14).Paul himself was concerned that believers have a true knowledge and sound doctrine. In Romans10 Paul writes, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for
their
salvation. For Itestify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to therighteousness of God.”
(Romans 10:1-3) Paul here is speaking of his fellow Jews, which, while not lacking in zeal for God, did not have zeal “in accordance with knowledge.” They did not know about “God'srighteousness” which is imputed to those who believe. Because of this they sought a righteousness of their own, which is no righteousness at all. For them, having a wrong theology was at the expense of theirsalvation. In his letter to the Philippians Paul expresses his prayer for them, that their love would
“
aboundstill more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.” (Phil. 1:9) Similarly, Paul writes to theColossians,
“we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, toplease
Him
in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col.1:9-10) Further Paul writes,
“For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf and forthose who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, that their hearts may beencouraged, having been knit together in love, and
attaining
to all the wealth that comes from the fullassurance of understanding,
resulting
in a true knowledge of God's mystery,
that is
, Christ
Himself
, in whomare hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:1-3)
In each of these passages the word“knowledge” translates the Greek term
evpi,gnwsin
. This term is sometime rendered “real knowledge”(Phil. 1:9) and “true knowledge” (Col. 2:2), as it conveys precise and correct knowledge. Real love for Godand His people is rooted in a true knowledge of God; this knowledge is also vital for walking “in a manner worthy of the Lord.” If we are to know how to “please Him in all respects” we must know Him. This isthe end to which we should do theology, and this is why good theology and sound doctrine is so essentialto the Christian life. The Christian life is a life of worship. It is giving ourselves to God as living sacrifices, which is our“reasonable” or “spiritual” act of worship. This means we give Him not just the devotion of our hearts,but we also give Him our minds. Paul himself had the renewing of his mind as God taught him thedoctrine of Christ, the doctrine of His Word. We are awfully mistaken if we think God doesn't care what we know and believe as long as we love Him and believe in Jesus; important as those two things are, if they are true of us, then should we not care to truly know Him? Should we not care about
His doctrine
, the
3
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