STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD

PROCLAMATION

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to Timothy, his son in the ministry, to provide him with directions and instructions. (1 Timothy 1:2)  In this second chapter of this second letter to Timothy, Paul repeats his appeal for him to be strong in the grace that is Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 2:1)  He encourages Timothy to join him in the suffering as a soldier.  He compares it to an athlete in competition and also to a hardworking farmer. (2 Timothy 2:3-7)  He reminds him again that he is chained to a criminal but says that The Word of God is not chained. (2 Timothy 2:8-10)  Then he reminds Timothy of a trustworthy old saying about dying and living with Christ; and enduring and reigning with Him. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)  He tells him to remind the people of the things which he has been taught and to warn them about quarreling over words.  Then Paul tells Timothy to “study” so that he can correctly divide the truth from that which is not. (2 Timothy 2:14-15)  He also tells him not to engage in idle conversation and to avoid those who engage in false teaching.  He says that the people of God are made for special purposes and they should flee from the evil desires of their youth. (2 Timothy 2:16-26)

 

APPLICATION

We all need to be diligent students of The Word of God.  We need to know what The Bible says and know what it means.  False prophets will present things which are not in The Bible and intentionally misinterpret what it does say.  We need to “Study … rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 – KJV)  When people tell you that something is in The Bible, ask them for the book, chapter, and verse where it can be found so that you can verify it for yourself.  When we know what The Bible says, we should do what it says. (James 1:22)  We need to humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  We need to flee from the evil desires of our youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. (2 Timothy 2:22)  None of us will ever be perfect, but when we know better, we should do better.  Let us do that which gives God glory.

LET THE WISE LISTEN AND ADD TO THEIR LEARNING

Proclamation:

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let discerning get guidance; for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise.  The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Proverbs 1:5-7 (NIV)

Explanation:

These proverbs are the words of King Solomon, son of King David, the king of Israel.  They were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God to provide instruction and guidance to the people of God.  This first proverb begins by discussing wisdom, instruction and knowledge. (Proverbs 1:1-6)  “Fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)  Then it warns them not to hang out with evil men who plan to harm and take advantage of the innocent. (Proverbs 1:10-19)  The remainder of this proverb describes the consequences which they would receive for not following this advice. (Proverbs 1:20-33)

Application:

It has been said that maybe God gave us two ears and one mouth because He wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as we did talking.  All too often we listen just so that we can respond to what was said.  It is good to listen in order to gain knowledge and understanding.  However, we do not understand everything that we hear or read.  Some things must be explained to us, and some things only The Holy Spirit of God can reveal to us.  Reading The Bible is good, but much more insight and knowledge can be gained from prayerful Bible study.  “Study to show yourself approved unto God.” (2 Timothy 2:15)  Only the fool does not want to learn or get any wiser.  To learn is to grow, and only dead things don’t grow.  Don’t be a dead soul, pray and ask The Lord God to increase your wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of His Holy Word then apply what you learn.

OPEN MY EYES THAT I MAY SEE THE WONDERFUL THINGS IN YOUR WORD

Proclamation:

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in Your law.  I am a stranger on earth; do not hide Your commands from me.”  Psalm 119:18-19 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this the third part, Gimel, of this twenty-two part psalm, David is continuing his conversation with The Lord God.  David refers to The Word of God as God’s law (Psalm 119:18) God’s commands (Psalm 119:19) God’s statutes (Psalms 119:22) and God’s decrees. (Psalm 119:23)  Earlier he had also referred to them as God’s precepts (Psalm 119:4 and 15) and later he refers to them as judgments (Psalm 119:52) and testimonies. (Psalm 119:46)  One can only speculate as to why he chose to use so many different words to refer to one and the same thing.  Regardless, he begins this part by asking The Lord God to deal bountifully with him, to bless him with grace and mercy so that he can obey God’s Word. (Psalm 119:17)   He wants The Lord to increase his understanding and appreciation of God’s law and to enlighten him with respect to discerning the spiritual things contained therein.

Application:

Many of us read things and do not get very much out them.  The Bible is not an easy book to read and many people get only bits and pieces out of it.  Believers should delight in The Word of God and should want to know more about it.  We need to pray that The Lord God will open our eyes and enlighten us so that as we read and meditate on His Holy Word that we will be enriched and our understanding increased.  We need to study The Word of God so that we can rightly divide the truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)  We should not rely solely on our own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)  Sunday School, Bible Study, and Bible courses are designed to enhance our appreciation of The Word of God.  Anything that is not growing is dead.  If we want God to reveal more to us, then we must ask Him and let Him show us the way.  Like David was, we are strangers on this earth, we are in this world but not of it. (John 8:23 and 18:36)  We are on our way to our heavenly home, this earthly journey is just part of our preparation.  Let us allow The Word of God to show us the way and be a light on our path. (Psalm 119:105)

STILL BABES IN CHRIST

Proclamation:

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by The Spirit but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly.”  1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God to the believers in Corinth.  Paul told them that they had not grown since they accepted Christ as their Savior.  He told them that they were still babes in Christ.  He said that he could not address them about spiritual issues because they were still concerned about worldly issues.  Their conversations and arguments reveal that they have not grown spiritually.

Application:

When it comes to The Word of God, are you ready for more meat, or are you still drinking milk?  Have you grown in your knowledge and understanding of Christ and The Word of God, or are you still a babe in Christ?  Just because we have been in church, or physically attending church services, for a number of years, does not mean that we have matured spiritually.  It does not matter how old we are chronologically, we can still be a babe in Christ.  Paul makes it clear that sometimes preachers have to preach and teach the people in church like they are the lost folk of the world. (1 Corinthians 3:1)  They had heard The Word of God and believed it, but they had not grown in their understanding of it.  That is why he called them babes in Christ.  The same point is made in The Bible Book of Hebrews.  Some people had been exposed to The Word of God often enough that they should be able to teach it to someone else, but they were still babes in Christ themselves. (Hebrews 5:12-13)  Some of us are still just listening to The Word of God every Sunday and not making any effort to dig any deeper and to learn and understand more about it.  After all of our years in church, we are still babes in Christ.  We need to read and study The Word of God and live it in order to correctly explain it and to grow spiritually. (2 Timothy 2:15)

STUDY THE WORD OF GOD

Proclamation:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)  In The New International Version (NIV) of The Bible this verse reads: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Explanation:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, in a letter to his young protégé, Timothy, to encourage him to study The Word of God.   A believer should not be ashamed of God's Word.  He said that study was necessary to correctly interpret The Word of God.

Application:

Reading The Word of God is good and it is good for us. (Revelation 1:3)  Studying The Word of God is even better because it improves our understanding and, when it is done prayerfully, it increases our knowledge and wisdom.   When we know more about The Lord God, and what He intended for us to do, we would be much more likely to live by His Word. (2 Peter 2:21)  We should not be ashamed to be seen reading and studying The Word of God.  As believers we ought to do both, read and study, much more often than we do.  Hopefully my Bible Based Life Lessons will increase the reader’s knowledge and understanding of God’s Holy Word and hopefully also stimulate and encourage more Bible reading and study.

Study The Word Of God

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

These words were written by the Apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, in a letter to his young protege, Timothy, to encourage him to study The Word of God.   A believer should not be ashamed of God's Word.  He said that study was necessary to correctly interpret The Word of God.

Reading The Word of God is good.   Studying The Word of God is even better,  because it improves one's understanding and, when it is done prayerfully, it increases one's knowledge and wisdom.   When we know more about The Lord God, and what He intended for us to do,  we would be much more likely to live by His Word.   We should not be ashamed to be seen reading and studying The Word of God, and we ought to do both much more often than we do.

Do Not Believe All That You Hear

"But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.  Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.  In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.  Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."  2 Peter 2:1-3 (NIV)

These are the words of warning to the believers, written by the Apostle Peter, and inspired by The Holy Spirit of God.  He warned them that there were false prophets and false teachers among them who would tell them made up stories in order to deceive, exploit, and take advantage of them.

Unfortunately for us, there are still false prophets and false teachers among us today.  Every thing that we hear from our leaders, even some religious leaders, is not truthful or Biblically correct.  Some of them seek to deceive others for their personal gain.  We must be careful to use the Bible as the standard of truth and compare all that we hear to it.  We are to study The Word of God so that we can rightly divide what we hear. (2 Timothy 2:15)  We are to speak up against that which we hear that is not truthful. (Acts 17:11)  We are to guard our minds and our hearts because some who are close to us will lie to us, and we do not want to repeat that which is not the truth. (Proverbs 4:23)  All that sounds good is not truthful. (Proverbs 3:5) 

Study The Bible And Avoid Idle Conversation

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.  Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly."  2 Timothy 2:15-16 (NIV)  The King James Version says "Study to show thyself approved unto God..." 

These are the words of that prolific New Testament writer, the Apostle Paul, to his young protege in the ministry, Timothy.  Paul was encouraging Timothy to diligently apply himself  to the study of The Word of God. so that he would understand it, and be able to explain it to the people and thereby please The Lord.  Paul told him to avoid idle conversation and arguments, and to kind and gentle as he teaches The Word of God. (2 Timothy 2:16 and 23-26)

Most of us do not read the Bible as often as we should.  Studying The Word of God requires much more than just reading it.  Study entails developing an appreciation for the context in which something was said or done, looking up the definition of words, and comparing the content of a verse with other Bible verses that address the same content.  We all should read and study much more.  Here Paul urges Timothy to study and to do his best to correctly present The Word of God.  He told him not to be ashamed of his efforts but to be careful in the manner in which he speaks and teaches.  We would all also do well to heed Paul's warning to avoid idle godless conversation. Jesus, The Christ said that we would be judged on every idle word that we speak. (Matthew 12:36)  Christ also said that by our words we would be justified, and by our words we would be condemned. (Matthew 12:37)  Much of what we say could be left unspoken, because it is not helpful, and it does not praise God or give Him glory. As servants of The Lord we are not to quarrel with others, we are to kindly tell them what The Lord says. (2 Timothy 2:23-26)  It is the job and sanctifying work of The Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and convert them as He deems necessary. (2 Thessalonians 2:13 and 1 Peter 1:2)  If they will not hear us, or listen to us, it is better for us to just walk away than to argue with them. (Mark 6:11)  We should always be mindful of the fact that our behavior may be the only "Bible" that they will ever read.

Grow In Knowledge Of The Lord

"Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen."  2 Peter 3:17-18 (NIV)

The Apostle Peter wrote to the believers to encourage them to grow in the knowledge of The Lord, so that they would not fall victim to the false teachers and the false doctrine which was being put forth.  He began this letter expressing his concern for their increase in the knowledge of The Lord (2 Peter 1:2-3), and he ended it the same way.  

We need to be aware today of the teachers of false doctrine.  There are those who deny Christ, those who present a different doctrine, and those who twist and intentionally pervert The Word of God.  Only through prayer and persistent study of The Word of God, can we develop and mature, and increase our knowledge of The Lord and His Word.  Then we will be able to correctly discern, interpret, and explain The Word of Truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)  It is expected that we would grow in our knowledge and understanding of The Word of God, so that as we grow in age, we would also grow in knowledge and wisdom. (Hebrews 5:11-14)