Knowable Word - Bible study help

We Must Pay Close Attention or We Will Drift Away

January 29, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Imagine a leaf in autumn pulling free from the branch where it started to grow just seven months before. It tumbles and glides through the air, landing in the river below. Once in the water, the leaf does not choose its destination; the current carries it away.

This leaf is experiencing drift. The whims of water and wind, along with gravity and the shape of the riverbed, take the leaf along to its next resting place.

The author of the book of Hebrews wants us to know that unless we are careful, we will be much like this leaf.

What We Have Heard

The second chapter of Hebrews opens with a conclusion to an argument.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

The word “therefore” presses our noses in the words previously written, focusing on “what we have heard.” We have been told that while God spoke to the fathers “by the prophets,” “he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). The writer, after highlighting the nature and work of the Son, goes on for the rest of the chapter to argue how much “superior to angels” this Son is (Hebrews 1:4).

Do Not Neglect Such a Great Salvation

The fact that Jesus is superior to the angels means that we should pay more attention to his words than theirs. The testimony of the angels “proved to be reliable” and laid the foundation for just retribution for disobedience (Hebrews 2:2), but the testimony of the Son brings a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3).

Side note: The reference to the Mosaic covenant as being delivered by angels seems to be a mixture of Scriptural allusions (Acts 7:53 and Galatians 3:19) and tradition.

The implication of this line of reasoning is clear: Ignore the Son at your own risk! Since “every transgression” under the Mosaic law “received a just retribution,” and since Jesus’s words are worthy of closer obedience (since he is greater than the angels), we shall not escape “if we neglect such a great salvation” (Hebrews 2:2-3). Those who have heard the Son have not just heard the offer of salvation—there is judgment for those who ignore or refuse this offer.

A Sure Message

The author wants readers to know this message of the Son can be trusted. He writes that this “great salvation” was “declared at first by the Lord” and also “attested to us by those that heard” (Hebrews 2:3). A first-hand account of Jesus’s teaching was both powerful and persuasive! But the testimony didn’t end there.

The author of Hebrews says that God himself was involved—he “bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles” (Hebrews 2:4). Like in the days of Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh, God occasionally gives signs and miracles to authenticate the message of his servant.

God also bore witness to the veracity of Jesus’s message “by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:4). After the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, gifts were visible throughout the young church. These also pointed to the great salvation declared by the Lord.

Pay Much Closer Attention

In Hebrews 2:1–4 there is only one command (with one reason). We “must pay much closer attention to what we have heard” (Hebrews 2:1). Given the context, this means we must pay careful attention to God’s message through his Son.

If we don’t focus on this message—this gospel—we will drift away from it. Like the leaf in the water, we will not stay still. When we stop fixing our eyes on the good news of king Jesus, we will get caught up in just about anything else. The cultural currents that flow strongest and closest to our hearts will carry us downstream, away from our great salvation.

In this case, the what of application is easy but the how is more challenging. How exactly do we pay close attention to what we have heard? How do we help those around us pay close attention?

Part of the answer for all of us is recognizing that we are “prone to wander,” as the hymn writer says. Because we are forgetful, we need reminders about what is important and true and vital to our faith.

Within our churches, we must therefore figure out good ways to build friendships and structures that support these reminders. These reminders must happen during weekly worship, but there may be other opportunities that could help us remind each other about what we tend to forget.

Share or follow:

Application Positive and Negative

January 26, 2024 By Peter Krol

I’ve been trying to help you stretch your capacity for Bible application. Application is like a muscle; the more you overwork it, the greater your strength for it.

So I’ve highlighted the fact that application involves not only doing but also thinking and loving. I’ve encouraged you to press into all three spheres, especially heart application. We’ve looked at the chief opponents of legalism and license. And most recently, I urged you to consider not only yourself but also how you can better disciple other people.

The next exercise for stretching your application muscles is to consider both positive and negative applications.

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

Paul’s Formula for Change

When you seek to apply the Bible, the key question is: How should I change? And wouldn’t it be great if the Bible described for us a clear process for change?

In the letter of Ephesians, Paul encourages his readers to change. He wants them to stop thinking and acting like unbelievers (Eph 4:17-19) and to live in light of their calling in Christ instead (Eph 4:1). To help them do this, he reminds them of how they first “learned Christ”—i.e. how they became Christians in the first place (Eph 4:20).

That process of change—regardless of whether the change is from non-Christian to Christian, or from less mature Christian to more mature Christian—is as follows:

Put off your old self (Eph 4:22)
Renew your mind (Eph 4:23)
Put on the new self (Eph 4:24)

We can restate these steps as:

Stop disobeying
Adopt God’s perspective of the world
Start obeying

Theologically, this process involves a continual transformation from being like Adam (the old man) and becoming like Jesus (the new man). But in practical terms, it involves simple disobedience and obedience, with a worldview adjustment in between.

Examples of the Process

Paul then provides four specific examples of the process (Eph 4:25-29) followed by a concluding summary (Eph 4:30-32). In each of the four examples he explicitly follows the three-step process, though he sometimes mixes up the order.

Example #1: Lies (Eph 4:25)

Put off: “put away falsehood”
Put on: “let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor”
Renew the mind: “we are members of one another”

It’s not enough for the compulsive liar to simply stop telling lies. He must replace lying behaviors with truthful ones, searching for opportunities to speak the truth to help others. The only way to do this from the heart is to change your view of other people: Don’t see them as adversaries you must defend yourself against, but as members of your body whom you are compelled to help succeed.

Example #2: Sinful anger (Eph 4:26-27)

Put on: “be angry without sinning”
Put off: “do not let the sun go down on your anger”
Renew the mind: “give no opportunity to the devil”

Have you ever tried to deal with your anger by just telling yourself “Don’t be angry!” Yeah, it doesn’t work. That’s because anger is a legitimate response to that which is wrong in the world. The problem most people have is not that they are angry, but that they allow their anger to justify sinful treatment of others. One effect of anger is that it just makes us feel so right.

Paul’s solution is to be angry without sinning. There is such a thing as patient anger. Gentle anger. Kind anger. Loving anger. Anger that doesn’t demand to be the last word (the sun going down on it). How does one cultivate such anger? Only by adopting the Lord’s perspective that sinful, demanding anger gives the devil a swift opportunity to rip relationships apart. You don’t really want him to do that, do you? Then direct your anger toward him instead of toward your fellow members of Christ’s body (cf. Eph 6:12).

I encourage you to work through the examples of theft (Eph 4:28) and rotten speech (Eph 4:29) on your own. How does Paul model the same three steps to produce change with respect to each of those sins?

Application Applications

How does Paul’s process apply to the process of applying the Bible?

First off: His step of renewing the mind is very much what I mean by head application. Paul shows us that application is more than doing; it must also impact our thinking, our faith, and our worldview.

Second, even when he speaks about doing, Paul provides application that is both negative and positive. He describes behaviors that must stop, and other behaviors that ought to replace the first ones.

The Bible’s chief word for negative, “put off” application is repentance. The Bible’s chief word for positive, “put on” application is obedience. Both repentance and obedience could properly be called “application.”

So you’ve now got a bunch of tools to help you get out of your application rut. If you find yourself frequently coming up with nothing but the big three—read the Bible more; pray more; share the gospel more—stretch your application muscles with some of the following exercises:

Consider not only the hands (doing) but also the head (believing) and heart (loving or valuing).
Consider not only inward application (for yourself) but also outward application (how God would have you influence or disciple others).
Consider both negative (repentance) and positive (obedience) applications.

More tools are still to come!

Share or follow:

10 Things Jesus Believed about the Bible

January 24, 2024 By Peter Krol

Summarizing the first chapter of Mark Thompson’s The Doctrine of Scripture, Doug Eaton explains 10 things Jesus believed about the Bible.

Scripture is the final authority in matters of faith and faithful living.
The written Scripture was the context for Jesus’ self-understanding and ministry.
Jesus Identified Scripture as the “Word of God.”
Jesus believed the “double agency” of Scripture.
Jesus believed Scripture was intelligible.
Jesus believed Scripture was truthful.
Jesus believed Scripture was sufficient.
Jesus believed in the efficacy of Scripture.
Jesus believed the Apostles’ words were authoritative.
Jesus believed there was an appropriate response to the Word of God

Eaton concludes:

Jesus’ identity is bound up in the Word of God. He is the Word made flesh. The trustworthiness of the Bible is inextricably tied to the trustworthiness of Jesus. If the Word of God is not trustworthy, neither is Jesus, and if Jesus is not trustworthy, neither are the Scriptures. To follow Jesus, we must obey his word; they cannot be separated.

Check it out!

Share or follow:

Don’t Forget Application’s Second Direction

January 19, 2024 By Peter Krol

When people feel stuck in a rut of application—where their application of every passage sounds the same—my first bit of advice is to remember that application involves more than doing. But then my second instruction is to reflect on application’s second direction.

The Two Directions

Application can go in two directions: inward and outward.

Commonly, when people think about application, they think only about inward application: How will this text impact me? (And specifically, people tend to think of application as “according to this text, what must I do?”) Such inward application is good and proper. We ought to be personally impacted by the Scripture on a regular basis. The two greatest commandments are to love God and to love our neighbor (Matt 22:36-40). Everything hangs on this, and our study of the Bible ought to sharpen and improve our own love for both God and neighbor.

So I would never argue against personal (what I call “inward”) application. But when your application loses steam and rehashes all the same things over time, you’ll be greatly helped by considering application’s second direction as well.

Outward application is all about how I can help others to change. How I can be an agent of influence. How I can obey Jesus’ Great Commission to make disciples (Matt 28:18-20).

What Outward Application is Not

Outward application is not about sticking your nose into other people’s business. It’s not about being the sin police. It’s not about correcting everyone and everything around you.

The purpose of outward application is not to ask others to do things you won’t do yourself. Outward application without inward application is hypocrisy.

And by all means, outward application is not about picking fights, hunting for problems, or criticizing with gusto. Outward application is not about taking over responsibility for other people’s choices; “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it” (Prov 9:12).

What Outward Application is

Outward application is about honoring God in the various positions of authority he has given you. Outward application is about growing as a person of influence. Outward application is about considering others more highly than yourself, and helping others to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Outward application can take the form of effective evangelism, sensible apologetics, or wise mentorship.

Paul applies the Scriptures outwardly when he commands fathers to “not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4). An overbearing father and an absent dad are both failing to apply the Scripture in an outward direction—regardless of whether that man has attained a high degree of personal godliness or church office.

In addition to such instruction for parenting, potential outward applications include winning a husband (1 Peter 3:1-2), beautifying a wife (Eph 5:25-28), training younger women (Titus 2:4-5), leaving someone to God’s vengeance (Rom 12:18-21), inspiring others to glorify God (1 Peter 2:11-12, Matt 5:16), and entrusting faithful servants with the gospel (2 Tim 2:1-2).

Even missional prayers (Eph 6:18-20) and vibrant singing (Col 3:16) could be ways to apply the Bible in an outward direction.

This does not exhaust the options, but gives only a sampling of directly outward commands in the Scriptures. Many passages could be applied in similar ways.

Conclusion

In western societies that value personal freedoms, we can easily get into a rut when it comes to applying the Bible. We have abundant concern for individual holiness and godliness and want to make sure we are walking in personal relationship with our God.

The challenge is to not forget application’s second direction, and move beyond ourselves to help others. We’ve been saved into a new kingdom, a new community. And King Jesus gives every one of us opportunities to influence others and minister his grace to them. And make no mistake: He will hold us accountable for how effectively we have served and discipled the people he’s entrusted to us. There’s a whole parable to that effect.

Share or follow:

The Bible is Boring Only to the Uncurious

January 17, 2024 By Peter Krol

Have you heard someone say the Bible is boring? Have you felt that way yourself?

Perhaps you’re not curious enough.

Aaron Armstrong shares his own experience:

Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really know much about the Bible. Which makes sense, since I didn’t read it. But I had a lot of assumptions about it, the same assumptions many non-Christians have about it. I assumed it was endlessly contradictory, outdated, and irrelevant. That nothing it said really mattered to life in the modern world. Most importantly, because I saw the few people I knew whose parents made them go to some kind of class at their church were bored to tears, I assumed the Bible was boring.

Then I read it, and I discovered a book that fascinated me. One that made me ask questions, and has kept me asking questions for nearly 19 years. A book that challenges me to dig a little deeper every time I think I’ve got something figured out.

Armstrong goes on to describe how curiosity about the Bible enables us to expose its bottomless wonders and riches. I appreciate his reflection and commend it to you.

Check it out!

Share or follow:

The Titles of Jesus in the Gospels

January 15, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Do you remember choosing your first email address or social media username? This was a heady experience for me—I was picking a word or phrase by which I would be known. And this was nothing compared to the pressure my wife and I faced when selecting names for our children!

Authors know a bit of this pressure. The ways that characters refer to each other carry a lot of meaning. Consider the following scenario. A man appears in a courtroom before a judge, and the judge asks if he would like to make a statement. Among many other possibilities, the man might begin his statement with “Your honor,” “Judge Perkins,” “Ms. Perkins,” “Barbara,” or “Honey.” In that setting, each of those addresses carries a different, significant meaning.

The writers of the New Testament Gospels, while inspired by the Holy Spirit, were human authors. They chose their words carefully, especially when referring to the central character of their work: Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, we can learn a lot about the purpose of a Gospel as well as Jesus Himself by studying the ways that Gospel writers referred to Jesus.

I have made a small project of this study and I have listed the criteria I used for including a title or name in the first post of the series. I’ve also posted a link to the raw data on our Resources page so that interested readers might ask their own related questions.

Before listing the articles in this series, an important note is in order. The titles and names used for Jesus should not be considered apart from the context in which they are written. Just like the example of the man before the judge, the details of the setting, offense, and personal history of the characters involved matter a great deal. So while this current study can identify trends and tendencies, it is not definitive on its own. Each use of a name or title has its primary and most significant meaning within the historical and literary context in which it is used.

With that said, here are the eight articles in this series. I hope they will be of benefit to all who dive in.

Top 10 Titles of Jesus in the Gospels

The Titles of Jesus in Matthew

The Titles of Jesus in Mark

The Titles of Jesus in Luke

The Titles of Jesus in John

Jesus is the Christ

Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus is the Son of Man

Share or follow:

You Better Believe in Constant Reliance

January 12, 2024 By Peter Krol

‌You better believe it’s worth it to keep going as a Christian. The third reason for this is the need for constant reliance.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 10:32-39

‌Hard Struggle is not Incompatible with Great Joy

Let’s be honest: The way of following Jesus is one filled with “a hard struggle with sufferings” (Heb 10:32).

Jesus never promised that following him would be easy. He called it a hard way and a narrow gate that few would find (Matt 7:14).

‌However, that hard struggle is not incompatible with great joy. The people to whom Hebrews was written had their stuff taken from them on account of being Christians, and they accepted it with joy (Heb 10:34)!

‌How is that possible? How does a person endure hard suffering with unexpected joy?

‌Only if you know that you have “a better possession and an abiding one” (Heb 10:34b). In other words, you’re giving up something you can’t keep anyway, in order to gain something you can’t lose (Jim Elliot). You’ve got a deep understanding that a better future awaits you, and this understanding gives you confidence in a great reward (Heb 10:35).

‌It’s not worth it to throw away such confidence! Like the children in a famous psychological experiment, you can deny yourself one cookie now, because of the promise of two cookies later.

‌In short: “You have need of endurance” (Heb 10:36). The sort of endurance that doesn’t “shrink back” in the hard times, but perseveres in faith (Heb 10:38-39). The need of the moment is constant reliance on the Lord Jesus.

‌This is just another way to say the same thing Hebrews has been saying all along. “Hold fast to your confession” (Heb 3:1, 10:23). “We have such a great high priest” (Heb 8:1). “Jesus is your better and abiding possession” (Heb 10:34). “Let us draw near to him with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb 4:16, 10:22).

‌Application

‌The only sin that warrants the Holy Spirit’s outrage and the Father’s vengeance is the sin of unbelief (not persevering in faith).‌ This chapter is not talking about broad struggles with sinful behaviors, but with the sin of disloyalty to Christ, also called unbelief.

‌So the solution to that sin is that you don’t ever throw away your confidence that something better is coming. Today, tomorrow, and the next day, you persevere in faith. You endure the hard times, knowing that Jesus remains your king, your priest, and your inheritance.

‌What might apostasy look like? What are the beliefs of a person who has thrown away their confidence in Christ?

‌This will never change.
The people whose opinions matter most will hate me.
I’ll lose what I’ve worked so hard to gain, and it will be the end of me.
It’s not worth it.
Jesus is not worth it.

‌The better you get at recognizing such beliefs in yourself, the better you will get at recognizing them in others. Then you and I can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Toward endurance in Christ. Toward constant reliance on him to rescue and redeem.

‌You better believe it’s worth it to keep going in the Christian faith, in love for Christ Jesus.

‌In Christ, we have confident entrance. Without him, there is nothing but certain vengeance. Therefore, here and now, day after day after day, we exercise constant reliance.

‌We will never grow out of our need for trusting Christ Jesus. That’s not just what you do on the first day, when you become a Christian. It’s what you do every day, up until the Last Day.

‌May the Lord guard us and guide us, that we might never shrink back from him and be destroyed, but that we would persevere in faith and preserve our souls (Heb 10:39).

‌You better believe it’s worth it.

Share or follow:

Three Key Ideas in Galatians

January 10, 2024 By Peter Krol

Thomas Schreiner explains three key ideas in the book of Galatians, which capture much of the book’s argument.

Galatians defends Paul’s gospel as being from Christ.
Galatians teaches that we are justified through faith, not by works.
Galatians highlights Spirit-directed obedience.

Check it out!

Share or follow:

When You Don’t Feel Like Reading Your Bible

January 3, 2024 By Peter Krol

We’ve all had those seasons when Bible reading feels more like obligation than delight. And thought we do have an obligation to the who rescued us from darkness into light, his intentions have always been to increase our joy in him.

To that end, Kristen Wetherell has two great suggestions for what to do when you don’t feel like reading your Bible: