WHY DO WE NEED TO STUDY SCRIPTURE?
Perth Fellowship
Jesus said “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of the God.”
The very same words of the Lord explain why we need to study the Scripture. If we are ignorant of the Scripture we would lead a spiritual life, full of spiritual errors. If you make mistakes in your spiritual life, the consequences are eternal. That is why our Lord desires each and every one of us to come to the full knowledge of the truth (1Thim2.4). Lack of knowledge of the Scripture is the primary reason for the moral degradation of the present day Christianity. So studying the Scripture is the duty of each and every one of us who really love our Lord.
The world is going to be judged according to the Scripture. (John12.48.Rom2.16).If we do not know the Scripture and the mind of the Lord, it will be like appearing to an exam without knowing the syllabus. So knowledge and practice of the Scripture will decide our eternal destiny.
Let us see, who has taken the first initiative to teach man the words and deeds as per the expectation of the Lord. In Exodus 4.12, Lord told Moses that He will teach him, what he should speak. In Exodus 4.15 Lord again told him that He will teach him, what he should do. So it is the Will of the Lord, that each and every one of us should learn from Him, how to live a godly life. Then Lord gave the responsibility to Moses to teach the Scripture and the ways of living a godly life to the Israelites (Exodus18.20)
In Deut 6.1-3 Lord told Moses to teach His statutes to the Israelites, in order to fear the Lord, possess the land and to have healthy long life in the land. Lord promised protection from the diseases of the Egypt, based upon our obedience to the Words of His mouth. (Exodus15.26).So Lord wanted the Israelites to teach their children the laws of the Lord in order for them to have a healthy spiritual and physical life. (Deut6.6-9). Even before the law, for the descendants of Abraham to inherit his blessings and promises, he was to teach and command his offspring the fear and knowledge of the Lord.(Genesis 18.18,19).
In Old Testament times, people studied the Scripture and practised it and then taught the Israelites the Holy writings (Ezra7.10).In OT, the priest was supposed to teach between permitted and unpermitted, holy and unholy things(Lev 10.9-10,Ezekiel 44.23).People were asked to turn to the priests for knowledge (Mal2.7).The lips of the priests should keep knowledge. As we are New Testament priests, all of us should possess the accurate knowledge of the Scripture. (2 Timothy2.15)Jesus told us that heaven and earth will pass away but His Words will stand forever. (Mathew24.35).The Scripture cannot be broken (John10.35).
The inevitable part of the Christian life is its importance in teaching and learning. (Mathew 11.1, 1Cor 4.17).Lord expects every believer to be able to teach (Rom15.14, Hebrews5.12, 2Timothy2.24).One of the ministries given to the church is that of a teacher (Eph 4.11).
In New Testament, Paul was handed over the responsibility of teaching the Scripture to Timothy, to pass over and preserve the Scripture to coming generations. (2 Timothy 1.13, 2Timothy.2.1-2). In 2Thes2.9 we have the most dangerous warning in the Scripture that if we do not love and obey the Scripture, God may send a strong delusion so that we may believe a lie as the truth and finally perish. This is the most unfortunate state of human life, being deceived by God.
So let us study the Scripture and know the Will of the Lord (Eph5.10) and try to get ourselves prepared to appear before the judgement seat of the Lord (2Cor5.10).If we live according to Scripture and abide in Him, there is no need to get ashamed, rather we can be bold enough to stand in front of Him at His appearing.
Nb. Please read all the references directly from the Bible.
Questions
1. What is the primary reason to study the Scripture?
(A) Increase the knowledge of the God (B) Preparing ourselves to face the judgement of God.
(C) For teaching others (D) For spreading the Gospel
2. Name a great Bible teacher of OT
(A) Moses (B) Joshua (C) Ezra (D) David
3. Who took initiative to teach humanity the ways of the Lord?
(A) Moses (B) God (C) Ezra (D) Nehemiah
4. What was the biggest burden of Paul before his martyrdom?
(A) Lost souls (B) Churches he planted (C) Preserving the Scripture (D) Fear of facing death.