This work is copyrighted to Happy
Riches © 2014.
All rights reserved.
Individual use is permitted.
The Milk
of the Word is a Bible Study that was produced because of the need for
Christians to understand the difference between cheap grace and true
repentance.
Repentance
is something that requires knowledge and many people suffer because of a lack
of knowledge. Among Christians in many parts of the world, particularly those
who are influenced by the Laodicean gospel that excludes the preaching of
repentance from dead works, there is a lack of knowledge about what God
requires of those who claim faith in Him. Instead of coming to knowledge of the
truth, there is preference to believe the lie that we are saved by grace alone,
rather than the truth that we are saved by grace through faith. This is because
grace through faith requires works to be evident. These works are not efforts
to obtain salvation but evidence of repentance from dead works; the fruit of
salvation.
The
concept of salvation by grace alone is promoted heavily by certain individuals
who receive a hearing because there is no need to change. All people are told
to do is simply confess with their mouths that Jesus is Savior and that is
sufficient. Ironically, those who teach that we have to confess Jesus is Lord
is anathema to these people.
The
concept that we are “saved by faith alone” is biblical. However, merely stating
with our mouth “Jesus is Lord” and not bringing forth fruit is the same kind of
hypocrisy that comes with the “saved by grace alone” teaching. The Apostle James quite clearly stated this
truth, much to Martin Luther’s chagrin, that we demonstrate our faith by our
deeds. The caliber of faith that we possess is evident by the lives we live,
not by acknowledging confessions of faith in creeds or anything else.
The Bible
teaches that before we can begin to grow as a Christian we need to repent from
dead works and demonstrate faith in God. Repentance means to change our mind,
our attitudes, our behavior and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit of God as a
result of a new heart.
Interestingly,
the prophet Jeremiah said that God would put a new heart in us and we would
know His Law. The Apostle Paul says that the just requirement of the Law is now
fulfilled in us if we walk not according to the flesh, but according to the
Spirit. Only those who live in the Spirit submit to the Law of God, whereas
those who love the flesh reject the Law of God. Oddly enough, we find many
people claiming to be Christians and saying that the Law (as in the Ten
Commandments of God) is no longer valid. Consequently, they speak of being
saved by grace alone and live lives that spurn the blood of Jesus because, always
returning to their sin, they refuse to be cleansed of their sin and walk in the
light of true life.
The
Apostle Peter says that such people are dogs that turn to their own vomit, and
pigs that have been washed only to wallow in the mire again. The book of Jude states these persons“ are clouds without
water, carried along by winds; autumn leaves without fruit, twice dead, plucked
up by the roots; wild waves of the sea,
foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of
darkness has been reserved forever.”
Conducting
a group Bible Study is really a simple matter. All one has to do is open a
Bible and begin expounding the scriptures within. But is this the best way to
run a Bible Study?
Bible studies can be run in the form of a
lecture where a person stands in front of a class or audience and talks about
what the Bible means. The participants can take notes and then go home and study
them at their leisure. If everybody who attended a Bible Study that was a
lecture took notes and then found the time to meditate and reflect upon their
notes at home, we would be probably living in the ideal world. The reality is people
might take notes but just as likely will not find the time nor the motivation
to meditate upon those notes when they get home. Usually there will be various
distractions and other people demanding their time.
Bible
studies of this nature where people come together, sit in an auditorium or even
in somebody’s lounge room and listen to somebody impart his or her
understanding of what the Bible means is not as effective as having a small
group of between three and six people sharing an experience as participants in
a Bible Study.
It is
often said that we recall ten per cent of what we hear, thirty per cent of what
see and sixty percent of what we do. Acquiring
skills may involve listening and watching, but action is how they are really acquired.
Likewise, we learn more from active participation in a discussion than from observation
or listening. This is because when we are actively participating in something,
more of our faculties are involved in the learning process. Consequently, we automatically
concentrate more in order to make sure that we are being understood and that we
are understanding what other people are communicating to us.
When we
are actively involved in a group activity and not on the sidelines as a passive
observer, we focus more on our participation and benefit more. This is because
we are engaged emotionally, intellectually and even physically, rather than as
an observer of proceedings or a spectator at someone else’s performance or a bystander with casual curiosity.
When
running a Bible Study, the aim should be for everybody to gain the utmost
benefit possible for each participant and allow the Word of God to become
something that can be meditated upon at the time discussion is taking place, and
not something to be done at a later date. Life does not work this way. Life is lived in
the now. What we experience is in the now. The enemy of mankind is not waiting
for a future date to foul, with the filthy waters of the world, our cisterns which
are created for the waters of life. They are fouled up now, and the Devil and
his agents are doing their best to get everyone of us to drink them at our
peril. We are under constant spiritual attack. When we are discussing Scripture
and what it means to us, we need to be reflective during the conversation, not
put it off until a later date. A soldier who goes into battle without his armor
is at the mercy of the enemy. Devotional application of the Scriptures during a
group Bible Study is equivalent to hammering out the iron for the breastplate
of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the shield of faith—as well as
sharpening the sword of the Spirit. This is best done in small groups consisting
of three to six people, where everybody is encouraged to express their views
and thoughtfully ponder each other’s experiences in respect to the Word of
Life.
Some
people might be alarmed that a novice is encouraged to express his or her
views. However, unless each person in the group is encouraged to share what he
or she believes or has come to know about a particular topic, or an experience
he or she has had relating to a matter at hand, then these individuals will not
be as receptive to learning as what they will be after having shared.
It is a
truism that students at school, who take the time to discuss the lessons with
their teachers and peers, learn and understand more than those who do not.
These are usually the ones who seem to fly through school examinations like
swallows in a breeze.
Happy Riches
August, 2014.
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