www.shawneebiblechurch.org
Biblical Theology: Comprehending God’s Truth Together
At Shawnee Bible Church, we value comprehending and living by biblical theology.
“Biblical theology” means genuinely and skillfully searching out answers to questions of
life from God’s point of view. This comes by studying his truth as it has been revealed in
the Bible. We recognize that God’s will is perfect and unchanging, and we want to
discover and submit to him in all areas of faith and practice. We recognize that a major
problem in our culture today is that people often believe to be true what they want to be
true. The faithful Christian life is very different: we don’t believe humans inherently
possess adequate knowledge of God’s truth but must discover it through what he has
progressively revealed in the Bible.
If biblical exposition involves how we faithfully study the Bible, biblical theology
involves what we comprehend Scripture teaches. We believe that the Old and New
Testaments form one single unit inspired and assembled by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20–
21), ultimately revealing one story called “redemptive history.” Biblical theology answers
questions within the context of this grand story and thereby avoids lopsidedness.
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Questions that biblical theology answers are various and sundry: “What is the ministry
of the Holy Spirit?” “Are there distinct roles for men and women?” “What is the local
church?” “What is worship?” “What is the kingdom of God?” (And many more.) In
answering such questions, we are not satisfied until we can express a “biblical theology
of the Holy Spirit” (or gender roles, or the church, or worship, etc.). Sometimes it is
claimed that this discipline is not necessary and that “we just need to teach the Bible.”
However, we believe that such a notion is mistaken because studying God’s Word with
correct purpose leads to useful comprehension (2 Timothy 3:16–17).
Additionally, it can be demonstrated from Scripture itself that biblical authors (and
characters) were adept at using biblical theology in their writings and teaching. Most
notably, Jesus demonstrated a convincing example in Luke 24 when “beginning with
Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in
all the Scriptures” (v. 27, NASB). In a desire to be like our Lord, we want to be faithful and
skillful to do the same as we seek to live by Scripture.
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Thus, a biblical theology of Jesus Christ would include seemingly paradoxical themes as the “lamb led to
slaughter” (Isaiah 53:7) as well as the “Lion of Judah” (Revelation 5:5).
