Major in the majors

Last night was the start of my ninth year of teaching college level Bible classes.  I truly love these classes, and the excitement that it brings to me to see 10-15 students a semester want to really dive in and challenge themselves to learn more about Scripture is more than I can really describe. I always begin each semester with the same disclaimer: take what you know about a traditional Bible study and throw it out of your mind, because this won’t be like anything you have ever taken. With that we get into our Bible study boat, push off the shore, and launch out into the deep waters of biblical theology.  Launching into the deep waters is a double-edged sword at times.  On the one side, you have the excitement and thrill of diving deeper into Scripture than you have ever gone, and learning even more of the glorious truths contained in Scripture.  On the other side of that however is the realization that the deep waters can be dark making it hard to navigate your way through.  And so I also always tell the students to make sure they have their life jacket of knowing the Gospel on.  Because at the end of the day, a clear understanding of some topics isn’t always going to be possible.  And if we aren’t anchored in our understanding and acceptance of the Gospel, we can find ourselves swept away by difficult doctrines or pushed down by the waves of difficult doctrines.  As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”  Paul emphasizes here that the Gospel is the most important thing we need to know, understand, and have a  firm belief in.  And though we may not want to admit this, sometimes I sinful, prideful nature gets in the way.  However, it can mask itself as spiritual curiosity or a desire to be “wise.”  This can happen when we get bogged down in searching for things in Scripture that may not have a clear answer, or that God has not fully revealed.  In an effort to show how “spiritually mature” we are we get into debates about the sovereignty of God versus man’s free-will.  Or we will get caught up in debates on questions such as, do angels have free will?  Where did the pride in satan come from?  Are we living in the last days?  And there are other countless questions like these.

To be clear, those are all good questions and worthy of our time to prayerfully and humbly study the Scriptures to seek answers on.  However, they are not worth dividing believers over and they should not consume us so much that we neglect the studying and proclaiming of the Gospel.  When we anchor ourselves in the Gospel, then it is safe and good for us to launch into the deep.  Going into the deep waters of faith is where God will truly stretch our faith, and reveal just how truly dependent on Him we are.  Learning new truths about God strengthens our faith and helps us to fall in love and awe with God a little more.  And as long as we are studying to know God, obey Him, and make Him known; we will find no greater joy than time spent in His Word.

I hope you have a great time in reading God’s Word.  Ask Him to stretch you and your knowledge of Him.  Share with others what God is showing you.  But make sure you always come back to the one thing we need the most, the Gospel.  For it is the power of God unto salvation!

Pastor Justin