WHY SHOULD WE STUDY THE BIBLE?
To answer that question, I am going to focus on three main points that will give us the answer to that question:
WHAT IS STUDY?
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BIBLE?
WE SHOULD STUDY THE BIBLE BECAUSE
WHAT IS STUDY?
There are two words in the Greek for the word "study":
"katanaeo" which means to "immrese oneself in."
"noema" which means:
(1) To direct one's mind
(2) To perceive mentally
(3) To think
(4) To understand
(5) To know as a function of the mind
Webster's Dictionary defines "study" as "the application of the mind to the acquistion of knowledge as by reading, investigating, or reflection."
Study is a specific kind of experience in which through careful attention to reality, the mind is enabled to move in a certain direction. The mind will always take on an order upon which it concentrates. It will conform either in a postive form or a negative form, depending upon what it is concentrating on. For example, if your mind is concentrating on pornography, it will take on the negative form of pornography. If your mind is concentrating on the Word of God, it will take on the positive form of the Word of God. By changing what you are concentrating on, you can change the negative into a positive form. Paul said in Romans 12 to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is the Word of God that will transform your mind.
In Deuteronomy 11:18 we read: "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and "minds"; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." (NIV)
The purpose of the instruction is to direct the mind repeatedly and regularly toward certain modes of thought abut God and human relationships.
It must be emphasized that the ingrained habits of thought that are formed will conform to the order of the thing being studied. What we study determines the kind of habits that are formed.
Again, it works both positively and negatively.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THE BIBLE?
Why is it so important that we as Christians study and read the Bible?
The Bible is much more that just a religious book written by a conglomeration of dead men from long ago. It is more than 66 indiviudal books slapped together like sandwich meat between two pieces of leather.
It is the inerrant Word of God, completely, undeniably 100% inspired by God. Within its 1,189 chapters are literally thousands of verses that give us direction and guidance for everyday life.
It reveals to us the character and nature of God. It is able to make us wise unto salvation. It is able to teach us, correct us, and comfort us. That is what the Bible is in a nutshell and so much more!
So, why study the Bible?
It may seem a little impertinent even to ask such a question. We have been taught since we were little children that Christians study the Bible. That is taken for granted. Yet it doesn't take a little child much growing up to discover that many adult Christians do not, in fact, study the Bible.
In fact, one of the most astonishing anomalies to be found on this planet is that:
Millions of Christians would die to preserve the Bible, yet never seriously read it on their own.
Millions of Christians would fight battles to defend the plenary, verbal inspirtion of Scripture, yet never spend 30 minutes a week intelligently studying the stoutly defended Scriptures.
Millions of Christians rejoice in the fact that the Bible is the best selling book, yet they know
full well that for many it is the most carelessly studied book on earth.
Millions of Christians carry their Bibles around. They go to meetings by the hundreds, to
seminars and retreatss and to refresher courses, yet they never seem to grow in their
personal,usable knowledge of the the Scriptures, always being taught, yet seldom teaching
anyone else.
Millions of Christians go to church faithfully every Sunday, listen to great sermons and rejoice
in the purity of their faith, pleased to possess the very latest translations, yet many have
never read the Bible through, much less studied it through.
Millions of Christians are thrilled to be members of fine churches, listening to excellent music,
rejoicing in the faith of their fathers, and yet many, as John MacArthur has said, could be torn
to shreds in 20 minutes by the most ordinary Jehovah's Witness.
Any thinking person would surely ask, why is this?
May it not be because we are not truly convinced that we need to study the Bible.
WE SHOULD STUDY THE BIBLE BECAUSE:
There are probably a hundred reasons we should study the Bible. To list them all here would be futile. So I have listed the top 4:
NUMBER ONE: WE ARE COMMANDED TO
II Timothy 2:15 reads: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
I like the Living Bible paraphase of this Scripture: "Work hard so that God can say to you, "Well done!" Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what His Word says and means."
Harold Lindsell wrote in his book "God's Incomparable Word": "The Christian is cautioned that he will be judged according to his labors and the basis on which the judgment will be made is how well he knew the Word of the living God. We may conclude that once a person becomes a Christian, he or she has an ongoing responsibility to read, study, and to know the Word of God.
This is not optional; it is obligatory. But it is not to be thought of as a chore. It is work of course, but it is not a chore. It pays off rich dividends because it brings the believer close to God, and it helps to transform his life and provide him with the food he needs to grow in grace."
This is such an important statement.
The study of Scripture is work. Christ invites us to the privilege working with Him. He tells us that ture rest is found in worthwhile work, in a significant mission in life, and the basis of the preparation for that mission is to know the Lord Jesus. We can know Him only by the study of the Word of God.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reads: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strngth. These commandments that I give yo today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of yoru house and on your gates." (NIV)
Clearly God sovereignly commands that His Word be the very center of our lives, to be taught so diligently that is penetrates our subconscious.
It is not to be mentioned indifferently, casually, carelessly, but constantly and with familiar attention. It is to be the frequent and natural topic of conversationn, whatever we are doing and wherever we are living. It must be bound to our hands, to control our thoughts, our desires, and even the motives of our lives. It must control the inner source of our actions and the outer expression of our plans.
Ezra 7:10 is the main Scriputre for my ministry of teaching.
It says that Ezra studied the Law, put it into practice in his life, and shared and taught Israel.
He first studied, then put what he learned to pracitce in his own life, and then he was able to teach others.
NUMBER TWO: WE ARE EXPECT TO
Again and again we find that the Scriptures associate true belief in God with a delight in listening to Him through the Scriptures.
Consider the contrast between a believer and nonbeliever in Psalm 1. It says the unbeliever walks in the counsel of wicked men, he stands in the way of sinners, and sits in the seat of mockers. In contrast, the blessed man's delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night. As a result of this focus on Scripture, this delight in the Word of God, he is like a fruitful tree, planted by rivers of water, whose leaf does not wither and whatever he does prospers.
The same description is found the Joshua l:8. His prosperity and success is found by meditating on God's Word.
It becomes obvious that God assumes that the preface of every venture for Him, the foundation of every achievement for Him, the preparation for every life lived for Him, is the the Scriptures.
Jesus said in John 17:3: " This is eternal life that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Knowing God is the only thing in our lives that really matters.
Throught the prophet Jeremiah God said in chapter 9 verses 23 to 24: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me."
In his final lett to his beloved disciple Timothy, the old Apostle Paul reminded him that "all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable, that the man of God may be complete, or mature, thoroughly equipped for every good work.." (II Timothy 3:16)
He reminded him in II Timothy 2:8-9 that "the Word of God is not chained" and that the only thing that can bring life, that can set captives free, is the living, powerful Word of God working in and through an obedient servant of God.
It becomes clear that God expects each believer to study and know the Scriputres, not merely to go to church, or to be taught and exhorted, corrected and inspired by others. We must study the Scriptures ourselves so that we can grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. It is as we grow, that we really being to understand the power of the Word of God. I experience this myself as a teacher in a Bible College here in Virginia Beach. When I share what I know, I find that God will reveal more to me, and I share with my students. As they share what they know, I learn something new from them. It works both ways.
The Christian who is not carefully and faithfully involved in the study of the Scriptures is an anomaly in the program of God, because such neglect suggests he is not taking his Christian life seriously.
R. C. Sproul wrote: "To be an adequate Christian, competent in the things of God, one must do more that attend "sharing sessions" and "bless me parties." We cannot learn competence by osmosis. The biblically illiterate Christian is not only inadequate but also unequipped. In fact, he is inadequate because he is unequipped."
No soldier is more dangerous that the one who is inadequately equipped, mentally, physically, emotionally, and personally.
We are called to be soldiers of Christ.
We study the Scriptures because we are expected to.
NUMBER THREE: WE NEED TO
In II Timothy 4:6-8, 13, it is interesting to note what the Apostle Paul's request was when he wrote to Timothy. He said, "bring the parchments." Out of all the things he could have asked for, he wanted the parchments, the Word of God.
How on earth can we expect to achieve anything at all for God if we continue to be ignorant of His Word, indifferent to His commands, unaware of His provision, and inappreciative of His presence among us in power.
We have seen how Joshua, foremost in his instruction to his people, and on the threshhold of one of the greatest military ventures of the Scriputres, reminded them they needed the Word of God to be their guide and daily encouragement.
The Apostle Peter, in I Peter 2, tells us we have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, by the living and abiding Word of God. (verse 23). He exhorts his readers, as a result, to "desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted and discovered that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:1) He tells us that the new birth is but the beginning of the new growth and that the purpose of being born again is to grow up into Christ so that we can effectively share Him with a needy world.
Alas, however, so many Christians seem content just to go to church and be fed and fed and fed, without seriously asking themselves the question, "What is the purpose of all this?"
A man goes to school for the purpose of being able to use what he learns; a student studies medicine so he can practice what he knows; and the purpose for going to God's University is to leave the University equipped to go out into the world and use what has been learned. So it must be in our preparation as servants of God.
It is important that we do not make a mockery of the new birth by being indifferent to seriously nurturing our growth in a personal knowledge of Scripture. We are saved to serve; we learn to teach; we come to go; we are born to reproduce. Anyone who simply "goes to church" because it is the "thing we do on Sunday" without anly practical purpose for doing so is falling short of the call to which he has been called in Christ.
We study the Scriptures because we need to.
If we do not study the Scriptures, faithfully and eagerly, is it because we don't feel that we need to know the Lord and His instructions for our lives?
NUMBER FOUR: WE WANT TO
Many will testify to the amazing fact that once one is truly born again, God not only begins to help us change the direction of our lives but He changes the desires of our hearts as well. Things that once seemed foolishness to us, now seem most important of all. Things that once were truly incomprehensible now become the light of our daily path. Things that once would not have attracted a moment of our time now fill our thoughts and longings.
How do we explain this? Philippians 2:13 say that it is God at work in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure. God begins to affect both our obedience and our desire to obey. He changes our desires, our priorities, our ambitions, and then He enables us to fulfill those desires by wanting to obey what He commands.
How God does this is explained in I Thessalonians 2:13: "We thank God continually because, when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe..
God works in us through His Word and we grow in our knowledge of Him. Conversely, if we ignore studying His Word, there is little He can or will do. Our knowledge of God is dependent on our diligently seeking Him. Our failure to seek Him leaves us unequipped and dimishes our appetite to know Him at all.
How important is the faithful study of the Word, not least of which is the manner in which it increases our desire to know Him and to make Him known.
May the prospect of knowing God be an irresitable motivation for the discipline required to properly study the Word of God.
May we sense the hunger of this study and respond to Him by the prompting of the Spirit.
May the Spirit's fullness enable us to know and teach the Word of God in manner we had never thought possible.
May our inclination to personal laziness,our preoccupation with many other, more "urgent" things, our tendency to procrastinate in the doing of what we know are essential things be overcome by allowing God's Word to dwell in us in every area of our lives.
One of the first questions the Lord Jesus will ask us, when we arrive home in heaven, may likely be, "What did you do with my Word?"
What will your answer be?
I would like to conclude with a quote from William Barclay:
"The study of Scripture trains a man in righteousness until he is equipped for every good work.
Here is the essential conclusion: The study of Scripture must never be selfish; it must never be simply for the good of a man's own soul. Any change, any conversion which makes a man think of nothing but of the fact that he has been saved is no true change and no true conversion. He must study the Scriptures to make himself useful to God and useful to his fellow man. He must study, not simply and solely to save his own soul, but that he may make himself such that God will use him to help to save the souls and comfort the lives of others. No man is saved unless he is on fire to save his fellow man."
