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When we speak of God's presence, we are not, of course, speaking of a physical presence, for God is incorporeal. What we mean, rather, is that he is able to act on and in the creation and to evaluate authoritatively all that is happening in the creation. Since God controls and evaluates all things, he is therefore present everywhere, as present as an incorporeal being can be. But in this chapter, we are interested in something more than mere presence. For God is not only present in the world; he is covenantally present. He is with his creatures to bless and to judge in terms of the standards of his covenant.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 1778-1783). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
prayer changes things. Or to put it more theologically, God ordains prayer as a means to change history. There are things that happen because of prayer, and things that do not happen because of no prayer. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says that if his people will humble themselves and pray, then he will forgive their sin and heal their land. In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus says that he who seeks, finds. And James 4:2 says that if we don't have things we need, it is because we do not ask. Prayer really does work.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 26957-26961). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
prayer is a means of fellowship with our heavenly Father - In Luke 11:9-13, Jesus says that prayer is like a child's going to his earthly father. Cf. Matt. 6:9. The child wants something, and the father is eager to give. But the father does not give until the child asks. Any of us who are parents understand the dynamic here. We want to give good things to our children, but even more, we want a good relationship with them. Our heavenly Father wants the same. He does not want to be a kind of machine that dispenses goods, but to really be our Father, a real person.Systematic Theology
Scripture speaks often of the wrath of God as his response to sin. Wrath differs from jealousy and hatred, in that (1)Â jealousy is more focused on the specific sin of idolatry; wrath opposes our sin in general; (2)Â jealousy and hatred are motives for wrath; wrath actually executes punishments.Systematic Theology
The older theologians made a number of distinctions within God's righteousness that can be presented in a Ramist outline: 1. Internal (God's moral excellence) 2. External (the rectitude of his conduct) a. rectoral or legislative (promulgating just laws for his creatures) b. distributive (administering rewards and punishments) i. remunerative (distribution of reward) ii. retributive (distribution of punishment)"Systematic Theology
Peace comes from God alone, since the fall has made us prone to wars and fightings (James 4:1-3). Peace, as all other blessings of salvation, makes us like God. So like all other blessings of salvation and Christian virtues, peace among men is the reflection of God's own nature; it is a divine attribute. God is completely at peace with himself.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 7386-7389). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
The Bible is clear in the sense that it leaves us no excuses for our disobedience. If God's Word were unclear and we did something wrong, we could go back to God and say, "God, you didn't speak clearly to us, you didn't speak the Word so that we could understand it. So naturally we went our own way. There was no other way to go." Well, that would be foolish. That would be itself a very disobedient response to God's Word. But God speaks His Word to us and speaks it as the one who is authoritative, as the one who judges our behavior, and as the one who leaves us without any excuses.
remember that our salvation goes back even before the beginning of our faith, into eternity past. Salvation begins in election. This is an even more ultimate reason why we will persevere. In chapter 11, I quoted Romans 8 at some length. Note there how the apostle Paul connects election and perseverance. Paul sees a golden chain: from God's foreknowledge and predestination in eternity past, to calling and justification, to glorification. Those who are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ cannot fail to be glorified. So we hear the language of perseverance.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 25705-25709). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
other passages put the point even more strongly: we have eternal life here and now, not only in the future: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36 ); "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24);Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 25705-25709). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Notice also John 10:27-29: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Nobody can snatch a believer out of God's hand. These verses speak of eternal life in the future for those who believe today.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 25705-25709). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
I confess also to being rather perplexed about the recent controversy in evangelical circles over lordship salvation.25 The question concerns whether confessing the lordship of Christ is necessary at the beginning of the Christian life, or whether it can be postponed until a later time. But the lordship of Jesus is absolutely fundamental to the preaching of the gospel in the NT. It is inconceivable that anyone could respond appropriately to that gospel without confessing from the heart that Jesus is Lord (Rom. 10:9-10). To acknowledge the lordship of Christ is not, of course, to be sinlessly perfect or flawless in one's discipleship. Scripture teaches plainly that sincere believers do sin (1Â John 1:8, 10); they act inconsistently with their profession.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 1462-1468). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
In defining theology, it is not strictly necessary to align it with a single biblical term, but it is certainly an advantage when we can do this. I propose that we define theology as synonymous with the biblical concept of teaching, with all its emphasis on edification.Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (Kindle Locations 1225-1227). P&R Publishing. Kindle Edition.
The resurrection of Jesus is the crucial sign that the last days are here. The Pharisees associated the last days with the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. So Jesus associates that time with resurrection in John 6:39-40, 44, 54. But when the grieving Martha says that her brother Lazarus will rise again in the resurrection on the last day (John 11:24), Jesus replies, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (vv.25-26). Then he proceeds to raise Lazarus from the dead, indicating that the life-giving power of the age to come is present in himself. So in Luke 17:21 Jesus tells the Pharisees that the kingdom is already in their midst, certainly referring to himself. Wherever Jesus is, there is the age to come.Systematic Theology
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