Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
Colin Smith explains five ways the Bible will help you grow, according to the Bible:
Don’t miss out on these opportunities to grow in Christ. Check it out!
Erik Raymond reflects briefly yet gloriously on “God’s Subtle Work in Your Bible Reading.” With a personal anecdote, he models how important Bible reading is, even when it doesn’t rock your world every day. The persistent work of God over time is worth the effort we put in.
Here is a taste:
Here’s the thing: God uses your regular exposure to the Word of God to mold you into the image of his Son. Your faithful reading of and meditation upon the Bible makes grooves. And the wheels of your life ride along in these tracks. You might think, What’s the big deal if I don’t read my Bible and pray today? The big deal is this, you are missing out. You are missing out on being exposed to the gloriously infinite treasure of the Scripture. And you are missing out on the privilege of God pressing down the mortar of his Word into your life with all of the force of your current circumstances and emotions. You are missing out on the supernatural compound effect of Bible reading in sanctification.
Check it out!
The Passover narrative is certainly long and convoluted, spanning more than 2100 words in English, and sneakily alternating between immediate exodus-generation instructions and future memorial-ritual instructions. When reading these chapters, I usually find myself afloat in what feels like a swampy mess. By the time my eyes glaze, I’m happy to get a mere nugget or two and move on to the more delightful Red Sea episode.
But curiosity drives me to observe and ask questions. Upon investigating, I find the Passover narrative is similar to the upcoming tabernacle narrative, in that it has two main sections: the instructions describing what will happen (Passover: Ex 11:1-12:28, Tabernacle: Ex 25-31), and the narrative describing what happened (Passover: Ex 12:29-13:16; Tabernacle: Ex 35-39). I covered the first Passover section last week. Now, I’ll try to make sense of the second.
Most repeated words: Lord (24 times), all (17x), out (15), Egypt (14), firstborn (14), people (13), land (10), Israel (9).
Changes in setting and characters drive the action:
Thematic outline:
Tony Hammond (2016), Creative Commons
Some possible questions:
My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):
Train of thought: Because God provided a way to spare his people from the worst disaster of all time:
Main point: Yahweh strikes his enemies and blesses his people to show he owns all the people of the earth.
Connection to Christ: Jesus took on the form of a bondservant (submitted to the Father’s ownership of him) to rescue God’s people. He did all God’s will, and now he reigns over heaven and earth until all nations come to him.
I prefer to feel in control of my life, but any such feeling is an illusion. Because God owns me, all I am and all I have is his.
Right now, God has called me to work through some excruciating conflict. Some of it involves revisiting and dealing with the most difficult season of my life, to pursue peace and reconciliation. Some of it involves entering in to help others deal with one another in ways that honor the Lord. For obvious reasons, I can’t share many details. But I would rather not go through these things at all. I wish my life were safer and more predictable. Yet, I can give no less than my best efforts, for I’ve been paid for and my life is not my own. I belong body and soul to my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.
How do we se Jesus in the Proverbs? Simple. As J.A. Medders writes, “Wisdom is a ‘Who’ More than a ‘What.'”
The Proverbs are the practical righteousness of Christ, his life, played out in our sanctification. Wisdom isn’t a nebulous concept, or ancient advice for life. Wisdom is draped in Nazarene flesh. Wisdom is the Ancient of Days. And now, by the gospel of grace, Jesus is our wisdom, and our righteousness, and our sanctification.
Medders summarizes the connections in two concise ideas:
This has been my understanding all through my Proverbs series, and Medders makes it nice and easy. His full article is well worth reading.
Check it out!
I’m taking a short break from my Monday Proverbs study for this reflection on assurance from 1 John.
‘Tis the season for going to the pool, which means I get to do more reading than usual. But I can’t sit comfortably poolside unless I have assurance of my children’s safety, which involves:
If I can’t see a child, I must get up and walk around until I have all the facts. Only when the facts come to light can I rest assured and return to my literary bliss.
This process is also true of the Christian life. John wrote his first letter to those who believe in Jesus, to give them assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:13). But assurance requires exposure. There can be no assurance without first exposing the cold facts. Though John will give three tests for assurance (obedience, love, and confessing Christ), we cannot evaluate our lives without first exposing them (1 John 1:5-2:2). And we’ll never be comfortable with exposure unless we know 3 things.
John’s message is simple: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Any hint of darkness is incompatible with this God who is light. God is not like light or with the light. He is light; it’s his nature to be light, to shine light.
James Wheeler (2013), Creative Commons
What does light do? It shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome it (John 1:5). When God—light—is in the picture, there is nowhere to hide. There is no such thing as “under cover of darkness.” God is a constant illuminator. He is the great exposer. You can’t know God and avoid the light. You can’t be a Christian and keep parts of your life hidden in the dark.
The fact that God illuminates and exposes rightly terrifies. So we use a few tactics to cope with this God-light.
We say we have fellowship with God, but walk in darkness (1 John 1:6). In other words, we talk a lot about God, but very little about ourselves. We love the sentiments of a relationship with God (love, joy, peace, etc.), but we hate the threat of total disclosure.
For example, I’ve always struggled with my weight and body image, and I hate myself for it. I want to keep this part of my life tucked in a dark corner never to come out. I spend too much time in front of the mirror…until someone else walks into the bathroom. Then I’m happy to pretend I wasn’t fixated on my appearance.
How will we ever come out of hiding? John gives both motivation and power (1 John 1:7):
It’s worth it to walk in the light.
We say we have no sin (1 John 1:8). In other words, we talk a lot about ourselves, but very little about God and his view of sin. We see ourselves as “nice,” “innocent,” or even “good.” We deny that our fundamental identity apart from Christ is “sinner.”
For example, I don’t see myself as a “glutton”; I just like food. I’m not “greedy”; I like my hobbies. I’m not a “gossip”; I’m merely concerned about the situation.
How will we ever acknowledge the truth? John reminds us that God is both faithful and just (1 John 1:9):
Because the faithful and just God already executed his wrath on his Son for you, you are free to label things accurately. The Bible calls such labeling “confession.”
We say we have not sinned (1 John 1:10). In other words, we talk a lot about what we did right, but very little about what we did wrong. The difference between tactics 2 and 3 is the difference between general and particular. This third tactic represents a move from the broad “I’m not a sinner” to the specific “This thing I did was not sin.”
For example, it might be easy for me to admit being a prideful person. But if I never ‘fess up to specific instances where I have acted pridefully, I haven’t yet begun walking in the light. I must connect recent behaviors with long-standing patterns. I must take ownership to search and destroy the issue in my life, without waiting for others to point it out to me.
How will we ever be free to stop defending ourselves and make changes? John reminds us that we already have a double defense in Jesus (1 John 2:1-2).
John doesn’t want us to sin, but if anyone does sin, we have two lines of defense. If we don’t feel the need to defend ourselves, we might be willing to risk true exposure.
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). An advocate argues for the accused before the judge. God, the great judge, the exposer of all people, allows only one attorney into his courtroom. If you have Jesus, you have one who pleads for you—not because you are righteous, but because he is.
He is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). A propitiation is a defense barrier. Jesus is like the bulletproof vest that prevents rounds of ammunition from penetrating your vital organs. He is like a baseball glove that absorbs the shock from the foul ball that almost knocked you silly.
Every time you sin and face exposure, you rightly sense God’s displeasure hurtling toward you. And every time, Jesus still deflects the blow. Not by dying again (that happened only once for all), but by reminding the Father of his death and by pleading your case.
You can’t have acquittal without a trial. You can’t have a trial without a defendant. You can’t have a defendant without charges of wrongdoing. You can’t have charges of wrongdoing without exposure. Thus, we must be exposed before we can be acquitted.
It usually doesn’t feel good, but what could be better for you?
Desires are not as ingrained as we sometimes make them out to be. We treat them as part of our identity, as though “dog-lover” or “outdoorsman” are written somewhere in our genetic code. But a child who hates vegetables might enjoy broccoli after giving it a chance. And a man who gets dumped by the “love of his life” one week can discover sudden feelings for a new gal the next.
When the Lord exposes sinful desires, he expects to win us through offering something better. He expects our desires to change as we trust in Christ. Thus, simple ones can learn prudence and fools can learn sense (Prov 8:5) when they find that all they may desire cannot compare with wisdom (Prov 8:11).
We’ve seen in Proverbs 8:1-11 that wisdom is available to those who choose truth over wickedness, righteousness over crookedness, and instruction over material gain. Last week I gave a few diagnostic questions to test where you might be on each spectrum. If you find yourself living for wickedness, crookedness, or material gain, God wants you to change. Do you believe it’s possible?
For those who love wickedness over truth, know that Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6). He came into the world to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). He spoke not on his own authority, but he spoke only what the Father commanded him to speak (John 12:49-50). Jesus spoke truth while he was on earth, and then he sent the Spirit of truth to guide us into all the truth (John 16:13). Though we set aside the truth for our wicked desires, Jesus never did. And when we trust in him, his Spirit won’t allow us to get too far from the truth.
For those who love crookedness over righteousness, know that Jesus is the righteous one (1 John 2:1). If you sin and get distracted from God’s straight path, you have an approved advocate before the Father. Jesus speaks as your defense attorney, arguing your case before the judge. And Jesus acts as your defense barrier (the meaning of “propitiation“), intercepting God’s wrath against your unholy desires and choices (1 John 2:2).
For those who love material gain over instruction, know that Jesus became to you wisdom from God (1 Cor 1:30). He who was rich became poor for your sake, so you through his poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8:9). He endured the cross, despising the shame, all for the joy set before him (Heb 12:2) – the joy of winning you!
Armed with this good news, you’re free to make different choices.
Gaze upon Christ the Truth, and you will love the truth. Spend more time in the Word, because it means spending more time with Jesus. Speak the truth to others, because you love them enough to bring them to Jesus. Get help with your finances and choose not to click the porn link, because you know the truth – that these things will make you more miserable and lead you away from Christ the Truth.
Gaze upon Jesus Christ the righteous, and you will love righteousness. Your life will become far more clear as the crookedness straightens out. Decisions will be easier, because the fogginess of sinful self-justification will lift. You’ll learn to choose to love God and love your neighbor, for on these two straightforward principles hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Gaze upon Jesus your wisdom from God, and you will love instruction. You’ll find that which you could never pay for. You’ll receive that which you could not earn. Your heart will soften, your sin won’t feel like something worth protecting, and you’ll know the fear of the Lord and the joy of godly change. Your stuff will become more useful than ever before, because you’ll see it as a tool for the kingdom and not as the end of happiness. You’ll be able to use it without having it use you.
So what should you do when you don’t love what wisdom loves? Love something else. Love Jesus, and you’ll learn some sense in the process.
Seduction’s tactics are not complicated (Prov 7:10-20):
Hamed Saber (2006), Creative Commons
Though death awaits, we still regularly go looking for trouble and find it. What applications can we make from Proverbs 7? How do we strengthen our resistance to this wily enemy?
The battle begins long before you face sin’s temptation. This is where you discover whether you want to resist it or not. “Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected” (1 John 2:4-5, ESV).
Do you have time scheduled to soak in the commands of God? Do you have adequate time in the Scripture? Do you even want to have such time?
As you spend time in God’s word, you hear the voice of Jesus. His perspective overshadows your own. His delight drowns yours. His death gives you life and reminds you of what’s most important. Hint: It’s not your self-gratification but his kingdom. When Jesus is your intimate friend, immorality’s seduction becomes less and less seductive. Why would you gorge on black licorice when there’s ice cream in the freezer?
As best you can, try to figure out what you’re thinking while in the midst of temptation. What do you really want? What do you think this immoral act will give you? This is difficult because immorality is not particularly logical. But your thinking provides the avenue to your heart. You and I must identify the lies before we can replace them with the truth.
Did you have a hard day with difficult deadlines and unresolved conflict? Do you think sexual sin will offer an escape?
Does your life feel out of control? Do you think sexual sin will make you feel powerful and stable once again?
Are you feeling sorry for yourself? Do you feel mistreated, alone, abandoned, or discouraged? Do you think sexual sin will make you happy again? Do you think it will feel good?
Remind yourself that the Lord is near, and he sees all. How does that influence your motivations?
You might expect me to say “remember the gospel.” And that’s critical, but it comes with another key discipline: Reinforce the pain. Not in a guilt-ridden, beat-yourself-up sort of way, but in a sobered, moment-of-truth, life-lesson sort of way.
By “reinforce the pain,” I don’t mean that you should flagellate yourself and feel sorry for yourself all over again. That would not be in line with the fact that Jesus already died to rescue you.
No, I mean that you should receive the Lord’s discipline. He disciplines those he loves, and he chastises every son he receives (Heb 12:6). No discipline is pleasant at the time, but painful. So receive the pain. Learn from it. Brand it on your conscience and leverage it to strengthen you in your Father’s love.
As a teenager, I once drove a girl home and ended up making out with her in the car before she went inside. It didn’t surprise me when it happened. I had hoped it would happen when I offered to give her a lift; I was reasonably sure she was baiting me to it (though I blame myself, not her, for the idiocy of it).
But afterward I felt awful. I felt so bad about it—not because I felt condemned by God, but because it felt so unsatisfying—that as I drove the rest of the way home, I prayed to God and shouted things at myself: “That was not fun! That really sucked! That was the stupidest thing you could do!”
I don’t condone fits of rage, and I acknowledge that this story is somewhat childish. But I’ll confess that few things have been more helpful to me when I face sexual temptation. The memory of my private shouting match has stuck with me ever since. I’m not perfect, but often, when I face temptation, I still hear my own voice: “That was not fun! That really sucked!” And the memory of the pain reminds me both to remember what Jesus has done and to reconsider what the Lord would have me do.
And I have never regretted such remembrance and reconsideration.
Question: What practical steps have helped you to unmask immorality’s deceptive tactics?
We commit sexual immorality, not because we are victims to our desires, but because we are looking for trouble. We’re then tempted to believe either that we have to try harder or that we’ll never change. But there is a better way.
Those who walk with Christ will say to wisdom, “You are my sister.” They will call insight their intimate friend (Prov 7:4).
Your desires can change. You can train your heart by grace to love the truth. When you write God’s words upon your heart, you gain a new perspective on the things that once tripped you up. Instead of passing along the street near immorality’s corner, you can look out from your window and out through your lattice (Prov 7:6).
Artondra Hall (2012), Creative Commons
The scene in Proverbs 7:6-9 fascinates me because Solomon and the youth both see the same set of events. But what they truly see couldn’t be any different.
God’s grace will train you to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions (Titus 2:11-13), because God, in his grace, will show you in his word what ungodliness and worldly passions have to offer: death, death, and more death.
Ask the Lord to show you your path and turn you to his. Write his commandments on your heart and live (Prov 7:2).
And when you find yourself on the wrong path under cover of darkness, whip out those words which can be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Ps 119:105). If they’re not already on your heart, ready to go, they won’t be much help to you when it counts.
Do you still want to look for trouble? I can assure you: You’ll find it.
Are you ready to look out upon trouble and reject it? Christ your wisdom can help.
In Proverbs 7, Solomon unmasks immorality’s deception to help us stand against it. The problem, however, is that you and I usually don’t want to stand against it.
Now we’ll give plenty of lip service to “accountability” and “boundaries.” We love to wallow in guilt and misery. We whine about the springtime and about how it resurfaces hordes of scantily clad North American tribeswomen.
But when the sun goes down, and we think we’re alone, and we believe we’ll get away with it—we once again pass right down the street near her corner, taking the way to her house. We know exactly where Immorality keeps her residence, and we frequent her establishment and browse her seductive wares.
6 For at the window of my house
I have looked out through my lattice,
7 and I have seen among the simple,
I have perceived among the youths,
a young man lacking sense,
8 passing along the street near her corner,
taking the road to her house
9 in the twilight, in the evening,
at the time of night and darkness. (Prov 7:6-9, ESV)
Observe who is the “victim” here. He is the “simple,” one of “the youths” (Prov 7:7). He is the one who loves being simple (Prov 1:22). He could become wise, but he doesn’t yet want to. He refuses to receive prudence, knowledge, and discretion (Prov 1:4). He won’t turn at reproof (Prov 1:23-27).
This young man knows the right thing to do, but he won’t do it. All hope is not lost; there’s still time for him to change his mind and turn. He doesn’t need more information or education. He needs to fear the Lord (Prov 1:7).
Notice, though, how else he is described: “a young man lacking sense” (Prov 7:7). Though I believe, generally, that you don’t need to know Hebrew in order to study the Bible, there are times when wordplay doesn’t translate well. This is one of those cases.
The Hebrew word for “sense” is the same Hebrew word used in verse 3 for “heart.” Solomon says: My son, you must bind the commandments on your heart (v.3); but here is a young man lacking “sense/heart” (v.7). Dear reader, you must get this, lest you die: if you don’t write God’s words on your heart, you will lack anything of substance in your heart, and you will continue seeking trouble for yourself.
What does this mean?
Those who take the time to learn and study God’s words, memorizing them and delighting in them—these are the ones who find something more desirable than immorality. Because in loving God’s words, they love God himself. By drowning themselves in God’s words, they find saturation in God’s favor. With wisdom close at hand and intimate (Prov 7:4), they won’t feel the need for another (counterfeit) companion.
Now, observe the victim’s tactics. He passes along the street near her corner. He takes the road to her house. He does it under cover of darkness. If you didn’t catch it, Solomon repeats this last point 4 times: twilight, evening, time of night, darkness (Prov 7:9).
Dennis Wong (2009), Creative Commons
The victim is actually the perpetrator. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows what road he’s on. He knows who lives on that corner. He could take a million different routes, but he chooses this one at this time because it will get him where he wants to go.
Here is the point: You are not a victim to your desires. You are not a slave to your sexual sin.
You and I are willing, intentional, conscious, premeditated, first-degree, voluntary, calculated, and deliberate partners with immorality. And what can we do about that?
Some people say, “I had better try harder. I’m not being good enough.” But this approach leads only to more death.
Others say, “I’ll never change.” The gospel-loving, spiritually sanctified version of this sentiment uses comforting terms like “besetting sin” and “deeply-rooted patterns.” But this approach often flies in the face of God’s call to repentance and drastic life change.
There is another way. I’ll write more of it next week.
According to Proverbs 7:1-5, your battle with sexual immorality begins by writing God’s words of wisdom on your heart. You can’t wait until your hormones kick in before deciding how to honor God with your body.
This week I’d like to take that main point and run it through the Application Matrix to generate a variety of potential applications.
The battle approaches. Time to lock and load.
Do you believe this battle is worth fighting? Do you believe it’s possible to fight and win, or have you given up, thinking that immorality will simply characterize the rest of your days? What passages of Scripture most motivate you in this realm? Do you believe God’s Spirit working through the word is powerful enough to defeat the sin in your heart? Or do you expect to keep doing the same thing and get a different result?
Generation Bass, Creative Commons
What rules your heart? What have you written there? Can you quote the Hunger Games movies more readily than Scripture? Do you want things to be any different? I don’t just mean the guilt. I mean the holiness of life and denial of self that will produce true and lasting joy in knowing God.
Take time this week to memorize Proverbs 7:1-5. Write these words on the tablet of your heart. Cut a bit of time on social media to work on the memorization. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your intimate friend. Jesus is your best friend and counselor; get to know him better this week.
One of the best ways to get your focus off yourself is to consider others. As you build your influence for Christ and help others to write the word on their hearts, you can’t help but draw closer to the Lord yourself.
Whom has God put in your life, whom you can serve and lead in godly wisdom? What Scripture passages would be good to help them write on their hearts?
How can you help others to value what the Lord values? How can you avoid merely giving people a list of rules and behaviors, and instead help them identify the desires of their hearts that lead them to commit immorality (pleasure, escape, control)?
Perhaps you can spend time this week practicing memory verses with those you lead. You can ask what they’re learning from the word. You can ask what will be their plan when they face temptation (how they can choose intimacy with Christ their wisdom over the false intimacy of pornography or immoral relationships).
God wants to change specific people in specific ways and so conform them to the image of Christ. Reading, writing, and speaking about immorality won’t guarantee change. Only repentance and obedience show our faith to be true. Will you work out your salvation this week, even as God works his perfect will in you?
