We’ve got a beautiful wooden puzzle at home. But it is all in pieces because we can’t work out how they fit together. That’s a puzzle for you isn’t it? Puzzles - they are all about how the pieces fit together. But there is more - there is a beauty in seeing the pieces come together. And a beauty in the finished unity.
One of the goals of the Christian life is to develop sound doctrine. Developing sound doctrine is like seeing how all the puzzle pieces fit together. And when it comes together it’s beautiful.
How can you develop sound doctrine?
Throughout the letter to Titus, Paul tells Titus to teach sound doctrine so that God’s people can live out the redeemed life they have in Jesus. Without healthy teaching (sound doctrine) God’s people can’t live the lives that God desires for us and our mission to the world is crippled. But with sound doctrine, godly thinking that comes from godly teaching, comes a godly life. Not only is this profoundly good for every Christian, it also makes a Christian’s life compelling to the world.
Not only is this profoundly good for every Christian, it also makes a Christian’s life compelling to the world.
One of the keys to developing sound doctrine is systematic theology. Theology is knowledge of God and the life that flows from this.1 Systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to ‘formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs.’2
Since our source of knowledge about God is from his word, the Bible, systematic theology is about how the parts of God’s word and his truth relate to the whole message of the Bible. And, in reverse. How does the whole of God’s word inform, connect and explain each part of God’s word? The goal is to form a coherent understanding of God, the redeemed life and what it means to live for Jesus.
The goal is to form a coherent understanding of God, the redeemed life and what it means to live for Jesus.
We can develop a systematic theology because of who God is. God speaks the truth. As such, God’s word, the Bible, is ultimately one great unified truth because it is spoken by God, the one author. God doesn’t lie and doesn’t contradict himself. And so, we can read the Bible with an expectation that the Bible reveals a coherent message about God and our lives.
Major areas of theology (or the big puzzle pieces)
Here are the major areas of theology.
· Scripture – the nature of knowledge and Scripture’s authority
· Nature of God – God’s character & the Trinity
· Creation – the nature of creation and its purpose
· Humanity – who are we and what does God desire for us
· Sin/Evil/Death/ Judgement– the nature of sin and evil and its effects. God’s response to sin and evil in the world and in our lives.
· Salvation – the work of Jesus to save his people from sin and evil and bring them into an eternal relationship with God.
· Person of Jesus – Christology. Understanding Jesus’ personhood, character and what it means to live under his loving rule.
· Church & the Christian life - the nature and purpose of the church and the Christian life as a disciple of Jesus.
· Future – eschatology. What does the future hold for God’s people and plan? Where we in that plan and what are the implications?
This doesn’t mean we know everything there is to know about God or ourselves. God hasn’t told us everything.3 And, some things revealed we only partially understand. They are too great for us and all we can do is humbly praise God when we come to the limits of our understanding. But we do this with confidence in God, for God has told us what we need to know for life and trust in him.
Summary
In summary, developing sound doctrine starts with listening closely to God’s word individually and together as a church. As we do this, we get to understand the major pieces.
But that isn’t enough. As we learn from each part of God’s word we ought to be building up an understanding of each of these areas of the Christian faith. And, see how they are connected to each other. We do this dependent on God by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is putting the pieces together.
But it isn’t about a puzzle at all. It’s about the puzzle of life. Growing in sound doctrine and growing in your clear or systematic thinking will enable us, Christians, to live the redeemed life God wants for us - as we wait for the glory of God, Jesus. This will enable our lives to be one of compelling witness to the world for the glory of Jesus. Sound doctrine will enable our Christian lives to a thing of beauty.
Next steps:
Pray to God to grow your knowledge of him and love for him.
Take a few minutes to read over the list above and try and write a short summary of what you know about each area. Note down key Bible passages.
Ongoing
Memorise the list above.
After reading a section of the Bible, ask yourself, what did I learn about one of the areas of systematic theology.
In light of this pray.
Going deeper: Read one or more of the following
Everlasting God by Broughton Knox
Knowing God by JI Packer
Know the Truth by Bruce Milne
1 Theo = God and Logos = Knowledge / science. The science or knowledge of God.
2 I’m still to locate the source of this quote. It was taken from an earlier training paper I wrote.
3 Checkout Deuteronomy 29:29