{"id":2562,"date":"2014-01-27T09:27:37","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T14:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/?p=2562"},"modified":"2014-01-27T09:29:24","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T14:29:24","slug":"when-doctrine-comes-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/when-doctrine-comes-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"When Doctrine Comes Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, we had one of our Institute classes at The Gathering<\/a>.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar, Institute is currently an in-depth systematic theology class we take some of our members through.\u00a0 It can be rather intense and challenging to complete.\u00a0 I have to say, though, I am so proud of those who have taken on the challenge and are seeing it through to the end.<\/p>\n

The topics we covered last night were all related to the doctrine of Christ.\u00a0 I am always amazed at the blessing that comes through studying doctrine.\u00a0 That’s usually the stuff people find cold, stale and boring.\u00a0 Man, that couldn’t be farther from the truth!\u00a0 As we talked about the expansive nature of the Father’s love, the Son’s obedience and the Spirit’s power, we were left in awe.\u00a0 It just reminded me of how little we “get it.”<\/p>\n

\"Grudem\"<\/a>Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:\u00a0 In dealing with the crucifixion of Christ, in his book, Bible Doctrines<\/a> (which is our text), Wayne Grudem uses that sickening feeling we get when we know that someone is mad at us to describe something of what Christ must have felt.\u00a0 We sometimes lose sleep.\u00a0 We experience a nagging, gnawing in our stomachs and can’t wait for it to be made right somehow in order to relieve the agony we have experienced.\u00a0 When Christ died, the full<\/em> wrath and fury of God the Father towards ALL of mankind was directed at and poured onto Jesus.\u00a0 All<\/em> of it…in full force…at one time.<\/p>\n

If we experience intense feelings when human relationships are damaged,\u00a0 how unbelievably intense must that have felt for Christ for the Father to not just turn His back on the Son, but to rage<\/em> against the Son because of us; so that He didn’t have to rage against us?\u00a0 Do you get that?!<\/p>\n

Regardless of how awful we think the crucifixion of Christ was; no matter how much we think<\/em> we have a grasp of it…no! It was worse than that.\u00a0 “But I think I get it.” No, you don’t.\u00a0 It was worse.\u00a0 Unimaginably<\/em> worse. Incomprehensibly<\/em> worse.<\/p>\n

As we thought through these incredible truths, we concluded that there is only one place to land; only one, real response:\u00a0 worship<\/em>.\u00a0 Not just the “outer expression” of worship, but the deep, inner sense of awe and wonder, thanksgiving and praise that should be what leads to the outward expressions.<\/p>\n

Too often, what we call our outward expressions of worship aren’t anything close to real expression.\u00a0 They’re frequently little more than Pavlovian responses to hearing certain music.\u00a0 The cool, emotion-driven song starts playing, the hands go up, the tears start flowing.\u00a0 Sadly, there is often little substance.<\/p>\n

That is not to say that we should become conscious of what others are doing in worship.\u00a0 “Do they get it, or are they just ‘going through the motions?'” Quite the opposite.\u00a0 We need to become conscious of what we<\/em> are doing in worship.\u00a0 Is it worship in spirit and truth<\/em>? (John 4:24<\/a>)\u00a0 Is it honest and is it based on the reality<\/em> of what Christ has done?\u00a0 Is it in response to the substitutionary atonement<\/a> that Christ has secured for His children and the sanctifying<\/a> work of the Spirit that gets us through this life victoriously?\u00a0 Is it a natural outflow of our meditation on the depths of the Father’s love for us that He would reserve the full load of His intense<\/em> fury for His own Son?\u00a0 Is it real worship because we understand that the glory of God is so important that all of this is done to magnify it?\u00a0 Do we really get<\/em> it?<\/p>\n

It’s when we spend the time thinking through, studying, wrestling with and realizing the deep things of God as revealed through Scripture that the heart becomes engaged and the outward responses are true expressions.\u00a0 This is why we have<\/em> to go deeper than the spiritual milk Paul talked about and dig down deep into the nourishing meat of Scripture…yes, even those cold, stale doctrines…<\/p>\n

…which are anything but.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tTweet<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last night, we had one of our Institute classes at The Gathering.\u00a0 If you’re not familiar, Institute is currently an in-depth systematic theology class we take some of our members through.\u00a0 It can be rather intense and challenging to complete.\u00a0 I have to say, though, I am so proud of those who have taken on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"When Doctrine Comes Alive","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[4,5,23],"tags":[684,142,618,615,617,616],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3jKZO-Fk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3708,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/galatians-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":0},"title":"Galatians – Part 2","date":"January 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Though the Doctrine of Election is sometimes considered controversial and, by some, unbiblical\u00a0(or at the very least, completely redefined so as to leave it meaningless), it is a thoroughly biblical doctrine. \u00a0There is no way that I could unpack all of the teaching and implications of this doctrine during a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Vimeo"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2643,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/whos-choice-is-it-anyway\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":1},"title":"Who’s Choice is it Anyway?","date":"May 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It is an understatement to say that the topic of Divine Election is a hotly debated one.\u00a0 People are often very passionate and sometimes downright uncivil in their expressions of those passions.\u00a0 People are cast with (what are intended as) disparaging labels, looked down upon with expressed disappointment, and dismissed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermons"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1354,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/faithandpolitics\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":2},"title":"On Presidential Politics and the Evangelical Dilemma","date":"October 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There seems to be a great deal of confusion rising regarding the upcoming elections among Evangelical Christians. \u00a0On the one hand, there is a candidate who claims to be a Christian, yet whose policies fly in the face of that claim. \u00a0On the other is a candidate whose policies largely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4185,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/grace-defined\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":3},"title":"Grace Defined","date":"November 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cGrace is the pleasure of God to magnify the worth of God by giving sinners the right and power to delight in God without obscuring the glory of God.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 ~John Piper,\u00a0The Pleasures of God","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/davidcprice.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/4D47EB65-0FAB-4A5F-BE8E-C557070B328C-e1543344180493.jpeg?fit=1200%2C632&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1227,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/rob-bell-attempts-to-explain-apparent-inconsistencies-in-love-wins\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":4},"title":"Rob Bell Attempts to Explain Apparent Inconsistencies in Love Wins","date":"March 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"MSNBC interview with Martin Bashir: What do you think? Did he adequately answer the questions or did he continue in the postmodern practice of embracing and promoting contradictory propositions? UPDATE: Listen to an excellent follow-up interview with Martin Bashir.","rel":"","context":"In "Christianity"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2207,"url":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/shai-linnes-fale-teachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2562,"position":5},"title":"Shai Linne’s Fal$e Teachers","date":"April 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"My twelve year-old son, Jacob, has taken to hip-hop music. \u00a0Now, if you're like me, the revelation that your son likes hip-hop can be a bit concerning. \u00a0I certainly don't need to mention the fact that most hip-hop music is angry, often violent young men spewing their anger and violence\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Christian Living"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2562"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2571,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2562\/revisions\/2571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/davidcprice.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}