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by Bill Seng

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.” ~Romans 11:33-36

When I was in seminary, I remember one of our professors saying that theology is like the vegetables of seminary education. It is a necessary evil that does you a lot of good at the end of the day. I agree with the analogy that it is like our vegetables, that it is the most vital part of our spiritual growth, but I also disagree on the note that theology is not enjoyable. I know that many people think that theology is just a bunch of intellectuals talking in circles in hopes that they sound smart, but if you read Romans 1-11, congratulations, you just studied theology! This doxology, or short formal prayer that praises God, is how the apostle Paul chose to end this section, and it is a reflection upon the mind boggling theological truths that came before it. Clearly, Paul finds the theology that we must pass through in order to grow closer to God to be a joy and blessing above all other things.

There is an old Third Day song called Nothing Compares. The chorus simply states, “Nothing compares to the greatness of knowing you, Lord.” To me, this is theology. Theology, although it sounds like a big word, simply means “the study of God.” The study of God is a form of worship. Many people would disagree with me, but the primary reason that the church gathers is to worship God. All of the theology behind worship means nothing if there are no actions behind our words, but the reverse is true as well. All of the good deeds we do our worthless if they are not backed with a strong foundation of good theology and heart-felt worship.

Romans 11:33-36 acknowledges one of the greatest truths about theology: no matter how much reflection and Bible study we might engage in, we will never grasp the fullness of God’s greatness. He is just too awesome for our finite minds to comprehend. This is why I believe that in all of the tough theological issues we have discussed through Romans, we should not get frustrated or angry with one another when we encounter minor differences. The greatest theological minds in history have gotten important parts of theology wrong. Other great theologians had the majority of their facts correct, but they were horrible people. We should enjoy discussing and debating theology with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Having said that, there are points of theology that needed to be contended for more strongly than others, but the bottom line is that the church needs to learn to be more humble in discussing doctrines that do not concern the person of God.

I hope that our discussion of the first 11 chapters of Romans has been a joy and a challenge to everyone. It is difficult to strike a balance that honors the Bible and the Bible alone because we all have our biases. To conclude this post, I find it only reasonable to restate the Scripture from at the top:

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

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