Like Martin Luther, we must learn to test everything, including the ancient creeds, confessions, and our church’s doctrinal statements by studying the Scriptures. This article will help you learn how to develop sound theology that is based primarily on the study of Scripture and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Having answered the question, “What is theology?” we need to ask an even more important question: “What is sound theology?” In Christian theology, sound doctrine is teaching that agrees with the Bible. But how can we know if our beliefs are in agreement with the Bible?

Theology is usually associated with abstract, academic subjects taught by professors. Such professional theologians are needed, of course. But all followers of Jesus Christ are called by God to be theologians.

The most important aspect of gospel renewal is in understanding how the gospel renews the human heart, starting with our own. Understand how we can experience the renewal of our hearts and find the living waters of the Holy Spirit flowing through us to others.

Our vision for renewal must include not only our local church gathering of believers, but also many churches in our nearby regions, and throughout the world. Understand how serving with clusters of churches will have a much greater kingdom impact than just one church in your region and throughout the world.

History has proven that the health of a community is often linked to the health of the churches that promote not only evangelism and the discipleship of individuals, but also the common good of the community. Understand how to develop a healthy church to be a sign, instrument, and foretaste of God’s kingdom on earth.

The key to church renewal is learning how to develop a healthy church by strengthening the corporate renewal dynamics needed for the church to be an effective sign and instrument of God’s kingdom. Understand how to develop a healthy church by strengthening the corporate renewal dynamics.

The key to personal renewal is understanding and applying the gospel as God’s ultimate solution to all problems of life. Understand how to experience lasting change through the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How does the Gospel renew individuals, churches, and communities? How do we develop a more biblical and practical perspective toward personal, church, and community renewal? Understand why a vision for gospel renewal is a vital part of personal, church, and community renewal.

Although God’s blessing of work is painful because of sin, God’s redemptive work in Christ restores our work to God’s original design. Our work in this life enriches the life to come. So we glorify and enjoy God in our work. Understand why what you do in this life matters in the life to come.

Do you know God’s mission will continue through you forever? Understand why God’s mission for us to rule with him establishing his kingdom on earth was never abandoned or revoked.

Before you were ever born, God prepared your good works to be a part of his plan for the world. Understand how God calls you to bear his image by reflecting his dominion over all your spheres of influence in the temple of God’s world.

The question is not whether we are shaping the spheres of influence God give us, but how. Understand how God calls you to accomplish his will by making a difference in your spheres of influence, including your work.

The problem is that people normally separate worship and work in a way that God doesn’t. Understand how one of the most significant ways God means for you to worship him is by serving him in and through your work.

All human work is not just a job but a calling from God. Understand how work is God’s gift to us that needs to be redeemed and restored to its original purpose in our lives by Jesus Christ.

Jesus, as our Prophet, Priest and King, can make promises of a new record, a new heart, and a new world. And each of those promises contains many other rich promises.

This raises the questions, “How can I appropriate these promises in my life? What is the means by which these promises become a reality in my life? How can I receive God’s forgiveness, a new status, a new heart, and a new world to come?”

The resurrection is the Father's amen that the work of the Son is fully acceptable to him. And so, the good news is that he is risen. It's time to celebrate, Satan and death have been conquered.

But like so many things we've seen, the gospel is actually more than that. The resurrection has a much more full meaning than simply, the Father's amen or the validation of the work of the Son.

When John Stott was asked, “What is the most succinct summary of the Gospel? He said it's the good news of “God's self-satisfaction, through God’s self-substitution.”

The dilemma, the profoundest of problems, was solved. You know how it was solved? God satisfied his own justice by substituting himself. That is the mystery of the gospel.