“We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worth of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work.” (Col. 1:9-10)
Followers of Christ are called to grow, and Scripture doesn’t leave us to guess how we’re to grow. It sings it for us, by giving us three huge targets to aim at. We’re to grow in Christlikeness, knowledge and fruitfulness.
Of the three goals, knowledge is probably the most obvious. And it’s usually the one that most churches do the best job promoting through their various teaching ministries.
It’s a good thing too. Hosea 4:6 says chillingly, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Apparently to God, ignorance is not bliss, and what you don’t know can hurt you.
Jesus demonstrates the importance of growing in spiritual knowledge in the story where he is tempted by Satan (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan made three separate assaults on Jesus, lashing Jesus’ will with three very compelling temptations. Each time, Jesus held the line by standing defiantly on the Word of God. If you look even closer at the story, Jesus shows three deepening layers of knowledge we should strive to grow in.
First, we should learn to think biblically.
By this, we mean Jesus shows he has a knowledge of the words. He knows his way around the Book and can reel off verses that he has memorized. When Satan tempts him to ease his hunger by turning stones into bread, Jesus resists by saying, “Man does not live by bread alone.”
Sadly, way too many Christians can’t even demonstrate basic Bible literacy. So when someone comes along and says, “But Jesus never said a word about premarital sex or homosexuality or abortion,” they start picking lint out of their navels.
How do you learn to think biblically? Easy. You have to read. Your first order of business is to just start gobbling up the book. Don’t be shy. Put on a bib and stuff your face full of Scripture. Make sure you also go to a Life Group where the Bible is studied. (Get in food fights with other believers!)
I’ve learned from experience that when dark, enticing thoughts start to fill up my mind, the mere act of reciting scripture verses that I’ve memorized serves as a block to those thoughts. Then as I keep it up, the verses begin to break those thoughts apart, the way sunlight diffuses fog. That’s the power of thinking biblically.
Second, we should learn to think theologically.
Jesus had a knowledge of the words, but also of the doctrine of the words. He knew what they meant, and how they fit together. If someone asks you why you believe something, and you reply, “The Bible tells me so,” you’re only thinking biblically. Now it’s time to step up your game.
In the next attack, Satan actually pulled his own Bible verse out of the hat, hoping to trip Jesus up. But Jesus had none of it. The word of God dwelled in him so richly that he knew how its teachings were all intertwined together in a beautiful tapestry of truth.
How do you begin to flex your theological muscles? Don’t just read, but also reflect. God invites you to worship him with your mind, as well as with your heart, soul and strength.
Learning to think theologically will deepen your faith as few things can, so when someone comes along like the devil did, spouting gibberish with a Bible verse attached to it, you’ll spot it at once. But only repeated readings and deeper thinking over time will bring you to this place.
Thirdly, We Should think transformationally.
In other words he had a knowledge of the spirit of the words. He understood why God had given us these words in the first place. And it wasn’t to fill our heads full of data that we could argue about. It was given to transform us, and fill us with a love for God, and fill us with the love of God.
It was his love for God his Father that kept Jesus resolute and pure, and enabled him to send Satan packing after the third temptation.
If in all your Bible reading, it’s not transforming you slowly and steadily into Christlikness, then something is wrong. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 if I have all knowledge and understand all mysteries but have not love, I am nothing.
How to I reach this point of growth? I have to read, reflect, then respond. Jesus said, it’s the one who hears his words and puts them into practice that will become like a house built on rock. If I come to the Bible with my own agenda, ‘looking for loopholes’ like W.C. Fields, prepared to spin it in a way that suits me, then I’ll never experience the transforming power of God’s Word.