Lesson 24 Warring Against the Flesh - Believing God’s Word
Questions 1 and 2
The Necessity of Faith
I want to start out by saying something that might be surprising: reading the Bible will do you no good whatsoever! Studying Scripture, memorizing Scripture, hearing sermons, etc. will profit you absolutely nothing! Unless your reading/hearing is combined with believing!
“The Good News was preached to us just as it was to them. But the teaching they heard did not help them, because they heard it but did not accept it with faith.”
Hebrews 4:2 NCV
Question 1. According to Hebrews 4:2 NCV, why did the good news of the gospel not help the Israelites who heard it?
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Examples of Faithless Reading
Many years ago, a young Russian boy began attending his local church’s Sunday School because the priest was offering free candy. The boy actually memorized all four of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, even recited them all the way through in church. This young boy was Nikita Khrushchev who later became a Communist politician and outspoken atheist. The mere reading of Scripture, or memorizing even large portions of it, does absolutely nothing for the heart if it is not combined with faith.
Another example is that of the Pharisees, many of whom memorized the entirety of the Torah, yet did not hear the gospel with faith - and failed to see Jesus in it.
“If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because Moses wrote about me. 47 But if you don't believe what Moses wrote, how can you believe what I say?”
John 5:46-47
Question 2. According to John 5:46-47 NCV, what was the main problem with the way in which the Pharisees read the Old Testament?
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