Why Study the Bible?

Grace to You.org ^ | 1993 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

[metmom]

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15).

The Holy Spirit protects you from false doctrine, but that doesn’t eliminate the need for diligent Bible study.

For the next few days we'll consider several benefits of Bible study. Today we'll address the broader question of why Bible study is necessary at all.

Perhaps you know believers who think Bible study is unnecessary. Bible reading, they say, is sufficient because we have the Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things. Often they cite 1 John 2:27 in support of their view: "As for you, the anointing [the Holy Spirit] which you received from [God] abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him."

That passage, however, isn't implying that Bible study or Bible teachers aren't necessary. On the contrary, John was exhorting his readers to abide in what they'd already learned (v. 24) and shun only those teachers who deny Christ and try to deceive believers.

The Holy Spirit is the believer's resident lie detector, granting discernment to shield him or her from false doctrine. Although a Christian may be temporarily confused by false teachers, ultimately he can never drift into apostasy or deny Christ. If anyone does depart from the faith, his departure is proof that he was never a true believer in the first place (v. 19).

The Spirit protects you from error, but you must fulfill your responsibility as a student of the Word. Even a man of Timothy's spiritual stature needed to study the Word diligently and handle it accurately (2 Tim. 2:15).

I pray that the psalmist's attitude toward Scripture will be yours as well: "O how I love Thy law! It is my meditation all the day" (Ps. 119:97).

Suggestions for Prayer

Thank God for His precious Word. Ask Him to give you a deeper love for its truths.

For Further Study

Read Titus 1:7-16 and 2 Timothy 2:2.

What skills must an overseer have regarding God's Word? Why are those skills necessary? Do those skills apply to church leaders only? Explain. Are you skilled in handling God's Word?

[ReformationFan]

This is a good plan I’ve been using. It’s a 2 year plan which goes through the Old Testament once and the New Testament and the Psalms twice:

http://www.tbsbibles.org/pdf_information/1-1.pdf

[boatbums]

Why study the Bible? Because it is the ONLY thing we have that we KNOW came directly from the Holy Spirit’s leading and it is reliable, the TRUTH, God’s love letter to us, the instruction manual for human beings, the key to holy living, the reason for why ALL things came to be and the road map for eternal life with God. There is also POWER within it because the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart (Heb. 4:12). It is WAY more than just a collection of books! What a privilege to have it in our lives so readily available when in many parts of the world, having one can get you killed.

[HarleyD]

Jer 8:8 "How can you say, 'We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us'? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie.

Don't trust others to tell you what to believe. Search the scriptures to see if these things are so.