Synthesize in Doctrine
Biblical theology is a superb start line for theological reflection. And in case you develop your biblical theological expertise for preaching by loads of expertise, it’ll take you a lot of the method by this stage of preparation. On the identical time, one other department of theology has a job to play in theological reflection: systematic theology.
If biblical theology lets you discern the progressive unfolding of God’s redemption plan in Christ, then systematic theology lets you synthesize all the pieces that the Bible says within the type of doctrines. It organizes Scripture logically and hierarchically, not traditionally or chronologically (as you’ll in biblical theology). D. A. Carson defines systematic theology as “the department of theology that seeks to elaborate the entire and the components of Scripture, demonstrating their logical (relatively than merely historic) connections.”1
On the identical time, I believe warning is so as. For whereas I advocate for the function of systematics in preaching, there’s a distinction between this and instructing techniques. Simeon put it this manner: “God has not revealed his reality in a system; the Bible has no system as such.” The results of this conviction, then, is straightforward: “Lay apart system and fly to the Bible; obtain its phrases with easy submission, and with out a watch to any system. Be Bible Christians, not system Christians.”2 Simeon is true. We shouldn’t be system preachers. Nonetheless, there are three sensible advantages of incorporating systematic theology into your theological reflection.
- It holds you within the religion.
- It helps you connect with the gospel from specific genres.
- It hones your skill to talk to non-Christians.
Expository preaching is essential for the well being and vitality of the church. Providing step-by-step steerage for preachers, Helm outlines what should be believed and achieved to change into a devoted expositor of God’s Phrase.
1. It Holds You within the Religion
A serious advantage of reflecting on systematic theology in your sermon preparation is that it supplies a constraint. It holds you to orthodoxy. Whenever you do your exegesis, you’ll inevitably come to troublesome passages, forcing you to make troublesome exegetical decisions. And since none of us is ideal, we are going to make errors. Whenever you start to wrestle with these troublesome conclusions about your textual content, sound doctrine will probably be a information.
For instance, a superficial exegesis of James 2:14–26 would possibly lead you to conclude that James undermines Paul’s doctrine of “salvation by religion alone.” By submitting your work on that passage to systematic theological reflection, you’ll have to wrestle with how Paul’s articulation of salvation works with and never in opposition to what James is saying. And even when you don’t resolve all of your issues, you’ll at the very least be grappling with how Scripture helps to interpret Scripture relatively than unknowingly pitting Scripture in opposition to Scripture, and, in so doing, denying an orthodox understanding of the inerrancy of Scripture.
2. It Helps You Connect with the Gospel from Specific Genres
The very fact is, typically it is tougher to utilize biblical theology in sure genres. The character of biblical theology—a grand story—connects effectively to genres the place narrative is the first type of the textual content. On the identical time, Previous Testomony poetry could not provide you with a reputable window into the large story of the Bible the way in which you would possibly hope. New Testomony Epistles, which include logical arguments, may also be troublesome to attach by biblical theology.
Genres which have a number of discourse or poetry would possibly, nevertheless, be extra simply linked to the gospel by systematic theology. These genres are likely to extra continuously tackle elementary ideas like religion, grace, justification, sin, and the like. So when a psalm makes a degree about repentance from sin, or Paul talks about religion and works, we have now a reputable window into the theological idea of the gospel.
3. It Hones Your Means to Converse to Non-Christians
I’d guess that a lot of the non-Christians strolling into our church buildings aren’t just like the Ethiopian eunuch—strongly and sincerely needing to higher perceive Isaiah. Reasonably, I guess they’re extra prone to ask questions on the issue of evil, God, guilt, redemption, and the like. The solutions to those questions circulate from systematic classes. And so, legitimately connecting your textual content to systematic theology in the middle of your sermon may very well be one of the best ways to attract a non-Christian into the phrase of God. For instance, suppose a non-Christian is listening to your sermon and has questions in regards to the notion of “sin” in your textual content. A useful method of instructing on sin may be to take a look at this systematic class and notice that there are three main metaphors for sin: weight, debt, and stain. So, whereas your listener could not initially perceive the thought of “sin” as it’s there in your specific passage, you would possibly incorporate the broader doctrine of sin into your sermon in a method that helps him.
Notes:
- D. A. Carson, “Unity and Variety within the New Testomony: the Chance of Systematic Theology,” in Scripture and Fact, ed. D. A. Carson and John D. Woodbridge (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1983), 69–70.
- These two quotations come from the notes of A. W. Brown’s reflections on his occasions with Charles Simeon as a part of Simeon’s “dialog events with the scholars of Cambridge.” Abner William Brown, Recollections of the Dialog Events of the Rev. Charles Simeon, M.A: Senior Fellow of King’s Faculty, and Perpetual Curate of Trinity Church, Cambridge (London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co, 1863), 269.
This text is tailored from Expositional Preaching: How We Speak God’s Word Today by David Helm.
