Page 79 - Biblical Ethics Course

You should be teaching something, somewhere during seminary. Do more affective like practicing the
presence, journaling and prayer.

II. Scriptural Support
A. Jeremiah 15:16
In order for the Word to be exciting there needs to be output as well as intake.
B. 1 Thessalonians 5:27
C. 2 Timothy 2:15
D. 1 Peter 2:1-3

III. Insights from Spiritual Leaders

A. “It’s hard for us to imagine that many of us have more Bibles in our homes than entire churches have
in some Third-World situations. But it’s one thing to be unfamiliar with Scripture when you don’t own
a Bible; it’s another thing when you have a bookshelf full.

No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it.
There is simply no healthy Christian life apart from the diet of the milk and meat of Scripture” (Donald
Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines For the Christian Life, p. 24).

B. Helpful Attitudes

The Positive: I want to learn how to study the Bible. No doubt I will have trouble learning some of the
Bible study skills. I am sure there will be things in the Bible I’ll not understand. But I believe that
through the help of the Holy Spirit I too can learn how to gain insight into God’s Word.

The Receptive: God asks of me only an open heart and an open mind so that he can reveal himself
and his truths to me. I don’t have to understand everything.

The Expectant: I am coming to God’s Word to let him speak to me. It is good to know that I don’t
have to inject ideas into my reading or to try to squeeze truths out of it. As I study and pray, I believe
that the message in any Scripture passage will unfold itself to me.

The Faithful: I cannot expect much from Bible study unless I am willing to invest some energy and
discipline in the study. I realize that God has placed a price on his Word: faithfulness and diligence in
study. If I only scratch the surface, my reward is a few crumbs. If I dig deeply into the Word, my
reward will be rich treasures (Oletta Wald, The Joy of Discovery, pp. 11-12).

C. “Regular Bible reading and meditation is associated with a generally stable emotional life and the
ability to ride out shocks of various kinds… It is evident that continuing Christian discipleship, and
particularly serious attention to the Bible and its message on a regular basis, does motivate Christians
across the board of personal and social concerns, and may well be the lever to reverse the trend of a
society that apparently is becoming more Christian in religious persuasion and less just in social and
personal practice” (Harold O. J. Brown, “What’s the Connection Between Faith and Works?”
pp. 28-29).

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