Should we "study" the Bible?

IamPJ

Well-Known Member
Thanks for bumping. Very interesting posts. I always felt I was missing something because I wasn't studying the Bible properly. I instead just read the Bible over and over. I've learned something new each time I read. Glad to know I don't have to be a scholar to understand the Bible.
 

caligal

Well-Known Member
I also prayerfully read the Bible. I have read sometimes and then later in the day hear something or see something and have the Holy Spirit say, See? Thats what I was talking about. Whew! I just love it when that happens!
 

sara ann

Well-Known Member
I like all of the post in this thread.....and I thank Meg for giving us a prime example as to why we too should be Bereans...and search the scriptures daily to see if what we are told or read is so....acts 17:11...to me we do our searching within the confines of our Bibles.

I really really like this thread
 

TruthBJesus

Member
Intellectual study alone produces only man's wisdom which is why we have the throngs of lost theologians and professors that fill our seminaries and our churches today. Therefore, while intellectual application to the study of the Word is useful, it is only the quickening of the Holy Spirit upon that Word, taking it from logos to rhema in a person's heart, that will produce the true understanding of God and the truest change in one's life.

Amen Adrian. Your 2nd post clarifies your original OP succinctly. Dietrich Bonhoffer's life is a prime example of head knowledge without spiritual understanding. Here he was a PHD in theology but yet not a believer. Then, through God's amazing lead, brought Dietrich into a spiritual "awakening" using a Baptist Pastor. How great is our God that He indwells in us, to teach us His truths. It only stands to reason, that since He wrote the scriptures, who better then to provide understanding?

Since the Holy Spirit is the Teacher, whether you approach the Bible systematically or haphazardly, whether you approach it with a specific goal in mind or just to enjoy reading its contents, it is not our intellectual application that will be most profitable. That intellectual effort will result more in a head knowledge of His Word than anything else. But to approach it prayerfully and humbly, asking for His Word to pierce your heart, with no goal in mind but to know Him better, you will find that He will reveal things to you in the most wonderful ways at the most unexpected times.

I fully concur. We must always "prayerfully" ask Him to reveal His truth to us as we read, allowing His word to change our conduct rather than attempt some form of intellectual exercise.
 

GlennO

Well-Known Member
I believe the question stated by the title, is answered in Proverbs...

1:8 The first seven chapters are largely addressed to "My son"; the expression occurs about 15 times. In these chapters, we hear the heartbeat of a parent who wants the best in life for his child. By heeding this parental advice, a young person will avoid life's booby traps and develop expertise in practical, everyday affairs.
How much we owe to the influence of godly parents, and especially godly mothers! Henry Bosch reminds us:
Many great men of the past have been richly blessed by what they learned at their mother's knee. Consider Moses, Samuel, and Timothy. The maternal care and godly influence experienced by these spiritual leaders bore rich fruit in their lives. Think too of Augustine, John Newton, and the zealous Wesley brothers. Their names would probably never have lighted the pages of history if it hadn't been for the godly women who raised them in homes where the law of love and Christian witness was their daily guide and inspiration.

1:9 When parental advice is followed, it becomes a graceful wreath on the head and ornamental chains about the neck, which is a poetic way of saying that obedience brings honor and moral beauty to the life of a wise son.

1:10 Often when a young man ruins his life, the explanation is given that he "got in with the wrong crowd." The process is described in verses

10-19 in living color.
First, however, the warning flag is flown. Life is full of enticements to evil. We must have the courage and backbone to say "No" a thousand times a week.

1:11 Here the street-corner gang invites our young friend to participate in an armed robbery. If necessary they will "bump off" the victim. Our friend may be flattered that these toughs would accept him as one of the gang. "Come with us," they say. And he may be lured by the excitement of anything so daring.

1:12-14 Perhaps he is bored by a sheltered life, and wants to do something "for kicks." Well, here it is! The perfect crime! Sudden and violent death, then a quick disposal of any tell-tale evidence. And the great incentive, of course, is that they will all be rich overnight. There will be enough loot to fill the houses of all the accomplices. So the word is, "Get with it, and you'll make a bundle. Everyone shares equally. You can't lose."

1:15, 16 But a wiser voice says, "My son, don't do it. Stay as far away from them as possible. Have nothing to do with their plans for instant wealth. You can't win."
"What you must realize is that these guys constantly pursue lives of crime, and are quick on the trigger. They commit one murder after another in rapid succession."

1:17, 18 A bird has enough sense to avoid any net or snare that can be clearly seen. But these men make a trap for their own lives, then walk straight into it.

1:19 There is a moral to the story. Those who try to get rich quick pay for their greed with their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners.
This particular passage deals with the attempt to get rich through violence. But the application is wider. Any get-rich-quick scheme is included, whether it be gambling, sweepstakes, or stock market speculation.
Next we hear two voices calling out to men as they pass by. One is the voice of Wisdom, the other the voice of the strange woman. Wisdom, though presented here as a woman, actually symbolizes the Lord Jesus Christ. The strange woman is a type of sinful temptation and of the ungodly world.
In verses 20-33 Wisdom pleads with those who foolishly think they can get along without her.

1:20 Notice that Wisdom stands and calls aloud in strategic places so that everyone may hear her message. She raises her voice in the city squares.



1:21 Now she is at the noisy intersections, and now at the entrances of the gates of the city. And so it is that our Lord calls to the race of men wherever they pass by:
Where cross the crowded ways of life,
Where sound the cries of race and clan,
Above the noise of selfish strife,
We hear Thy voice, O Son of Man!
—Frank Mason North

1:22 Wisdom cries to the simple, the scorners, and fools. The simple are naive, impressionable people who are open to all kinds of influences, both good and bad; here their instability seems to be leading them in the wrong direction. Scorners are those who treat wise counsel with contempt; nothing is sacred or serious to them. Fools are those who senselessly refuse instruction; they are conceited and opinionated in their ignorance.

1:23 This verse may be understood in two ways. First, it may mean,
Since you won't listen to my invitation, now turn and listen to my rebuke. I will pour out my spirit in words of judgment, and will tell you what lies ahead for you.
According to this interpretation, verses 24-27 are the words which describe their fate.
The second possible meaning is this:
Turn and repent when I reprove you. If you do, then I will pour out my spirit on you in blessing, and make my words of wisdom known to you.
The word "spirit" here probably means "thoughts" or "mind." While it is true that Christ pours out the Holy Spirit on those who answer His call, this truth was not as clearly stated in the OT as it is in the NT.

1:24 One of the greatest tragedies of life is the crass rejection of Wisdom's gracious entreaties. It called forth the lament of lost opportunity from the summit of Olivet, "I would . . . but you would not."

1:25 Wisdom sorrows over men who brush aside all her counsel and who will have nothing to do with her constructive criticism.
What makes man's stubborn refusal so irrational is that God's commandments and warnings are for man's good, not for God's. This is illustrated in a story which D. G. Barnhouse told. A small child squeezed past the metal railing that kept spectators six feet from the lions' cage at the Washington Zoo. When her grandfather ordered her to come out, she backed away teasingly. A waiting lion grabbed her, dragged her into the cage, and mangled her to death. According to Barnhouse the lesson is this:
God has given us commandments and principles that are for our good; God never gives us a commandment because He is arbitrary or because He doesn't want us to have fun. God says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," not because He is jealous of His own position and prerogatives, but because He knows that if we put anything, anything before Him, it will hurt us. If we understand the principle behind this fact, we can also understand why God chastens us. "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens" (Heb_12:6). He doesn't want us to back into a lion, for there is a lion, the devil, seeking whom he may devour.

1:26 If man persists in his refusal to listen, that rejection will inevitably bring disaster and ruin. Then it will be Wisdom's turn to laugh. "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes."
Does this mean that the Lord will actually laugh when disaster falls on the ungodly, as suggested here and in Psa_2:4? If we think of the laughter as containing any trace of cruelty, malice, or vindictiveness, then the answer is clearly "No." Rather we should think of this laughter in a figurative way. In idiomatic language, it expresses how ludicrous and ridiculous it is for a mere man to defy the Omnipotent Sovereign, as if a gnat should defy a blast furnace. And there may also be this thought: A man may laugh at Wisdom's commandments or treat them as if they didn't exist; but when that man is reaping the harvest of his folly, the commandments still stand unmoved, and to the scorner, at least, they seem to be having the last laugh—the laugh of poetic justice.

1:27 Payday will surely come. The judgment men feared will descend on them like a storm. Calamity will roar down like a tornado. Distress, anguish, shock, and despair will seize them.
1:28 Then men will call on Wisdom in vain. They will be desperate to find her, but won't be able to. They will realize too late that light rejected is light denied. They would not see; now they cannot see. God's Spirit will not always strive with man (Gen_6:3). This is what gives urgency to the Gospel appeal:


Be in time! Be in time!
While the voice of Jesus calls you,
Be in time!
If in sin you longer wait,
You may find no open gate,
And your cry be just too late.
Be in time!
—Author unknown, 19th Century


1:29 The condemnation of these scorners is that they hated Wisdom's instructions, and stubbornly refused to reverence Jehovah. Perhaps they sneered that the gospel was all right for women and children, but not for them. "Professing to be wise, they became fools" (Rom_1:22). The hatred of wisdom is also treated in Joh_3:19-21.


1:30 They had no place in their lives for the good counsel contained in the Word of God, and laughed when the Scriptures condemned their ungodly words and works. They weren't afraid of God or of His rebuke.
1:31 Now they must pay the staggering price of their willfulness, and be glutted with the bad fruit of their own schemes. It is their own fault, not Wisdom's. They simply would not listen.

1:32 "For heedless folk fall by their own self-will, the senseless are destroyed by their indifference" (Moffatt). Every man is free to make his own choices in life, but he is not free to choose the consequences of his choices. God has established certain moral principles in the world. These principles dictate the consequences for every choice. There is no way to put asunder what God has thus joined together.

1:33 On the plus side, the one who heeds Wisdom will live in safety and in freedom from fear. Those who are Wisdom's disciples enjoy the good life, escaping the sufferings, sorrows, and shame that dog the footsteps of the willful and the wicked.

Believer's Bible Commentary

After all that has been said, let us pray to the Holy Spirit that we have teachable hearts
 

JC1949

Well-Known Member
Roberto - Truth Brother!!

Thanks for posting that :thumbup:hat:

I'm glad we still have Chuck with us :nod
yes .....it makes me smile considering Chuck wanted go in the rapture so much in the seventies and he is still here and outlived others younger than him:)
Love you bro.

ciao
 

sara ann

Well-Known Member
:thinking:

(Act 17:10) And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

(Act 17:11) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so
I'm finding difficulty making the distinction between "study" and "searching the scriptures daily". :idunno:
I agree I study (or use to) In study it unfolds....I will study a section then go back to restudy and will find a gem that I missed the first or second time.....you don't know the joy I receive when that gem is uncovered…..If we don't know the scripture how will we know when error is spoken????? we study the words of GOD...I do not like the printed materials that are handed out in Sunday School....it's a waste a paper...skim don't skim....get to the meat and stop drinking milk....
 

sara ann

Well-Known Member
well.....I lost my post….just as well....ha ha....I study (or use to) want to get back at it....I'm glad to hear there are Dave Hunt fans here...meat and not milk forever....don't be deceived...know your Bible....it's alive...Jesus is alive...not someone long long ago...HE IS ALIVE
there it is......above this one...I posted to the original post...
 

townerka

Active Member
So, I just read through this thread. Wonderful information! Thank you all. Everyone on this site has truly been a blessing. You all have some wonderful insight I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions on my Christian walk and where I should go from here. I've been a lurker for awhile but I don't post much.

I've been struggling a little lately on "studying" verses "reading" myself. This thread really sparked my interest so I thought I'd post this here. I'll give you a little context and background so you all can help me.

I grew up in church (Southern Baptist). I've gone to summer camps, I've taught Sunday school to kids, I've done other camps for kids and such. I have not shared the gospel as much in "informal" settings which is something I'd like to change. However, I'm struggling here at bit lately on what I should "study" or "read" next. I really want to be able to be prepared to discuss, testify and defend Christianity. How do you guys prepare yourself to speak to non-believers?

I work in business and I'm surrounded by non-believers. They all know I love and follow Jesus and usually mock me (which I don't take personally). I just want to be able to gently encourage non-believers as to why I follow Christ. I’ve done by best to show them Christ’s love through my actions but I want to accompany that with the Word. What do you think would help me greatest? I'm sure your insight here will not only help me share with them but just give me better knowledge to share with believers as well.

Here's what "knowledge" I have of the Bible (I’m sharing this in an effort that you might show me what I lack, not to brag):
  • I memorized some 150 verses throughout the Old and New Testament (I’ve got a nice app that helps me which is why I know haha, I’m sure most of you know way more). I really enjoy prophecy so I’ve memorized a lot of verses in the Old Testament about Christ’s coming.
  • I’ve read through the New Testament multiple times. I started reading John and Matthew over and over (in an attempt to know more about them). I’ve probably read Revelation more than any book because I love it.
  • I’ve listened to almost every Audio Bible study on gracethrufaith.com.
  • I read Jack’s articles almost everyday and read all the Q&A. I find those very helpful.
  • I’ve looked into Biblical Numerology and read through some study’s on Old Testament Names and their meanings to gain more understanding.
  • I feel my spiritual gift is teaching. However, I’m cautious because of James’ warning. I also don’t have a good avenue to use this gift. I’m working on finding a good Bible small group right now to potentially exercise this gift.

Here’s some things I feel I need more study on (the more I come into forums I find I know less not more, hopefully some of you can add to this list):
  • Christian Fundamentals. I mean this to say, what are the things every Christian should know? For example, if you asked me what the fundamentals of basketball were, I could tell you. Only thing I know today is that the foundation is Christ. Maybe that's enough? I’ve read the Nicene creed and some others and they all seem to lead to more and more knowledge I need to gain. After Christ, what are the things about him considered to be fundamental? Then what? On and on...
  • I want to know what the Bible says so I'm not led astray or I can spot heresy (as Jesus says his sheep will not listen to a stranger but run from them).
  • Greek language
  • Admittedly, I have not read through the Old Testament all the way through. I’ve read a lot of the passages but I don’t feel I have a good grasp on the context of what I’m reading so I may be missing the point.
  • Old Testament timelines – 6000 year old earth – conquests and exiles
  • Israel history
  • Jewish customs and laws
  • General theme and audience of every book of the Bible (so as to gain context, maybe I don't need to know this). For example, the Gospels are written for us all but each one seems directed to a certain audience. The letters to the Church seem be to directed to the Church. Revelation seems divided into to some different groups (not that we shouldn't read or understand it all).

So this kinds me back to whether I should be "studying" or "reading?" I lean towards studying only because I want to commit what I've learned to memory and not forget it the next day. My goal is to be able to share an intelligent, thoughtful and gentle response to any non-believer in a respectful manner without saying, “I’ll have to read the Bible and come back.” By the time I’ve done that they are usually no longer interested anyways, and I’ve lost my chance. I also want to study so I can exercise myself gift without constantly having to stop and look up exactly what something says or even worse misquote the Bible.

Since I’m in the business world I’m trying to develop SMART goals and apply that to my Christianity (maybe that’s wrong). I want to run the race in an effort win as suggested by Paul.

I understand we are all apart of the Body of Christ and I may not know everything and maybe I don’t need to. If I’m just the fingernail of the body, I want to be the best fingernail I can be! After reading through some of my knowledge, what do I lack? How can I help the Church? What should I be reading or studying next? What are some things that every Christian should know without hesitation and off the top of his or her heads?

I have a lot of questions. Feel free to answer any or none. Appreciate any and all advice!
 

Kem

Citizen
If I were saying that, sis, I would clearly be a hypocrite, because I do not think there is anybody here who digs into words and grammar more than I! A certain degree of intellectual study of God's Word is profitable ... and God, for His purposes, leads some into more of that type of study than He does others.

My point is simply that we are never told to "study" the Bible in the sense that we understand the word today. We are told to read it and to "commit" it to our hearts ... in otherwise memorize it and the precepts it teaches ... and then to reflect on them in order that we may understand them and obey that which we are shown in it. (Which introduces another topic that I will not go into here—namely that we have to understand the difference between the OT economy and the NT one. Under the OT economy the law was external ... externally obeyed and externally enforced. In the NT, the law is internal; it is internally obeyed and internally enforced.)

So we are to read, learn, and reflect on Scripture. That is all well and good, but the Bible also tells us that the gramma kills but the pneuma gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6) Literally the written word kills but the Spirit gives life. In other words, the written Word without the quickening of the Holy Spirit
will not produce spiritual life in us. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the things of God are spiritually, not naturally, discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Therefore the Bible is far more than an intellectual object. Worldly men can study it intellectually and never come to the truth. The truth comes only from the Holy Spirit enlightening that Word. Christians who approach the Bible in an intellectual fashion using man's methods of analysis in an attempt to comprehend its deep truths intellectually are missing out on so much. They may learn concepts, but God's truths have to make it from the mind to the heart ... and that requires God's timing.

For years I comprehended the Bible intellectually. I stored up an amazing amount of knowledge of His Word. But my life was a life of sin and defeat. It wasn't until the day when God broke me, when He finally brought me to the beautiful place of brokenness and contrition that He desires all to be in, that I was finally in a place where His Spirit could begin the very real process of producing the likeness of Christ in me. I have so very, very far to go. But people who knew me know I have changed. (I prefer to say I am being changed, for it is an ongoing process and the work is all His.)

It was at that time that the head knowledge I had began to be applied to my heart. As He told me 3 o'clock one morning as I lay awake on my bed and rejoiced in all the knowledge He had given me: "Knowledge stored up in the mind is vanity; but applied to the heart it is wisdom."

Since the Holy Spirit is the Teacher, whether you approach the Bible systematically or haphazardly, whether you approach it with a specific goal in mind or just to enjoy reading its contents, it is not our intellectual application that will be most profitable. That intellectual effort will result more in a head knowledge of His Word than anything else. But to approach it prayerfully and humbly, asking for His Word to pierce your heart, with no goal in mind but to know Him better, you will find that He will reveal things to you in the most wonderful ways at the most unexpected times.

So go through the bible book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, word by word, if you like. There is nothing wrong with structure. Read the great teachers and listen to the great preachers. Their instruction and exhortation will inform your mind and often touch your spirit. But know this— it is not the product of your intellect, nor the teachings of others, that will produce an intimate, heart relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the possession of a humble spirit, an obedient mind, and a thankful heart. And those things are produced by the Holy Spirit alone. And the Holy Spirit always works within the parameters of what Christ did on the Cross and through the contents of His Word.

Intellectual study alone produces only man's wisdom which is why we have the throngs of lost theologians and professors that fill our seminaries and our churches today. Therefore, while intellectual application to the study of the Word is useful, it is only the quickening of the Holy Spirit upon that Word, taking it from logos to rhema in a person's heart, that will produce the true understanding of God and the truest change in one's life.

Thank you so much for this post and for this thread Adrian! It really clears things up so much for me as to "study" vs "read". As Caligal said up thread, for years I have read and often looked at the Hebrew or Greek words, but I never really knew how to study as so many preachers insist and felt I was somehow falling short though I have read through the entire Bible at least 30 times and some passages way more than that. I have worn several Bibles to pieces and highlighted as the Holy Spirit made things jump out to me, still felt I was falling short somehow. Now I will continue to pray, read, pray and be so thankful to our wonderful Lord. Thank you!
 

Andy C

Well-Known Member
Great thread that I had not seen before.

I have never really studied the bible. What I have done like most folks on here is read parts of the bible on a daily basis. Seldom do I know ahead of time what Im going to read until I open my bible, say a prayer, and try and go where I feel Im being directed. What could be better than spending alone time, with my bible, and knowing that Im really not alone.

At my last job, a coworker was a strong Christian, loved reading His Word. One day I noticed him taking his bible inside a stall in the bathroom. When he came out I asked him if he felt is was appropriate to bring his bible in the bathroom stall. His answer stuck with me, and that was “I think God is happy whenever I read His Word, and location of my reading is not what matters”.

I exercise a lot, and Im hungry afterwards. The food may satisfy my hunger pains, but nothing fills me more than the meat of His Word.
 

mattfivefour

Well-Known Member
So this kinds me back to whether I should be "studying" or "reading?" I lean towards studying only because I want to commit what I've learned to memory and not forget it the next day. My goal is to be able to share an intelligent, thoughtful and gentle response to any non-believer in a respectful manner without saying, “I’ll have to read the Bible and come back.” By the time I’ve done that they are usually no longer interested anyways, and I’ve lost my chance. I also want to study so I can exercise myself gift without constantly having to stop and look up exactly what something says or even worse misquote the Bible.

Since I’m in the business world I’m trying to develop SMART goals and apply that to my Christianity (maybe that’s wrong). I want to run the race in an effort win as suggested by Paul.

I understand we are all apart of the Body of Christ and I may not know everything and maybe I don’t need to. If I’m just the fingernail of the body, I want to be the best fingernail I can be! After reading through some of my knowledge, what do I lack? How can I help the Church? What should I be reading or studying next? What are some things that every Christian should know without hesitation and off the top of his or her heads?

I have a lot of questions. Feel free to answer any or none. Appreciate any and all advice!
You say "I'm trying to develop SMART goals." Well, may I make some suggestions?

First of all, in business we are trained to seek SMART goals:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely​
This is all well and good when dealing with worldly business. But it does not work in dealing with God's "business" ... which is the making of a saint. Just as "studying" the Bible in the academic sense too often interferes with our spiritual growth because it seeks to achieve spiritual goals through intellectual means, so aiming at the SMART goals will interfere with that very same end. You see, spiritual things are not apprehended by the intellect, but by our spirit alone (1 Corinthians 2:14). And the agent that educates and edifies our spirit—leading to the transforming of our souls (and thus our life, in this flesh, on this earth)—is the Holy Spirit ... and He alone!

Our sanctification is already complete and perfect in God's eyes and we are therefore eternally saved—all of it by faith alone in what Jesus did on the Cross. But our condition is nevertheless a saved soul living in a fallen, fleshly body; therefore, we need to be changed so that our life here on this earth reflects the Heavenly glory for which we are bound. The agent of that change is the Holy Spirit: He alone is capable of the revelation and transformation that truly fits us for God's work here and now. When we attempt to use worldly means such as SMART to achieve a godly goal, we are engaging in an exercise that is futile. As Paul said to the church at Galatia: "Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Sadly too many churches teach—and too many Christians attempt—to live the Christian life by natural means. After all, the bible says "Be holy" so we try to be holy. It says be loving, so we try to loving things. It says forgive, so we work hard at trying to forgive. It says pray, so we try to force ourselves to pray on a set schedule. All these things are good, but we are trying to do them by will power. If we could do that, we would not need the Spirit.

Therefore, to think in terms of SMART goals is to sabotage God's work. You see, to set a specific spiritual goal is to usurp God's specific goal for you at any given time. Yes, we can set the overall goal of becoming like Christ, because that is God's goal. But we cannot determine the steps; only He can do that. We cannot decide on how to measure our progress because, again, only He can do that.We already know that the goal of becoming Christ-like is attainable because numerous verses tell us that He will finish what He started in us. We already know that the goal is relevant because it is God who willed it and God who will accomplish His will. But as to timely, who are we to decide what specifically is necessary in us, and in what order, in order to achieve that goal? SMART may be smart in the business world where things work along lines of logic; but it isn't smart in God's Kingdom where things work in ways we cannot at present understand.

I could go on, but I think this is long enough for a response. You say you want to do something for your Church. I think you are looking for a 1-2-3 process. But honestly I believe for you and for me and for everybody else who names the name of Christ in truth, the best thing we can do for our church, our self and God's Work to hunger and thirst to be like Christ and to daily trust Him to do the work He has promised to do. To that end, pray, read the word, praise, fellowship, serve as God gives opportunity, and ask Him continually to work out in you the salvation he planted in you, believing He WILL because He has promised to do so. Stay before God until you truly hunger and thirst to be like Christ, to walk in the righteousness He has planted in you and covered you with in His eyes ... until others too can see it.

I pray this helps.
 

GoldenEagle

Well-Known Member
You say "I'm trying to develop SMART goals." Well, may I make some suggestions?

First of all, in business we are trained to seek SMART goals:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely​
This is all well and good when dealing with worldly business. But it does not work in dealing with God's "business" ... which is the making of a saint. Just as "studying" the Bible in the academic sense too often interferes with our spiritual growth because it seeks to achieve spiritual goals through intellectual means, so aiming at the SMART goals will interfere with that very same end. You see, spiritual things are not apprehended by the intellect, but by our spirit alone (1 Corinthians 2:14). And the agent that educates and edifies our spirit—leading to the transforming of our souls (and thus our life, in this flesh, on this earth)—is the Holy Spirit ... and He alone!

Our sanctification is already complete and perfect in God's eyes and we are therefore eternally saved—all of it by faith alone in what Jesus did on the Cross. But our condition is nevertheless a saved soul living in a fallen, fleshly body; therefore, we need to be changed so that our life here on this earth reflects the Heavenly glory for which we are bound. The agent of that change is the Holy Spirit: He alone is capable of the revelation and transformation that truly fits us for God's work here and now. When we attempt to use worldly means such as SMART to achieve a godly goal, we are engaging in an exercise that is futile. As Paul said to the church at Galatia: "Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Sadly too many churches teach—and too many Christians attempt—to live the Christian life by natural means. After all, the bible says "Be holy" so we try to be holy. It says be loving, so we try to loving things. It says forgive, so we work hard at trying to forgive. It says pray, so we try to force ourselves to pray on a set schedule. All these things are good, but we are trying to do them by will power. If we could do that, we would not need the Spirit.

Therefore, to think in terms of SMART goals is to sabotage God's work. You see, to set a specific spiritual goal is to usurp God's specific goal for you at any given time. Yes, we can set the overall goal of becoming like Christ, because that is God's goal. But we cannot determine the steps; only He can do that. We cannot decide on how to measure our progress because, again, only He can do that.We already know that the goal of becoming Christ-like is attainable because numerous verses tell us that He will finish what He started in us. We already know that the goal is relevant because it is God who willed it and God who will accomplish His will. But as to timely, who are we to decide what specifically is necessary in us, and in what order, in order to achieve that goal? SMART may be smart in the business world where things work along lines of logic; but it isn't smart in God's Kingdom where things work in ways we cannot at present understand.

I could go on, but I think this is long enough for a response. You say you want to do something for your Church. I think you are looking for a 1-2-3 process. But honestly I believe for you and for me and for everybody else who names the name of Christ in truth, the best thing we can do for our church, our self and God's Work to hunger and thirst to be like Christ and to daily trust Him to do the work He has promised to do. To that end, pray, read the word, praise, fellowship, serve as God gives opportunity, and ask Him continually to work out in you the salvation he planted in you, believing He WILL because He has promised to do so. Stay before God until you truly hunger and thirst to be like Christ, to walk in the righteousness He has planted in you and covered you with in His eyes ... until others too can see it.

I pray this helps.
A hundred times....Amen.
 

GoldenEagle

Well-Known Member
Every time, (and most likely fuelled by selfish ambition!) I have ever come up with, what I think is some amazing plan for spiritual growth, God has frustrated it. Which I used to get really annoyed about especially when I could see friends of mine apparently succeeding in similar endeavours. But I’m so grateful now - now enough time has passed that I can look back and see what God has done in my life and taught me. Really, when I look back, it used to be all about who I wanted to become in Christ, as opposed to actually becoming Christlike which is entirely different.

Regarding biblical knowledge and revelation, one thing a Bible teacher at church said really stuck with me. He said when he’d finished his A levels, grade A in maths, and had a place at uni to study maths, he felt he’d really arrived. Really knew his subject. And indeed Grade A in A level maths is a level not too many reach. But then he began at university - with others just as bright and accomplished as him - lecturers very much more so. And he said he never forgot the first time he went into the maths library - it was huge - filled with books from wall to wall, floor to ceiling. And at that point he realised how little he actually knew.
 
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