God’s Word – More Benefits

God’s Word Sets Us Apart from the world to live for God
God’s Word Gives Wisdom for Church Life
God’s Word Promotes Respect for What is Right

God’s Word Sets Us Apart from the world to live for God

“Make them ready for your service [sanctify them NKJV] through your truth. Your teaching [Word NKJV] is truth.” (John 17:17 ERV)

We get the teaching of God the Father through the Scriptures. Every person has a natural inclination to serve not God, but the world system. The world system is based on principles like greed, lust and pride. It has been stated by Dale Carnegie in his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” that every man is motivated by just two things – the sexual impulse, and the desire to be important. Of course, this refers to the natural man, not the spiritual man in Christ. A true Christian who walks with God becomes motivated by the love of God, and the glory of God. However, the “world” is all about boasting about what you have achieved in life – be it in the realm of education, business or sport; it is about satisfying your sexual desires; it is about acquiring wealth so you can get hold of the things you want. God’s Word sanctifies us and sets us apart from this world system, if we receive it. This is powerful, because without this change we are really working for the wrong team.

God’s Word delivers us from the world and renews our mind so that we no longer live as lovers of self, lovers of pleasure and lovers of money, and instead live to serve God and others as sons and daughters of the Kingdom. The Word of God transforms us and is a primary means by which God reveals to us His call on our lives to serve Him in some particular way. Once the Word is received in this way, our lives will never be the same.

God’s Word gives Wisdom for Church Life

How should we gather together as the people of God, called out of the world to serve the living God? The Word of God gives answers on this. Every reformation and revival movement which has promoted returning to what the Scriptures teach on this has been bitterly fought by establishment church leaders. Satan wants the church to sleep, and never hear the voice of God. God wants the church to wake up, and get involved in the things the Spirit of God is teaching us to do.

The wisdom of God for church life is revealed in the Book of Acts, in certain chapters of 1 Corinthians, in the pastoral epistles of Paul to Timothy and Titus. It is also revealed in symbols, types and shadows in the Old Testament.

It is outside the scope of this book to go into further detail on this. However, it should be known that when we as the people of God return to activities like fervent prayer, caring for the poor, the reading and teaching of God’s Word, eating together and evangelism in the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s purposes are going to move forward in a great way. Powerful things happen when we return to God’s way of doing things.

God’s Word inspires respect for What is Right

Fallen mankind is naturally rebellious against the Law of God, but this does not mean it is a bad thing to uphold God’s principles in the public arena.

Without God’s Word, some other religious teaching usually gains hold of the minds of people. These religious teachings sometimes advocate murdering and enslaving those who don’t follow the religious teachings. Some religious teachings discourage care for the poor, because they teach that it is not good to interfere with the “karma” of the poor. Other religions teach people to become self-focused and isolated from society. Yet others teach that sexual immorality is something to be celebrated in the worship of the gods. Only the Bible gives a complete and pure ethical system. And that is why it is important that it be taught in the public sphere.

Atheists may try to deny it, but there is no real basis for telling people they “should” do something if there is no God, no spirit-realm and “all that is” is just a freak accident of impersonal Laws of Physics acting over a long, long time. The only “basis” for morality becomes the personal preferences of the ruling class of the day. This means that if society demands that we haul Jews off to concentration camps and punish all forms of political dissent, there is no real basis for opposition, except ones own personal preferences, which are in this view basically a minority opinion of someone with no connection to any kind of absolute truth or morality.

The Word of God has imparted the best values into societies wherever it has been received. The Law of God, especially words like the Ten Commandments, and the teaching of Jesus and the apostles to love others. have been a blessing to all people, even those who have not submitted themselves to Christ. After all, it is much better to live in a society where it is recognised that it is not good for someone to murder you, or steal your goods, or seduce your spouse and break up your marriage or family.

It is the Word of God that has given us Judaeo-Christian ethics and has revealed to us in greater detail what is right, and what is wrong. Without knowing these things, society is likely to be over-run completely by demon power. Thank God then for the influence of His Word, which informs the conscience of people everywhere.