If you call yourself a “Christ-follower” then you need to ask yourself this question. Am I biblically competent and literate? And if you cannot answer that question, let me give you 7 compelling reasons why you should desire to become so. The Lord desires that we devote ourselves to the careful reading, study and application of His Word. Study of the Word of God must be prioritized because the value of Bible study has been historically minimized, which has resulted in a lot of false doctrine, incorrect theology and damage to the reputation of the Church. Even today an incredibly damaging and dangerous ‘new age’ type of doctrine is being touted to the masses, with catastrophic consequences.
Here is the rule: You should become so familiar with the truth that a lie will not have a chance in your presence, and study of the Word will help to accomplish this.
A failure to devote oneself to it is not only a sign of spiritual apathy, but it will prove to be detrimental to your life and walk with the Lord.
Over and above being able to spot lies, study of the Word is beneficial to us in many other ways, below are highlighted 7 reasons to study the Bible with Fuzion Bible Institute.
Reason #1 IN ORDER TO ALIGN OURSELVES WITH CHRIST
If you’ve ever thought, “There’s got to be more to life,” – you’re right.
Romans 8:29 says, God predestined us to “be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” This means to align ourselves with God. With who He is, His thinking, with His character, with His truths and with His purpose for us. Aligning with God always means becoming more like Christ.
Like a body that gets out of proper alignment and needs a chiropractic adjustment, we need an adjustment by the Lord to get us back into alignment with Him. Studying the Word of God results in such an adjustment. As we agree with God’s Word, our lives come back into alignment, with our spirits, souls, and bodies operating in their proper roles as are pleasing to God. The Holy Spirit impresses upon us Biblical truths and insights designed to renew our thinking and believing and behaviour. God, through His inspired, living and active Word – corrects us, transforms us and empowers us to live a meaningful Christian life. Then we will walk as God intended us to walk: straight, upright, in a posture of wisdom and strength. We will be in good health, whole and productive for the Lord, with nothing holding us back. Aligning with God makes us free from natural limitations, able to do the works of Jesus and greater works, by the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. This is when we move from living in a world in which the enemy is out to steal from, kill and destroy us to living in the abundant life Jesus promises us in John 10:10.
Reason #2 TO KNOW OUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
Proverbs 27:7 – “One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.”
When you are full of the Word of God, you know who you are in Christ and you are full. The food of the world, society and culture will not be pleasing to you because you are already full of who God says you are and what God says you can do.
If our identity is not secure, our standards of what we are willing to accept – even from ourselves will slip back into fleshly/worldly standards.
Until you know who – and whose you are, you’re also going to have a hard time fully understanding why He created you. You’re going to have a hard time understanding that you have a purpose and you won’t know what your purpose is. Your identity and your purpose go hand-in-hand. Your identity is comprised of your gifts, talents, education, passions, upbringing and more. All of these factors are just supporting roles and tools in your purpose.
Knowing you God-given identity helps you better understand how these other things all fit together and what role they will play in your purpose and assignment.
Reason #3 IN ORDER TO WALK IN THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
This verse presents a stark contrast between “walking in the Spirit” and “walking in the flesh.” The first approach flows in the power of the Holy Spirit. The second approach is dominated by sinful desires. One way of living satisfies your soul and pleases God. The other way of living makes a person restless and is offensive to God.
Compare the nine qualities the apostle Paul lists for these two opposite ways of living:
A person walking in the Spirit experiences and demonstrates much: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22,23)
A person walking in the flesh is dominated by: anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and greed. (Colossians 3:5,8)
The more you spend time in the Word, the more you find it easier to walk in the Spirit.
Reason # 4 TO DO KINGDOM BUSINESS
There is work to be done (John 9:4), and we must use what God has given us for His glory. There are promised rewards for those who are faithful in their charge. God created man in His image with characteristics like Him (Genesis 1:26-31). He created man to work with Him in the world. It is said that man has three basic needs in life: love, purpose and significance. Many times, humans attempt to find purpose and significance in work itself. In Ecclesiastes 2:4-11, Solomon details his search for meaning in a variety of projects and works of all kinds. Even though the work brought some degree of satisfaction in accomplishment, his conclusion was, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
Work is of no value except when God is in it, and through studying the Bible, the Lord will reveal to us new areas where He wants us to utilize our skills and talents to serve and lead and otherwise benefit the Body of Christ.
REASON #5: IN ORDER TO HAVE A KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE
Colossians 3:1-4 says this: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Studying the Word of God replaces our worldly mentality with a Kingdom mentality. This is a framework that allows us to see things from God’s point of view. As we navigate the good and bad, successes and failures, and pains and triumphs in our lives, we begin to develop the eyes and heart to see, think, and respond from His perspective.
Luke 11:34–36: ‘Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.”
When He referred to “good” eyes, Jesus meant eyes that not only see well, but also perceive well. It is not only what we see, but how we perceive what we see that makes the difference between godliness and ungodliness, between light and darkness. Having a ‘Kingdom Perspective” will birth in us an unshakeable commitment to ‘seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) in order that we may fulfill the sovereign cause of Christ to present ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)
REASON#6: IN ORDER TO KNOW GOD’S FINAL PLAN FOR HUMANITY
Luke 19:11-27 is the parable of the 10 Minas that Jesus tells to His disciples and followers on His final trip to Jerusalem. He uses this parable to teach about the coming Kingdom of God on earth. In the parable, a nobleman leaves for a foreign country in order to be made king. Before he left, he gave ten minas to ten of his servants (Luke 19:12–13). A mina was a good sum of money (about three months’ wages), and the future king said, “Put this money to work . . . until I come back” (verse 13).
The people in the crowd along the road believed that He was going to Jerusalem in order to establish His earthly kingdom immediately. Of course we know that He was going to Jerusalem in order to die, as He had stated in Luke 18:33. Jesus used this parable to dispel any hopeful rumors that the time of the kingdom had arrived.
In this parable, Jesus teaches several things about the Millennial Kingdom and the time leading up to it. As Luke 19:11 indicates, Jesus’ most basic point is that the kingdom was not going to appear immediately. There would be a period of time, during which the king would be absent, before the kingdom would be set up. The nobleman in the parable is Jesus, who left this world but who will return as King some day. The servants the king charges with a task represent followers of Jesus.
The Lord has given us a valuable commission, and we must be faithful to serve Him until He returns. Upon His return, Jesus will ascertain the faithfulness of His own people “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; (see Romans 14:10–12).
REASON #7: IN ORDER TO PRODUCE FRUIT
Fruit is in essence spiritual maturity, which will result in many benefits for us, not the least of which would be leadership and ministry opportunities. Will our lives get easier? No, probably harder but where our natural lives might be challenging, our spiritual lives will be blessed.
John 15:8 says “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.” Our response to all the benefits we gain should be – how can I glorify my Father in heaven?
The Father wants us to bear the fruit of character and converts for a specific reason. When we study the Word and get to know our Heavenly Father intimately, we experience a revelation of His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness towards us and sovereignty over us. In the overflow of all we receive from Him, we automatically radiate and display those fruits to others. (Galatians 5:22-23) thereby bearing the fruit of converts through relationally driven evangelism and discipleship.
These are just 7 of the many benefits of studying the bible and as believer’s we are all called to do so. Spending time in the Word is spending time with Jesus. Studying the Word is studying Jesus. It’s getting to know Him in the most intimate way and His love for us will go from being ‘head knowledge’ to a heart connection. You know the exact moment that you fall in love with someone, and during the process of studying the Bible you will know the exact moment you go from loving Him to falling in love with Jesus. And if you’re already in love with Him, wanting to spend time in His Word should be your biggest desire.
Siobhan Salmon
National Director
South Africa
Fuzion Bible Institute
Recent Comments