We have started a series on basic Christian doctrine in which we are answering eight important questions (refer to the last post). In the last post we gave the first part of the answer to the following question, "Why is it important to study doctrine anyway?" Here is another significant reason. (There will be more reasons to follow.)
The second reason that studying doctrine is advantageous lies in the truth that knowledge about God is attainable, though not exhaustive. And furthermore the complexities of God’s truths do not contradict one another. Thus His truths can collectively be called “one truth”. In other words, God speaks to us in language that we can understand. And these truths that He chooses to give us can make sense even to our finite minds, though not entirely. I am not denying mystery. Paul spoke about this in Rom. 11:33-36 when he said, "Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?". The prophet Isaiah also recorded the truth that there exists great mystery in understanding God, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways", declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Is. 55:8-9). In addition, Deut. 29:29 simply declares that the secret things belong to the Lord. God has secrets. He does not reveal everything about Himself to man. He has chosen to reveal Himself to His elect in the person of Jesus Christ and the reality of the Gospel. The Gospel tells us the most about God that any man could know in this lifetime. Nevertheless, as Paul, Isaiah, and Moses records for us in Scripture, it simply does not tell us everything- at least not in this lifetime. The point is simply that knowledge about God is attainable for us in degrees. And the entrance to this truth is always and only the Gospel. It is not until the Spirit of God reveals to us the beauty, glory, worth, value and treasure of Christ that we will begin our journey in knowing God as He has revealed Himself.
Someone once remarked:
“Everything God reveals of Himself transcends man’s comprehension; every doctrine, therefore, must of necessity terminate in mystery, and man must humbly acquiesce in having it so. God does not tell men more of His purpose than man needs to know; and just because man’s knowledge of what God is doing is always incomplete, His actions will often appear to man to have precisely opposite characteristics to those which He Himself ascribes to them. But in such cases it is man’s part deliberately to accept God’s interpretation in preference to his own. Faith will not lean to its own understanding of the appearance. Faith will take God’s word as a safe index of reality, and will wait patiently till contrary appearances dissolve away with the coming of greater light”.
Indeed, that is well said- every doctrine of necessity terminates in mystery. We are on a "need to know" basis regarding who God is. He- and He alone-has chosen what to reveal to His elect- nothing more, nothing less. We simply cannot know all things in this lifetime about God. He is too wondrous. In fact, that is the very thing that makes Him wondrous. He would not be that wondrous if we knew everything there was to know about Him, right?
In addition, what we know about God can "make sense" to us. Again, I am not denying mystery. I am simply asserting that what God has revealed to us about Himself can make sense in our finite, fallen minds (our minds were affected by the Fall in case you were wondering) primarily because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Again I go back to I Cor. 2:14 where Paul says, " But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them". But for the child of God, the Spirit has enlightened the mind! A child of God can make sense of even mysterious truths! Psalm 119:160 is helpful here. It says, "The sum of your word is truth". That is a profound statement. It is affirming that Scripture (all the information that God has revealed to us about Himself) is made up of various truths. Nobody, by the way, would deny this, right? There are many "truths" in Scripture. Let me list a few: 1) the Trinity, 2) justification, 3) faith, 4) regeneration, 5) heaven, 6) hell, etc. But all of these truths, and the concepts that they express can collectively and summarily be called simply "truth" (singular). In other words, God's truths do not contradict one another. All His truths (which all center around the person and work of Jesus Christ) can be called "one truth". God does not contradict Himself. And in this lifetime His elect have been given the privilege to see a glimpse of this reality, though not perfectly. We can make sense of much. We can understand much. This reality should serve as a mighty impetus to the believer to pursue the study of doctrine.
-Andy
The second reason that studying doctrine is advantageous lies in the truth that knowledge about God is attainable, though not exhaustive. And furthermore the complexities of God’s truths do not contradict one another. Thus His truths can collectively be called “one truth”. In other words, God speaks to us in language that we can understand. And these truths that He chooses to give us can make sense even to our finite minds, though not entirely. I am not denying mystery. Paul spoke about this in Rom. 11:33-36 when he said, "Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again?". The prophet Isaiah also recorded the truth that there exists great mystery in understanding God, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways", declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Is. 55:8-9). In addition, Deut. 29:29 simply declares that the secret things belong to the Lord. God has secrets. He does not reveal everything about Himself to man. He has chosen to reveal Himself to His elect in the person of Jesus Christ and the reality of the Gospel. The Gospel tells us the most about God that any man could know in this lifetime. Nevertheless, as Paul, Isaiah, and Moses records for us in Scripture, it simply does not tell us everything- at least not in this lifetime. The point is simply that knowledge about God is attainable for us in degrees. And the entrance to this truth is always and only the Gospel. It is not until the Spirit of God reveals to us the beauty, glory, worth, value and treasure of Christ that we will begin our journey in knowing God as He has revealed Himself.
Someone once remarked:
“Everything God reveals of Himself transcends man’s comprehension; every doctrine, therefore, must of necessity terminate in mystery, and man must humbly acquiesce in having it so. God does not tell men more of His purpose than man needs to know; and just because man’s knowledge of what God is doing is always incomplete, His actions will often appear to man to have precisely opposite characteristics to those which He Himself ascribes to them. But in such cases it is man’s part deliberately to accept God’s interpretation in preference to his own. Faith will not lean to its own understanding of the appearance. Faith will take God’s word as a safe index of reality, and will wait patiently till contrary appearances dissolve away with the coming of greater light”.
Indeed, that is well said- every doctrine of necessity terminates in mystery. We are on a "need to know" basis regarding who God is. He- and He alone-has chosen what to reveal to His elect- nothing more, nothing less. We simply cannot know all things in this lifetime about God. He is too wondrous. In fact, that is the very thing that makes Him wondrous. He would not be that wondrous if we knew everything there was to know about Him, right?
In addition, what we know about God can "make sense" to us. Again, I am not denying mystery. I am simply asserting that what God has revealed to us about Himself can make sense in our finite, fallen minds (our minds were affected by the Fall in case you were wondering) primarily because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Again I go back to I Cor. 2:14 where Paul says, " But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them". But for the child of God, the Spirit has enlightened the mind! A child of God can make sense of even mysterious truths! Psalm 119:160 is helpful here. It says, "The sum of your word is truth". That is a profound statement. It is affirming that Scripture (all the information that God has revealed to us about Himself) is made up of various truths. Nobody, by the way, would deny this, right? There are many "truths" in Scripture. Let me list a few: 1) the Trinity, 2) justification, 3) faith, 4) regeneration, 5) heaven, 6) hell, etc. But all of these truths, and the concepts that they express can collectively and summarily be called simply "truth" (singular). In other words, God's truths do not contradict one another. All His truths (which all center around the person and work of Jesus Christ) can be called "one truth". God does not contradict Himself. And in this lifetime His elect have been given the privilege to see a glimpse of this reality, though not perfectly. We can make sense of much. We can understand much. This reality should serve as a mighty impetus to the believer to pursue the study of doctrine.
-Andy
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