Theological Foundations

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A recap to our course roundtable, Lesson 2. It was a remarkable evening in the realm of theological studies. It can be intimidating as a leader knowing full well that you cannot possibly be equipped with the data to answer all questions. The men of this group are dedicated students to the word and historical framework of Christianity.

The night began at 7PM and we kicked off with the topic of Reformed Theology, an introduction. It is essential to discuss the theological distinctives and in this case there was much to digest. This taken from the lecture on the introduction.

1. The authority of scripture
   
2. The sovereignty of God
   
   1. Foreordination
      
   2. Providence
      
   3. Redemption
      
3. The majesty of God
   
4. The invincibility of grace
   
5. The Christian life
   
6. The 3^rd use of the law, The law as a rule of life to encourage our obedience
   
7. The relationship between the kingdom of God and the world
   
8. The distinctive place of the church and to the place of preaching.
   

The conversation was very insightful concerning these points and led us into a more systematic approach to the heart of the doctrine of God. We moved into the omnipotence, omniscience and immutability of God. It was quite fascinating to me to see the development of God`s sovereignty within these attributes.

In God`s immutability we also discovered His immutability in His decrees. We looked at the Westminster confession, chapter 3, on Gods eternal decrees to find, and I quote, "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass…" It was noted that these elements of Gods attributes were under the umbrella of Gods sovereignty. If you really desire to understand reformed theology you must learn of the sovereignty of God.

Next session will continue down the path on the doctrine of God with the development of the doctrine of man. We will start to see the historical development in the reformation with Martin Luther and Erasmus. This will help us into the introduction to Calvinism. There is simply so much data in this study that it is truly a challenge not to venture to swiftly and miss vital information.

I praise God for the study and pray God is glorified in it. May He be high and lifted up as we grow in the knowledge of God through scripture and history.