Theological Pondering (part 2) – by Pastor Tony

  Posted on September 8, 2016  by   No comments

Last week we looked at the first of two extreme positions in the way many approach Theology – that Theology itself (the discipline of systematizing our understanding of God) is the goal of Christianity. Essentially, this extreme puts too much faith (our faith should be in Christ alone) in having a perfect picture of who God is and exactly how He works and has worked throughout the ages.

If I have done my job (in the last article) the pendulum is now swinging down from that extreme. However, given enough enthusiasm in response to last week’s article, it will quickly end up in an equally dangerous position of a distain towards Theology.

Odium towards Theology is neither good nor helpful. Usually, however, this extreme takes shape in a subtler way than anger or hatred towards Theology. Very few Christians would categorize themselves as hating Theology. In practice, however, many Christians are in this position without even realizing it. We have become lazy in how we think about God. This is a major failure in our western Church

We have known all the right answers (no doubt many of these assumed answers are actually wrong) for so long – we have decided that we don’t need to think about these things any longer!

In short, it’s all old news. Many shrug, haven’t you heard? God’s totally beyond all that stuff!

When was the last time you wrestled through a proper understanding of the sacrificial system? How about the omniscience of God (God knows everything)? These are concepts that, when meditated upon, will light a fire in our walk with the Lord.

Indeed, Paul makes clear that it is good and helpful to set our minds on things above (Col 3:2). If setting one’s mind on things above is not a succinct description of Theology, I don’t know what is.

The failure of this extreme is evidenced in one of the most (if not the) basic concepts of orthodox Christianity. Many Christians today function without a proper theological understanding of the Trinity.

Consider how many approach the Holy Spirit. We say things like, “I just want more of the Holy Spirit.” or we ask questions like, “How can I get more of the Holy Spirit?

You may be reading this article thinking, those don’t sound like bad statements… consider this: Because we haven’t thought about the Trinity properly, we conclude with a grave error that we can somehow manipulate the Spirit of God. In practice, we are essentially no different than pagan worshipers of the inept gods of the weather. Closer to home we are practically no different than the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses – who believe that the Spirit of God is a “force of God.” They would argue that the Spirit is God’s invisible force. That is to say that the Spirit does not have personhood.

A proper understanding of the Trinity will at the outset proclaim that the Trinity (God) is one being with three distinct persons. What this means is that though God is one being, He is also three distinct persons – with distinctive wills and personalities. The Trinitarian Father, Son and Holy Spirit is evidenced throughout Scripture and emphasized by John’s disciple Ignatius – and ardently defended by every generation of Christians throughout the history of the Church. In other words, there has never been any generation of Christians that has not been passionate about this doctrine (potentially, until now).

Why is this important? If the Spirit is not merely a force, but God Himself, how can we say “I want more of the Spirit.” In so doing, we are essentially saying, “I want to figure out how to wrangle God into submission to my will.” Those statements that I earlier called into question are human centered questions seeking to wrangle God Himself into our own will.

If the Spirit is not merely a force,
but God Himself, how can we say
“I want more of the Spirit.

A theologically proper approach to the Spirit should be no different than the way we approach the Father. Would we say, “How can I get more of the Father?” No. Our approach to the Father is in awe, reverence, wonder and worship. These should also categorize our approach to the Spirit. If we are to ask a question of the Spirit it ought to be something like, “How can the Spirit have more of me?” The proper cry of the heart becomes, “I just want to submit all the more to the Spirit.”

May God take hold of our hearts as we seek to submit to His will. We are in no position to call down the Holy Spirit. He calls upon us.

This is a basic Theology that is lost those who have their heads in the sand of the Theological ocean. If we had a proper understanding of the Spirit, we would recognize that, just as we submit to the Father’s will, our role in relationship to the Spirit is to submit to His will (the fruit of this line of reasoning extends to our understanding of Jesus as well).

Truly, the implication of the personhood of the Spirit, will drop us to our knees. God Himself is making His home in us (2 Timothy 1:14, 2 Cor 1:22)! That is too wonderful. The God who is just as real as Jesus is and was is now dwelling within each of us! In this light, our attitude towards God the Spirit will naturally become one of humility and joy.

As we think on things above, may the Lord reveal His truth to His bride. May we approach Him carefully and not haphazardly. Can He be understood perfectly? No.

Can He be known? Yes – so far as He makes Himself known. Let’s seek to know Him and love Him by studying His word and asking Him to reveal to us how great and awesome He really is. In this way, theology becomes a chief discipline of worship.

To the glory of God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit alone,
Pastor Tony