Tag Archives: Natural Knowledge

Theology Summary Bible Class, Pt. 3: Revealed Knowledge

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Class #3:  With natural knowledge, we know that God exists, but we don’t know who that true God is.  We know that God punishes wrong and demands righteousness, but we don’t know of His will toward us.  Natural knowledge shows us our great lack and leaves us with unending doubt.

The revealed knowledge of God’s Word provides us a clear testimony from God–where He reveals Himself and His will.  We learn of the Triune God and the reconciling work of His Son, Jesus Christ.  God wills that we would believe in His Son and in this way worship and praise the Father.  Through the hearing of God’s Word, faith is created.  Justified by faith in Jesus Christ we know without a doubt that we are forgiven and receive eternal life.  God has commanded that His Church separate true worship from false worship.  Finally, the Word teaches us to subordinate natural knowledge under revealed knowledge.

Handout: God wills to be

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Theology Summary Bible Class, Pt. 2: You Can't Build on Natural Knowledge

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Class #2:  Armed with only the truths taught by natural knowledge, man will know neither the essence nor the will of God. Natural knowledge does not create faith in the person and work of the Son, and thus it is impossible to know the Father(Mt 11:27). Ignorant of the promises of salvation in Jesus Christ, a person cannot have the required faith to please Him (Heb 11:6), which is a gift of God through the Word. Therefore, natural knowledge does not provide a foundation on which to build, but teaches us what we do not know: Who He is and what His will is toward us. For those things God has provided the reveal knowledge of His Word (1 Cor 2:7)

The Triune God has given natural knowledge for the sake of discipline(Rom 2:14-15), that we “seek the Lord” whom we don’t know by nature(Acts 14:15-17, 17:23-28) and that “men might be without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20).

Handout: God wills to be known and worshiped

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Theology Summary Bible Class, Pt. 1: Natural Knowledge

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Class #1:  God wills to be known and to be worshiped(faith, prayer, proclamation). By the work of creation God teaches that He exists. By the conscience grafted into the hearts of all men, He teaches the difference between those things which are honorable and shameful. Due to our sinful nature, this natural knowledge of God is not able to quiet the terrors of the conscience, and thus leaves man unsettled and with horrible unending doubts about who God is and what He requires.

Only through the revealed knowledge of God’s Word is there confidence that we are received into salvation with the Triune God through faith in the atoning work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Handout: God wills to be known and worshiped

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