Basic  Theology
Please finish reading this until the end to have your own personal revelation.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1:   Theological Foundation – My own research based on the study of the Bible,
the religions of the world, and practical observations. By Josue C. Ona

1.        Obedience Revelation

2.        Historical revelation

3.        Reason or Querulous Revelation

4.        Sacred Text Revelation

5.        Spiritual Revelation

6.        Personal revelation

Chapter 2.  One True God

My personal revelation

Chapter 1:  Theological Foundations

.     Theology is the study of God and His relationship to all that He created. Theology is not a search for God. The very first requirement is to believe in God. To believe in Him is not a blind faith without any foundation.  Belief in God always has a foundation. The foundation is built based on six revelations. All people that believe in God will have at least one or a combination of these revelations. It is important to know and analyze these revelations. These revelations, any one or a combination of them, will prompt an individual to three stages of his life, searching, knowing, and obeying. These revelations determine our success or failure in this life. It is therefore very critical to know these revelations and find out where we are at. These revelations are:  personal revelation, spiritual revelation, sacred text revelation, historical revelation, reason or querulous didactic revelation, and
obedience revelation.

1.        Obedience Revelation:
Most of our theology is based on obedience. We inherit the religion of our parents from one
generation to another without any question; going to church every Sunday, Sabbath day, or whatever day our religion say so. Most individual will focus their mind, time and energy on other things and be contented on their obedience foundation when it comes to God. They will search and work for abundant life and be contented with their obedience revelation when it comes to their knowledge of God. The Bible says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these thing shall be added into you.”

2.        Reason or Querulous Revelation: When a person questions the practicality of the
religious practice he inherited, reason and querulous revelation comes in. The search for the truth through study of sacred text, observation, questions, and reasoning follows.

Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, and later called the Pride of the Malay Race, questioned the practice of the Catholic priests and the religion during his time. He wrote two books to reveal these practices. It cost him his life. He was shot in Luneta, which was now a famous park and a tourist spot in the city of Manila.

Buddha questioned the asceticism practice of his parents during his time. He gave up the palace, his wife, and his son to search for the truth. He ran away and did not stop until he got his personal revelation. His revelation is followed and being researched by the whole Buddhist community.

THIS IMAGE OF JESUS WAS DONE BY JUST A SINGLE STROKE OF THE PEN

3.        Historical and General Revelation: God is revealed in the history of mankind. The Bible is very rich in this type of revelation. Nebuchadnezzar was a great Babylon king who thought he was god because of his power and his accomplishment. He built the hanging garden of Babylon.

          HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON                                                               GOLDEN STATUE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

One of the seven wonders of the world. He made a golden statue of himself and made his subject worshiped it. God said he will be like an animal which will live in the forest and feed on grass for seven years. He became insane and was thrown to the forest to live and eat grass with the animals. After seven years, he was back on his throne. He was humbled and then realized there was a Most High God, King of heaven … “who is able to humble those who walk in pride.” (Daniel 4:37). Moses led more than a million men, women, and children out of slavery from Egypt through the command of God.

        PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT                              SPHYNX OF EGYPT                                GRAND CANYON OF ARIZONA

God showed miracles after miracles and still the people grumbled in unbelief. These stories are revealed to us as an example of what to follow and what not to do.

The Pyramids of Egypt, the Sphinx of Egypt, the Grand Canyon of Arizona, and many other colossal figures are general revelation on the earth landscape telling us that we cannot yet fathom the real reason for their existence. I believe God allowed them to be there as a general revelation to us. The wall of the universe is not yet reached by science. So many creations, living and non living, that are recently discovered baffle science now. The truth will be revealed only as God allows us to know. The revelation happens when we are ready for it.

4.        Sacred Text Revelation Sacred texts are writings by God’s messengers and prophets inspired by God. This Word of God is written specially for the people at the time the text was written. Because of the eternal value of the Word of God, the Word is applicable to all generations. The reader has to be searching with a pure heart to discern the revelation. Conflict arises on the interpretation of the scripture because of the limited knowledge of man. We have to know that scriptures are written for a particular people in a particular time. It is important to study the cultural belief system and many other factors to reveal the actual interpretation of the Word.

Sacred Books

5.           Spiritual Revelation These are revelation through spiritual beings like angels, God’s spiritual messengers, or from God Himself. The revelation could be through dreams, vision, or even through another person but the discernment is spiritual. Again, this kind of revelation is for a particular time, for a particular person or group of people in different particular situations. Muhammed of the Muslim faith claimed to have direct revelation from the angel Gabriel. The spiritual revelation generated the Koran, the sacred text of Islam. The Muslim religion is the second largest in the number of population of believers. Joseph Smith had a spiritual revelation from angel Moroni that led to the recovery of the sacred text later transcribed as the Book of Mormon.

  Angel Moroni of Mormons

6. Personal revelation: This kind of revelation is very specific for the person the revelation is given. Joseph, from the book of Genesis, has a personal revelation that his older brothers will be bowing to him. It was when Joseph become the prime minister of Egypt and his brothers came to buy food from him that Joseph realized the fulfillment of that personal revelation.. Moses has the personal revelation and the command to save the people from the bondage in Egypt. John the Baptist has the personal revelation of the coming messiah. Jesus has a revelation that He will be in the cross to die for mankind. There are many other examples of personal revelation that will bring us to conclusion that, not unless we get that personal revelation of what our purpose here on earth is, we will not fully be satisfied or fulfilled.

JOSEPH – PRIME MINISTER OF EGYPT

Chapter 2.        The Almighty God, the Creator: The Holy Scriptures were written for us so that we may cope with life here on earth. God did not write the Scriptures to prove himself. God is. He said I am who I am, “The beginning and the end, from everlasting to everlasting.” There is no book that can contain the definition of God. He is a Spirit, omnipotent, omniscient, and wise. His moral attributes are faithful, truthful, good, patient, gracious and merciful, holy, righteous and just, and many others. We cannot confine Him here on earth nor can we define Him by the language we use. We know Him by Faith (click on this to know what faith is) and by personal revelation. This is the reason why the prophets in the Bible know the Lord, the One True God. God reveals Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. All the attributes of God are in His Son. His death on the cross pave the way for the salvation of mankind. Go to the definition of “Salvation.”

My personal testimony

My personal revelation was when somebody prayed the prayer of salvation to me more than 30 years ago. There was a Campus Crusade Movement started by Bill Bright from the U.S., distributing pamphlets on four spiritual laws. After explaining the four laws we prayed together a prayer of Salvation. We were reading a prayer similar to the one below. My life was changed after that. I was no longer the same person. My desire changed. I became close to my family, my wife and my children. I have three kids then, Joseph, 8, Michelle 6, and Jose Mari, 4.

There were four areas affected immediately by the change in me. The first area was my desire to read the Bible. I could understand most of it. I read the Bible before I left for the office then I read it when I got back. The second area was my family life. I was longing to be with my family after work. I used to go out with friends and co workers after work to have a good time. After I changed, I felt that was a waste of my valuable time. My desire was to be with my family. I still have time for my friends but that becomes secondary to my time with my family. The third area was my job. I saw my job as temporary. I used to put a lot of time and effort into it. I love my job then because it provided the income for my family. Ford Philippines was a generous company and I held a nice junior executive position with a car and big enough pay to afford some luxury. The fourth area was my time, I learned how to balance my time. I had time to pursue my studies in MBA and yet had time for my family, friends and my job. In all of these, I give back the honor and the glory to God.

I know Jesus personally. I am thankful to Him because He changed my life. I will not be where I am now if it was not for Him.

Prayer of Salvation

Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour.

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Pray this prayer loud enough for you to hear yourself if you are alone. Better yet if you are praying this with somebody. The result will be the same. This is the day you will have a personal relationship with Jesus:

Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now heaven bound into eternal life with Jesus and God the Father. The Holy Spirit is your guide in your journey on the earth experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised. It is going to be an exciting and promising life from now on.

John 1:12 (KJV)

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name

The name is Jesus the Christ.

Comments are closed.