Friendly greetings and warm welcome to this series in Theology 101: the Basics, where we look at the major doctrines of the Bible, for the church. Together, let’s explore the very basics. In this post we introduce the entire series by answering questions, like these: what is theology? Why study it? What is its purpose? What attitude should we have? How does it serve the church?
I place this creed here in Theology 101: The Basics, because it is a great introduction to theology. It is rooted in Scripture and therefore very valuable today. It is also easy to understand.
Certain segments of the global church, particularly the Renewal Movements, have gone wrong about interpreting Scripture. Can we bring some parameters to our Bible reading and teaching? Included in this post is four characteristics of Scripture and then how to interpret It.
General revelation encompasses moral law (which is the same as natural law, for my purpose here) and nature. Moral law can be perceived by reason and conscience, but are they clear enough? Special revelation is Scripture. We need it to guide us more specifically and clearly.
Some corners of the church treat the Bible disrespectfully. It is no longer authoritative or inerrant They themselves have become the ultimate authority, not God’s word. But Christians who believe in the inspiration of Scripture see it as authoritative and inerrant.
Recall from the Introduction to Theology 101 that Theology Proper means studying God as he is in his essence and attributes and the Trinity. So we could title this post and the next eleven, Theology Proper. But let’s avoid complications and call this long section Doctrine of God.
Theologians divide God’s attributes into two basic categories: incommunicable and communicable. Incommunicable means God does not communicate or share specific attributes with us in an absolute sense. In this post: Self-existence, unchangeable, infinite (yet personal), omnipresent (everywhere), simplicity, and eternity.
Omni- means all. In this post: Omnipotence (all power), omniscience (all knowledge) , omnisapience (all wise). Omnipresence (everywhere) is placed in the post on incommunicable attributes.
No one tells him what to do or bosses him around or forces his hand. He is “large and in charge.” His will shall prevail in the end. How does human free will interact with this?
These attributes mean God exists in all his absolute perfections and takes calm delight in who he is. He lives in totally and absolutely perfect blessedness.
These three attributes depict God as brilliant. He shines. He is great and worthy of our praise.
God is Spirit and he is invisible.
The number of verses that show those attributes is huge, which means that God expresses them more than, say, wrath. They are a major theme of Scripture. (These are my personal favorite attributes because I need them daily.)
God wrath is judicial. Think of an old English judge who wears a white wig. As for jealousy, If your child were under attack, what would you do? That (imperfect) surge of protection that you feel comes close to the biblical definition of (perfect) jealousy in God. It’s about his protection over you.
From our point of view, peace is one of God’s great attributes or perfections. Without it, the world would be more chaotic than it is. God’s patience means he is willing to redeem the world over a long time and work with his followers when they commit sins.
God is holy and separate from us. God also has righteous standards. Truth means he is faithful and veracious.
The Trinity is completely biblical, for the Bible teaches us about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We have a relationship with each person. Let’s see how. Continue reading
This creed is broader than the Trinity, but I include it here because it discusses the Trinity most prominently.
These names and metaphors and activities reveal his character and outreach towards needy humans.
This post is theological and biblical, not scientific.
God oversees and preserves his creation, particularly you and me.
Miracles mean that God intervenes in his own creation. He owns it, so it does not violate any natural law when he works a miracle, as if he were an outsider. He merely introduces a new situation. We also look into this question: Can Satan work miracles too?
Professional theologians teach us that we are supposed to engage with the philosophical or theological trends in society. Let’s give it a try. This post is for advanced Christians. If you are just beginning or not used to this kind of content or are believing God for your healing, don’t click on it. In any case, is there a way out of hyper-skeptical doubts about miracles?
This post is placed under the Doctrine of God because God sovereignly oversees these supernatural beings. When we learn what the Bible says about them, we can have the right perspective. We will not obsess over them, but we must not ignore their reality or existence, either. Balance.
This post is placed under the Doctrine of God because he sovereignly oversees these evil spirit beings.
Generally, the church’s teachings nowadays seem to ignore the kingdom of God. Yet the reality of the kingdom was emphasized in the teaching of Jesus. He ushered it in. Why do we ignore it today? Are we missing an important doctrine of the Bible?
Out of his great love, God reaches out to sinful, rebellious humanity with commitments and promises, called covenants. He offers them by his grace, and humans have to fulfill certain obligations. They have to stop their rebellion and surrender and follow him. This post marks a good transition from God to humankind (Sec 4).
What does the Bible say about mankind and womankind? What is the image of God? The Bible has the best revelation on the sexes, clearer and superior than any postmodern worldview.
Are we body and soul? Or are we body, soul, and spirit? The answer is not as clear-cut as we may believe. Can we solve the issue by the Scriptures?
This post starts off broadly with God’s glory and humankind, to more narrowly his glory on the ancient Israelites and the tabernacle and then on his New Covenant people. God created people to perceive his glory.
Sin is an unpopular word today, but it is thoroughly biblical and accurate about human nature. This post summarizes original sin and the three main theories on the transmission of sin from Adam to people, if it is transmitted: imputed, inherited, or personal. But a solution is offered at the end!
Let’s define our terms by the lexicon and other study helps, after the long study about sin.
Many people believe from pop culture that Jesus had so much love for them that he never preached against sin. But he did, because he loved them enough to warn them against sin’s destruction.
“All sins are the same! Sin is sin!” I have heard this confusion even from pastors. So how can we blame the laity if they get it wrong?
This is good news.
His existence has no beginning. The Son of God is eternal, just like his Father. In this post we look into his coming down to earth as the Son of God and even God in the flesh in the New Testament. This is called the Incarnation.
This post continues from Part 1. Let’s explore his life and ministry by his names and titles and crucifixion. In this post we look into his eternal Sonship, because certain teachers claim he became the Son of God only after his birth, implying that his Sonship has a beginning..
This post continues from the previous one. Here we look into his resurrection, his appearances, session, and return.
This post mostly uses the question-and answer format, for easier understanding. He was both God and man, during his life here. This dual nature of Christ is called the hypostatic union.
Seventeen centuries ago, the church debated the issue of who Christ is. This creed was the result. (It had nothing to do with establishing Scripture.)
The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451). Who was Jesus? How did his two natures (divine and human) interact?
This post introduces the basic theology of the Spirit, also called pneumatology. It also has three tables summarizing the Holy Spirit’s activities and his nature in relation to the Father and the Son. He is the third person of the Trinity, not an impersonal force.
The Spirit was doing active ministry on Old Testament people, particularly on those whose hearts were committed to God. But the Spirit’s work was incomplete, compared to his work in New Covenant people. At the end, this post has the totals for the number of times the Spirit appears in the Old Testament, according to the genres of the Torah, the history books, wisdom literature and the prophets.
Jesus is the Anointed One, the Christ (Greek) and the Messiah (Hebrew). The Holy Spirit anointed him for service and ministry. But the Spirit also guided people during his conception, birth, and infancy narratives.
Let’s discover together how the Spirit works in your life and in the church as a whole, biblically speaking. At the very end, this post has the totals for the number of times the Spirit appears in the New Testament, in the four Gospels, Acts, epistles, and the Revelation.
We are sinners in need of salvation. Yet God loves us and has launched his rescue mission. The whole act of rescue can also be called salvation, which he offers to everyone. I also introduce a humorous mnemonic device S-E-R-F-F-F-B-OR-D, illustrating the gospel of salvation in its essential elements.
God offers redemption to needy, sinful human beings.
We are still keeping track of God’s offer to rescue or save sinful humanity. He wants peace between him and humans.
Postmodern people after the Enlightenment (1600-1800+) do not like the bloody part of Christianity. Of course this is shortsighted. This post lays out the efficacious benefits of the blood of Christ for our salvation. It also answers whether it is biblical to “plead the blood.”
In the previous post, we looked at the verses describing the significance of the blood and cross of Christ. This present post deepens our knowledge of that world-changing historical event. We look at the major Scriptures about the atonement. And is Christ’s death on the cross cosmic child abuse? We also explore whether the atonement is for all (unlimited) or for the elect (limited).
We are following God’s rescue plan for sinful humanity. In his mercy he calls us by his grace. Grace is multifaceted in Scripture. Most relevantly for soteriology, it is the foundation of God’s good news of salvation.
In the gospel or good news, we are still studying God’s solution to sin, salvation. The gospel is one foundational aspect of God’s multipart plan to rescue humankind and save it from its own sin and degradation. God calls out to us with the gospel of his grace. Will we respond? I also introduce the three acronyms D-O-B-R-A-S and A-R-T-B-E, and G-O-S-P-E-L, so I can remember what the basics of the gospel are.
The previous posts on humanity’s needs and God’s offer of salvation, redemption, reconciliation and the cross are included in the gospel call. This post also discusses election and predestination.
This post describes our conversion to God through his Son.
This post has the greatest news of all.
In this post justification is defined as God’s declaration of his righteousness over us. Being justified also means declaring us not guilty, and acceptable in God’s sight. We receive this marvelous gift of righteousness by faith in Christ.
Hint to its meaning: Think about it and take it on credit.
God has been calling you by his gospel of grace. You must now respond and say yes to him by repenting of your sins and putting your full faith and trust in him. You must be born again—that’s called regeneration. But what does that mean?
This final section of soteriology is about the ultimate or final redemption and salvation and glorification in heaven. What happens after you die? What is heaven like?
We move to a new section in Theology 101: The Basics. This post is about sanctification. Later posts in this section will cover the life of the disciple who works, by God’s grace and the Spirit’s empowerment, to live a sanctified life. Included is a table that explains the differences between forensic or declared or legal justification and sanctification.
We need more empowerments and infillings of the Spirit for an inward holy life and outward ministry. After all, the Spirit filled Peter three times (Acts 2:1-4; 4:8, 31). This is a paradigm for us today.
Perseverance means the persistence of Christians (hang in there!) to keep their relationship with the Lord, by God’s grace and his indwelling Holy Spirit. They remain Christians. They can also do what all disciples must do, to maintain their walk with God. This post has a list of ten characteristics of a healthy disciple.
Prayer is a powerful tool to deepen our discipleship.
I saw a word of faith (I call it “hyper-faith”) teacher on television read from Genesis 1 and claimed he too could speak worlds into existence. Another TV platform speaker at his church told his audience: “Don’t pray! Decree it!” Jesus really did teach that we can command our personal obstacles to be thrown into the sea. But is this the same as decreeing? Let’s find out.
We are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), yet disciples struggle with their identity in Christ. It is about grace, of course, but also discipleship, learning who they are in Christ.
The glory of God in the individual, believing disciple is also the glory in the church. This post is a good transition to the next section on Ecclesiology.
We come to a new section: the Church. “Ecclesiology” literally means the “study of the church.” What is the church? How does it live in community? What does the church do? Who are its members? How big or small was it in the NT? Where did it meet? In this post I also briefly look at modern church structure and the NT roles of overseers, pastors, and elders and other leaders.
God’s Son is the Lord of the church. He sends his Spirit to all believers, as they gather together. His presence is in the assembly. The Spirit inspired Scripture, which the church should study, deriving doctrine from it. The Spirit will also inspire praise and worship in the Son’s community. Finally, this post has a table of the famous “one another” verses.
Churches need to discover what the signs of a healthy or unhealthy church are. It is difficult to achieve a healthy church and maintain it over the years. Is there any hope for unhealthy churches?
This post is a biblical theology discussion on healing today. If you are fighting for your or someone else’s healing, I counsel you to skip this post. Read it later when the outcome of your fight is final, and you need to understand what the Bible really teaches about healing.
The church is consecrated to God. Therefore, it is sacred to him because he imputes sacredness to it. His Son saved and redeemed it. It is the new sacred temple. It replaces and fulfills the Old Testament tabernacle and temple.
Now we come to worship and ministry in the church. This post is written for churches that see oil, baptismal water, and communion elements as strictly symbolic. These elements are ordinary and common objects for eating and other purposes at home. But how do they become sacred for ministry in the church?
When the bread and wine (or grape juice) are consecrated through prayer, they are sacred in God’s sight. He imputes holiness to them. In this post we look closely at this doctrine and review the basics of communion.
We do a basic overview of the subject. Also, we answer such questions as these: what does baptize literally mean? Can infants be baptized, biblically speaking? What about adults being baptized twice? Does water have regenerative power? What does it mean for water to be sacred? Continue reading
These edifying activities can be practiced either alone or in the church service. They are means of grace towards more intimacy with God, redirecting our focus from ourselves and towards God. Yet the Psalms also permit us to express our hearts.
I include this post in Theology 101 and Ecclesiology because people need this teaching now due to an off-balanced and misguided movement called the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR).
Apostles are appearing everywhere in modern American churches and around the globe, particularly in Africa and Latin America. What are apostles? What are they supposed to do? Do churches today misapply the title, or are they correct?
Prophets are proliferating today, so this topic needs its own post. Who are they? Do they understand prophecy before they exercise it? Do they need to be a part of a local church, or can they become independent? What happens when their prophecies fail? How do we judge the prophets and their prophecies?
There is a lot of confusion about the interrelations of these two God-ordained entities. Can we get clarity?
This gigantic movement continues unhindered. What is it? How does the church reply? The post unabashedly has a definite point of view. As we move along, I ask questions and challenge Postmodernism.
I taught world religions at various community colleges for a number of years, and here are some of the lessons I learned, boiled down. These religions reflect people’s search for God in their fallen state. What did they discover?
This post will defend the West, but please realize that the West is not identical with the church and the church is not identical with the West. However, Christianity built the West or at least provided the environment for it to be built. We need to preserve our high quality of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Confusion has dominated the Western world in regards to Israel. Today antisemitism has spread around rapidly like an evil virus. So what does the Bible say about Israel in the OT and the land of Israel today and the church?
This post launches a new section of Theology 101. Start here. What did Jesus and the apostolic community really believe about the Second Coming, according to the New Testament? Did they believe in a pre-tribulation rapture and then a Second Coming? Or did all of them have a simple and streamlined and consistent and unified view of the end?
Normally I would not include a detailed exegesis (close reading) or discussion of the Olivet Discourse in Theology 101: the Basics. But maybe I can bring clarity to a complex issue, if not for popular Bible prophecy teachers, then maybe for a new generation of leaders. All by God’s grace and will.
There are five main views on the millennium (thousand-year reign of Christ), in relation to the “rapture” and the great tribulation. Then let’s examine the Second Coming. We also very briefly look into dispensationalism.
Final judgment will come after the Second Coming. Then what? Continue reading
Out of his great love for people, God in his mercy is forewarning everyone, whether the redeemed or unredeemed, that this judgment SHALL happen, based on their good or bad deeds and good or bad words. The Scriptures are unambiguous about it. How do we prepare for it? God offers solutions before we all face it.
When children have saving faith, the issue of where they go after they die disappears. They go to heaven. Instead, we are talking about infants and older children whose saving faith is unclear or nonexistent. What will happen to them?
God is loving and merciful, but how far do those attributes go at final judgment? Let’s explore this complex issue.
Let’s say that final judgment is over. What happens to the unredeemed? Can we know for sure?
What will happen to your kind and generous but unredeemed grandmother after she is judged? Will she burn in hell-fires in eternal conscious torment bobbing up and down in the lake of fire next to Hitler, Stalin, and Mao? Terminalists or conditionalists or annihilationists (all three terms mean the same doctrine) and universalists say no. There are better Scriptural options, they say. I offer my opinion at the very end.
This is the last post in the Eschatology section of Theology 101. The book of the Revelation reverses Genesis. This doctrine is glorious.
To spot a counterfeit bill. experts are first trained to see the true one. When we learn the basics of theology, we can detect false doctrines. So the whole purpose of the long series is to help God’s Son’s church live in truth and avoid falsehoods and walk in love.
This post is for your convenience.
Here is a list of the principal works referenced or used at this site. More will be added as time goes on, so please check back.
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 