Article Of The Month
GAINING KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE
The Fruit of Bible Knowledge
Introduction:
Here is what we have studied so far. First, we have examined the necessity of knowing the Bible. In an age and society that scorns objective truth and is suspicious of the Scriptures, we have found that we must be well-grounded in the Scriptures. Faith is knowledge. Knowledge has as its content the Bible and the truths it contains.
Second, we have found that there are certain means which can be used to gain such knowledge in the Word of God. The church must be a source of knowledge. It must give incentive to learn and it must also teach us in the Scriptures. This must be done through faithful, sound preaching. God’s Word must be explained and applied. But the church is not the only realm in which we apply ourselves to learn the Bible. This must be done in the home too. This is the subject we considered last time. We also found that this an area of life where we can be so weak. There are too many distractions (work, entertainment, outside activities) all of which obstruct us from applying ourselves in the home to gaining knowledge of God’s Word. We must exercise ourselves the more diligently in the home to become strong in the Lord.
But where is the incentive in all of this? Gaining knowledge of the Bible is hard work! It is not an easy matter. Is there anything that can motivate us to study and learn? We know that it is necessary to learn and therefore we must learn. There is no question about the necessity of gaining knowledge in God’s Word. But is there something that will help stir up in us a genuine desire to study and learn? There is! The incentive we consider tonight when we study together the fruit of gaining Bible-knowledge. The results of such knowledge, the dividends of such knowledge are of extreme value to us as God’s children as we are called to stand in this evil day.
We ought not to forget: we live in the last days. We as Christian soldiers are called to fight a great spiritual battle. To fight and win that battle we must equip ourselves with the whole armor of God. The most important weapon in our battle against the evil of our day is a sword. Of course! How else can we put down our enemies in this spiritual battle? We need a sword - a good sword! The pieces of our spiritual armor are listed for us in Ephesians 6. In verse 17 of that chapter we read: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Spirit is the author of the Bible. He gives us the strength to fight our foes by means of the Word of God. The Bible is our sword. But to wield it, we must know it. It is the only way we are going to be able to stand fast in these last days.
Everything we learn in this seminar will center in that. The fruit of knowledge in God’s Word centers in our calling to make a bold stand in these last days.
Strengthening faith:
Faith is fragile. I am not speaking, of course, of faith as that power of God in the believer by which God unites him to Jesus Christ. That is a bond that cannot be severed. When, by means of our salvation, we are joined with Christ in a true a living faith, then we will never “lose the grace of adoption and forfeit the state of justification, or commit the sin unto death” (Canons V., Article 6). Faith is sure in this sense of the word. But faith is fragile as far as its activity in us is concerned. We read in the Canons of Dordt, Head V., Article 4: “Although the weakness of the flesh cannot prevail against the power or God, who confirms and preserves true believers in a state of grace, yet converts are not always so influenced and actuated by the Spirit of God, as not in some particular instances sinfully to deviate from the guidance of divine grace, so as to be seduced by and comply with the lusts of the flesh.” When this happens, we are told in Article 5 of the same Head of the Canons, they “incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Sprit, interrupt the exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes lose the sense of God’s favor for a time.” In this way, faith is fragile.
The weakness of faith is found in the fact that we are still characterized by a sinful flesh. That sinful flesh in us is strong. It is capable of pulling us down into “enormous sins.” We have in us the potential to fall into the same sins that we see so prevalent in society about us. Added to that is the fact that Satan, the powerful foe of every believer, allies himself with our sinful flesh, and seeks to destroy us. Every believer, therefore, is a battle ground. Within him a war is going on. It is a daily war that does not seem to let up. Our old man of sin in us seeks to draw us away into the lusts of this present world. This world places before us so many sins that appeal to our sinful flesh. We are drawn to them from within.
The only way to do battle with these foes is by means of faith. Our faith must be vibrant, vital, alive, and strong! The only way that we can be equipped with a strong faith is by means of prayer and the Word of God! When we spend time with God’s Word in the church, in the home, and in our individual lives our faith is strengthened. The more we learn of the Bible the more equipped we are to do battle with our sin and the lusts of our flesh. God blesses us when we pray and read His Word. He gives us the necessary strength to continue on in our wearisome battle against sin and Satan. Those who do not learn and know what the Word of God says are also those who give in to the wicked unbelieving world and walk hand in hand with them. These people still call themselves Christians. They still claim to believe in Christ and God. But they live no differently than the unbeliever. They engage in all the same lusts and sins of this world. Their lives are far from that of godliness and purity. They have not kept themselves unspotted from the world.
Knowledge in the Scriptures equips us to fight the fight of faith against our foes and to remain faithful to the cause of Christ in this world. Do we want to be strong spiritually? Then we must constantly apply ourselves to learning God’s Word. This activity will strengthen faith.
Defense of the truth:
Gaining knowledge in the Bible will produce in us as God’s people another fruit too. We are called in these last times to defend the truth. We receive this exhortation in Jude:3: “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” We live now in a world, even a church world that calls itself Christian, that denies the faith once delivered unto the saints. The truth of God’s Word is under attack. The warnings of Scripture are everywhere: “for there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness [lustfulness], and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude:4). There are men - often times intelligent men - who are deceivers. These men are members - sometimes outstanding members - of the church. In their pride they attempt to bring in, what they feel is, a new twist to the truths of God’s Word in order to prove their intelligence.
Most often these new developments in doctrine they claim to discover are lies. But such lies are always couched in truth. Such men surround or hide their lie in a mountain of truth. In addition, they often use theological jargon (a confused, hybrid language) to portray themselves as men who are above and beyond the intelligence of the common member of the church. People are impressed by this and simply accept what they say as true because it sounds so intelligent. In actuality, behind all that linguistic hype is the lie.
When we are learned in the Scriptures, when we have applied ourselves diligently in the Word of God, we are not fooled by such men. We are set to contend for the faith! The members of the church ought not leave the study of the Scriptures in the hands of the clergy alone to defend them. We must know for ourselves the truth! When we do then we can defend the faith! That too becomes an incentive to gain knowledge of the Scriptures. Are we really content to stand by the sidelines and watch the battle being waged? Or do we want to be standing among the rank and file of those who will consciously defend the truth of God’s Word? A fruit of Bible knowledge is indeed the ability to defend the faith.
Teaching the truth:
Gaining knowledge in the Bible produces a third fruit: the ability to teach God’s Word to others. We must understand that the need to teach others in the truth is not simply that of the pastor and teacher in the church. The elder in the church is called to do this too. Paul’s exhortation to Titus, and all office bearers in the church, is this: “Holding fast the word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers [opposition]” (Titus1:9). This surely is incentive to gain knowledge in the Scripture, especially for the boys, young men, and adult men of the church. God calls them to be office bearers in the church. Elders especially are called by God to guard the pulpit from heresy and the lie. The fruit of gaining Bible knowledge is that an elder will be able to fulfill his calling before God well, and be an asset to the church of Christ.
But the need to teach others does not belong only to the office bearers of the church. All of us as members in the church must be equipped with God’s Word to be able to teach others. We all must “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (I Peter 3:15). When a person genuinely comes to us with a question about our faith, knowledge in Scripture will give us the ability to answer them, not only intelligently, but in a genuinely spiritual way. We must be able to lead others to Christ by leading them to the Bible.
Then there is the task that we mentioned in our last seminar: parents need to be able to teach their children God’s Word. We cannot do this very well if we do not know the Word of God ourselves. Mothers in the home especially should equip themselves with God’s WordW in order that they might give themselves to teaching their children. If that does not give incentive for a godly mother to learn the Bible, little will. When we apply ourselves to gaining knowledge in the Bible, the fruit will necessarily follow: we will be able to teach others.
Wisdom:
There is a warning that must we must receive concerning the knowledge we gain of the Scripture. A man can have a head full of knowledge; he can know the Bible backward and forward, and be able to argue all the points of doctrine. But this knowledge means nothing if such a person does not have wisdom. Solomon writes in Proverbs 4:7: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”
No doubt, faith is knowledge. No doubt, knowledge is committing to heart the truth of God’s Word. But that knowledge is nothing if it does not lead one to wisdom. In fact, the true knowledge of faith is wisdom. But there is a difference between mere knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom includes knowledge, but goes beyond it. Wisdom is both knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is knowledge and discretion. A man can have a head full of knowledge and not know how to apply that to the everyday circumstances of life. Wisdom is the ability to take the knowledge we have of God’s Word and be able to put it to use in our lives. I can be a professor in college and teach my students all the book- knowledge needed for a career in engineering, yet have no ability to apply what I teach to engineering a bridge or city or what have you.
We must be wise in the Word of God! When we learn it, it is not simply to become doctrinally astute. We do not gain knowledge of the Bible to be a good theologian. All doctrine, everything we believe, must shape and mold the way we live in this world. Doctrine and walk are not two unrelated things. Doctrine affects walk. We must be able to learn and know what the Bible teaches us, and be wise. We must be those who can take the blessed truths of Scripture and understand how they apply to the way we live in the home, in the work place, and in our recreation. When such knowledge leads to wisdom, then it also leads to godly living. Godly living must be a fruit of knowledge in the Word of God.
There will be fruits - concrete, definite fruits that we see in our lives when we apply ourselves to learning the Bible. The more we learn the more exemplary we will be. The fruit is worth it all! Here is the Bible. It is God’s Word to us. Let’s learn it!
Questions:
1. Is it true that the more a person knows of the Bible, the stronger will be his faith?
2. What is the proper method to be used to defend what we believe when speaking with another person?
3. Does it take more than just knowledge of the Bible to teach the truth to someone else?
4. Will a deeper understanding of the Bible affect the way that we live in this world?
The Article of the Month for October was written by our minister, Rev. Bruinsma. This is the last in a series of four speeches written by Rev. Bruinsma for our spring seminars in 2006.
Article of the Month Archive
July 2008 - Gaining Knowledge of the Bible