Academic and Living Theology

Balance

When people think theology, we think complex, overwhelming and it can be.  It doesn't have to be, not if we can understand Genesis and Revelation in fullness of the Message of the Cross, Sin Nature Of All Mankind, Redemption in Christ, Discernment/Righteous Judgement and We Choose Heaven or Hell, Not God For US.   We must have balance between the academic, emotional and application of those in our lives.  The problem arises when Christians even try to go to any extreme, either all academic intellectual, all emotional charismatic, without any discernment, or religious humanism and  legalism, which can lead to a host of problems, including buying into the lie that there is no moral absolute.  How does one then figure out the balance between the academic, emotional and application of it all?

Paul is a good example of this.  He was adamant in preaching biblical truth that Christ had revealed to him in vision and what he was taught by the one Christ told him to be instructed by, as well as any future discerned revelation by the Holy Spirit, including gift of tongues.  He also admonished sin in detail and when he taught, when he admonished he did so with great love for the Trinity, for the truth, which was very evident, which he never held back.  However, even in his emotions, teachings etc... he was never out of line with Biblical truth, and never went into foolishness, such as making animal noises, gold dust and all that junk, which is of Satan, not of God. 

Even when he gave instructions on charity, he was very specific and orderly about it, the order in which charity was to be distributed, given etc... It was not to be distributed by government, not to be made a habit of, had to be proven that the person was truly in need and they still had to make some kind of contribution to society.  When any kind of communal sharing is talked about, it is only within the church itself and only during times of pilgrimage, church persecution and the time of the tribulation to come.  As regards sin, and judging, the NT alone gives us over 100 sins, and paul in his epistles lists at least 30 if not a few more.  One must be passionate and have true belief in the Word of Yahweh when conveying it, but also sound knowledge and truth to not lead others astray. One must loathe sin, even in one's own life and seek the God, through Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit daily to avoid falling into the temptation and trap of sin.  Satan makes sin look very okay and alluring even, which is why people fall into it. Thus balance is the key in theology and in Christian living.  Balance in the journey is important and I hope I can provide some of that balance along the way, as we make this journey together.

Shalom and Amen.