Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

by Wayne Grudem

we do not “love the world or the things in the worl...

As we become more sanctified in our bodies, our bodies become more and more useful servants of God,

MOTIVES FOR OBEDIENCE TO GOD IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

desire to please God and express our love to him

need to keep a clear conscience before God

the desire to be a “vessel for honorable use” and have increased effectiveness in the work of the kingdom (2 Tim. 2:20–21);

Did you sense a clear break from the ruling power and love of sin in your life?

As you look back over the last few years of your Christian life, can you see a pattern of growth in sanctification?

Romans 6:11–14: So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.

while most Protestants would say, “I am being sanctified,” some within the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition would say, “I have been sanctified,”

Baptism in and Filling with the Holy Spirit

Should we seek a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” after conversion?

with the spread of Pentecostalism that began in 1901, the widespread influence of the charismatic movement in the 1960s and 1970s, and the remarkable growth of Pentecostal and charismatic2 churches worldwide from 1970 to the present, the question of a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” distinct from regeneration

people on both sides of the question agree that some kind of second experience has happened to many people after their conversion, and therefore one very important question is how to understand this experience in the light of Scripture

many Christians say that they have experienced a “baptism in the Holy Spirit” that came after they became Christians and that brought great blessing in their lives.

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:13 NASB)

as far as the apostle Paul was concerned, baptism in the Holy Spirit occurred at conversion.

Harm Comes to the Church From Teaching Two-Class Christianity

This is in effect what happens with the Pentecostal doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit.

There Are Many Degrees of Empowering, Fellowship with God, and Personal Christian Maturity

Pentecostal refers to any denomination or group that traces its historical origin back to the Pentecostal revival that began in the United States in 1901 and that holds to the doctrinal positions (a) that baptism in the Holy Spirit is ordinarily an event subsequent to conversion, (b) that baptism in the Holy Spirit is made evident by the sign of speaking in tongues, and (c) that all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament are to be sought and used today.

Charismatic refers to any groups (or people) that trace their historical origin to the charismatic renewal movement of the 1960s and 1970s, seek to practice all the spiritual gifts mentioned in the New Testament (including prophecy, healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation, and distinguishing between spirits) and allow differing viewpoints on whether baptism in the Holy Spirit is subsequent to conversion and whether tongues is a sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit.

a great hunger among Christians to know how they may be filled with the Holy Spirit. He rightly points out that effective teaching on this area must include the need (1) to yield our lives fully to God (Rom. 12:1; Gal. 2:20), (2) to depend fully on God for power to live the Christian life (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 2:20; 3:2–3), and (3) to obey the Lord’s commands in our lives (1 John 2:6).

The Perseverance of the Saints (Remaining a Christian)

The perseverance of the saints means that all those who are truly born again will be kept by God’s power and will persevere as Christians until the end of their lives and that only those who persevere until the end have been truly born again.

Self referential or circular definition?

continuing in the Christian life is one of the evidences that a person is truly born again.

Many within the Wesleyan/Arminian tradition have held that it is possible for someone who is truly born again to lose his or her salvation, while Reformed Christians have held that that is not possible for someone who is truly born again.

good fruit is a sign of true spiritual life and fruitlessness is a sign of false believers (for example, Matt. 3:8–10; 7:15–20; 12:33–35),

we should realize that Calvinists (those who believe in the perseverance of the saints) and Arminians (those who think that Christians can lose their salvation) will both counsel a “backslider” in the same way.

Death and the Intermediate State What is the purpose of death in the Christian life? What happens to our bodies and souls when we die?

Death Is Not a Punishment for Christians

Death Is the Final Outcome of Living in a Fallen World

God decided that he would not apply to us the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work all at once.

he has not chosen to remove all evil from the world immediately but to wait until the final judgment and the establishment of the new heaven and new earth

He was made perfect “through suffering” (Heb. 2:10). Therefore, we should see all the hardship and suffering that comes to us in life as something that God brings to us to do us good, strengthening our trust in him and our obedience,

we must still remember that ultimately death is not natural; it is an enemy, something that Christ will finally destroy (1 Cor. 15:26).

Our Obedience to God Is More Important Than Preserving Our Own Lives

Believers need not fear death

The Souls of Believers Go Immediately into God’s Presence

“We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).

The fact that the souls of believers go immediately into God’s presence means that there is no such thing as purgatory.

The fact that souls of believers go immediately into God’s presence also means that the doctrine of soul sleep is incorrect.

a state of unconscious existence, and the next thing that they are conscious of will be when Christ returns and raises them to eternal life.

in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus does not say that Lazarus is unconscious but reports Abraham as saying about Lazarus, “Now he is comforted here” (Luke 16:25). Abraham himself is portrayed as dwelling consciously in a place that is very desirable—that the rich man longed to go to—certainly not a place on the fringe of hell.

Scripture never encourages us to think that people will have a second chance to trust in Christ after death.

the idea that there will be a second chance to accept Christ after death is based on the assumption that everyone deserves a chance to accept Christ and that eternal punishment only comes to those who consciously decide to reject him.

Jesus says that at the day of final judgment he will say to those at his left hand, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” and he says that “these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:41, 46).26

passages show that we cannot accept as faithful to Scripture the doctrine of annihilationism. This is a doctrine that says that unbelievers, either immediately upon death, or else after suffering for a period of time, will simply cease to exist—God will “annihilate” them and they will no longer be.

Glorification (Receiving a Resurrection Body)

the redemption of our bodies will only occur when Christ returns and raises our bodies from the dead.