An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15 ESV)
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, (2 Peter 1:5 ESV)
Researchers George Gallup and Jim Castelli have said: “Americans revere the Bible–but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.” Gallup and Castelli’s research shows the same trend among people who say they are Christians. Bible knowledge is decreasing, even among Christians.
Has the church become ineffectual in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ? Is the modern church providing its members with the knowledge necessary to do battle with the philosophies of materialism and moral-relativism that have profoundly influenced our culture? Has the knowledge of Christ and Christianity been put on a back-burner?
Perhaps, the church has taken on too many ministries which have resulted in the neglect of serious Bible study. In Romans 15:14, Paul expresses his satisfaction with the Roman Christians because they were, “… filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.” Paul even prays for the Philippians (1:9) that their “… love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.”
Have you ever asked yourself if you are sufficiently knowledgeable to, “… destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God…?” (2 Corinthians 10:5, ESV) Do not let it be said of you, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,” (Hebrews 5:12 ESV)
The Apostle Paul warns us that a time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching. They will run, instead, to teachers who will cater to their passions. (2 Timothy 4:3 ESV) Their “itching ears” will lead them to ruin. Therefore, seek only those preachers and teachers who have a solid knowledge of the Scriptures. Go to a church where the knowledge of Christ and Christianity is a priority for the instruction of the congregation. Read your Bible and pray daily that God will open your mind and pour in the knowledge of His Word.
Filed under: Bible, Christianity, Jesus Christ, Samuel A. Cain | Tagged: Bible knowledge, instruction, SOUND TEACHING |
Samuel at Gilgal 
Reblogged this on My Delight and My Counsellors.
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I know that the study is focusing on those who don’t really read their Bibles, or perhaps never really have at all. But for those of us who profess to be Bible readers, there is another problem. Let me offer a very subjective, unscientific, and possible partial reason for at least why some Christians (at least this one) don’t read their Bibles as they should: The bigger my library gets, the less I read my Bible. I read my Bible more as a young Christian before I discovered all the books out there. I know so many Christians buying and reading books that they essentially have read under a different title and author, or even the revised and sometimes re-titled version from the same author. How many books do I really need read on the five points of Calvinism? Do I need yet another book on the effects of relativism in our postmodern world? Do I really need more information on the life of Calvin? I know more about Luther’s exile and hiding at Wartburg Castle than David’s exile and hiding from Saul (I just read 1 Samuel 18 this morning). This is not an indictment on others (maybe a few), just a confession. This is not a disparaging of books and the teachers God has blessed his church with, but we American consumer-driven Christians love our stuff, books included. I own about fifteen Bibles, only some are different versions. It makes me feel pious to have such a fortified library, but the bottom line is I just don’t know my Bible like I should.
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I love books too. I often think that I don’t know the Bible as well as I should. May God give us the ability to learn more of His Word! Thank you for sharing this with us. It is an important concern.
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