Theology Matters

Theology... doctrine... These words elicit a less than positive response in many people, am I right?

Some years back I was considering a Sunday morning Bible class on "covenants". I asked several people what they thought about this kind of class and the responses were dismal to say the least - very discouraging to me.

What most people seem to want is what they refer to as "practical" teaching, IE. how to live out your faith in daily life. Of course, I couldn't agree more that we need this kind of teaching. However, can we really expect to live out our faith accurately, if our theology and doctrine are  wrong? I don’t think so!

The apostle Paul wrote most of the books of the New Testament, and in them he quotes or alludes often to the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). Why? Because in spite of any revelations he received about Jesus and his gospel of the kingdom, the Hebrew Scriptures formed the basis of his theology, because they formed the basis of Jesus' theology!

The fact is, everything Paul writes to the various churches is doctrinal in nature! Whether it's about Jesus as Messiah, Yahweh as the One God and Father, the gospel message itself, or how we should live in light of these truths. It’s all about good theology and sound doctrine (teaching).

See the following Scriptures: Rom 16:17, 25; 1Cor 15:1-11; 2 Cor 11:3-4; Gal 1:6-11; Eph 4:14; Phil 1:27; 3:2-3; 2 Tim 1:8-10; 2 Tim 3:16; 1 Tim 1:3, 10; 4:3, 6; 6:3; Tit 2:7

The following video speaks to the importance of theology.

Amen!! I think the producers of this video did a wonderful job showing the importance of good theology, thorough research, and right teaching.

If the Scriptures are inspired by God and are profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16), then shouldn’t we be careful to get it right? (2 Tim 2:15) Unfortunately, much of today’s theology and teaching is based on 1000's of years of tradition which has been heavily influenced by Greek philosophy.

This unbiblical, pagan way of thinking, infiltrated the Church shortly after the demise of the apostles and led to doctrines that do not sound like Jesus or Paul. Not that the theologians of the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and beyond, were deliberately trying to distort the truth, but that is exactly what happened, little by little over many years.

Doctrines such as the trinity, and the soul leaving the body at death for an eternal destination in heaven or hell, are all based on pagan teachings (Platonism), not Hebrew Scripture. The bishops and church leaders after the time of the apostles may have been sincere in their desire to understand Scripture, but they were terribly mistaken! This information about church history can be obtained easily by doing a search online, or reading any classic history.

But the Bible itself, our final authority as Christians, is very clear on the subject of who God is and who Jesus is. But with so many years of teaching the Trinity, it is nearly impossible for people to read the Bible for what it actually says. Instead, we tend to read into it what we have been told, what we already think to be true.

Ask God to give you "new eyes" in your Bible reading and study! The following is a rather lengthy list of Bible verses. But please take the time to read them with an open heart and mind and let the truth set you free!

• Isaiah 45:5 – "I am the LORD (YHWH) and there is no other, there is no God besides me."
• Exodus 3:15 – "Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD (YHWH), the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you."
• Acts 3:13 – "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus."
• Acts 10:38 – "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
• Isaiah 61:1 – "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LORD (YHWH) has anointed me."
• Luke 4:18-21 – "He (Jesus) unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me,’…He (Jesus) said to them, ‘Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing."
• 1 Cor. 8:6 – "Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom all things are and for whom we exist, and one Lord Jesus Christ."
• 1 Cor. 1:3 – "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 2 Cor. 1:2 – "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• Philippians 1:2 – "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 1 Thessalonians 1:1 – "To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 1 Thessalonians 3:13 – "To be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus."
• 2 Thessalonians 1:2 – "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 2 Thessalonians 2:16 – "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us."
• Philippians 4:20 – To our God and Father, glory for ever and ever. Amen."
• Colossians 1:2 – "Peace from God our Father."
• Ephesians 1:3 - “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
• Ephesians 4:6 – "One God and Father of all."James1:1 – "James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 1 Timothy 1:2 – "Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."
• 2 Timothy 1:2 – "Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord."
• Titus 1:4 – "Peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior."
• Philemon vv. 3 – "Peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• Galatians 1:3 "Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
• 1 Peter 1:3 – "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
• 2 Cor. 1:3 – "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
• 2 Cor. 11:31 – "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus knows, he who is blessed forever, that I do not lie."
• Revelation 1:6 – "Who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father."
• Ephesians 1:17 – "That the God of our Lord, the Father of glory."
• Micah 5:4 – "He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD (YHWH), in the majestic name of the LORD, HIS GOD."
• John 20:17 - "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
• Matthew 27:46 - "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
• Revelation 3:12 - "Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God."
• Revelation 3:2 - "For I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God."
• Hebrews 13:20 – "May the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant."
• Acts 5:30 – "The God of our ancestors raised Jesus."
• Acts 2:22 – "Jesus the Nazorean was a MAN commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst."
• Acts 10:40 – This MAN God raised on the third day."
• Acts 17:31 – "God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He demands that all people everywhere repent because He has established a day on which He will judge the world with justice through a MAN He has appointed, and He has provided confirmation for all by raising him from the dead."
• 1 Timothy 2:5 – "For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the MAN Christ Jesus."
• 1 Corinthians 15: 21 –"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man"
• Acts 10:38 – "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power." 
• Deuteronomy 18:18 – "And the LORD (YHWH) said to me, I will raise up for you a prophet like you FROM AMONG YOUR OWN KINSMEN, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him."
• Acts 3:20-22 – "that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you." 
• Isaiah 53:3 – "He was spurned and avoided by men, a MAN of suffering."
• Rev. 1:1 – "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him."
• Mark 13:32 – "But of that hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, NOR THE SON, but only the Father."
• John 17:3 – "Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ."
• Mark 10:18 – "Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone."

CONCLUSION

The above verses are not difficult, nor are they disputed by scholars for grammar or possible transmission errors. But ask someone who has been indoctrinated in the Trinity (the majority of Christianity) to explain one of these simple verses and see what happens. They will jump through hoops and do backflips to make them mean what they want them to mean; IE. that Jesus is both God and man.

Dear friends, theology matters, truth matters, sound doctrine matters. Don’t live the rest of your life believing a lie, no matter how good it may sound to you, or how many others accept it as true.

Jesus was born of a virgin, empowered by the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the coming kingdom of God, was tempted yet without sin, and was killed by evil men, then buried in a cave for three days. But God raised him out from the dead as “the firstfruits of them that sleep”, exalted him into heaven where he now sits at God’s right hand, and he will return to earth to inaugurate God’s kingdom at a time only God knows. When he returns the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet him in the air, and we will reign with him over the earth. This is the gospel in a nutshell.

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" - Jn 1:12

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life." - 1Jn 5:13

"Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures." - James 1:18

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." - 1Pet 1:3-5

"for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith." - Gal 3:26

Do you believe this?

"The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” -- Rom 10:8-11

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