What Kind of Theologian Are You?

by Skip Heitzig | March 22, 2024

A. W. Tozer once said, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." I'll take it a step further: What you believe about Jesus Christ is the most important thing about you.

We are all theologians. You might think, No, I'm not a theologian. I don't do theology. Actually, you do. You have some opinion as to who God is. Everybody does. You can't avoid being a theologian. The question is are you a good one or a bad one?

The more you know and understand the truth of God's Word, the more you will be able to detect error. And the more you are able to detect error, the more you will be able to stand up against those who promote error.

When the apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians, a group of heretics were infiltrating the church in Colosse and spreading lies about Jesus. They used familiar Christian words, but with different meanings of those words. When they talked about God and Jesus, it meant something completely different. By the way, cults are notorious for doing this. So we need to drill deeper and find out what their words really mean.

Paul warned Christians, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). The word cheat is translated in the NIV as "takes you captive." A better translation is don't let anyone kidnap your faith. These heretics were nothing more than spiritual traffickers who were kidnapping people's faith. They were finding young, impressionable believers and taking them aside and trying to push their stuff on them.

Paul warned about this occurrence in many other places. As he was leaving Ephesus, he said, "Men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves" (Acts 20:30). Most people I've talked to who've been involved in some kind of cult were at one time in solid Christian churches. But somebody got in their ear and drew them away, deceiving them "with persuasive words" (Colossians 2:4).

And it's not just people who come into a congregation by subterfuge who do that. Sadly, some pulpits are weak, and some ministers are off the wall, rejecting many of the central truths of Christianity. Don't listen to them.

If we have doubts about who Jesus Christ really is, then just like the Colossians, we can be deceived. We need to understand the truth of who Jesus is, that He's the Creator, the Sustainer, the head of the church, the reconciler of humanity, and the repository of all wisdom and all knowledge (see Colossians 2:3).

This is why I focus so much on Bible study and exposition. I don't want anyone in my congregation (my DevoMail friends included) to ever be spiritually illiterate. I want them to be well-fed, so they don't fall victim to the deception Paul warned about in 2 Timothy 3-4.

The heretics say, "Jesus is a good start, but we're going to take you into deeper knowledge." But Paul said, "In [Jesus] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians 2:9-10).

Mark those verses in your Bible. It is perhaps the clearest statement of the deity of Jesus in Scripture. It shatters arguments. It was effective against the gnosticism of Paul's day that denied the deity of Christ. If you speak to somebody who denies His deity or says you need more than just Jesus, show them those verses.

So, what kind of theologian are you? What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Take time to think about that. It's the most important thing about you.

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