Tag: Built on the Bible

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A Family of Hearing and Doing

 Built on the Bible

“But he answered them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’”

Luke 8:21

Jesus was a busy man. He had a traveling ministry that very likely kept him fatigued often since He would have had to adjust to sleeping in a new location frequently. He ministry was outdoors and involved lots of walking. Yet Jesus expected His followers, whom He called His family, to hear and do the Word of God. Let’s take a look at this verse, Luke 8:21, and how we can learn three important takeaways.

Who We Are

The first important takeaway is finding out who we are. Before I go any further though, I would like to address why Jesus used the word mother in Luke 8:21 instead of sister. The context is key. Jesus’ mother and brothers were nearby and they wanted to come see Jesus. Jesus, however, told the crowd that “my mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Jesus is not indicating here that He has a spiritual mother. Nowhere in the Bible do we find indication that Jesus has a spiritual mother (obviously, he does a physical mother, Mary). If he did have a spiritual mother, I’m not sure if that would mean God the Father would have a wife, or how that would work—but I digress.

If Jesus is not saying that he has a mother or mothers, then what is He saying? Jesus is foreshadowing adoption into God’s family that He will earn for believers. By dying on the cross, resurrecting, and ascending to heaven, Jesus made the way for the Holy Spirit to descend on believers. The Holy Spirit imparts His gifts to God’s children, who have been adopted into God’s family. Hence, Jesus can call those who hear and do the word of God His brothers, because all who are saved (thus by necessity including an indwelling of the Holy Spirit) are indeed in God’s family.

Finally, it is also important to stress the fact that we do not earn salvation. It is crucial to realize that hearing and doing the Word of God, in a sense, do not give salvation. We don’t earn salvation from works. The most striking demonstration of good works without salvation is given in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast our demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart form me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

We Hear the Bible

Our next area of focus is the first verb that Jesus uses, “those who hear.” There are three primary ways that this hearing happens. The first way that we will discuss is hearing that is accidental. By accidental, I mean hearing that occurs when one hears the Word of God without intentionally seeking it out. This could include a teenager forced to go to church, or a friend witnessed to by a friend. Basically, they didn’t ask themselves “how can I know more about God by hearing God’s Word?” before they heard the Word of God. Most Christians were saved this way. They didn’t wake up that morning wanting to hear the Bible, but when they went to bed that night, they did.

The next type of hearing the Word of God that we will focus on is corporately hearing the Word of God. The most frequent manifestation of this type is in church. Sermons from Bible-believing pastors are excellent sources of hearing the Word of God. Jesus expects His brothers and sisters to hear the Word of God, as we saw in Luke 8:21. The next time that you are in church, hearing the Word of God preached, listen, and discern how you can do the Word of God.

God’s Word is how God has revealed Himself to us.

Finally, arguably the most important type of hearing the Word of God for growing believers is private hearing. While I call this hearing, it generally takes the form of reading the Bible as opposed to hearing an audio-Bible, due to the control of pace offered by a paper Bible. You are the reader after all. Reading God’s Word is our nourishment. Not only does it nourish us, but it guides us (Psalm 119:105). God’s Word is how God has revealed Himself to us, and it is also where He revealed to us how we obey.

We Do the Bible

Our third area of focus is on the doing. This is the second and final verb that Jesus gives us. Not only does Jesus expects believers, those who have been adopted into God’s family, to hear His Word, but He also expects believers to do the Word. The first thing that we need to realize is that doing is always built on hearing. We can’t obey if we don’t have instructions. This is why theology is so important. Often there is a hesitancy to listen to and study theology, but theology is where we find out who God is and what He expects from us. Believers, if you want to love as Jesus loved, study up!

Next, we need to understand the simple truth that doing is expected. Jesus didn’t leave doing as an optional program. Doing is not an elective class for really smart or ultra-holy Christians. Jesus expects everyone who has been adopted into His family to serve. To quote Jesus, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Believers, if you want to love as Jesus loved, study up!

Finally, doing the Bible is only possible through God. Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.” Who gets the credit for Paul’s righteousness? Not Paul. Not even a church. Jesus Christ alone can ultimately strengthen us to obey. We can try self-care, but we can’t be righteous in the end. You can go to church all your life and still spend eternity in the lake of fire. However, not only does Jesus give us salvation and give us His legal righteousness, but He also strengthens us to obey each and every day when we trust in Him to do so.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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Authentic Salvation

Built on the Bible

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17

Salvation is and always has been something that everyone thinks about. From Christianity’s claim that Jesus is the only way, to Buddhism’s teachings of reincarnation, to Atheism’s denial of the subject, everyone thinks about salvation. Why is this? God made us in His image, so we have a natural inclination to think about the eternal. While we may fail to do this often, everyone thinks about eternity from time to time. Today we are going to examine Romans 10:17 as we continue our series “Built on the Bible,” and we will see where and what salvation is.

Salvation from God Alone

Our first observation is that salvation is from God alone. God is the only source of salvation. This is absolutely counter-cultural. We live in a society that teaches that everyone has their own truth, and they are all equally true. That couldn’t be anything farther from the truth! The gospel is the truth, and if a claim is in contradiction with the gospel, then that claim is false. Salvation cannot be had in any other source. Our good works can’t save us (Rom. 3:23). Other gods cannot save us, for they are false (Jer. 10:10). Our standing is before God and no one else.

Because salvation is from God, salvation is also tied to God’s person. If God were limited, our salvation would be limited too. Think about it. If Jesus were a normal person and not the God-man, than even if he lived a perfect life, he’d only pay for His own sins. Since salvation comes from an infinite God, salvation is infinite and eternal too. The free gift of God is eternal life after all (Rom. 6:23).

Finally, because salvation is from God, we need to realize that salvation is not because of us. We are not saved because of faith, rather through faith. This may be confusing, but let me explain. You don’t get into heaven because you believe in Jesus. That would give credit to you, and you don’t deserve that. Rather, faith is simply the medium for salvation. Think of a wire. You don’t praise an 80 in. 4K TV because of the wire. While you can’t have the TV without the wire, the wire doesn’t get credit for the beautiful picture. The same is true with salvation. While we have to believe to receive salvation, we don’t earn salvation because of that belief.

Salvation in God’s Word Alone

Our second observation from Rom. 10:17 is that salvation is found in God’s Word alone. This is clear from the text. We can’t get saved if we don’t know the gospel. If we don’t have the gospel, our faith is empty because it isn’t in anything. The Bible tells us how we are saved. The Bible shows us that salvation isn’t because of us, rather it’s because of God’s work through His Son on Calvary.

We also see the ramifications of salvation from God’s Word. Not only do we see how we get salvation, but we also see the results of salvation. Think about it. The reason believers know they are going to heaven is found in the Bible (Rom. 6:23). The reason believers rejoice knowing that they will have glorified bodies is also in the Bible (1 Cor. 15). We know why we should want salvation because of the Bible!

Finally, we also see that no one can add to God’s requirements for salvation in the Bible. If one does so, he faces damnation (Rev. 22:18-19). That’s a tough pill to swallow, but we need to realize that any additional requirement for salvation is heresy. God requires that we believe in His Son for salvation. If we do less, we aren’t saved. If we try to do more, like cleaning up our act and then believing, we aren’t saved. To think that we need to be more righteous before we are saved is to miss the whole point of the gospel! Jesus takes our unrighteousness and gives us His righteousness!

Salvation must be Heralded

How will unbelievers hear if we don’t tell them? The only thing stopping sinners from going down their hell-bound road is the gospel. God has entrusted us with that gospel, therefore, we must share it before it is too late. The last command Jesus gave us was to spread that gospel so that others would be discipled and know God as their Savior.

Our responsibility as believers is to get as many people as possible worshipping the same God we worship. This can only be done by spreading the gospel. How will you spread the gospel this week? Who in your life will you spread the gospel with?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.

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Intro to Built on the Bible

In the coming weeks, I am going to start a series where I bring an exposition of passages that show the importance of God’s Word in its different facets. It is my belief that this endeavor is extremely important in showing exactly why I have only released full episodes that teach a passage in the Bible to date. I adamantly believe in the necessity of building one’s life on God’s Word, so here begins the series.

Introduction

I am writing about the Bible because I know it well. After reading that sentence, you might wonder where I got my Ph.D.s, whether I majored in Linguistics or Hermeneutics, or why I would brag about all my years in seminary. But in reality, I don’t have any degrees from a seminary. I don’t have any college degrees at all. I haven’t even graduated high school! You may be wondering where I get grounds to base my claim that I know the Bible well. The answer to your query is, necessity.

My Experience with the Bible

I need the Bible to live. Because of it, I have eternal life. Because of it, I saw my own hopelessness on April 11, 2011. And not only did I see my hopelessness, but I saw a Savior who died for me. While my parents were the ones to lead me to Christ, they would have had no gospel to share if it hadn’t been for God’s Word. Thanks to this glorious gospel, I believed in Jesus, because I saw “the radiance of the glory of God” (Hebrews 1:3) in the face of Christ Jesus through the gospel.

My need for the Bible was shown after my conversion because I had limited growth as a believer. Why was my growth stunted? I had limited my intake of God’s Word. I was too busy pouring hours into the Wii and Minecraft to see my need for the Bible. Then in late-sixth or early-seventh-grade I fell into the sin of lust on the internet. I was not abiding in the light, Jesus Christ (see 1 John 2:28).

But then something changed. My dad and I started a Bible reading plan for the year 2018. Aside from putting my faith in Jesus Christ, it was the best decision that I had ever made. I started a Bible reading plan called the “F260” reading plan. It was only two or three chapters a day, five days a week, so it wasn’t overwhelming. This decision changed my life almost instantly.

I was able to stop looking at illicit internet pictures online. Not only did I stop sinning, but I had more joy each day, and I grew in maturity. Why, you may ask? Because I started seriously looking at God through His Word everyday. I found solid truth, and I saw my Savior Jesus as more beautiful than I ever had before. Jesus didn’t simply turn off my desires to remain in lustful sin; He showed Himself to me through His Word, making me love and want Him more.

The more and more that I’ve spent time in the Bible, the more I’ve come to enjoy Christ. I am not perfect. I am still a sinner who must kill the flesh daily. But I know that I always have a light in this world, God’s absolutely true Bible. I now have the ability to look at hardship that I am going through and remember that “for those who love God all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28). I also know that I have value because I am made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27, 9:6). Not only do I know that God is working for my good since I love Him by His strength, and that I have value because I am made in God’s image, but I also know that I have purpose, and that purpose is found in the Bible. As a believer and a child of God, Isaiah 43:7 applies to me: “ . . . everyone who is called by my [God’s] name, whom I created for my glory” (Isa. 43:7). I am created for God’s glory, and I glorify Him by enjoying communion with Him.

Conclusion

So back to my claim that I know the Bible well. As hopefully I have demonstrated effectively, I learned a lot about the Bible by leaning on it continually, and learning from when I haven’t leaned on it. While I have lots more to learn about the Bile, I have learned that I need it everyday. I need it for my joy. I need it for guidance. Frankly, I need it to keep my sanity! But I’m not the only one who needs God’s Word. If you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ, you need “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16), the glorious and life-giving gospel, to help you see the glory of Jesus Christ and your need of Him to pay for your infinite sins.

If you do know Christ, I hope that you too will keep reading the articles that will follow. I want you to keep reading so that you see the beauty, truth, and necessity of the Bible for yourself. It’s my prayer that you depend on God’s Word like it’s oxygen. I want you to see that the Bible is how you better know, obey, and enjoy God.

In these articles, we are going to do a few things. First, we are going to try and find out more about the Bible. Then, we are going to look at why we must daily read God’s Word. Finally, we will look at how we should read the Bible. I hope that after reading this series, and even now, a thirst for God’s Word would be implanted in you.