Gospel

Psalm 119:9 – Why is Bible Study Important?

Posted on by chgruver

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How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

Why is it important to study the Bible? Well if you were to ask the psalmist, he would tell us that it is to keep us focused on God and to help keep us from falling into sin. The more time we spend in the Word the more we see how we should be living and acting. We see how we should keep our focus on God as He is the only one worthy of our worship; and whatever has our focus, whatever takes our priority is that which we worship. Spending time in the Word keeps our mind and hearts centered on God, guarding our way and keeping it pure.

The best illustration of this in practice is when we look at the temptation of Christ. After Christ was baptized He went into the wilderness for forty days at the end of which Satan came and tempted Him. We see in the narrative that with each temptation Christ countered Satan by quoting Scripture.. But now here is the thing, it is not just enough to know Scripture, we can’t just memorize verses and just quote them at times of temptation; we need to understand what the verse actually means so we can use them appropriately. We even see this with Christ’s temptation, in one instance Satan, seeing Christ countering him with Scripture, used Scripture to try to get Christ to sin by twisting the intended meaning of the verse to suit his purpose. Someone not grounded in Scripture might look at it and think, “you know you’re right,” but because Christ knew His Scripture, He was able to say, “you’re wrong and according to Scripture here’s why.”

So have you been finding it hard to stay on track in your faith? The first thing to do is look to see if you have been neglecting your Bible, and start digging into His Word.

Table Talk – Episode 97 – Who in Whose Image?

Posted on by chgruver


June 16, 2017: This week we went deep and touched many topics but most importantly do we make a god in our own image or do we live like we are made in God’s image?

Table Talk is a weekly gathering of men in the Pinellas Park area from different denominations and backgrounds. We meet every Friday morning from around 6:30-8:00 at the Egg Platter restaurant. It is located at 6767 US Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park. If you happen to be in the area feel free to come out and join us for a time of fellowship and Bible study.

1 Peter 3:15

Posted on by chgruver

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“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)

This verse is one that is so theologically rich that I am not sure how to properly approach it and do it justice for a short devotional. This is a verse that is used often as the basis for a study known as Apologetics where one defends their faith, thus it also has implications for evangelism as you are sharing your faith with unbelievers. If you ask me however, I feel that while those are important aspects of the verse when it is put into the context of its section in 1 Peter 3 and even in the context of 1 Peter as a whole this verse seems to be getting at more than defending our faith or even evangelism. This verse is talking about our actions as Christians, it is talking about our holiness.

Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:13-17 together:

“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

You see when you read 1 Peter you notice Peter charging Christians to live holy lives and this verse comes right smack in the middle of 1 Peter, where he states that they are being questioned about their hope. Holiness is the outward expression of our inward hope. It is this holiness this expression of our hope that causes people to take a look at us and notice we are different from the world. It is this outward expression of our hope that should be causing unbelievers to question us about the reasons for why we act the way we do. It is this outward expression of our hope that requires us to share and explain the Gospel to any we encounter.

Yes evangelism and apologetics are an important part of this verse. The thing is however, they are meaningless if our lives aren’t displaying the hope we have. Though just like it is stated in an often overused and misused phrase, “Preach the Gospel at all times; and if necessary use words,”  Remember people won’t listen to your words, if your actions don’t match.