Heavy Lifting
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them….” – Matthew 7:15-16
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.” – 2 Peter 2:1
Why is it that we allow some guy on Sunday or some guy on a radio station tell us what we believe? Why is it that there are Christians who have been saved for many years and yet have trouble explaining the trinity to someone else? (I’m guilty of this one) Why do we still struggle to remember what’s written and where? (yup, guilty of this one too)
We are instructed in a few different places in the New Testament that there will be a time when false teachers are among us and how are we going to identify these false teachers if we do not know what is written? It says in Ephesians 6:17 and Hebrews 4:12 that the word of God is a sword and not only that is it’s the sharpest sword. We need to learn how to wield this weapon better so that we can fight against lies, false doctrine, and heresy; so that we may know that what we teach and believe is correct. How well do you know this weapon that has been given to you? You don’t become a better soccer player by leaving your ball on the shelf!
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1*
By getting into our bibles and truly studying it, asking questions, digging deeper we are furthering our understanding of our creator, connecting with Him. The main character of the bible IS God and as we dig in the word comes alive. This is not just some random old book; this is the word of God, passed down so that we may know Him better. Roll up those sleeves, dive in and do some heavy lifting!
Some hard questions:
Do you know where it teaches that we are saved by faith in Jesus?
Where does it say that we are sinful and need salvation?
Using scripture can you show me that Jesus was fully God and fully human?
How many passages have you got committed to memory? Oh, think it’s hard? How many songs do you have memorized?
Can you show me where it says there is only one God?
Using scripture can you show me why I should go to church? Be baptized? Take communion? Tithe?
I know I can’t do some of this and I’ve been a Christian for 7 years!! Geez….get cracking Koz!
* Thank you Alicia Siffring for the thought and verse reference
March 5th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for sharing. That was EXACTLY what I had in mind.