Study

Paul admonished Timothy concerning study:

Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Tim 2:15).

And from a little child you have known the scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished for all good works. (2 Tim 3:15-17).

If we agree that the scripture is the word of God, here there is a command from God to study the scripture. The one who studies is called a workman, meaning it is something that we work at. It is not just a casual look. We must work to rightly divide the word of truth, which means to interpret it correctly. We are not just to assume our interpretation.

Some have said, “Well the first disciples were just uneducated fishermen”. Paul studied under Gamaliel, the greatest of the scholars of his time. Paul counted his achievements as “dung” compared to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, but his study was used by God. Paul wrote down most of the doctrines for the church. He did this by the revelation of the Holy Spirit and he also knew the scripture more than any apostle.

This does not mean that the word of God is shut up to only a select few. It means that all of us should study and especially those who preach the word. It does not mean that God cannot speak to His children unless we understand the scripture fully. God moves through His Spirit, His love and faith that are in us, according to the priesthood of all believers. Nevertheless, He still commands us to study.

Luther was not given his first church until after he earned his doctorate and in his day they were not easy to obtain. He had to master most areas of theology as well as the biblical languages. People often discount this, as though it is of no use, saying that only faith benefited Luther. Luther did not say this. Faith made Christ his Lord, but his knowledge of the scripture was essential to his calling in Christ.

The early Puritans and Dissenters in the 17th Century, though also men of the Spirit, were scholars of the word of God. Our societies today are still greatly indebted to their achievements in all fields. Studying for the ministry in Jonathan Edwards’ day in colonial America was equally as comprehensive. His students were people of the Spirit, who did not treat the study of theology rashly.

Ministers of the gospel were once the most educated people in town. Today we are often less educated than those in other professions and among the least educated in the history of the church. This lack of education has resulted in a lack of knowledge in the pulpits and has harmed lives. Would we allow an uneducated doctor to operate on us? How much more important is the soul?

A look at church history would quickly reassure us of our lack of education. Take, for example, the Roman Catholic documented response to the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD, regarding the nature of Jesus Christ. (This is available via a Google search on the Internet.)

The knowledge, expertise and Spirit of Christ in this document are challenging. The Catholics at this time had had a mini-reformation afforded them by Augustine and despite the persecution and heresy, the early church had the fastest mission expansion in history. They were not inept in power, knowledge or missionary impact.

In our modern era things changed around the end of the Second Great Awakening in America, in the middle of the 19th Century. A move to ecumenicalism and to what were considered more practical matters in ministry meant the study of theology took a back seat. This has brought a decline in gospel education in our day.