It is very easy to forget the power of God’s word when we fail to consistently study and meditate on it. When we do not allow the word to rule our lives, it does not have the compelling influence it needs to have. Jesus said my words are Spirit and they are life (John 6:63). The word of God is what I call Spiritually Organic. It is alive!
Job said, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). The word of God has to be preeminent in the life of the Christian. Without it, we are defeated and walking in darkness. The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (italics added for emphasis, Psalm 119:105). In this same chapter we read, “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
The difference between a mature and immature Christian
In 2 Timothy 2:15 we read these words, “Study to show yourself approved unto God. A workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
The phrase rightly divide means to cut it straight. The believer that is serious about their walk with the Lord goes to work and diligently studies God’s word. It is never a casual exercise. Why must we do this? 1) The Lord commands that we do. 2) To refute false teaching and always fight for truth and expose lies. They dealt with it in the first century, and we are dealing with it today.
When one gains confidence from the truth, you will become mature and unashamed of the gospel. You will be able to answer every naysayer! I repeat every naysayer! I don’t care how much education and degrees they have or how much they love their sin. Remember, the unbeliever does not have the Resident Comforter and Teacher dwelling on the inside of them, God the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).
We do by God’s grace!
So obviously those believers that do not study to show themselves approved will not rightly divide God’s truth and will be put to shame when challenged for their faith. Immature Christians will most likely be subject to engage in sin more often than those who are investing their time in learning the scriptures. Why? Because they have not hidden the word in their hearts. They are more vulnerable and weak. These are the ones that will be carried away by windy doctrines by charlatans who talk heresy and tickle the ears (Ephesians 4:14;2 Timothy 4:3). Immature believers do not have their senses heightened enough to feel real conviction when they sin. God’s truth is our defense against the attacks of Satan.
Paul in Colossians 3:16 commands that we are to let the word of God dwell in us richly - meaning God’s word has to take deep root. It must be like what Jeremiah said, the word of God has to be like fire in your bones that you cannot contain (Jeremiah 20:9)! Just as the body has to be flooded with oxygen for its health and survival, we must flood our souls with the oxygen of God’s word so that we are spiritually fit to go to war.
Are we supposed to be heavenly minded?
Many have heard the phrase or proverb, “You’re so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good!” I used to believe that phrase until very recently. That is the criticism of non-believers or carnal Christians toward believers; thinking because we talk about Jesus, the Church and Salvation that perhaps we are not in touch enough with reality or we’re not concerned about the problems of this world.
That reasoning is based on a false premise. Christians and the Church throughout history have been great champions for humanity because of their love for God and mankind. William Wilberforce and John Newton worked hard to abolish slavery in England in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other believers started orphanages and schools. Most importantly, saints way back in early Church history and now have and are sharing the gospel all over the world so that souls will be saved. This is all due to people of God being heavenly minded which always translates to much earthly good. It is those that are only earthly minded that are no heavenly good. Let me prove that Biblically:
“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).
This verse clearly commands us to focus on heavenly things not earthly.
Why?
2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is not seen. What we see is temporary, but what we do not see is eternal.”
So to put the unseen in context, the apostle Paul is talking about the Kingdom of God, Jesus, eternal life - the life to come, the gospel. These are everlasting things - not climate change, fossil fuels, greenhouse gasses, poverty, homelessness, crime, murder, theft, social justice, racism, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Transhumanism, AI, Gender Dysphoria, Abortion, Illegal Immigration, Proxy Wars, etc. All of these will pass away.
The word of God is the lifeline for the Christian. If one abandons it, they should examine their life to see if they are really a believer (2 Corinthians 13:5). Being with it empowers us to not only deal with the sin in our own lives, but it will compel us to lovingly help others who are trapped in their sins who want to be free but do not know how.
The apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). The word power in the Greek is the word dunamis. This is where we get the English words dynamite, dynamo or dynamic. Want to be a powerful and victorious believer who conquers sin? Consume God’s word. Want to have strong moral convictions and be fearless in a hopeless and Godless world? Feed on God’s word.
This is what Ezra the scribe set his heart to do:
For Ezra had 1) prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and 2) to do it, and 3) to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10).
Someone wisely said, “The Bible keeps you away from sin, but sin keeps you away from the Bible.”