Over the years, I have had the opportunity to teach systematic theology in a variety of settings, from seminary courses to college courses and Sunday school classes at the local church. But no matter where you teach systematically, I usually begin with god’s doctrine. Theology, of course, studies God and his character and paths, so it is appropriate to begin with a vision of his nature and attributes, before examining what the Bible has to say about redemption, the church, the last things, and the other categories. systematic theology.
Every time I teach the doctrine of God, I begin with two statements that seem to fill many of my students with immense dismay: My custom has been to tell you that, on the one hand, there is nothing particularly unique about the doctrine of God confessed. in the reformed tradition of Christian theology. The Presbyterians, reformed Baptists, Reformed Dutch baptists and other reformed Christians claim the same divine attributes as all Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics. There is nothing radically different in our doctrine of God.
- However.
- When these same students ask me what is the most important feature of reformed theology.
- I tell them that it is our doctrine of God.
- Now.
- This seems completely contradictory to my first statement.
- But I say that God’s reformed doctrine distinguishes us from other traditions in which I do not know any other theology that seriously considers God’s doctrine in relation to all other doctrines In most systematic theologies.
- You have an affirmation of God’s sovereignty on the first page of the theological text.
- But moving on to soteriology (doctrine of salvation).
- Eschatology (doctrine of the last things).
- Anthropology (doctrine of humanity) and so on.
- The author seems to have forgotten what he said about God’s sovereignty on the cover.
Reformed theologians, however, consciously see that the doctrine of God penetrates the full scope of Christian theology. This is one of the reasons Calvinists tend to focus so much on the Old Testament. Do we care how God’s character defines all things? Christ, ourselves and salvation. We turn to the Old Testament because it is one of the most important sources on the nature and character of God that you will ever find in the universe. Reformed Christians tend to take the Old Testament very seriously because it is such a vivid revelation of the majesty of God.
Think of God’s main revelations in the Old Testament: In a national conference of the Ligonier ministry, I returned to Isaiah 6, which is probably the passage I have preached more often than anyone else in my preaching career. the most vivid manifestations of divine holiness in all the scriptures. Then, of course, there is the Lord’s revelation of himself and the name of his covenant to Moses, in the burning bush, which we read in Exodus 3; it is a chapter whose reading is essential for anyone seeking to understand God’s independence and personal existence. When I seek a reminder of our Creator’s commitment to truth and fidelity to fulfill the promises of his covenant, I generally turn to Genesis 15, in which God swears for himself that He will. keep the word of Abraham to give him countless descendants . . . And to have a vivid picture of God’s unwavering and effective love for his people, his wife, he is unlikely to find a better place to go in the scriptures than the book of Osses.
I could give you many more examples, but what do all these episodes have in common? All these revelations of God have taken place in various moments of crisis in the life of God’s people. Isaiah and Moses were about to be sent on a great mission to proclaim the greatness of the Lord to a hardened people. What did you need most at a time like this? Isn’t that a promise of success? in fact, Isaiah was told that his message would harden hearts (Isaiah 6: 8-13). No, they needed to understand the character of God. When God wanted to give you security, He gave yourself. The same can be said of Abraham and Hosea. Humanly speaking, Abraham had little evidence to believe that God would give him many descendants. So did the Lord assure the Patriarch of his fidelity by committing himself to his own destruction? an impossibility? if he didn’t keep his word. Hosea lived in a time when it seemed that God had rejected his people, totally and definitively, for their unfaithfulness. What hope can the Lord give that he loves Israel with an everlasting love? The revelation of yourself as the perfect Husband in love and faithfulness.
The doctrine of God’s reformed theology, which emphasizes all divine attributes at every stage of revelation of salvation, distinguishes it from other Christian understandings of the Lord, and our doctrine of God is drawn from Genesis to Revelation, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament: Why, then, will we not assimilate all of God’s counsel and read both wills with great devotion?
By: R. C. Sproul. © YEAR OF THE MINISTRE. Original: The Reformed Doctrine of God.
This article is part of the June 2015 issue of Tabletalk magazine
Translation: Vin-cius Silva Pimentel. Review: Vin-cius Musselman Pimentel. © 2014 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: MinistryFiel. com. br. Original: The Reformed Doctrine of God.