As grace believers, what is our primary objective?
After we get saved by the grace gospel, what
is our primary objective as believers? In other words, what is expected of us?
Do we just carry on with our lives, hoping that God will work in us and make us
better? Do we join a church and abide by its rules of performance? Should we
seek after spiritual gifts and ordinances, or start to prophecy and heal the
sick? What about becoming a spiritual Jew, believing this will give us some form
of added esteem?
No! All these things have an outward appearance
of godliness but do little to grow the inner man of a person according to the
Bible. So, what then is our primary objective? What does the Bible really say
about our obligations after salvation? Well, it is so simple that it is often
overlooked. Let’s see what God’s will is for us as grace believers,
1Tim.2:3-4 … in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
God’s will for us, after we get saved, is to come to the knowledge of the truth. That’s it! At this point, it is not what we do, but what we learn that is of greatest value to God. When we get saved, we are babes in Christ. God does not expect us to immediately start operating in the spirit, or even producing fruit. Not yet! When we get saved, that ‘seed’ of the gospel truth must first be watered. It is the water that softens the seed and causes it to germinate, then press through the soil, then sprout roots and leaves. It is not expected that a young sprout bears fruit. There is first a time of growth and strengthening necessary. A babe in Christ first needs to learn and develop an understanding. They need to grow in knowledge and wisdom of the Word before they can become productive and effective for the Lord.
So, let’s take note again of what God tells
us in the last part of 1Tim.2:4, —that we come to the knowledge of the
truth. The Word of God, or to be more specific, the knowledge and correct understanding
of the Word of God, according to the command of right division, 2Tim.2:15, is
to be the prime objective for any and every believer after they get saved.
There is nothing more important than this.
In the next part of this short series, I
will discuss what is the milk and what is the meat of the Word. It is important
that we are fed the right food. We don’t want a babe in Christ to choke on
meat, and likewise, you don’t want to expose a mature believer to the basic
principles of the doctrine and stunt their growth towards perfection. As we
continue in this series, we will also look at how proper knowledge forms us and
prepares us for our purpose in Christ, both here on earth and in our future
vocation.
You might be surprised at how much Paul
wrote about gaining knowledge and how valuable a believer is who has the proper
knowledge of the will and judgement of God. It is only through knowledge of the
written Word that we become sons of God and functional in His purposes.
Eph_4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
I encourage you to follow this series and allow it to encourage and motivate you into the value and importance of the written Word and its purpose in our lives.
See the other parts in this series:
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