The Process of The Faith - Bible Study

Merely reading the Bible is no use at all without we study it thoroughly, and hunt it through, as it were, for some great truth.” Dwight L. Moody

The Bible is a great truth and in these pages are the life of all who are of The Faith. You are now born-again and the Holy Spirit is now showing you great and mighty things that are only seen by those who know Jesus. You now have a desire to learn more about God and how to live this new life in the Spirit. First off, Jesus IS the Word and when we study God's Word we are learning and becoming more connected with our Savior and Lord. It is good to be in line with what scripture reveals in Jesus' travels in the Gospels and that is where I always come back to...Jesus words. The red type, if you have that kind of Bible.

Which brings us to what kind of Bible translation is best to study. I use two translations and they are The New Living and New American Standard (2000 edition). ESV is a very popular translation and I can see it seems to be an easy translation to understand. I prefer to use a Life Application version of whatever translation because the Life Application helps are really good to deepen what we learn. The thing to understand about the "helps" in any Bible is they are someone else's opinion about the scripture, so be aware of that fact. The Holy Spirit is given to us so WE can come to an understanding of the truth of God's Word for our life.

The next thing to look at is the "why" of studying the Bible. The Bible speaks to this point in Psalm 119: 4 You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. 5 Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees! 6 Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. 7 As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should! There is a way that seems right to us, but our reasoning is flawed at best, but the Word of God is perfect, so we have a choice, do we want flawed reasoning or perfect reasoning? This should not be difficult to figure out. There was a man named Ezra who was a scribe, and son of Seraiah, and Ezra came to Jerusalem with a large group of the people of Israel. Scripture says this in verse 9 of Ezra 7: 9 He had arranged to leave Babylon on April 8, the first day of the new year, and he arrived at Jerusalem on August 4, for the gracious hand of his God was on him. Ezra was determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and teach those decrees to the people of Israel.

The great truth to get from Ezra is this; Ezra wanted to learn about His God in a more intimate relationship and he did this through his study of the Law. Ezra became a great voice for God and His Word and God blessed HIm and all who saw his love for the Word of God. All of this is very encouraging for us since we are not held back by the Law of Moses and the death that comes with it for those who fail in it. And we all fail to live it. Look at what Paul wrote to the Galatians about the Law in Galatians 3:1 Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. Because of Jesus, we have the fulfillment of the Law, namely Jesus, as our Savior and the Holy Spirit as our guide to the mysteries of God. Paul wrote this to the Colossians in Colossians 2:2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The truth of understanding God's Word has been given to us through Jesus and His blood opened up the door to a deeper understanding of the God we love. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide us in all things spiritual and the Word of God shows us the way, but just reading it is not enough. We must look deeper into the things of God revealed in His Word and see how that truth hits us. When we commit to search for God in His Word He will reveal Himself to us in a very powerful way. Jesus' disciples came to him one day and said "10 His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” To which Jesus replied "11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. 12 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. 13 That is why I use these parables." Jesus wanted His disciples to understand the deeper things of God and He gives us the opportunity to understand them as well. Why would anyone walk away from knowing the true mysteries of our eternal God?

The first thing we should do when studying God's Word is apply it to our lives. Let God's Word change you at your core. No matter what you have learned from others through your impressionable years, see how God's Word speaks to your heart and then you will be able to keep from falling into lifeless traditions built on man's impressions. Jesus died for YOU. God's Word is revealed to YOU. This is not a group religion, but an individual walk with the God of the Universe, and minimizing that relationship is an affront to God's love. All of this begins with a commitment, a passion, for studying God's Word. When you study God's Word you STUDY GOD!

Vesselogical Out,

David Warren