On the old truth blog there is a post about the idea of 'non-essentials' in the Christian faith.
It is true that there is no need of knowing every doctrine in order to be saved but it something else entirely to say that, once having been saved, we should not seek to know the fullness of God.
The fullness of God is found in the doctrines of the faith. Salvations through faith, propitiatory atonement, the trinity, what defines an elder, male and female complementarity.
Each day we should strive to know more of God so that we can be more like God. The law (doctrine) is not what saves us but it is what directs us to Christlikeness. That is why I fight for doctrine and will continue to do so. It is essential to the fullness of the believer.
-joe
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
non-essentials
at 8:18 PM
labels: doctrine, knowing God, non-essentials
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Rather than doctrine, I would challenge that the fullness of God is only found in his presence. Our ideas and theologies cannot grasp God's fullness. Being in and of God is the closest we can get.
I agree that the fullness of God is found only in God, that we cannot come close to completely knowing or describing God in human terms.
But, alas, that is all we have to describe and know our God...is through the inadequate human terms.
We define God and know God by applying Scripture to our minds that teach us the things of God and about God. Those are doctrines. What God desires. Who God is. How He acts. What His purpose is. Those are doctrines. So, yes...we can only come to know God by being in His presence, but that is exactly what Scripture does. It shows us what it is to be in His presence by describing Him in countless ways. We must seek after these to be counted in His presence. It is emotional (or Spirit) but it must also be truth (doctrine).
Post a Comment