Theology and Faith

The following is a excerpt from a piece I wrote on Biblical theology:

…I write with the conviction that behind wrong living is wrong thinking. Furthermore, I trust that by abiding in the word of God deeply that our lives will be sanctified. By cultivating our affections for Christ by the knowledge of Him in the Scriptures, we find that the happiness offered by sin cannot compare to the joy we find in being satisfied by Christ. Sin is a result of a heart not satisfied by all that Christ is for us in God. When we sin we do so because it holds out some promise of satisfaction. It is only when we can embrace the promises of God that the promises of sin no longer appeal to us. This laying hold of the promises of God to sanctify us is faith. When Paul tells us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, he explains that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith.¹ This faith is being satisfied by God and by it we understand God’s power to save us and the righteousness that he reveals unto us. By this faith God justifies us because by faith we embrace with empty arms the declaration that the ungodly is counted righteous in Christ. Faith is the root of our sanctification because it is faith that humbly receives the power and grace of God to produce fruit in our lives. Such faith kills sin because it is trusts in Christ’s uncompromising satisfaction above that of fleeting pleasures. The righteous shall live by faith.

Ignorance of who God is and what He has promised us in Christ is in opposition to this faith because we will fail to lay hold of His gifts, supremely Himself. As we seek to know God and witness his glory revealed in the Scriptures we find our faith being built on rock solid redeemer who is our justification, sanctification, and satisfaction. Attempts to seek this outside of God is not only antithetical to faith but will always fail. The best we can do without faith is self-justification. Without faith our lives are not sanctifyingly transformed but only conformed to moralistic do’s and don’ts. Without faith our attempts to appear right before God will always end in despair and deny us the satisfaction we long for. Conversely, the righteous shall live by faith.

This faith is ultimately a gift² from God but it is imparted by the word of God.³ Knowing God, in other words theology and doctrine, is the bedrock of our faith on which our satisfaction in God rests. Theology, understood correctly, is not dry, boring, or dangerous rather it is timely, dynamic, and essential. Upon it we establish a foundation and framework for all of life.