What would it take to study the Bible the way you should as a follower of Christ?
First of all, I like to refer true Christians as “followers of Christ”, this helps focus ones attitude to an essential. Christian life does not amount to dropping into a church when it fits into your busy schedule and anyone who is comfortable with that kind of attitude seriously needs to question their Christianity, if not their actual salvation, regardless of how they arrived at at the belief.
Though I believed I was a Christian through most of my adult life, it is more accurate to say my life was a reflection of someone who “thought” they were a Christian. Looking back, I know my attitude was quite wrong, though the path of a sinner going to be full thoughts and acts that require repentance.
Why have I been trying to raise the attention level of all people, but especially those who attend church and think they are Christians? One of the wake up calls for me was reading Matthew 7 where Jesus states, and I will paraphrase, unless they enter by the Narrow Gate, many people who think they are going to heaven are in for a devastating shock in the Day of Judgment.
I want you to be saved.
Because so many people believe they become Christian through a simple prayer of invitation and/or base their faith on a ritualistic understanding of Christ and by repeating liturgical truths during worship services, it’s no surprise that diligent seeking of a relationship with God through a humble and contrite heart, prayer and the daily study of the Bible is far from the average church-goer’s mind.
Consistent with the Narrow Way that Jesus warns about, it seems to me that there is only one approach that is realistic and consistent with a born-again believer.
Let me try explaining, first with some cautions.
The Academic Trap
If you only have a strong academic interest in the Bible, the problem with this approach is, if you only study the Bible for intellectual knowledge, there is no motivation to pick it up everyday as you would eating food or drinking water. An academic approach would cause you to draw upon the knowledge when it serves you. Once you’re done, you might immerse yourself in something else, religious or otherwise, and Biblical teachings would only remain on par, at best, with everything else and to be judged in comparison to everything else. Oddly enough, an ecumenically inspired church may only encourage their congregants to take this kind of approach.
A Bible study falls into the same category. As good as a Bible study can be, unless you are in the right relationship with God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, what you learn will be connected to your belief in how authoritative the Bible to be. In other words, unless you have a conviction that the revelations provided in the Bible are divine, trustworthy, and essential for a Christ-Centered life, either your faith is blind and is unsubstantiated, which will make evangelism (the Great Commission) more difficult, or what you are learning from the Bible remains sophisticated fodder to sling into secular discussions or be used as target practice for the ecumenicals or atheists in your circles.
When Surrender is the Right Action
If you should find yourself born-again, you are called to be surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ, which was true for every loyal disciple of Jesus, and of all who are called to be sons and daughters of God. John recorded Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17 (which you should read in its entirety), which gives us an understanding of the relationship between those who are born-again and the Godhead. Here is a small excerpt:
20 “I do not ask for these only [meaning his direct disciples], but also for those who will believe in me through their word [that means all believers in the future], 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ” – John 17:20-21
The Holy Spirit reveals truth
As you are transformed by the Holy Spirit, it will be easier for you to begin seeing the truth revealed through Jesus’ teachings all throughout the Gospels. John 14 also states how the Holy Spirit (the Helper) resides in each believer like a teacher, which helps reveal truth to you in Scripture:
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” – John 14: 25-27
A Key Objective
Further reminders by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians to understand the will of God, which in my observation comes from seeking to understand what the biblical writers are wanting to communicate to their audiences:
Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. – Ephesians 5:8-10
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:15-17
The purpose of Bible study for a believer is learning what is pleasing to the Lord, not to promote your personal self-interests. Scripture glorifies God and convicts us of our sins so we establish a pattern of ongoing turning away from temptation and evil. The truth and wisdom in Scripture is reinforced by its repeated historical examples, powerful poetry and proverbs, supernatural acts of God, including prophecy, reliable historical eye-witness testimony of Jesus’ life and resurrection, the revelation of the unchanging nature of God and His Covenent-promises, and a view into the kingdom of God that only Jesus could reveal. The Bible offers all of this.
A Call to Grace
All this I write that you may seek to respond to God’s call for your salvation through His Grace (his “free” gift) through His Son Jesus Christ.
Will you open yourself to God’s grace through the Savior?
Unless you come to that point, it will be virtually impossible to begin shedding the lies and misdirections that are offered by the constant flooding of your mind with all that the world wants to draw you to. The world offers no loyalty to you for the loyalty you show it. People will be used, led astray, and lost, unless the mercy of God intervenes.
Regarding the insidious changing good into evil and evil into good, most people sense the tension, the dissonance, but are oblivious to how the all encompassing manner which spiritual and cultural warfare leads them away from the living God. Man-made wisdom and philosophy, false religions, and confused Christian churches, all attempt to disconnect humanity from God, falsely elevating human achievement and human moral standards while obfuscating God’s moral law by which we all will be judged.
Preparing for Battle
The Holy Scripture remains a beacon above all, able to help Christians suit up each day against the rigorous tests ahead.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. – Ephesians 6:11-13
There’s no simple fix when recommending on how to get right with a daily reading of the Scripture, but it’s all driven by your attitude towards God, your belief in the Bible’s authority and an understanding for the need for its constant refreshing and reinforcement. If not, I prescribe making a commitment to daily reading by first reading the Gospels and then the Book of Acts.
Learn for yourself from the Bible about the life of Jesus. It is reasonable to treat the Gospels as reliable historical eye-witness accounts of Jesus’s life, ministry, trial, execution and Resurrection. There was never a man like Jesus.
Contrary to common misconception and anti-Christian propaganda, almost all the New Testament writings were written before 60-65 AD, before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The first writings, based on archeological research, are Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians which is estimated to no later than about 20 years (about 50 AD) after Christ’s resurrection (30 or 33 AD). All the books brought together in the New Testament were written by eye-witnesses (in the presence of other eye-witnesses) to Christ or closely associated with (i.e. Dr. Luke, a thorough historians, who followed the Apostle Paul through much of his missionary journeys). The last Book of Revelation was written by Jesus’ closest disciple/companion, the Apostle John, around AD.85-95.
If you wonder why it even took years after Jesus’ resurrection to write these documents, it is because the tradition of conveyance prior to these writings was an oral tradition, much different from today’s modern world. When the eye-witnesses and apostles began to die off, the writings became a necessary way to archive their testimony for the future of the church (including you!).
The Bible is one of the key ways God can speak to us. Important relationships take dedicated time and effort. Your relationship with the God of the Bible through Christ Jesus is the most important relationship you will ever have.
For a detailed explanation of who Jesus Christ is from the Bible’s perspective go to the video in this website , “Who is Jesus Christ?”
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
CKY
P.S. Typos and all, I do not use AI.
Sunset photo in Hawaii (Maui) is from my personal stock.