Biblical Theology approaches the Bible as one story that is progressively unfolded by the revelation of God. Biblical Theology is principally concerned with the overall theological message of the whole Bible. It seeks to understand the parts in relation to the whole. Biblical Theology seeks to show the unity of the Bible around the message of Jesus and Him crucified.
The statement ‘A text without a context is a pretext’, points to the danger of trying to interpret words of the Bible out of their context. However the task of understanding a text “in context" is more complex than many realize. Not only are we to look at the text within the immediate context, but also the whole context of all of Scripture.
Biblical theology seeks to understand the specific revelation in context of all of Scripture. In sum, the context must be theological as well as literary, and context must include the whole Biblical revelation, as well as the book in which the text occurs
Biblical Theology sees the whole Bible resonating with Christological significance and that all our understanding must aim to understand Christ in a way that reflects this focus, and that is shaped by, the overarching Biblical plotline of “Jesus and His crucifixion".
Stated in another way, Jesus’ response to the two on the road to Emmaus “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". (Luke 24:27) and Paul’s statement “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Cor 2:2) These two verses sum up Biblical Theology better that any attempt of any modern theologian.
Biblical Theology is distinct from other theologies such as Covenant or Systematic, yet some concepts are common to all three theologies. Systematic Theology is used heavily to organize thoughts around the key Biblical doctrines. A good definition of Systematic Theology is that branch of theology which deals with the logical categorization of Biblical truths by tracing the self-revelation of God through the Scriptures as a whole and then carefully organized by doctrine. It answers the question, "What does the whole counsel of Scripture teach us about any given topic?"
A good Bible study course will not only be based upon a "Biblical Theology" foundation but will use three other major theological concepts to define the organizination of their Bible study.
The first concept or theme is that God desires a people unto whom “He will be their God, they will be His people and He will dwell with them." This theme starts coming into focus when God tells Moses to tell the Pharaoh to “let My people go". Like so many other things of the Old testament that the book Hebrews refers to as a shadow, the Old Covenant was a shadow of the New Covenant, the high priest's role was a shadow of Christ’s role, and Israel was a shadow of the church, which becomes the Bride of Christ in the book of Revelation. The Bride of Christ is the final group referred to as the ones to whom “He is their God, they are His people and He dwells with them".
The second major theological concept is that there is one covenant relationship that defines the requirements for God’s people and it starts with the commandment “don’t eat" and is finalized when the trumpets sound the return of Christ. This covenant revelation is also revealed in a progressive manner to Bible characters such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally with Christ Himself.
The third major theological concept is the interlocking doctrines of the foreknowledge and foreordination of God, the freedom God grants man, the desired fellowship between God and man, and the faithfulness of God compared to the unfaithfulness of man (sin).
The following Biblical verses shed some light on how the above doctrines interact. John 3:16 says “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that anyone (whosoever) believes will not perish but have ever lasting (eternal) life. This implies freedom of choice. God’s Word goes on to state in John 3:18 “there is no condemnation on those who believe (trust) in Jesus, but those who do not believe are under condemnation." This again implies man has a God given freedom to reject Christ, but there is a foreordained judgment for those who do reject Him.
In Romans 8:29 God’s Word states “for those He foreknew, He did foreordain to be conformed to the image of Christ." Look at the sequence, it does not say that He foreordained a specific one to be saved (believe), but those He foreknew would believe He foreordained them to be saved (become a new creature).
Most Christians do not consider themselves to be neither, Calvinist nor Armenian, but a Biblical Christian. These two men from whose Biblical beliefs were established these schools of thought were dedicated Christian men, but both were fallible. Let each of us study the Word of God and determine with the aid of the Holy Spirit what God’s Word says and not what men say about God’s Word.
The purpose of this article is to encourage every one to “ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." ( 2 Tim 2:15)
About the Author Rev. Charles King is the founder of Four Soils Ministry and has been involved in the sowing the Word of God as well as the teaching and encouragement of God's servants in a number of countries around the world. He has taught the Bible in local Bible Schools while being in involved revivals in Africa, India, Europe, and Central & Latin America.
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