Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Tim. 2:15)

Did you know that E-Meds (Bible-Equip) offers two online courses for a guided delve into the study of God’s word? But why should you invest the time?

The answer is simple: To know the Lord, we must study what He has communicated to us about Himself—and He does that through the Bible. We need to move beyond just casually reading His words, using the Bible as a sort of “Spiritual chicken soup for the soul.” We need more than a weekly spiritual pep rally, which, from the preacher’s point of view, ministers the Word of God, but all too often listeners expect “spoon feeding,” subjecting the preacher’s interpretation to our grid of likes and dislikes.

The Lord Jesus Christ commissioned His first followers to make disciples, just like He had done with them, with a no-compromise commitment to knowing, keeping, and disseminating His teachings:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations … teaching them to observe all that I commanded you …” (Matt. 28:19–20)

The Book of Acts emphasizes knowing the Word, when it records the Berean’s response to the apostle Paul’s teachings. They knew the Old Testament (as we call it today) very well, and they tested Paul’s teachings with the divine communication of God to the Jews through the OT:

Now these [Bereans] … received the word [of Paul] with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (Acts 17:11)

They could only do this because they knew the Scriptures well; it was (and is) God’s communication to His people. The apostle Paul wrote succinctly to Timothy, his understudy and disciple:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness … (2 Tim. 3:16)

That is why in his last visit with the Christians from the church he had planted in Ephesus, his final charge to them was to place them under the direct authority of God and His word, to live their lives in obedience to Him:

“And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

Later, when Timothy was stationed in Ephesus to help nurture the church, he was not given apostolic authority over the church but was charged by Paul to know and teach “the word of truth.”

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15).

It takes work, study, and careful application. Timothy was not to teach new revelation as a prophet might. He was to convey that which he could and should study. God approves our efforts to carefully study, interpret, and apply His Word, for it is the truth upon which we build our lives and the truth about knowing God.

So, I invite you to consider two free online courses at the Bible-Equip.com website: The Gospel according to Matthew and The Book of 1 Corinthians. These are self-guided (at your own pace) audio/graphical recordings, each with a syllabus. With ten lessons each and no grading, you will find these courses informative and enlightening as you seek to understand God’s communication to us through His Word.

Check out the courses at https://bible-equip.org/online-courses/.