Part One: Abiding in Christ
by Robert Dean
Thomas Sowell begins his book, The Conflict of Visions, with the following observation and explanation for why the same people consistently group together on seemingly unrelated political opinions.
One of the curious things about political opinions is how often the same people line up on opposite sides of different issues. The issues themselves may have no intrinsic connection with each other. They may range from military spending to drug laws to monetary policy to education. Yet the same familiar faces can be found glaring at each other from opposite sides of the political fence, again and again. ..."
The field of theology is no different. Frequently, the same theologians line up on opposite sides of different, seemingly unrelated theological issues. Whether one is discussing eschatology or soteriology, Romans 9 or Revelation 20, there is a certain consistent grouping. Now and then we discover certain anomalies, but among trained, knowledgeable Bible students we discover that birds of a theological feather, generally, also flock together. And when we do have major anomalies, perhaps it is because some subgroups either fail to fully grasp the hidden, subterranean presuppositions affecting these groupings or they are at some level, willingly inconsistent. In theology, like politics, Bible students often have different visions of how God works in history, salvation, and eschatology. This is certainly true in the field of sanctification and spiritual growth. ..
Part Two: Walking by the Spirit
by Robert Dean
The previous article in this three-part series posed the question, “Why do the same people always seem to line up together on opposite sides even when interpreting different Scripture passages?” The verses themselves might appear to have little intrinsic relationship, yet the same theologians and the same commentators consistently gather together on the same sides of theological issues when facing off in doctrinal and hermeneutical debates. The reality of this conundrum is never more apparent than in disagreements between Calvinists and Arminians, dispensationalists and nondispensationalists, lordship and free grace advocates. ...
Part Three: Walking in the Light
by Robert Dean
The first two installments of this series developed key elements for a dispensational system of sanctification. An analysis of John 15 along with other key passages on the believer’s fruit (fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:16–25; fruit of righteousness; Ephesians 5:9 revealed that abiding in Christ, walking by the Spirit, and walking in the light, are three descriptions of how the believer maintains fellowship with God. In addition, it was demonstrated that abiding in Christ and walking by the Spirit are both necessary and indispensable for spiritual growth and fruit production. The second article further demonstrated that these commands are parallel to the apostle John’s exhortations in 1 John 1:1–10, to walk in the light. The collection of “walking” mandates are complementary descriptions of the Christian way of life and active responsibilities of the believer who wishes to maintain fellowship with God. Early dispensationalist Arno C. Gaebelein (1861-1945) reminds us that these spheres of Christian fellowship are mutually exclusive of the operation of the sin nature. ...
No comments:
Post a Comment