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Make Our Election Sure Bible Study
with a Purpose If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.—John 13:17, ASV O.B. Elbert Often in writing or speaking we gradually build the case we are trying to prove and then offer the conclusion. Here we offer the conclusion first—the purpose of Bible study is to unite us with God. The instruction of the Bible guides, transforms, strengthens, and comforts us: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). Certainly there is much in Bible study that satisfies a naturally curious mind. The most capable intellect will find much to stimulate and satisfy the need for mental exercise. Prophecy, history, politics, theology, law, psychology, poetry—all these and more are found in the Scriptures, in profound depth and abundance. But there is so much more to Bible study than the merely curious will ever see. By reverential Bible study and personal, practical application of what we study, more and more of God’s divine character is gradually revealed to us. This reverent, applied study brings us closer to God by our being “transformed by the renewing” of our minds (Romans 12:2).
It is a great privilege to study the Bible and a
priceless blessing to be able to understand what we are reading—the
will of God for us. “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for
they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have
desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear
those things which ye hear, and have not heard them” (Matthew 13:16, 17). To Whom Will the Lord Reveal Knowledge? Bible study attempted without first giving thanks to God and seeking His blessing can be an exercise in futility. Human effort and brilliance of mind are not the keys to a true understanding of the Bible. The deep things of God are only revealed to those who are faithful to him, “as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-12). It is a Scriptural principle that our understanding is blessed in proportion as we demonstrate faithfulness to truth already received. “He that harkeneth to reproof getteth understanding” (Proverbs 15:32, ASV). Paul confirmed this principle in his opening remarks to Titus. “Paul, a servant of God and messenger of Jesus Christ in the faith God gives to his chosen, in the knowledge of the truth that comes from a God-fearing life” (Titus 1:1, Phillips). Or, as Rotherham translates it: “The personal knowledge of the truth that is according to godliness” [i.e., that is the result of godliness]. The psalmist agrees with this principle: “Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (Psalm 25:8-10). We subject ourselves to God’s will for us as expressed in the Bible. Obeying His will has a transforming influence upon us. James likens our study of God’s Word to looking in a mirror. When one looks in a mirror, one sees that perhaps one’s hair is tousled and needs combing, or that there might be a smudge of dirt one wishes to remove. As we look into God’s Word we see the need to correct various flaws in our thinking, speaking and actions. “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25). Some comments on Psalm 119 express the need to live what we have learned: O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.—Psalm 119:97 “It is a great privilege for Christians to study the Lord’s Word, yet a great deal of study is done to no purpose [emphasis added]. Study which is not put into practice in daily life is worse than a waste of time … Every reasonable opportunity should be used by the Lord’s people to obtain a knowledge of the divine plan—even to the extent of sacrificing.”—Reprints, p. 2488 Why should we esteem Bible study as a highly valued treasure? Because “grace and peace [are] multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:2-4). A faithful and wise Christian has well observed: “No work is more noble and ennobling than the reverent study of the revealed purposes of God—‘which things the angels desire to look into’ (1 Peter 1:12). The fact that God’s wisdom provided prophecies of the future, as well as statements regarding the present and the past, is of itself a reproof by Jehovah of the foolishness of some of his children, who have excused their ignorance and neglect of the study of His Word by saying: ‘There is enough in the fifth chapter of Matthew to save any man.’
“Nor should we suppose that prophecy was given merely
to satisfy curiosity concerning the future. Its object evidently is to make the
consecrated child of God acquainted with his Father’s plans, thus to enlist his
interest and sympathy in the same plans, and to enable him to regard both the
present and the future from God’s standpoint. When thus interested in the Lord’s
work, he may serve with the spirit and with the understanding also; not as a
servant merely, but as a child and heir. Revealing to such what shall be,
counteracts the influence of what now is. The effect of careful study cannot be
otherwise than strengthening to faith and stimulating to holiness.”—The
Divine Plan of the Ages, p. 13. Our Purpose In Bible Study Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Our purpose in Bible study may also be said to be a quest for life. The vital link between divine truth and life itself is epitomized in Jesus’ beautiful prayer on our behalf, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Jesus’ definition of the purpose of eternal life is both thrilling and beautiful. David prophesied the heart sentiments of the Church saying, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). We study the Bible with a purpose—with deliberateness. It is the source of what we value most in life. We are purposed, determined, to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). Laboring in the word and meditating upon it, along with prayers of appreciation, and then living it, will strengthen us for our life-long journey and ultimately gain us eternal life. Thereby we will have a Scriptural reason for the hope that is within us, bread from heaven to sustain us, a light upon our path lest we stumble, and a comforting balm for every sorrow in our journey to heaven. |