The Good Portion

In  last week’s article , I mentioned that I recently audited a class on Biblical Theology taught by author and Christian theology professor, Stephen J. Wellum. In addition to the timeline I wrote about last week, one of the big lessons I brought home is that when it comes to biblical theology, timing is everything. If we intend to interpret the Scriptures properly and make sound application to our lives, we need to consider all of the events of Scripture and all of its instructions in light of their biblical timing. The Apostle Paul illustrates the importance of this when he bases his argument for salvation by faith in large part on the timing of Abraham’s circumcision: “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a...

Back in August I was blessed with the opportunity to audit a class on Biblical Theology taught by author and Christian theology professor, Stephen J. Wellum. The focus of the class was on how the Bible—by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—fits together as a cohesive whole. One of my favorite take-aways from the class was this timeline: For the purposes of the class, this timeline was intended to show how the coming of Christ altered the redemptive timeline from what had previously been expected. Before Christ’s ascension and the day of Pentecost, a timeline of redemptive history would have looked more like this: The Old Testament expectation was that Messiah, the Son of David, would come as a political ruler to re-establish the throne of David, destroy Israel’s enemies, and restore the kingdom to Israel. He would make all things right, and God’s promises to Israel would be fulfilled—all at once—in one uninterrupted timeline. What the prophets did not anticipate was a delay between the...