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The Right Motivation for Studying Scripture
How to Study the Bible (Part 1)
About this episode
Why should we study the Bible? In this first episode of the new series on How to Study the Bible, we lay the foundation by talking about motivation. Before we ever discuss methods, tools, or techniques, we need to examine the heart behind why we open God's Word in the first place. Is it to gain knowledge? To win arguments? To feel spiritual? Or is it to know God more deeply and be changed by Him? In this conversation, we explore why the Bible is meant to transform us—not be used as a weapon against others, how awe and love for God should drive our study, why Jesus is the true focal point of all Scripture, the danger of knowledge without humility, and how God uses His Word to direct, correct, and shape our lives.
Key takeaways
- The series opens by laying groundwork on motivation — why we should study the Bible — noting that the Bible is often used as a weapon to poke at other people, when it should be pointed at yourself first.
- We should be motivated by the awe of God: like a mountain that looks bigger and more beautiful the closer you get to it, people who lack awe of God are lacking proximity to him.
- If the Bible is direct, divine revelation from God, then our approach, attention, thoughts and actions toward it should be serious and reverent — not because of what it says only, but because of who it is from, which removes flippancy especially in teaching and preaching.
- We should be motivated by the love of God — the overarching theme of scripture is God's love for mankind and the redemptive plan flowing from it — so reading becomes like reading letters from someone you love rather than a drudgery.
- We should be motivated by the revelation from God without stopping at the revelation itself: we worship who has been revealed, not what has been revealed, and Jesus is the focal point from Genesis to Revelation.
- We should be motivated by humility, since knowledge puffs up — studying to elevate yourself, win memorization prizes, or be better than someone else misses the goal of being conformed to the image of Christ, and study without application can lead you further from the Lord.
- We should be motivated by how scripture changes you, directs you, and how God will use you: if you read and never change you are approaching it wrongly, every verse you struggle to accept marks an area needing submission to Christ, and what you learn is meant to be shared, not hoarded.
From the conversation
"You can stand off and look at God or look at the people of God and say, 'Well, that's awesome.' But the closer that you get to God, the more that you stand in awe of him. And I believe people who are lacking that awe of God are simply lacking that proximity to him."Drew Rogers
"You're not David in the David and Goliath story. Jesus is the giant slayer, not you."Dillon McCurdy
"It really doesn't matter what you believe. It matters what the word of God says, and you should change your belief for what the Bible says, not change the Bible or throw out the Bible for what you believe."Drew Rogers
Scripture referenced
- Ephesians 4:3 — quoted, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace"
- Revelation 1:1 — "you get to verse one and it says the revelation of Jesus Christ"
- 1 Timothy and Titus — named as the books giving the biblical qualifications of a pastor
- Titus — the book being studied for lessons
- 1 Corinthians 8:1 (paraphrased) — Paul's statement that "knowledge puffeth up"
- Proverbs 13:15 (paraphrased) — "the way of the transgressor is hard"
- Acts 4:20 (paraphrased) — "we cannot help but speak of the things which we've both seen and heard"
- Matthew 12:34 (paraphrased) — "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks"
- 1 Samuel 17 (paraphrased) — David and Goliath, with Jesus as the giant slayer
- Matthew 4 (paraphrased) — Jesus rebutting Satan's temptation with scripture
- Matthew 22 (paraphrased) — Jesus telling the Sadducees they did not know the truth about the resurrection, God of the living and the dead
- Matthew 5–7 (paraphrased) — the Sermon on the Mount, and who Jesus was actually speaking to on the mountain
- Psalm 46:10 (paraphrased) — "Be still"
Mentioned in this episode
- Adrian Rogers — quoted as saying, "If you read the Old Testament and don't see Jesus, you need to read it again."
- Bart Ehrman — described as a scholar who taught at a seminary and wrote many books, now an agnostic who argues against scripture; used as an example of Bible knowledge without value to the one who has it.
- Paul David Tripp — referenced on how a preacher wrestles with the truths and applies them to his own heart before ever preaching the sermon.
- Experiencing God — earlier episodes of the podcast on this study are referenced, along with its "crisis of belief" language, as the framework for making adjustments based on what scripture reveals.
- "Channels Only" — hymn mentioned as a picture of letting what God is doing flow through you rather than being stopped up.
- Rogers City Baptist Church, Rogers City, Michigan — where the episode was recorded in person.
Discussion questions
Take it further
- Where have you seen the Bible used as a weapon pointed at other people rather than at yourself, and what would change if you read it the other way?
- The mountain gets more awesome the closer you get to it. If a lack of awe means a lack of proximity, what does your current proximity to God look like?
- If scripture really is divine revelation from the creator of the universe, what would need to change about your attention, thoughts and actions toward it?
- Do you find yourself pursuing the revelation more than the one who is revealed? Where do you tend to see yourself in a Bible story instead of seeing Jesus?
- Has your study of the Bible ever been about knowledge, competition or looking better than someone else? What does studying for conformity to the image of Christ look like instead?
- When is the last time you changed something about yourself based on what you read in scripture, and who are the people you can talk with about what you are reading and learning?
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