Teleios and other authors have shown Christian
belief can improve personal wellbeing! Therefore, we are examining the
Christian life in more detail to see if we can uncover in the Bible some of the
underlying causes of the improved wellbeing.
We are discussing currently the practice of
Christianity for which we are using Acts 2:42-47 as a basis. These dynamic
verses describe the activities involved in the Christian lifestyle within the
early church. These descriptions are repeated throughout the Epistles and so
are vital to us today. I call them the
‘5 tools to maturity’ and can be summarized conveniently as: prayer, praise,
fellowship, outreach and Bible study. Last week we discussed fellowship.
Today’s tool for overview is Bible study.
We need to know
the Bible! Why? Can we just not memorize the most important verses and follow the
style of Christianity we learned in our college group or Sunday school and live
a good Christian social life? Social Christianity brings some good things to us
and our culture, no doubt. However, it is like settling for crackers when you
could be enjoying steak. Let's examine what the Bible says.
The Bible is an
authoritative source as it comes from God through the Holy Spirit by way of the
apostles (2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Peter 1:21, 3:16).
We are told to
know and understand God's word (Ephesians 1:15). There are several reasons for
this:
· It is a command (Colossians 1:9)
· We cannot bear fruit or know what to do
without first knowing and understanding the Bible (Colossians 1:10). Accordingly,
to function as a Christian, like anything in life, we need to follow the
manual.
· When we know the manual and know what to
do, then the process bears much fruit in our lives. We have better wellbeing
from a confident relationship with God. Teleios research has actually shown
that those who have more knowledge have better well-being and less guilt than
those who don't (1)!
It takes a little
work and time but the benefits are huge. We can have the joy of:
· Bearing fruit in our lives such as: joy
and peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22).
· Seeing God work through us in others’
lives (Colossians 1:10).
· Proving His Word and knowing Him better (Romans12:1-2, Colossians 1:10).
· Loving others in a more accurate and
useful fashion (Philippians 1:9, 1 John 5:1-3).
· Judging (i.e., assessing) what's good and
bad in situations and people very quickly (Hebrews 5:14) thus keeping ourselves
out of life’s difficult situations.
· Not having to rely on our emotions so our
life becomes more stable and predictable (Hebrews 5:9-14). The Bible does not
state that we have a religion based in emotions and actually warns against it
(Ephesians 4:12-16, James 1:5-8).
You may be
thinking ‘But isn't listening to my pastor’s great sermons and watching an
effective video enough?’ As good as these learning experiences may be, we need
to study the Bible itself in some detail to fully understand and receive its
benefits.
How then do we
effectively study Scripture? There are plenty of Bible study resources on
Amazon.com or on line that might be effective. Make sure they are Bible and
Christian based. In addition, someone in your church also may be able to help
you.
You can start
with these basic steps:
· Download a web-based Bible study tool such
as eSword. It's free and has multiple exciting resources to help understand Scripture
(www.e-sword.net).
· Start with a power-packed epistle such as
Ephesians or Colossians that will give you essential information about Christ
and our Christian life in a concise manner.
· Slow down! Take your time and follow
these four basic study steps:
o
Observation
- Ask questions
about the verse.
o
Interpretation - Use resources on eSword to answer your
questions.
o
Application - How should the first specifically
change your life?
o
Integration - What are other verses that support
your interpretation so you can confidently build what you know about the topic discussed
in the verse (e.g. salvation, the Spirit, etc.)?
That's all for
today. The Bible is so rich and exciting! If you need help, contact us teleiosresearch@outlook.com and we will do what we can to assist you. Join us next week as we
talk about outreach.
1.
MacIlvaine, W.R., Nelson, L.A.,
Stewart, J.A., Stewart, W.C. (2013). Association of strength of religious
adherence to quality of life measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 19:251-255.
WC Stewart
Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that
is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting
and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to
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