New Morning Mercies #294

Naming Jesus as Lord is the start of a theological commitment. Living as though he is Lord demands day-by-day forgiving, rescuing, and transforming grace.

I love the theology of Scripture. I wouldn’t know how to think without it. In my early seminary days, I would take the subway home, run up the stairs to our third-floor apartment, and say to Luella: “I’m learning to think. I’m learning to think.” It was more than dusty, esoteric theological academia. It was much, much more than gathering together the elements of a system of theology. It was profoundly more than getting to know my faith better. I was receiving more than advanced biblical literacy. I was being given a way to think about everything, and the whole system stood on four radical words, the first four words of the Bible: “In the beginning, God . . .”

I wasn’t simply being educated. I wasn’t just collecting a boatload of theological information. No, something deeper was happening. I was going through a process of heart and life transformation that was deeper and more formative than I understood at that moment. I was changing, and the whole direction of my life, my thoughts about my identity, my definition of meaning and purpose, and where I would look for my inner sense of well-being were changing as well. Everything that I have written has been written out of the life-altering perspectives I was helped to see from the Word of God in those early and exciting days. I can still see myself in the back row of my theology class, saying to myself, “I think my mind is melting.” All this gave shape and direction to my life. It provided the context in which all my decisions would be made. It gave me a reason to get up in the morning and it confronted me with how huge my need for grace was.

This is what the theology of Scripture is meant to do. The purpose of the doctrine that is revealed in the Word of God is not to produce generation after generation of what I call “theo-geeks.” You know what I mean: egghead biblical academics, who think about things no one else does, who talk in a language no one else understands, and who don’t do many people much good. Here’s the thing we need to be reminded of again and again: the theology of the Word of God was never intended to be an end in itself, but a means to an end, and that end is a radically transformed life. The purpose of theology is not knowledge but holiness.

Now, think about what the Bible actually is. It’s a grand story of redemption. Maybe it would be better to say that it is a theologically annotated story. It’s a story with God’s essential notes. It is the story of Jesus, who came to offer the one thing you desperately need—grace. Theology that isn’t zealous to promote forgiving and transforming grace, the kind of grace that changes your life, is simply bad theology.

For further study and encouragement: 2 Timothy 3:10–17