Biblical Theology

How Does Hell Glorify God?

By Jim Hamilton | 9Marks Journal: Hell: Remembering the Awful Reality | 08.20.2010

How seriously should we take those who try to rewrite the story so that hell isn’t part of it? As seriously as we would take Hamlet critiquing Shakespeare’s work.

Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church

By J. Leeman, M. Lawrence, T. R. Schreiner | 06.01.2010

Why is biblical theology essential for pastoral ministry? How do you do it? Find out in this roundtable discussion with Michael Lawrence, Tom Schreiner, and Jonathan Leeman.

Good Friday Meditation: A Fitting Crown

By Michael Lawrence | 9Marks Journal: The Gospel | 04.02.2010

In love, God decided that the story of thorns would end at the cross.

Leaving Home, Returning Home

By Michael Lawrence | 9Marks Journal: The Gospel | 04.02.2010

The consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion are even more profound than at first appeared.

How do we do good biblical theology in our preaching?

9Marks
Set each text within the overall narrative of Scripture. From the text, look backwards in the Bible and identify what covenantal promises may be relevant to the text at hand: promises to Abraham? Moses? David? Then look forward and consider how your text is fulfilled in the person and work of Christ.

How do we get from any given text to the gospel?

9Marks
Set the text within the context of the whole book it’s in. The unique themes of the book will point the way to Christ. The themes of creation and promise in Genesis, redemption in Exodus, holiness and sacrifice in Leviticus, and so on, all ultimately point to Christ, and individual passages within those books generally highlight those themes in some way.

Why should expositional preaching include biblical theology?

9Marks
Bibilical theology is necessary in order to understand the text. We can truly understand a text of Scripture only by situating it within the overall narrative of redemptive history.

Why should expositional preaching include systematic theology?

9Marks

Is there a contradiction between systematic theology and faithful preaching of the text? Can we faithfully do both?

9Marks
Recently, some people have begun to argue that systematic theology inherently distorts the meaning of scriptural texts. They argue that any “system” imposes foreign thought-structures onto biblical texts, necessarily tampering with their meaning.

Is systematic theology biblical?

9Marks

Certain academics argue that systematic theology inherently distorts the meaning of the Bible. They argue that any “system” imposes foreign thought structures that necessarily tamper with the meaning of biblical texts. Such scholars often argue that the biblical documents contain irreconcilable diversity, which is to say, contradictions. Hence, they argue that systematic theology is at best unbiblical, at worst impossible.

So is systematic theology biblical or not?

Why is expositional preaching that ignores biblical theology unsound?

9Marks

Expositional preaching that ignores biblical theology is unsound because:

Why should expositional preaching include biblical theology?

9Marks
Biblical theology is necessary in order to understand the text. We can truly understand a text of Scripture only by situating it within the overall narrative of redemptive history.

How can I grow in my understanding of biblical theology?

9Marks
Study the Scriptures thematically. While you should study all of Scripture both deeply and broadly, it can be especially helpful to read through the Scriptures in order to trace themes that run throughout the Bible. If you study how themes like creation and new creation, Sabbath rest, kingship, covenant, and God’s dwelling place with his people develop throughout Scripture you will gain a panoramic view of the glory of God and the wonder of salvation.

How should biblical theology inform pastoral counseling?

9Marks
A pastor should apply all of Scripture to his people’s lives in light of the gospel. Biblical theology teaches a pastor how to do this. And this enables Christians to draw comfort, encouragement, and hope from all of Scripture, even parts of it that seem more distant from our lives.

Why is biblical theology essential for a Christian’s discipleship and growth?

9Marks
Biblical theology teaches a Christian to understand his or her own story in light of God’s story. When a Christian understands that God is sovereign over all of history and has been working out one sweeping plan of salvation for thousands of years, it helps put his own story in perspective.