3. Word of God

John (J L) Han

As we mentioned in Baptism, you now have a new life received from the Holy Spirit.  Like your physical life, your spiritual life needs nourishment.  Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  Just as you need food for your physical life, you also need word of God for your spiritual life.  Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,    a light on my path.  Without light you will grope in the dark and may easily get lost.  Word of God is essential to you. 

Watchman Nee emphasized that in order to truly understand the Bible it is essential for a believer to prepare one’s heart.  If one’s heart is hard (In the Bible hard heart refers to refusing listen/obtain God.  See, for example, Exodus Chapter 7 Pharaoh’s heart became hard; also Hebrew Chapter 3), he/she will not understand the Bible properly.  The Bible mentions this several times.  One example appears in Matthew 13:14 (Jesus said) In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

    “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

        you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

Here Jesus quoted from Isaiah 6:9.  Also in I Corinthians 2:14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,  Based on these passages, a non-believer cannot truly understand the Bible.  Even for believers, our own sins often are obstacles for us to understand the real meanings of the Bible.  Make sure that you understand the true meaning of the Bible not what you think what it says.  This is usually a gradual process.  As you are open more to the word of God, obedient to God, you will understand the Bible more.  This is similar to the Parable of Bag of Gold, Matthew  (Jesus said) 25:29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  If you take care of your spiritual life, God will bless you with more understanding of His word.  

God is consistent throughout the ages.  Thus, what God says to us today is related to what God had said in the past.  Unless we spend time and effort to understand the Bible, we will not able to understand what God tells us now.  God’s word also will transform us.  II Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  We do not have righteousness by our own effort but through faith in Word of God.  

Just like eating meals you should not feast one day then starve several days, you should read Bible regularly, if possible everyday.  You should make a Bible reading plan and have discipline to keep it.  There are several approaches to read the Bible.  One is to read book by book.  At the beginning, you might start with books easier to understand.  In the New Testament, you may start with one of the gospels.  Mark is the shortest gospel and could be a good choice.  For the Old Testament, Genesis and Exodus are not difficult to understand, at least superficially.  If possible, you may want to read 2 or 3 chapters every day.  

Joining a Bible study group is often helpful.  A Bible study group usually has a few mature Christians who can shed light on Bible passages, correct mistakes, and share experiences.  A new believer can learn much from a good Bible study group.  This does not replace your own Bible reading.  If possible, both participate a Bible study group and have your own study time.  

Pay Attention to Details 

Sometimes one word can make a huge difference.  As an example, the verse John 3:16 is often regarded as the center of the Bible.  John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  In the popular Chinese version, the in behind the believes is not translated.  This is a mistake.  Someone can believe an object, a theory, etc.  This word in implies that a person not only believes but is also transformed.  In the Old Testament era, in God’s view all peoples were divided into two groups: Israelis and non-Israelis.  In the New Testament era, God divides peoples into two groups: either in Christ or out of Christ.  A person has eternal life because he/she not only believes Jesus but also is in the body of Christ.  

Watchman Nee had written a book 《初信造就》http://www.fellowshipinmontreal.org/CH/Pursuing/WaterArticles/Article3.php in which there is a chapter on Bible study.  This book is good.  If you can read Chinese, you are encouraged to read it.  Below is an excerpt.  The Bible only says in the Lord, in Christ, in Christ Jesus but not in Jesus or in Jesus Christ.  Watchman Nee wants the reader to pay attention when these are used.  

Jesus is His name on the earth while Christ is His name after he was resurrected and anointed by God.  In Romans, Christ Jesus means that today’s Christ is Jesus in the past.  These have different meanings.  We can be in Christ but not in Jesus.  We can be in Christ Jesus but cannot in Jesus Christ.  

Interpretation of the Bible

How to interpret the Bible is critically important.  I will address this issue in a separate article.  For now, you should know how the Bible was formed.  A brief account is given in Basics of the Bible.  The reference book in which is also very good.  The book is out of print.  But if you can get a used one (in the US you may find one on Amazon or eBay), it is well worth it.  

References: 

[1] Robert R. Hann, “The Bible, an owner's manual” : Paulist Press, c1983. 

Questions to consider: 

(1) Why Word of God is important to you?  

(2) What are important prerequisites in order to understand the Bible?  

(3) Why it is so important for a Christian to understand the Bible?  

(4) What will the effect of the Bible on us?  

(5) Why should you have a Bible reading plan?  

(6) Why paying attention to details of Bible is important?