Zacheriah Lewis
Bible Doctrine by Wayne Grudem
The first thing I want to state is that this material has been the most challenging and rewarding that I have taken in, as far as text books are concerned. I’m just going to list the different things I have learned or now view in a new light. Concerning clarity and relevance of scripture first we look at John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth”. Jesus does not say your word is true, but rather “Your word is truth” using a noun instead of an adjective showing that God’s Word is the ultimate standard for truth! Claims of truth should be measured by scripture, not scripture being measured by claims of truth. When historical events are used to prove scripture or to back it up the authority of God’s Word is being placed on the evidence at hand instead of the authority being placed on the Living Word of The Creator of Everything!! While reading about sufficiency of scripture and believing it I have been reminded and encouraged to search God’s Word for answers to any questions no matter how specific. I’m reading more expectantly, sitting on edge of my seat ready to receive answers from GOD. When the revelation of the bible being the actual Words of The God Almighty sets in we are propelled in motion to growing in obedience.
Now a briefing on creation and evolution; Everything in creation testifies of God’s greatness! If we meditate on different aspects of our surroundings such as the sun, our hand, or the bottom side of a leaf and take an educated account we’ll see that it all glorifies God. What skill and power to sustain all of everything day after day for endless years. He decided to demonstrate His excellence by creating the universe! When considering evolution and natural selection the idea of survival of the fittest is at hand. Looking at this and contrasting it to creation bring this question to mind, “Why help the less fortunate”? Think about it if evolution was at all significant then why do we help the crippled kid or the little old lady? If natural selection or survival of the fittest were accurate we would be dooming the future of human kind by these kind actions. The next question would be to consider where these emotions come from to help others and why we have them? There is destructiveness in evolutionary thinking and a risk of moral relativism. Finally if we trust natural selection we are at risk of falling into a lie of meaningless chaos and hopelessness.
Next, what I learned about angles in relation to us. Angles sinned and were cast out of Heaven, we have all sinned and God saves us! That’s definitely not what we deserve. Reading 1Cor6:3, Heb2:7, and Heb1:14 along with the ideas in this doctrine text I have come to believe that we will have dominion over the angles. When our salvation is complete we will be exalted over the angels and rule over them! They are already somewhat subject to our prayers, one of their jobs is to minister to and protect us who will obtain salvation. Back to the point about undeserved grace contrasted with the fate of angels who sinned, this really brings home the truth of Gods incalculable love and favor! Although we will rule them, they are now an example for us in their worship and obedience. They truly show that our greatest joy should be to praise God and worship Him through their obedient example. One more