Having an eternal perspective lifts your eyes from the cares of this life and helps you move forward when you are going through a storm, reminding you that ultimately, this place is not our home.

When you want to deepen your relationship with God, you need to move beyond simply knowing about Him and seek personal encounters with Him.

Having an eternal perspective lifts your eyes from the cares of this life and helps you move forward when you are going through a storm, reminding you that ultimately, this place is not our home.

“But as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, ‘Be ye holy; for I am holy,’” (1 Peter 1:15-16). What "Be Holy" Means What’s meant by “holy” in 1 Peter 1:15-16? The word translated “holy” means sacred, morally blameless, consecrated, saint (see Strong’s G40 for more). God is looking for some people who are consecrated or set apart for His use. And He knows who those holy ones should be because He chose us (Ephesians 1:4) and called us to be holy for His purpose (2 Timothy 1:9). “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” (Ephesians 1:4). “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.” (2 Timothy 1:9). The King James Version of 1 Peter 1:15 uses the word “conversation.” The word translated “conversation” means behavior. The verse is saying our manner of life or behavior, should reflect holiness because God is holy. Christian women should stick out and stand out. Our lifestyles should be distinguishable from unbelievers and match our profession of faith. But it’s not easy, is it? In a day and age in which any and everything goes, Christian women are constantly facing temptations to live in a manner which isn’t pleasing to God. Although ungodly living is encouraged, embraced, and expected in the world today, God’s Word stands as a beacon of hope, life, and instruction to Christian women. Photo Credit: Unsplash/Daniel Pascoa

If I wanted to learn more about how the cultural values of 1950s and ’60s America have shaped contemporary literary fiction, I might ask Google or ChatGPT for an overview. The search results might present accurate and balanced information on America’s democratic tradition and the other community values prevalent during those decades, as well as how we see those themes in today’s fiction. Yet I’d be more helped if I read a primary source, such as Marilynne Robinson’s compilation of essays When I Was a Child I Read Books. Robinson is uniquely qualified to answer my question because she grew up in rural Idaho during those decades and is now a celebrated American novelist. Similarly, if I wanted to learn what influences from church history have shaped the way Reformed theologians describe the triune God, I could just search it up. Yet the better way would be to take up the work of German Reformed theologian Amandus Polanus (1561–1610). Polanus and other Scholastic theologians of the late 16th to 18th centuries lived and served on the heels of the Protestant Reformation. Polanus’s perspective is invaluable because it draws from both the reformers and the broader Christian tradition in ways that help us understand Scripture and classical doctrines like the Trinity more accurately. Polanus’s Historical Significance Polanus lived in a time of transition. As Stephen Tipton observes, theologians during this period pursued a “systematic exposition of the whole of Post-Reformation thought, stressing as appropriate both points of continuity and discontinuity with the past.” In his Syntagma Theologiae Christianae, Polanus laboriously combs through historic Christian beliefs. Using Aristotelian causal analysis—the philosopher’s theoretical way of interpreting reality—Polanus clearly presents and defends the biblical validity of doctrines such as the Trinity that had been passed down from the church catholic, as well as those like justification by faith and biblical authority that the reformers recovered. Polanus’s perspective is invaluable because it draws from both the reformers and the broader Christian tradition. In this way, Polanus and the other Reformed Scholastics were theological consolidators and synthesizers. They clarified the doctrinal similarities between Roman Catholic and Reformed theologies, and they also delineated the distinctions. Though only small portions of Polanus’s works have been translated into English, his precise axioms offer students a comparably accessible entry point into classical theology. Moreover, Protestant students will find in Polanus an ally who holds high both Reformation theology and classical theism. Three Truths About the ‘Most Holy Trinity’ In his larger systematic theology, Polanus produced 18 axioms on “the Three Persons of the One Deity.” These axioms summarize traditional, orthodox doctrine into a few briefly stated rules. Here are three that teach us about Trinitarian theology from a classical perspective. They might serve as a beginning catechism for students of systematic theology. Axiom 1: The sacred Trinity is God—indeed, the single, only God. In axiom 1, Polanus begins by considering God’s unity in essence. There is one God (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29), and God’s divine essence is singular, indivisible, irreducible, and simple. Moreover, the three divine persons each have the identical divine essence and are equally God. If the Father subsists in the divine essence and is wise (Eph. 3:10–11), then the Son and the Holy Spirit, who subsist in the common divine essence, are also wise. God’s being, will, and power are one. Therefore, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit possess a numerically singular being, will, and power. The Son and Holy Spirit are consubstantial with the Father (Matt. 28:19; John 10:30; 1 Cor. 2:10–11). So when we consider God as God, everything is singular. Axiom 2: There is Trinity not in essence, which is single, but in the number of persons and the distinction of them.  The appropriate time to count to three (with real distinctions) is when we number off the divine persons. There are three according to person: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They’re identical according to the divine essence, yet the three persons are really distinct from each other (2 Cor. 13:14). Axiom 6: The persons of the deity are not distinguished among themselves essentially nor according to existence, which is common because their essence is one. Nevertheless, they are distinguished really, because one person is produced from another. And for that reason the persons differ by an incommunicable property—namely, according to the subsisting which is proper to each person. We distinguish the persons (or tell them apart) by one incommunicable property: “by the smallest [notion] . . . by relation.” Polanus asserts, “The relation of divine persons is the . . . mode of existence . . . that is proper and incommunicable to each person, and does not compose the person but constitutes and distinguishes him from other persons without composition.” Why This Matters I’m grateful my doctoral supervisor introduced me to Polanus. I didn’t know of Polanus at all until I began researching his life and work. Then, I discovered just how significant he is. Recovering and learning from him is important because while he respected the Christian tradition and transmitted orthodox doctrine faithfully, he was also committed to the Reformation’s view of scriptural authority and salvation by grace through faith. He’s a trustworthy source for young theologians because he both drew on church tradition and stood on the Word. Polanus’s precise axioms offer students a comparably accessible entry point into classical theology. I appreciate Polanus’s axioms because they keep me from error and lead me to praise. Maintaining the distinctions he outlines is essential so contemporary scholarship doesn’t fall into one of the ancient heresies that diminish the Son’s divinity or wrongly conflate the divine persons. Studying and remembering the truths in Polanus’s outlines also helps us to know our triune God with greater precision. This is important for worship. If during congregational singing, for example, we lack confidence in the theological accuracy of a song’s lyrics, we might struggle to sing it with a full heart. Yet when we’re convinced the words describe God faithfully, we can wholeheartedly lift up my prayers and praise. Polanus’s axioms have helped me know God more accurately. And in this way, they’ve also drawn me to love and worship him more wholly.