry…Dreary…Doubtful…DULL? You’re not alone.
Too often we don’t realize that theology—thinking about God—is an intimate part of our everyday lives, rather than something that takes place in ivory towers crowded with bearded men crouched over dusty books. We each engage in theology because we each have a set of beliefs about God. But rather than being content with our ideas about God as they now stand, we should each have a desire to know God better than we do today. If you’ve got that desire, then you’re ready to do theology!
Let these resources point the way to a faith more deeply connected with who God actually says He is.
The pressures of life can seem overwhelming. Sixty-hour workweeks. Razor-thin balances in the chequebook every month. Children who demand unending boundless bursts of energy. You’ve been there? Me too.
Historically, it was important for the people of God to determine which books God had inspired and authoritative. Inspiration indicates how the Bible received its authority, whereas canonization tells how the Bible received its acceptance.
The term “transmission” refers to the process of how the Scriptures were written down and copied. It’s a process connected to the history of writing and the ancient writing materials used in making the Bible.
The composition, compilation, and themes of the Bible may come from different times and places, but they all point to the same truth of who we are and what our purpose is, culminating in the ultimate return of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We didn’t get the Bible in one complete piece. God gave us His Word progressively, over the span of about 1,500 years. Progressive revelation is a movement from one truth to another.
What about our mentoring, counselling, and discipleship? If we believe Scripture is powerful, we ought to make it central to any solution we offer. Is our confidence in methods, systems, theories, and philosophies, or is our confidence in God’s Word?
The word translated “inspired” in 2 Timothy 3:16 literally means “God-breathed” and expresses the concept of exhalation by God. The Scriptures are the product of God having breathed them out.
Before you write this off as applying to anyone but yourself, take a long, hard look at your own life. The goal of superstition is bondage. Remember that. If anything in your Christianity has you in bondage, it is probable that superstition is the breeding ground.
According to the Bible, God is there, and He has not been silent. He has made Himself known to us. That act and process is called “revelation,” a word meaning to unveil or uncover what was previously hidden, and making known what had been secret.
Sometimes the “light at the end of the tunnel” is seen when we choose to examine what Scripture reveals about life rather than how quickly we can remove our pain. The New Testament book of James is a great place to begin.