Biblical Theology

The second step is a properly constructed biblical theology.  Whereas systematic theology aims at the orderly comprehension and methodical presentation of the whole range of the biblical data on a particular subject.  Biblical theology looks at these same data from the historical perspective.  It can be summed up under three main points.

The first point is that God revealed Himself in time and space.  His self-disclosure in word and deed is truly historical.  The Flood, the call of Abraham, the legislation on Mt. Sinai, the promise to David, Jonah in the fish, the birth of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the outpouring of the Spirit, and so forth, are space-time events that really took place.  At the same time, history is also revelational.  It discloses who God is, in His trinitarian being and work, who man is as creature and sinner, how God lovingly extends His covenant to man, and how man is taken up into it.  The biblical narrative specifically focuses upon God's covenant dealings with man and the response that is expected from him.  Any preacher who fails to categorize these covenant dealings and the necessary response to them is bound to misread God's revelation and misinform his audience.

The second point is that God's self-revelation is an unfolding process that is both organic and progressive.  Its earlier stages are foundational for the later one and give rise to them.  Its later stages are natural "sequels" atop the earlier ones and adds substantially to them.  History is the progressive unfolding of God's covenantal    dealings with man.  Those dealings culminate in the New Covenant that merges against the backdrop of the radical and total bankruptcy of man.  That New Covenant has a trinitarian foundation and is triadic in its scope.  It is trinitarian in that it is promised by the Father (Jeremiah 31:31), personified in the Son (Isaiah 42:6), and personalized by the Spirit (Isaiah 59:21).  It is triadic in that it aims at a new heart (in regeneration:   Ezekiel 36:26; John 3:5; Romans 6:6), a new record (in justification:  Ezekiel 36:25; II Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 1:13-14), and a new life (in sanctification: Ezekiel 36:27; John 15:5; Romans 15:15).  Of these three New Covenant benefits, the new life in sanctification is its crowning piece.  Not a man-centered happiness, but a God-centered holiness is the grand theme and aim of the New Covenant.  But once again, unless this is recognized, God's self-disclosure to man is bound to be misread, and the preaching based upon such misreading is bound to mislead.

The third point is that God's self-revelation was committed to writing, which resulted in the Scriptures of Old and New Testaments. As they rehearse the past, interact with the present, and open up vistas upon the future, the Scriptures are not simply reflections upon God's self-revelation, presenting the thoughts or opinions of lone individuals such as Moses and Paul or of communities such as Israel and the early church, nor are they simply the record of God's revelation in word and deed put into writing by the human authors.  Know the Scriptures are in and of themselves the self-disclosure of God.  That is, they are God's authoritative and complete canon, the final and sufficient Word for all mankind.  They are such because they present both the universal principles and patterns of God's covenant dealings and the universal principles and patterns of man's response.  As such they are meant for all people at all times and in all situations.  These universal principles and patterns come either ready-made, such as the Ten Commandments, or they are embedded in the text.  It is the preacher's task to lift them or harvest them from the text.  Unless he succeeds in doing so, the horizons of the exposition and application of the text will not merge and the message will have no basis in truth.  The Scriptures as the record of God's revelation will not be fundamental for the preaching of God's revelation to man.  "Would, hay [and] stubble" (1 Corinthians 3:12, KJV) will be the inevitable result.

A biblical theology that takes these three points into account is well-poised to make a lasting contribution.  It will set forth the process and progress of God's self-disclosure and His Kingdom program as presented in Scripture.  First, it will seek to determine the theme, structure, and objective of Scripture as a whole, in its component parts, in the relationship of the whole and the parts, and in the relationship of the parts to each other.  Then it will seek to trace any particular theme, concept, or motif in its origin and development throughout the Scripture as presenting covenantal history, taking both the text and the context into account.  Finally, it will couch its findings in terms of universal principles and patterns.

This puts biblical theology in perspective.  In general, the recognition of the covenantal nature of Scripture guarantees that biblical interpretation will be undertaken in a God-centered rather than a man-centered fashion and with a holiness-centered rather than a happiness-centered focus.  In particular, the recognition of the historical unfolding process ensures that the meaning of any biblical text will be established in the light of previous Scripture and that every biblical text will be assigned continued validity except when it is abrogated or superseded by later Scripture.  Ultimately, this procedure will produce a Kingdom message in which the truth of God in a full-orbed fashion is brought to bear upon every and all audiences.



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