ARTICLES CONCERNING THEOLOGY


The following links will take you to articles that we've written about the glories of God, our need for God, and the joys of knowing God--or, in other words, theology. The primary goal of these articles is to help Christians grow in faith and communion with God through coming to a better understanding of biblical truth.


*The Excellencies of God. This section includes articles on God’s passion for His glory, the Trinity, and the attributes of God.

*The Providence of God. Providence is simply God's control over creation and human history. These articles explain and defend what this means and also show the tremendous spiritual benefits of resting in a God who controls all things.

*Election: Redemption Decreed. Redemption is the act of God to deliver His people from their fall into sin. The whole act of redemption was designed by God before the creation of the world, and part of this design was the election of individuals unto salvation. These articles demonstrate from the Bible that God determines who will believe in Christ and be saved and show the great practical value that these truths have for following and worshiping Christ.

*Sin: Redemption Required. Why are we sinful and just how bad are we? These articles seek to answer such questions because unless we have a sufficient understanding of the our problem (sin), we will not have a sufficient grasp of God’s solution (salvation).

*The Atonement: Redemption Accomplished. In order to accomplish the salvation of those whom He elected unto salvation, God sent forth His Son to die on the cross. These articles explore the nature of what Christ did when He died and whether He came to secure salvation for all men or only the elect.

*Justification: Redemption Applied. Having accomplished salvation for the elect, God now applies it to us by faith. Justification is the primary and foundational act of God in applying our salvation because it is the bestowal upon us of the right to all the blessings Christ has won on our behalf and will thus progressively apply to us—such as sanctification and glorification. This section explores what justification means and seeks to demonstrate that it is received by faith alone.

*Sanctification: Redemption Expressed. Whereas justification is a legal (not transformative) act that happens once for all (not repeatedly) in an instant (not over a period of time), sanctification is the work of God in us to continually conform us in greater and greater degrees to the image of Christ. It is, thus, the living out of--the expression of--our salvation. These articles explore the nature of sanctification so that we can have a framework for understanding how to progress in sanctification (which is explored most fully in the sections on Christian Hedonism) and what holiness looks like in day to day life(which is explored below in the section Enjoying God in All of Life).

*Glorification: Redemption Fulfilled. Glorification is the resurrection of our bodies on the last day to live forever with Christ in the renewed heavens and earth. It is, thus, the consummation of the salvation Christ has won for us and the hope which motivates us to press on in our sanctification.

*Condemnation: Redemption Forfeited. Those who are not justified will be condemned to eternal punishment instead of glorified unto eternal joy. These articles look at this very sobering reality which, among other things, should work in us a holy fear of God's majesty and a humble trust in Him as our refuge.

*The Covenants: The Structure of Redemption. The work of salvation is carried on in a covenantal framework. Consequently, we must understand the covenants to at least some extent if we are going to accurately grasp the plan of salvation. The articles in this section focus on the covenant of works, which embodies the principle of justification by law (i.e., "be holy in order to live"). This covenant is so crucial to grasp because, as these articles demonstrate, it is at the foundation of the work of Christ and provides the contrast necesary to understand the gospel--which promises justification by faith apart from works. In contrast to the Covenant of Works, then, the Covenant of Grace embodies the principle of justification by faith (that is, the gospel--believe in order to live, and holiness will follow) and is thus the covenant by which God administers salvation to sinners. Though all articles on the gospel and application of salvation, thus, concern the Covenant of Grace, hopefully more articles will soon be added to this section that specifically examine the Covenant by which these promises are adminstrated.

*Union With Christ: The Foundation of Redemption. Not only is redemption carried out in a covenantal framework, it is also carried out in a Christo-centric context. Christ fulfilled the Covenant of Works for us (and thus secured our salvation) because God has established a legal union between the elect and Christ; the redemption Christ thereby won for us is applied to us in the Covenant of Grace when we become experientially united to Him by faith. All of redemption is "in Christ"--from election to the atonement to justification to glorification.

*The Excellencies of the Redeemer. As the centrality of union with Christ makes clear, all of redemption is designed to make known the glory of Christ the Redeemer. Thus, among other things, this section explores the wonders of Christ surrounding the work of redemption He accomplished--such as the mystery of His incarnation in coming to earth and the glory of His exaltation to the right hand of the Father upon His ascension to heaven.

*Christian Hedonism. Since Christ is infinitely glorious (as His excellencies displayed in redemption show), He can fully satisfy our souls. A Christian Hedonist is one who realizes this and thus lives for pleasure in God through Jesus Christ. The central tenents of Christian Hedonism are that 1) the desire to be happy is good, not sinful; 2) superior happiness is found in God, 3) if we abandon our pursuit of pleasure in God, we cannot worship Him or rightly glorify Him, and 4) actions done to help others are only loving to the extent that we seek our own pleasure in the other person's welfare and in the promotion of God's glory. Sound interesting? Read these articles for a life changing discovery.

*Enjoying God in All of Life. In order to enjoy and glorify God in all of life as a Christian Hedonist will desire to do, we need to know who we are, how to live in a way that reflects God's greatness, and how to live in a way that accords with who He made us to be. Thus, this section includes articles on the nature and existence of the soul, work and leisure, and marriage. Whereas the earlier section on sanctification focuses more on the doctrine of how God makes us holy and the previous section on Christian Hedonism proclaims that the key to this holiness is finding superior satisfaction in God (and how to find this satisfaction), this section focuses more on what holiness specifically looks like in everyday things like marriage, work, and leisure.

*The Value of Theology. Central to all of the above articles is this assumption: Right thinking about God is necesary to joyfully honor God and zealously live for God. These articles demonstrate that this assumption is biblical and seek to show how to keep knowledge of God something that builds us up rather than puffs us up.


Go back to Contend for the Faith.



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