These next two posts are going to be slightly different than my others. If you have read my other posts then you know how important the Bible is and why every professing Christian should devote time to studying it. In these two posts I am simply going to put this into a list and expand on why the Bible is important and the importance of knowing what it says.
4. Sword of the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:17- and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God,
Hebrews 4:12- For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of the soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the hearts.
The Bible is the ultimate weapon in any spiritual battle. The Bible is what Christians need to turn to for any need. Need help evangelizing? Read your Bible (For more on this see number 2). Feel like you are under attack by the enemy? Read your Bible. It is important to know the Bible so that you can fully utilize it as the Sword of the Spirit. If a soldier is under trained with a sword then it is likely that someone could take it away and use it against him. The same can be said of the Bible. If you do not know scripture well enough, then the enemy will try to use it against you. This is shown very clearly during Jesus's temptation in the desert. (Matthew 4:1-11) If you are familiar with this then please take note of how Jesus countered. He countered with MORE scripture and the devil left with his tail between his legs. Because of Jesus's intense knowledge of scripture (He is the Son of God after all) He knew how to use the weapon at His disposal when the devil tried to use it to trip Him up. Now we don't have the inherent and perfect knowledge that is at Jesus's disposal, but we can certainly enhance our understanding of scripture by constant study of it.
3. God’s Voice
Luke 11:28 But he said, "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!"
If people want to hear the Word of God it is really a simple thing to accomplish. All that you have to do is open the Bible and you will have 66 books of the Word of God, and in it God talks addresses any question that you might have. I'm not saying that if you are reading the Gospel of John you are literally going to read, "You need to be a doctor." No, I am merely saying that if you want to know God, and how He wants you to make your choices, then reading the Bible is the best way to accomplish this.
You may have been praying once and felt like you audibly received a word from God. I am not going to refute that this is impossible because I believe that it is. However, you shouldn't just accept it as God's voice without first checking what was said through scripture. Here are a couple of reasons for this.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Yes there are some bad things in this world. They want to derail you from your pursuit of righteousness. Just because you have a feeling, heard a voice, or have some other inclination, it does not necessarily mean that it is God-sent. That is why you must put everything to the test even what other people tell you; it is your responsibility to test its accuracy. The Bible is the measure in which to test it. Whether it is from another person, by supernatural experience, or by some feeling that you have, it must be verified through scripture. The Bible is God's word. God does not change. He will not contradict Himself.
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