Originally posted by endure
silly putty,
you cannot say the word of God is in you if you never read it.
yes the holyspirit writes it on your heart, but faith comes through HEARING the word, the holyspirit reminded the apostles of what they had HEARD jesus say.
god didnt give you this word for nothing.
its not like you can live without reading it constantly.
you simply cannot.
the importance of you gaining knowledge of spiritual things and many other things cannot be expressed enough. and you will never learn without reading.
paul said to the romans.
15.4
for whatsoever things where written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through paitence and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
God did not make paul write all that he wrote for nothing. the scripture was written for your learning, so you could come unto knowledge of the truth, and you cannot say you are already in the truth if you do not have a firm grasp on scripture. learning the scripture is your hope.
i know this, you are not like joshua.
becuase god commanded joshua to meditate on the scriptures night and day.
you are not like jesus becuase he was so well versed in the scripture that he could despute with pharisees at the age of 12.
jesus condemned the fallicies of the pharisees and said they did not know the SCRIPTURE or the power of god.
in john
jesus was called the light unto world. and in this context he was called the WORD of God. you receive more of jesus as you receive more of his word.
jesus more than once said the pharisees would die becuase they did not know him or his father, they were ignorant of the truth.
and this ignorance still kills men today, becuase it is the TRUTH that sets men free.
the holyspirit does not simply come into your life and then you know it all. paul said that for men to be saved they had to HEAR the truth and that this would not happen if he was not sent to preach it to them, becuase faith comes by HEARING
paul also said that the gospel was Gods power to save.
he said he was not ashamed of it, becuase if he did not preach it then people would never learn of the truth and they could not be saved, it was of extreme importance that he preach it, they hear it, and then and only they could be saved.
god did not command joshua to meditate on the word so much for nothing.
ignorance has forever and will ever destroy men because they walk blindly and cannot save themselves. the only cure for this is the word of God, the light unto all men.
solomon preached that knowledge and wisdom from the statutes and counsel of god were greater than pure gold.
he obviously did not have the mindset that thought he could live without reading it often. he loved and cherished the words of the father.
how do you think the apostles were so successful?
anytime you hear them preach, you hear them say "as it is written, for it is written" the disciples knew the scripture very well becuase they had too.
and david said that when his troubles overwhelmed him the word or counsel or statutes of God comforted him.
in psalm 119 the man says he loves meditating on the word of God and does it all they day long.
the bible says we must be rooted, built up, and ESTABLISHED in the faith. that is the faith of christianity. you must become well versed and strong in your knowledge of the scripture. becuase the devil is a liar and has destroyed many people becuase of their ignorance.
paul said more than once that he did want his people to be ignorant. so he taught them, he did not depend on the Spirit to just show them.
the bible commands us to preach the word of god, how will you preach the word of god if you do not read the word of god often and understand its great mysteries? the apostles gave us the example, they knew the word and quoted it very often.
you cannot do this if you stop reading it.
in second timothy 2.15
you are commanded to study the word of God.
STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF APPROVED UNTO GOD A WORKMAN THAT NEEDETH NOT TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH.
if the holyspirit could write the scripture on your heart so you did not need to study the bible then paul said this for nothing.
it is of eternal consequence if you do not study and become established in the full entire word of God.
the pharisees were condemned becuase they didnt know the scriptures rightly, and jesus said there is no other way to heavon except to be born of water and of spirit.
water is speaking of the word of god.
jesus said they were
"clean through the word which i have spoken unto you"
paul said to the ephesians that they needed the "...washing of water by the word of god"
in james it says that "he begat us with the word of truth"
in 1st peter it says we are "born again...by the word of God"
like apollos we need to be "mighty in scripture"
yet when priscilla and aquilla saw him, they knew he needed to have the "scripture expounded to him more perfectly"
you are born again by the word of God.
and you are made into the image of christ by more of the word of God.
and you go from faith to higher faith by more and more of the word of God.
the scripture was given to us becuase we need it, we need to study it and fill our minds and spirits with it untill we have transformed ourselves into its image, the word of God is the tool by which men can be saved, it is the tool by which the Spirit of God saves us.
you have to read it constantly, becuase you have to learn the truth, and there is no other way to except to hear it.
i know that it doesnt need to become a rutine and ritualistic chore but even if it does, dont stop reading it, go to god and ask for forgiveness and change your motive, but dont ever stop reading it.
paul read it richualiscticly for years and years as a pharisee, but after he became a christian he used that great wealth of knowledge for the good of God and promoting the faith.
dont be like people that Peter said wrested the scripture, to their own destruction.
becuase there is a way that seems right unto a man, but youll never know your wrong untill the holyspirit shows you, by the light Into the darkness by the word of God.
the disciples showed their dependancy on the word by their constant quoting of it, you need it too.
i am not trying to condemn you or judge you, but you cannot live rightly without the word of God.
and whether you think you can or not, your commanded to study it.
