But perhaps the most compelling benefit for doing biblical theology is that it deepens our understanding of and facility with the gospel. Jesus and the apostles did not need the New Testament to proclaim the gospel. They relied on the Old Testament and understood that the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to Jesus (Luke 24:27, 44–45). The biblical theologian follows in the steps of Jesus and the apostles by mastering the unity of Scripture, seeing Christ and the gospel throughout.

In the next article in this series, I will explain how you as a church member can become a biblical theologian.

[1] J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 20th Anniversary Edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1993), 12.
[2] Mark Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004). See chap. 2.
[3] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994), 26–30.

Thabiti Anyabwile is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Cayman Islands. Pastor Thabiti is the author of What is a Healthy Church Member?, The Decline of African-American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity, and The Faithful Preacher: Recapturing the Vision of Three Pioneering African-American Preachers. He also blogs regularly at Pure Church.