WHY STUDY?


“Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time they are being produced. Think of the influence of the moon upon the earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading.”
-J.C. RYLE

Where do you normally get the Bible?

Think about the last time you heard or read something from God's word. Were you opening your Bible to read it for yourself, or had someone else enjoyed it before you? Did you learn through a devotional? A sermon? A podcast? A family member? While it is a gift from God to be able to sit under preaching in the local church, talk to friends about Scripture, or learn about theology through a podcast, we often depend upon secondary sources as our only intake of God's word.

Blogs. Books. Sermons. Family. Pastors. Church. Devotionals. Music. Friends. Magazines. Podcasts. School. Small Group. Mentors.

The list could go on and on. How many of these sources have you depended on even in the past week to get the Bible? In comparison, how often have you gone directly to God's word for yourself?

Using the Bible as your Primary Source

How nourished and satisfied would you be if you let someone else chew and spit out every meal for you so that all you had to do was swallow? Clearly, you would be missing out on the joy of tasting whole food for yourself. And, you would be ill equipped to eat your own food if you depended on chewed-up food for too long. Over time, you may forget that real food even tastes good at all, and even prefer a chewed mush to the effort of cutting and chewing your steak for yourself.

While reaping the full benefit of the resources we often have access to and learning from other believers who have gone before us is a privilege, many dangers exist in relying solely on other people to study Scripture for us. Studying the Bible for yourself in no way diminishes the importance of the local church, or the spiritual gifts God has given to certain believers to enable them for the ministry of speaking and teaching the word. However, the ultimate author of all of Scripture is God Himself, and each believer has the privilege of knowing and being transformed by the very words of God in the Bible, instead of having to rely on others to meet with God for them. Jen Wilkin often explains that we are commanded to love the LORD our God with all of our minds, not with our favorite pastor's mind, or best-selling author's mind, or long-time mentor's mind. Inductive study enables you to study the very words of God for yourself so that you are able to enjoy Him firsthand and use your own understanding of the text to examine the accuracy of the claims secondary sources make about Scripture.

“I am seeking with all my heart to call you, plead with you, inspire you, motivate you, encourage you, persuade you, lead you to give yourself to the word of God. I mean something more than a few-minute snatch at it every few days. I mean give yourself to it every day. Every day. Every day.” -JOHN PIPER

WHY STUDY THE BIBLE?

Friends, mentors, pastors, books, and various other secondary sources may have told you that it is important to know God's word. Though God encourages us in the truth through wise counsel and the fellowship of others, our first question in any circumstance should always be - "What does God say about this?" To answer this question, we turn to the 66 books of the Bible, which are inerrant, perfect, sufficient, and complete. God has given us "everything pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him" (2 Peter 1:3-4), and it is through His word that we understand and walk in His will by the power of the Holy Spirit.

TO KNOW GOD

We first study the word of God to know God Himself. Bible study is not first about paragraphs, but a Person.
Observe the following Scriptures and note what God tells us about knowing Him.

1 Samuel 3:21

"And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, for the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD."

John 17:3
"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

Hosea 6:3

"Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Colossians 1:9-10
 "And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God..."

TO ENJOY GOD

We also study the word of God to enjoy God Himself.
Read what the following Scriptures say about our joy in God and His word.

Psalm 119:36
"Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!"

Psalm 119:18
"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law."

Psalm 119:103
"How sweet Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Psalm 27:4
"One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the delightfulness of the Lord and to inquire in His temple."

TO BE RENEWED AND TRANSFORMED

We also study the word of God because we are transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). Though God makes Himself known in His creation (Psalm 19, Romans 1:20), His nature and glory are most clearly revealed in the canon of Scripture. Note what God tells us in the following verses about the relationship between His word and our transformation.

2 Corinthians 3:18

"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Titus 3:4-5

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Colossians 3:10

And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.

TO FIGHT SIN

God gave us His word as a crucial instrument in fighting our sin, deception, and the schemes of the evil one.
Note what the following Scriptures teach us about warfare and God's word.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have the divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ."

Ephesians 6:16-17
"In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Psalm 119:9-11
"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word... I have stored up Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You."

TO LIVE

Deuteronomy 32:45-47

"When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all of Israel, he said to them, 'Take your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words to his law. For it is not an idle word fo you, indeed it is your life.'"

Matthew 4:4
"But He answered them and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'"

Hebrews 4:12-13

"For the word of God is living and active and shaper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of the soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

1 Thessalonians 2:13

"And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers."

TO HEAR GOD

We also study the Bible because it is through the closed canon of Scripture that God speaks to us.

John 14:26
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."

Psalm 119:102
"I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me."

Hebrews 1:1-2
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world."

2 Timothy 3:16-17
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

2 Peter 1:20-21
"But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."