Page 11 - Bible Doctrines II w videos short

Second, it is necessary for God to reveal Himself to us in order to uncover and eliminate people’s
misinterpretation of the revelation of God and the impact that that misinterpretation has left behind in
people’s lives. In Romans 1:18, 21, 25, apostle Paul reveals to us how people misinterpret God’s
revelation. Those who “ by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, . . .” are those who “ became
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worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened . . . They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
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worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen”
(CSB). So, Scripture is needed in order for us to be able to truly know God because through it, God has
clearly revealed Himself to us.

Ways in which God has Revealed Himself.

Knowing God from Nature.
Most orthodox (good) scholars understand this kind of revelation as general revelation. I also accept it
because it is supported by Scripture (Rom. 1:18-25). Scripture teaches us that the natural world exposes
or uncovers truth about God. But is that truth enough for us to be saved? From the biblical point of
view, it is not enough. If it was enough, the coming of Jesus Christ would be meaningless. Then, what is
the significance of the general revelation? From Romans, it appears that Paul wanted his audience to
acknowledge and admit that through the creation they were able to know that there is a God. This was
going to be possible because through general revelation, we are able to discern some things about God’s
character and attributes. But we need God to help us interpret those things. Further, general revelation
is there to show us that we are bad in our spiritual standing before God.

Knowing God from Special Revelation.
This is labeled special revelation because it is what brings about salvation. In simple terms, through
belief in the special revelation of God (all what is written about God and the Gospel about the
incarnated Jesus Christ), every human being comes to the personal knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That personal knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is enough to award any person eternal life.

According to Erickson, for human beings to understand, appreciate, and benefit from the special
revelation of God, God needed to come to our level. For example, He needed to use human language.
This is seen through the language which God used to write the New Testament canonical books, koine
Greek. This Greek was different from classical Greek. At that time, classical Greek was not most often
used as compared to koine Greek. Further, God has specially revealed Himself to human beings even
through dreams, burning bush, visions (Dan. 4, 7; Exod. 3:1-3; Dan. 8; Rev. 1:9-20).
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One of the most effective ways through which God has specially revealed Himself to us is through Jesus
Christ. From Philippians 2:1-11, apostle Paul in discussing Jesus’ incarnation, set for every human being
the best example (and yet difficult to apply) and definition of humility. Because of humility caused by His
desire to save man—hence, allowing man to have the same mind with Him—, Jesus Christ, while
remaining fully God, did not allow the advantage of being equal with God to stop Him from doing the
following; 1) taking the form of a servant, (2) becoming in the likeness of men, and (3) being found in
fashion as a man. Sometimes, Christians might be required to die in their regard of others above
themselves. Jesus’ interest in adding human nature to Himself showed His highest regard for man’s
interest. That is, the need for us to be saved. In simple terms, He added the human nature to Himself to
die as a sacrifice for man’s sin.

In John 16:13-15, apostle John teaches us that God sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us so that He can be
guiding us into all the truth that reveals both God the Father and God the Son.

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