WHY IS THEOLOGY IMPORTANT? Part 2. 

Now that we understand that we’re all theologians and how to grow in our roles as such, we’ll talk more about why we should be flexing our theological muscles.

Let’s start with the practical “why”. Believers are those that know and love God. And how do we know God? We study His Word. Could I rightly say that I know someone if I refuse to get to know them? If my husband poured out his heart to me, but I never took the time to listen, I would not truly know him, and at that point, could I honestly say that I loved him? If I came up with all my own ideas of who he was, that would not mean I that I truly knew him, beyond his existence at least. How do you get to know people? You basically study them as they reveal themselves. And God has revealed Himself to us through His Word. So practically speaking, to say we know and love God, we need to be in the business of getting to know Him – developing our theology.

The bottom line is that as lovers of God, it only makes sense to be a student of the one we claim to know and love. 
Another, and more important reason is obedience to the Lord. Believers are commanded to study to show ourselves approved, as workers who don’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, as 2 Timothy 2:15 says. We are to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us, according to 1 Peter 3:15. 

In Jude 1:3, we are instructed to contend for the faith, and in order to contend for the faith, we need to be clear about what that faith is. And 1 Timothy 4:16 warns us to watch our lives and doctrine closely and to persevere in them. Scripture also repeatedly warns against false teaching and the way we recognize false teaching is by developing a thorough understanding of what is right.

And we’ve gone over the importance of God’s Word in past weeks, so we should have a good basis for understanding the importance, truthfulness, and richness of the Scripture, which are all more reasons to be in study.