INTRODUCTION:- The first Psalm describes a person who has strength of character, who delights in the Lord and who walks with God as being “like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which yields its fruits in due season.”(Ps.1 vs 3). What is it that gives a tree stability? Where is its major source of nourishment? In its roots; those deep tough tentacles which clutch the ground.
Christians who stand firm, who resist the childish tendency of being swept off their feet by the winds of false teachings are those who have strong doctrinal roots. They know what they believe, why they believe and whom they believe. They refuse to be uprooted. So great can be its impact that Jesus Christ compared an understanding of its truths to being set free from slavery (John 8:31-32). Doctrinal ignorance is the breeding ground for fear, prejudice, superstition, failure and spiritual defeat. Paul’s advice to Timothy – II Time 215
SIX BENEFITS OF BEING SPIRITUALLY INFORMED
- Knowledge give substance to faith:- Faith is trust; before we place our trust in something we need to have good reason to believe that it is trustworthy. Nobody will sit on a chair that will collapse. Rom 1017
- Knowledge stabilizes us during times of testing: Feelings fluctuate, moods change, opinions vary but Biblical truth stands forever. Mat. 7:24-25. many times we face situations that only the knowledge of God can give us insight and wisdom to know what to do. Without sound biblical knowledge, we are at a disadvantage in such situations.
- Knowledge Enable us to handle the Biblical accurately:- A sound understanding of Christian doctrine will help us to interpret and apply God’s word intelligently, correctly and wisely, without a good foundation in theological knowledge, we run the risk of being like children Eph. 4:14.
- Knowledge equips us to detect and confront errors: The best way to detect counterfeit money is to learn what real money looks like. If you have never seen the American dollar bill, you cannot detect a fake bill. Knowledge equips us with the ability to identify false teaching because we know what the truth is.
- Knowledge makes us confident in our daily walk with God: the more we sit at God’s table and partake of His food, the stronger we will become in our spiritual lives. Knowledge helps us understand how God relates with us and our eternal position in Him and this helps to build our confidence in Him even in times of trouble.
- Knowledge provides a grid that filters our fears and superstitions: Ignorance is the workshop from which fear, doubt and heresy are manufactured. An understanding of Biblical theology helps us to filter away the flow of false teachings that may threaten to drive us away from divine truth.
DANGERS TO AVOID
- Knowledge can be dangerous when it lacks intelligent Biblical support: Unless we sift all our knowledge through the grid of the scriptures, we run a high risk of mixing error with truth, wrong with right.
- Our knowledge must be a means to Godliness. Knowledge alone tends to puff up our egos but scriptural knowledge helps us become humble, transparent and compassionate. Knowledge is not designed to give us any factor of superiority over others.
- Our knowledge must be balanced with love and grace. Knowledge alone without the fruit of love and grace will make us intolerance, divisive and arrogant.
- Our knowledge must not keep us from becoming preys to false teachers. We need to consistently apply it to our lives if we are to experience genuine spiritual growth and strength.
Conclusion: The Bible commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul and with ALL OUR MIND (Mat. 22:37-38). If we really love the Lord, we will commit ourselves to serving Him. not only with our heart and soul, but with our intellect as well. And that involves discovering, studying and applying sound Christian doctrine. Not only will this help us to grow in our faith, but it will possible for us to aid those who are weaker in the faith to stand firm against the torrents of false teachings and the bombardments of false teachers.
Christ Lifeline is going to provide you with sound doctrinal teaching following the syllabus of renowned theological school. It will be in layman’s language to make you a theologian with small “t” not capital “T”.
The materials you will access include topics like Soteriology, Pneumatology, Anthropology, Christian Ethics etc. We shall begin a survey of the Old Testament in the next study.
Adapted from Growing Deep in the Christian Life by Charles Swindoll
– Gabriel Ajibade
