Dug Down Deep (3)

We've been reading and learning about some serious foundational concepts of the Christian faith in our current book, Dug Down Deep, by Joshua Harris. Bedrock really. I thought we'd take a moment to review some of these ideas, which hopefully now don't look so big and scary.

First up: Theology

In chapter 3, Josh tells us that theology is the study of God--God's church, God's plan of salvation, God's work in us to make us like Jesus, etc. More specifically, there is theology proper, or the doctrine of God--who God is and what he is like. Why is this important? "What we think about God--what we understand about his character and his attributes--shapes our understanding of every other doctrine and even life itself" (p. 39). What are some of these characteristics and attributes?

1. I am created / God is creator
2. I have a beginning / God is eternal
3. I am dependent / God is self-existent
4. I am limited in space / God is omnipresent
5. I am limited in power / God is almighty
6. I am limited in knowledge / God is all-knowing

In short, God is qualitatively different from us. He is holy, which deals not just with moral purity but with God as "separate from his creation in his perfection and power.... transcendent.... above us and beyond us" (p. 43).

Question: How does your concept of God affect your everyday life as an employee, a wife, a mom, a sister, a grandmother, a daughter, a widow, a friend?


The Doctrine of Scripture

What is the Bible? Where does it come from? What are its characteristics? How are we supposed to read and obey it? These are all questions answered by the the doctrine of Scripture. In chapter 4, we see that one major facet in the doctrine of Scripture is the necessity of Scripture--the Bible is "necessary for us to know and obey God" (p. 57). Without it we would not know the heart of God towards his people. Then we read about three major components of the doctrine of Scripture:

1. Inerrancy - "It is totally true--free from error--in all it affirms" (p. 68).
2. Clarity - It is self-interpreting.
3. Sufficiency - It gives us "all we need to know for salvation and eternal life" (p. 69).

Josh sums it up best: "The Bible is the story of what God has done for us. We don't come to it to receive instructions on saving ourselves. It's not a list of rules and guidelines that we must follow perfectly in order to earn our way into God's favor. The Bible is the story of what he has done. It's the story of how every man-made effort at salvation fails and only the grace of God can rescue and redeem sinners" (p. 72).

Question: Does a limited view of Scripture cause you to refer to other sources for answers to the situations in your life: a conflict with a co-worker, a misbehaving child, an unbelieving husband?


The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ

The person is who Jesus is. The work is what he has done for us. In chapter 5 we see that in order to rightly understand the person of Christ, we must see that he was both God and man at the same time. He was truly God, and proved his divine nature through the virgin conception, supernatural miracles, and his own claims of equality with God. And he was also truly man, born by a human mother, grew and developed, hungered and thirsted, experienced human emotions, grew tired, etc. What did this God-man come to do? "The work he came to accomplish is nothing less than the setting right of all that is wrong--in our relationship with God, in our hearts, in creation, in the whole universe.... Jesus didn't come only to save me, forgive my sins, and improve my life. He does all this, but this is only a small part of a much bigger picture" (p. 87).

Question: How often are you affected by the fact that God himself died for your sins?


Atonement

Atonement "speaks of how sinful, guilty men and women can have a restored relationship with a perfectly good and righteous God..." (p. 98). It's part of what the work of Christ accomplished. There are three keys to understanding atonement. First, the trinitarian nature of God. "The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together to save mankind.... at the cross, God himself both delivered and received the blow" (p. 101). An amazing concept. Second, the holiness and justice of God. "Because God is holy and just, no one will get away with anything in this life" (p. 104). God must punish sin, because if he doesn't, he ceases to be holy and just. Third, our own guilt and sin before God. "We all carry around some sense that we've done wrong, that we haven't measured up to the standards of others or to our own standards--much less the standards of God.... Our problem is far greater than we imagine" (p. 105, 110).

"The unimaginable message of the Bible is that God's love for us is so great that he made a way for us to be good again though the atoning life and death of his Son" (p. 111). As we saw earlier, Jesus came to reconcile us to God--that is the work of Christ. He did so by penal substitution--he paid the penalty for our sins. He died taking our punishment upon himself. And what is the result of this work? Propitiation--the satisfying and turning away of God's wrath. This could not be done of our own will or power or work, it had to be done by Jesus himself.

"There is a way to be good again. It is to trust in Jesus and his atoning death" (p. 115).

Question: Are you constantly trying to "be better at," "work harder at" overcoming anger at your child, disrespect towards your husband, or gossiping at work? Or are you trusting in Jesus' atoning work to cover your sins and to change who you are from the inside out?


Next week, we'll take a look at the concepts covered in chapters 7-11. And we'll start up with our next book, Living the Cross Centered Life, by C.J. Mahaney, on Monday, March 15. Make sure to stop by the bookstore this Sunday to order a copy.