but… do you know what is written? If you don’t, then how do you know who you are and how you go about being you? If you don’t know what’s written, how can it become a defense for you? Knowing what is written is critically important. I sometimes wonder at how Christians can be Christians if they don’t know their standard, their foundation, their structure which is contained in Scripture. This is where ‘it is written’ is located, can be discovered.
Remember Jesus’ temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11)? How did He combat the devil’s temptations and challenges? He quoted scripture – that was His defense! It is ours as well. In Hosea, God tells us that, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;” (Hosea 4:6) and that in some cases it is because we have rejected knowledge. Quite honestly, if you don’t know what’s written, if you don’t take the time to read, to study scripture – isn’t this a step beyond mere lack and is a form of rejection?
Why would the Bible continue to be held as the foundation to knowledge and understanding (for over 2000 years), if this wasn’t true and accurate? Why is the Bible continually attacked by those who reject it’s authority if it isn’t? ‘It is written’ is a foundation, (2 Timothy 4:16-17):
“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man
of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
Profitable. That we may be complete, equipped. Apart from our ‘manual’ we don’t have this knowledge and understanding. It is through the time we spend in reading, in studying that we gain our understanding. The next step is in applying our understanding so that we demonstrate, model who we are. This is our witness in our world. We have the words of life, we need to be able to share this and show in scripture where we have learned these truths. We need to be able to share – it is written.
