Why Do I Need to Study the Bible? Isn't Just Believing in God Enough?
Believing in God is good, but it is not enough because that is not what God is after. He is after our being LIKE him, knowing his nature and DOING it, BEING him. "Do not resemble this world, except become transformed through the renewal of your vision, and be discerning as to what is good, acceptable and mature according to Allaha's will" (Romans 12: 2; Alexander).
Conversely, knowing everything in the Bible does not impress God, either, because that is not what he is after. He is after our being LIKE him, knowing his nature and DOING it, BEING him. It is 1st Corinthians 13: 2 all over: "If . . . I know all the sermons and have all knowledge, and if there was in me all the faith, whereas I could move a mountain, and yet there was no love in me, I would be nothing" (Alexander).
The thing is, God talks to us silently through illustrations. It is not the knowledge of scripture we are to get by studying the Bible, it is what we by that knowledge can see and by hearing become. God uses our knowledge of the scripture to enlighten and inform us, to develop us into becoming him.
God is not after our believing in him or having all knowledge about him. Nor is he after our doing all kinds of wonderfully kind things or living sacrificial lives. He is after our becoming him. The scriptures are educational illustrations of his nature and character. He talks to us through them. I guarantee that we all misunderstand the scriptures as we learn them, but God enlightens us to understand what he means by them. But only if we know them well enough for him to call them to our minds. The more we know, the more he can talk; and believe me, he's got a lot to say.
We must both believe that God exists and diligently seek him: "Seek first, however, the Kingdom of Allaha and his righteousness" (Matthew 6: 33; Alexander). The Kingdom of God is his power and his wisdom, and if you know the Greek you know that 'kingdom' is a place. How are power and wisdom a place? The place of God's wisdom and power is the skull. That is where he is crucified, buried, and sleeping in death in "hell" as you! We are to get with him there and receive from him the keys of the Kingdom -- the imagination. Then we can join with him in his resurrection and ascension.
These things we know from having STUDIED the scriptures. Without knowing what is in there, we know nothing and make no progress in becoming LIKE God. With our knowing the scriptures, he can talk to us by calling them to mind and revealing their meaning to us. Yes, it is odd that we "hear" what we see when he reveals their meaning to us, but the big thing is that we learn what we are to become and then move to BE it. That is the mystery of imagination -- the DOING of what we learn IN and BY the imagination.
P.S. His nature is LOVE.
Conversely, knowing everything in the Bible does not impress God, either, because that is not what he is after. He is after our being LIKE him, knowing his nature and DOING it, BEING him. It is 1st Corinthians 13: 2 all over: "If . . . I know all the sermons and have all knowledge, and if there was in me all the faith, whereas I could move a mountain, and yet there was no love in me, I would be nothing" (Alexander).
The thing is, God talks to us silently through illustrations. It is not the knowledge of scripture we are to get by studying the Bible, it is what we by that knowledge can see and by hearing become. God uses our knowledge of the scripture to enlighten and inform us, to develop us into becoming him.
God is not after our believing in him or having all knowledge about him. Nor is he after our doing all kinds of wonderfully kind things or living sacrificial lives. He is after our becoming him. The scriptures are educational illustrations of his nature and character. He talks to us through them. I guarantee that we all misunderstand the scriptures as we learn them, but God enlightens us to understand what he means by them. But only if we know them well enough for him to call them to our minds. The more we know, the more he can talk; and believe me, he's got a lot to say.
We must both believe that God exists and diligently seek him: "Seek first, however, the Kingdom of Allaha and his righteousness" (Matthew 6: 33; Alexander). The Kingdom of God is his power and his wisdom, and if you know the Greek you know that 'kingdom' is a place. How are power and wisdom a place? The place of God's wisdom and power is the skull. That is where he is crucified, buried, and sleeping in death in "hell" as you! We are to get with him there and receive from him the keys of the Kingdom -- the imagination. Then we can join with him in his resurrection and ascension.
These things we know from having STUDIED the scriptures. Without knowing what is in there, we know nothing and make no progress in becoming LIKE God. With our knowing the scriptures, he can talk to us by calling them to mind and revealing their meaning to us. Yes, it is odd that we "hear" what we see when he reveals their meaning to us, but the big thing is that we learn what we are to become and then move to BE it. That is the mystery of imagination -- the DOING of what we learn IN and BY the imagination.
P.S. His nature is LOVE.
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
3:49 AM
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