Many people know that they should study the Bible, but do you know why you should study the Bible? Well, in today’s video we are going to look at thirteen reasons why we should study the Bible, and then we are going to end with some inspiration for getting out there and reading the Bible every single day. Hello, church. Today’s lesson is lesson five of a 20-part video series on Bible study, and today we are going to be looking through a book called Understanding the Bible for Yourself. If you are new here, my name is Ryan Rench. I am the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Temecula, California. I recorded this video over a year ago for an extension ministry of a Bible college, and I just hope it helps you grow in knowing Jesus better. After today’s lesson, be sure to get into God’s Word. With that, enjoy this week’s video.
Why We Study the Scriptures
Well, hello, and welcome back. This is class number five of our Bible study class, and I have been really enjoying it so far. I am just thankful to get into the Scriptures, to hear a little bit about the Scriptures, and really to be inspired to study the Scriptures and to keep going in what we know to be true and to live our lives on what is true, and that has been so good. I am going to be talking today about what you must know before studying the Scriptures, or why we approach the Scriptures. It overlaps a little bit with some of what we have covered already, but it is a whole new take, and a lot of information in this amount of time. Like I said, we are going to talk about things you must know about why you need to study the Bible, things we approach the study of Scripture in order to gain, or that help us understand certain things about our lives. We have seen some of that from the Scriptures, and I want to look at some other Scriptures today, and then some practical understandings of these things as well.
To Be Saved and to Know God
Okay, so why do we study the Scriptures? The first reason is to be saved. Second Timothy 3:15 says, “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” So we study the Scriptures to understand our salvation, obviously. Another reason we study the Scriptures is to know God. So, to be saved, but also to know God. John 17 says, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Isaiah 45:22 says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” So we understand life by understanding God, and we understand God by understanding the Scriptures. We want a worldview that God has given to us from the Scriptures. So, to be saved, to know God, and to fulfill your purpose in life. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” I love studying the Scriptures to find purpose in life.
To Know God’s Will and to Grow
Another reason we study the Scriptures is to find and to know God’s will. First Corinthians 2:16 talks about knowing the mind of Christ: “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” And Proverbs 3:5-6 talks about trusting the Lord: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” So God is guiding you and wants you to know Him and His will for your life, so follow Him. Another reason would be, pretty obviously, to grow spiritually. That is a reason to study the Scriptures, which are able to build you up, Acts 20:32: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” The believer can grow from it: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” So this study is coming from the Word of God, and it is to know the will of God.
To Be Prepared for the Ministry
Another reason to study the Scriptures would be to be prepared for the ministry. We are all priests. If you are a Christian, you are a priest, according to 1 Peter 2:5: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” So you are called into the ministry just by being a Christian. You are also an ambassador. Second Corinthians 5:20 calls you an ambassador: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” So those of us who are saved are representing some other nation, some other kingdom, and it is not the kingdom of this world. It is God’s kingdom. So we are ministers in the body. Ephesians 5 talks about, I mean Ephesians 4 verse 16, “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” We are called to give and serve others and minister, and we are given spiritual gifts according to Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and we are ministering to others with these precious gifts God has given to us. So we are preparing for ministry. We are also studying the Scriptures in order to have a prophetic mindset, to be able to think of life beyond just the here and now, and actually think of this life from eternity’s perspective. Looking forward to what God has for us in the future and pushing forward for Him: that is a prophetic kind of mindset.
Practical Wisdom for Every Part of Life
Another reason we study the Scriptures is to get practical wisdom for every part of life. The Bible speaks to my walk with my wife. The Bible speaks to how I raise my kids. The Bible speaks to the integrity I am supposed to have in my dealings at work. The Bible speaks to what I put in front of my eyes for entertainment. The Bible speaks to how I am to relate to fellow Christians and non-Christians and my enemies. The Bible speaks to everything. The Bible speaks to every aspect of life. It talks to employers. It talks to employees. It talks to workers. It talks to whether you eat or drink. It addresses everything in life. So we study the Scriptures to know how to live this life the way God wants us to live. Another reason we study the Scriptures is to learn how to be qualified for church leadership. We are taught to be faithful in the Word. We are learning to be nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine. We have to give ourselves to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, and give ourselves wholly to these things. Those preparing to be church leaders have to take heed unto the doctrine, according to 1 Timothy chapter 4, and we need to rightly divide the Scriptures. So we study the Scriptures in order to prepare for church leadership.
To Weigh Everything Against God’s Word
Another reason we study the Scriptures is to weigh everything against God’s Word. That is a testing kind of mentality. It is a mindset that is on guard against error, so that we are able to guard against it. Colossians 2:3 says, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” So there are these wonderful truths we can mine out. There are wonderful things to glean from the study of Scripture, but also, when we study the Scripture, it helps us put up our hackles against some of the errors that are out there. Have you ever come across words like beware, and watch, and be sober, and be vigilant, and take heed? Those kinds of words come up eighty times in the New Testament. Think of some of these phrases here. “Beware of false prophets,” Matthew 7: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Philippians 3:2: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” Colossians 2:8: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” First Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Matthew 26:41: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 13: “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.” “Therefore watch,” Acts 20: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” First Corinthians 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” First Thessalonians 5:6: “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” First Peter 4:7 says, “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” So we have to have a watching mindset. The Bereans searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” They were not just taking the teacher at his word, but they were testing him against the Word that was already revealed. First Thessalonians 5 teaches us, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” So test these things against the Scriptures, and accept that which is right and reject that which is wrong. We study the Scriptures for that.
To Disciple Our Family and to Be a Teacher
We also study the Scriptures to disciple our family. That is another reason to study the Scriptures. Deuteronomy 6 teaches us, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Unto whom? Thy children. So we want to study the Scriptures in order to raise our families right. We also need to study the Scriptures in order to be a teacher. God has called some of you to be teachers, and you are going to need an extra level of study of the Scriptures. Maybe it is not the gift of teaching that you have, but every one of us should be a teacher to some degree. Hebrews says, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” The writer of Hebrews was saying, “Look, you are not even ready for the strong meat. You are just stuck at milk. You are little babies still, when you should be strong in the Scriptures by this point.” Apparently they had been saved long enough that they should have grown to the point where they could have become teachers of others. So you study the Scriptures in order to be a teacher, in order to discern good and evil and try to teach others which way is right. Now, you do not have to be a pastor for this. The author of the book I am referencing, Understanding the Bible for Yourself, talks about a time before he was saved. He had been raised in church, and yet had gone away from the Lord and gotten into a hippie movement. He was not following the Lord at all. He said to the guy who was witnessing to him and trying to share the gospel with him, “I believe in reincarnation.” The soul winner knew the Scriptures. He just always came back to the Scriptures. He read his Bible, and he quoted verses back at him every time. Every time the author of our book would say something like, “I do not need this; I believe in reincarnation,” he would say something like, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” There are not a whole bunch of deaths and rebirths. So he said, “Well, who cares? I believe in following my heart.” And he replied with Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” He just quoted the Scriptures, because he knew the Scriptures. He would say, “Well, no, I think there are many, many ways to God, and we are okay with that.” And he quoted the Scriptures: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” So the soul winner just kept on coming back with the Scriptures. He would say, “Well, I believe God will accept us however we are. He will accept anyone who is sincere in his faith.” And he just quoted the Scriptures and said, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” This soul winner who knew the Scriptures was able to be a teacher for this man, who at that time did not know the Scriptures, and he was so powerfully moved by the soul winner that he eventually was saved, and his life was transformed. He wanted to be the kind of person who had the Scriptures on his lips and could teach the Scriptures at a moment’s notice and give God’s Word on a topic, and not just man’s philosophy. So it is good for all of us to study the Scriptures to be a teacher.
To Learn How to Think
Studying the Scriptures also helps us learn how to think. It teaches us what to think, and that is good. We need to know what to think. But it also shapes how we think. It is a whole new filter through which to view life. It is a changed way. It helps us to put on the mind of Christ, in a sense. It is being renewed in the spirit of our minds. It is a way of changing how we think. So when we study the Scriptures, and when we meditate on the Bible and these Bible verses, it helps us view the world in a completely different way. It helps us understand the world as though, man, all of life is a revelation of God. Romans 1 teaches us that we can see God clearly in all of creation, that this creation He made is screaming out His glory. Through the study of the Scriptures we learn to see the world in a whole new light, a whole new way. We understand the differences between the simple and the prudent. We want to become prudent and wise and see situations the way God would have us see them. When we study the Scriptures, the Bible student learns to focus his mind and to give attention to the things that need attention. In our culture things are just so shallow, and everybody’s minds just flip from one thing to the next. I have read secular books by secular authors who are saying, “Man, we do not think deeply about anything anymore. We do not meditate anymore.” I think that is a shame. We need to think deeply about things. We need to understand certain things and be able to go deep on a topic.
What the Word Is
So I am just going to read this, and it is from the Scriptures, about why we should study the Bible. Why should we study the Bible? Well, because it is living, Hebrews 4:12. It is powerful, Hebrews 4:12. It is sharper than any two-edged sword, Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” It is the sword of the Spirit. It is light. It is milk. It is bread. It is meat. It is right. It is pure. It is perfect. It is sure. It is forever settled in heaven. And every single one of these has a Scripture reference by it. It is converting. It is making wise. It is rejoicing. It is enlightening. It is cleansing. It is enduring for ever. It is true. It is righteous altogether. It is more to be desired than gold. It is sweeter than the honeycomb. It is comforting. It is hope-giving. It is profitable. It is the word of God, Proverbs 30:5 says: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.” It is the word of the Holy One, Isaiah says. It is the word of grace. It is the word of truth, Psalm 119 says. It is the word of righteousness, also in Psalm 119. It is the word of Christ, the word of salvation, the word of the gospel, the word of reconciliation, the word of life, the word of exhortation, the sure word of prophecy. What a powerful book this is. The author closes by saying, “In my estimation, the one greatest need for every Bible-believing church is that the members will become effectual Bible students, from the children to the senior citizens. I would that this course, or one like it, be taught to every born-again believer in every church, to every parent, to every young person, beginning in the early teens at the latest.” So from children all the way up to mature adults, the Scriptures are going to be the thing that is good for us, no matter what phase of life we are in. It is good whether you have been studying it for fifty years or for five minutes. This is good, and I encourage you to get into the Word of God. Next time we will pick up on some of our own spiritual requirements that are needed for studying the Scriptures, and we will approach the Scriptures from the standpoint of how we come to it, in reverence and respect and almost awe, as a spiritual book. So I am looking forward to next time. Today was a little bit shorter class, and you can use the extra time at the close of this class to do some of your own Bible study. We will see you next time. Well, thank you for watching this video from our 20-part series on Bible study. I realize this kind of content, or our Baptist perspective, might not be for everyone, and I do not want to waste your time, but if you did find it helpful or enjoyable, would you subscribe to our channel? We are releasing videos every Monday at noon Pacific Standard Time, and I just want to help you bring the Bible home. So we will see you maybe in person this Sunday at our church. That is it for now. God bless you, church. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
