Everyone must be a Theologian

by

John H. Gerstner

Christian laymen, the average persons sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning, sometimes think they need not be theologians. That, however, is a very great mistake. They do need to be theologians--at least they should be amateur theologians. In fact, that is the one vocation every man is obliged to follow. A layman does not need to be a plumber, a carpenter, a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a laborer, or a housewife. These are all possibilities, but not necessities. A layman may be one or the other of these as he chooses. But he must be a theologian. This is not an option for him, but a requirement!

A Theologian Is One Who Knows About GodWhy do we say that a layman must be a theologian? Well, let us first realize what a theologian is, that is, an amateur theologian. A theologian is a person who knows about God. A lay theologian is a person who has a true knowledge of God which he understands in non-technical, non-professional, non-academic terms. However, such a person is truly a theologian.

Is it not clear why a layman must necessarily be a theologian? Is there anyone, layman or otherwise, who does not need to know God? Does the Scripture not say, "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3)? It is no mere option, then, with a layman whether or not he will be a theologian, or whether he will have eternal life or not; it is not an option with him whether he will know God or not. The knowledge of God is necessary to eternal life. And if eternal life is necessary for every man, then theology is also necessary for every man.

If a theologian is a person who knows God, then, by reverse reasoning, a person who is not a theologian is a person who does not know God. There is no shame in a layman's being told that he does not know carpentry, or plumbing, or medicine, or law, or teaching, or the ways of a housewife; but there is surely the greatest of shame in a layman's being told that he does not know God. Furthermore, there is more than shame: there is very great danger! The Scripture says that to live apart from God is death. And just as John 17:3 says that it is life eternal to know God and Christ, John 3:36 says that they who do not believe in Jesus shall not see life and, furthermore, that the wrath of God abides on them: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

""Well," the layman may say, "look here, you've slipped in a new term on us. That last passage talks about faith and not knowledge. It says that unless a person 'believes' in the Son. It does not say anything there about knowing Jesus."

True, the passage does not use the word "know." It speaks about "belief" or "faith" rather than "knowledge" or "reason." But have you ever believed in someone or something about which you knew nothing? Is it possible to have faith in Christ unless we know who Christ is? Is it not clear, then, that this passage, though it does not state expressly the necessity of the knowledge of Christ, certainly states it implicitly? So we say that if a person does not have a knowledge of God and Christ it is not only a shame, but a peril to his soul, not only in this life, but in the eternity which begins at death.

Sinnerama[1]

By: Ricardo Barber

If man happened to make a movie about the condition of mankind in this world. What would the title of the movie be? One would probably hear titles like: The Greatness of Man, The God who needs Man, The Goodness of Man revealed in Man, and Do no Evil. There are plenty more to name especially in this postmodern culture. What if God were to title a movie describing the condition of the human race? He already has and also has written the script for it. The Apostle Paul in Romans 1:18-3:20 sets forth the whole world and God’s charge against it. The world is guilty before a Holy God and is digressing away for God. In simple terms the title of the movie would read: Man is a Sinner. Paul is not attempting to prove that man is a sinner, he is stating the fact that he is. The argument statement of this section is the revelation of the wrath of God against all the sins of man and the certainly of its judgment. The brief outline of Romans 1 verses 18-32 are as followed: General Revelation of God revealing His power and Godhead (18-20), Graceless Response of Man revealing his unbelief in God (21-23), Glaring Results of Man from man’s unbelief in God (24-32).

Romans 1:18 reveals the wrath of God, his attitude toward sin is unchanging. Either the sinner will have the righteousness of God or God’s wrath; both are from heaven. Ungodliness denies God’s existence – the state of the soul and unrighteousness is sins against man- the action of the soul.This is how bad sin is, look at the cases of venereal diseases in America. I have statistics that show graphic numbers of great proportions. The CDC releases a report each year on chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis, three diseases caused by sexually transmitted bacteria. Chlamydia is the most common. Nearly 1,031,000 cases were reported last year, up from 976,000 the year before.

Romans 1:20 reveal the power and deity of God. Creation is clearly seen and proves the power and existence of God. Paul said this, “ he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”(Acts 14:17). Man’s sin is not by ignorance, the light of creation leaves him without excuse. There was and is willful rebellion in the presence of clear light.

Romans 1:21-23 shows 7 steps downward for mankind, it shows how man is moving away from God. This is the graceless response of man revealing his unbelief in God. Man goes from knowing God to changing his glory to corruptible images. First man starts off knowing God, he doesn’t improve, get smarter or behave better. The move is downward. Then he glorified him not as God- that’s self-sufficient. “Unthankful,” not recognizing and showing gratitude for what God is doing. Vain Imaginations, their foolish hearts was darkened, professing to be wise, they became fools and finally changing the glory of the incorruptible God into an image.

Now we see the glaring results of man from man’s unbelief in God. In verses 24-32 we see idolatry and gross immorality as the result of rejecting God’s revelation. Three times it says God gave them up which literally means God handed them over. This is abandonment; God is letting sin run its course. Sin is self- destructive and I mentioned earlier about the sexual diseases, AIDS and HIV is proof of the penalty of their error. Women is before man in regards to sexual perversion. Is this for a reason? I believe so. Women are more sensitive and compassionate, through childbearing they have more of a sense of what is natural then men. By Paul mentioning them first it shows the extent of depravity. This list that he states can be found in any newspaper today. Verse 32 shows once again that this is rebellion not ignorance. Is America in this state? I don’t know, a former U.S. Senator states that the average life of the great civilizations of the world has been about 200 years. And they go through the following stages:

From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to courage
From courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to selfishness
From selfishness to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy back to bondage

What stage do you think we are in? How long is this nation going to last?

[1] Arguments based on J. Vernon McGee’s commentary “Romans” (Nashville: Nelson, 1991), 35-42.

Barak Obama: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Voddie Baucham Ministries


Barack Obama: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Friday, April 18, 2008

Barack Obama is the most pro-abortion candidate ever to run for President. He could not even bring himself to vote for the Born Alive Infant Protection Act which would have protected children born in the process of an abortion. That’s right, Mr. Obama cannot even bring himself to support a plan that simply says to doctors, “If they slip past while you are trying to kill them, you have to let ‘em live.” With this vote, Obama was more pro-abortion than the radical abortion group NARAL.

I am absolutely amazed that at a time when Margaret Sanger’s Darwinian, Eugenics inspired dream of eliminating the poor, the lame, and the inferior races through targeted abortion is being propagated at record rates, black people still support the man who epitomizes her murderous philosophy. Black and hispanic women make up less than 13% of the population, but account for nearly half of all abortions. The overwhelming majority of Planned Parenthood’s abortion mills are located in minority neighborhoods. Abortion is absolutely racist. Yet most blacks have no problem supporting people like Mr. Obama who want to make sure that the killing doesn’t stop.

In his article, “Shepherds Leading the Sheep to Slaughter,” Rev. Clenard Childress notes:

“Here are the birth statistics for African-American babies in the City of Philadelphia just a couple a years ago: 10,880 born, 9,259 aborted. Nearly half or 46% of all babies in the City of Brotherly love were dismembered and brutally killed by means of abortion. Moreover, there are twenty-five other major urban cities in America that report having a higher abortion rate than live birth rate.”

This is absolutely astonishing! The only thing more astonishing is the fact that black clergymen in Philadelphia are supporting Mr. Obama. Then there is the consistent mantra from black supporters of America’s first bi-racial candidate... “I’m just happy to see a black man in this position.” Amazing! That’s like Hitler hiring a Jewish doctor (on his father’s side) to run the human experiments at Dachau and hearing the Jewish prisoners hail the fact that ‘one of their own’ has ascended to such great heights in the Nazi regime.

America is slaughtering children at a rate of about 3,600 per day. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of those children look just like me. I was born to a single, teenaged black girl in South Central Los Angeles, CA in 1969. I shudder to think about the pressure my mother would have faced were she to find herself in that position in the current moral climate. Today people consistently make the argument that people in my mother’s position would do better to kill people like me before we’re born.
But what about cases of rape? Well, as the father of an adopted son whose biological mother was a rape victim, I say, he didn’t deserve to die either. I praise God his mother realized that he was an innocent party in a terrible tragedy. I am also honored to call him my son. Our second adopted son was born to a fourteen year-old middle school girl who also bucked the odds and gave her baby life.

So many people are more concerned about gas prices than they are about the greatest moral crisis of our day. I’m afraid we are going to get precisely the leadership we deserve. I was just in Munich, Germany where people are paying over $8.00 a gallon and still driving over 100 mph on the Autobahn. Ironically, gas doesn’t cost as much as bottled water, but we are more worried about paying a few bucks at the pump than we are about genocide right under our noses. God help us! Or should I say, God Forgive Us!