Previous posts in this series have been incorporated into Part 2 of my online article, “A Comprehensive Church-Based Ministry to Men.”
“From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures.” 2 Timothy 3:15
There are many ways that I identify with young pastor Timothy as he was starting out on his ministry. Both Timothy and I are rather shy. Both of us had strong godly male role models who were pastors. And both of us grew up in homes with multiple generations of Christians.
But the primary way I identify with Timothy was that he learned the Scriptures “from infancy.”
Timothy learned the Bible from his Christian grandmother Lois and mother Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5) while I also learned the Bible as a child from my parents and from my church.
Here is my story.
The room with the red ribbons
The room with the red ribbons was a room in my childhood church, Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. It was dedicated to Scripture memory and had no furniture in it. Instead, all four walls were completely covered with dozens and dozens of long thin red ribbons that dangled down to the floor. At the top of each ribbon were the names of students in the children’s ministry. One of those ribbons had my name on it, “Herbie Reese.”
On those red ribbons were various colored paper emblems with Scripture references on them. The emblems corresponded to the Scripture references. For example, the emblem for Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd…,” was a sheep, for Ephesians 6:10-18, “Put on the whole armor of God…,” a shield, and so forth. Every time you memorized a passage, you got to put the corresponding emblem on your red ribbon. Obviously, you also got to compare your own progress with the progress of the other kids at church. Some only had one or two emblems on their red ribbon while others had emblems down to the floor and even onto the floor.
The cool thing about this was that the passages were not just one or two verses, but often long sections of scripture or even entire chapters, like Isaiah 53, Psalm 1, Psalm 2, Psalm 110, Ephesians 1, the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and on and on.
I have fond memories of sitting at the table after eating breakfast and memorizing those passages with my mother’s help before I went off to school.
I wasn’t the best in my Sunday school class, by far. But I did pretty well. I think I almost got down to the floor on my ribbon. As I matriculated through the Christian education program at church, I continued to memorize Scripture, including most of the Book of Romans and all of 1 John.
Now here’s the interesting thing. Later, when God called me into ministry, I went on to do the four year master’s program at Dallas Seminary and then I entered the pastorate, where I prepared and preached sermons every week. As I did my preparation for those sermons, I noticed something. What first came to my mind as I studied for those messages wasn’t what I learned in four years of seminary, but the Scripture passages I had learned as a child.
And that still happens. It’s been six decades since I learned many of those passages, but I still remember them as if it were yesterday.
And that means I’ve had six decades to meditate on them.
And that means I’ve had six decades to live them.
The importance of knowing our Bible plays a central role in our “passage for getting there”
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:12-17
Of course, unlike Timothy and myself, many of us did not grow up in a Christian home and consequently were not taught the scriptures “from infancy.” We can, however, make sure that our own children begin learning the Bible at an early age. We can also participate in our Church’s Christian education program and help teach children the Word.
But what if some who are reading this are adult believers who feel that their knowledge of the Bible is rather shallow. If this is so, then I would encourage you to take some steps to learn the Word of God well. Our “passage for getting there,” 2 Timothy 3:12-17, gives us three reasons why we should make sure we have a solid knowledge of the Bible.
Knowing our Bible is important because our Bible is holy
We live in a sinful, God-forsaking world that is filled with hatred and loneliness and ugliness and pain and suffering. But there is one thing that we can hold in our hands and instill into our minds and infuse into our hearts that is utterly holy, the Word of God.
As such, our Bible is for us what scuba gear is for a scuba diver: something physical that contains information that is spiritually life-sustaining in a world that is spiritually life-destroying. Without the Bible, we simply cannot sustain a healthy and holy spiritual life for long.
Knowing our Bible is important because all of it is God-breathed
If you took forty people, put them in a room and told them to write something about God, what you’d get is forty disassociated essays that would make little sense when put together.
On the other hand, the Bible was written by over forty authors over a period of more than fifteen hundred years. Yet it has a coherence that is undeniable. It tells us the story of God and his dealings with humanity. It tells us who God is, who we are, and why we humans are the way we are. It tells us about sin and death and what the solution is to sin and death. It tells us what God has done in the past about our sin, what God is doing now about his kingdom, and what God is going to do in the future.
Consequently, the Bible is the most influential book in the history of the world.
The Bible has this coherence and influence because, while it was written by dozens of people, it really has only one author, God himself. In our “passage for getting there,” 2 Timothy 3:12-17, Paul reminds Timothy that all Scripture is useful because all Scripture is God-breathed, or inspired. We sense the breath of God on every page of the Bible, for it speaks of him and through his Spirit, it speaks to our souls. As such, the Bible is completely trustworthy and our ultimate authority for living.
This is why, if there is one word you could use to describe me, it would be “biblicist.” I believe the Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts and I use it as my authority in everything I do and teach. Hopefully, you have noticed that emphasis in my writings.
Knowing our Bible is important because all of it is useful for its ultimate purpose: doing God’s good works
Imagine you suddenly come across a set of written instructions that tell you exactly how to please God and how doing so will bring you and others around you immense benefits forever and ever.
That is what we hold in our hand when we pick up your Bible. Our Bible is a handbook for doing good, God’s good. We live in a world that is against us. It wants to exploit us, enslave us, even kill us. Our Bible, on the other hand, tells us how to get the God of this universe on our side: through faith in his Son and obedience to his will as expressed in our Bible.
The good works that God’s Word then equips us to do are not the good works of the world; mere kind gestures the preserve the self-will of the one doing them. The good works our Bible frees us to do are revolutionary because they are done by someone who knows God, loves God, and loves those around him with their very lives.
Have as a goal to know the Bible well enough so that you can meditate on it at any time
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3
I chuckle to myself when I hear men’s ministry leaders – and any spiritual leader for that matter – tell men that if they’re going to grow in their walk with the Lord then they need to read their Bibles every day. The reason I find that amusing is because printed books have only been around for the last five hundred years. If daily Bible reading is critical to to our spiritual growth, that means no Christian in the first fifteen hundred years of the church would have been able to grow to full maturity.
But obviously that is not the case. Scripture makes it clear that it’s not Bible reading that is critical to spiritual growth, but Bible memory. “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you,” the Psalmist writes in Psalm 119:11. The prime example of this verse? Jesus, who quoted Scripture each time he was tempted by the Devil.
Actually, it’s not just Bible memory that is essential to our spiritual development, but Bible meditation, of which Bible memory is a prerequisite. “On his law he meditates day and night,” the Psalmist writes in Psalm 1:2. One of my Greek professors at UCLA knew the entire New Testament by memory in Greek. But he didn’t believe a word of it. It was just Greek to him, so to speak. He was living proof that one can memorize the Word of God without thinking it worthy of our meditation. But on the other hand, we can’t meditate on the Word of God if we haven’t memorized it.
Unlike my Greek professor, the Bible is not just Greek to any believer…or Hebrew for that matter. It’s our lifeblood. Our very souls and our eternal destiny depend on our understanding of it. It is, in fact, a true depiction of reality. The degree to which we depart from it is the degree to which we lose contact with what is real, and then stub our spiritual feet in our self-imposed darkness. So our goal is to live in the Bible and then to live out the Bible. The only way to do that is to meditate on it…all the time.
And the only way to do that is to memorize the Bible.
Ways to learn the Bible
Study the Bible at your church
Pay attention to the sermon and to the passage the sermon is based on. Also, find classes is your church that focus on the Bible. Your church doesn’t have such a class? Maybe you can start one.
I am assuming, of course, that your church teaches the Bible. Sadly, not all churches do. If yours doesn’t, then you need to find another church.
One great way to learn the Bible is to teach a children’s Sunday School class or youth group. Preparing Bible lessons for others naturally creates a weekly Bible study discipline. You will learn more than your students will in the process.
Study the Bible on your own
The great thing about studying the Bible on your own is that you can set your own pace. But be careful. You can wind up simply meandering randomly through your Bible without retaining much. I suggest you set goals and work toward them.
- Gain a general Biblical overview in order to understand the different types of literature in the Bible. Ask your pastor if you can borrow a book on Bible survey from his library. (Just be sure to return it!)
- Learn biblical history by studying each of these books: Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, Luke, Acts.
- Study the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark and John to gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
- Understand the significance of the Biblical covenants. For example, do you know which Biblical covenant governs our relationship with God?
- Study these three Pauline epistles to deepen your understanding of theology: Romans, Galatians, Ephesians
- Learn biblical prophecy by studying the major and minor Old Testament prophets, along with the Book of Revelation.
Obviously, you can’t do all of this in a week or a month, or even in a year. These goals will take several years. But that is the point: always be learning something new from your Bible.
Study the Bible with other men
Find other men who are serious about Bible study and learn with them. One organization that I highly recommend is Bible Study Fellowship for Men. Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) is a non-denominational, international organization that offers Bible study classes for people of all ages and genders. While BSF offers classes specifically for men, it also offers classes for women, couples, and children. The number of men’s classes offered by BSF may vary depending on the specific location and availability. It is best to check the BSF website or contact a local BSF representative for information on the availability of men’s classes in your area.
Memorize the Bible online
The Navigators are best known for their Bible memory system. You can access it at this link: Topical Memory System for iphone and ipad. Another organization that I like is BibleMemory.com, an online Bible memory group that emphasizes both individual verses and entire passages and books of the Bible.
Study the Bible online
I highly recommend the following two organizations that provide high-quality, free and/or low-cost Bible courses:
- Moody Bible Institute offers several free or low-cost online Bible courses for non-students through Moody Enrich.
- Dallas Theological Seminary offers dozens of free online Bible courses.
Attend a Christian college and/or seminary
Of course, if you really want to thoroughly learn your Bible, take some time off to attend a reputable, biblically based Christian college or seminary. The time I spent getting my seminary training was well worth it. I simply would not be fully equipped to do ministry without it.
Whatever you do, know that the time you invest in the study of Scripture is well worth it and will increasingly enable you to do the good works God saved you to do.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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