Men Of Full Growth

Blog Comment 6/9/08

In the June 9, 2008 Man In The Mirror newsletter, Patrick Morley made the following comment relative to Bible Study:

“…Teach your men:

1. The Bible is for now. "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Romans 15:4).

2. The Bible is truth. "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (John 17:17).

3. The Bible is without error. "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar" (Proverbs 30:5-6).

4. The Bible is effectual. It produces the intended result. "My word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isaiah 55:11).

5. The Bible is trustworthy. "The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7).

Our job as teachers is to explain the Bible, not explain it away. A Great Bible Teacher is not a Great Teacher of the Bible, but the Teacher of a Great Bible. We use Scripture to explain our experience, not our experience to explain Scripture. Without the Bible to guide you, every path not obviously evil will seem obviously worthwhile….”

I couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly. Unless we equip men to wrestle with the text of scripture, they are ill-equipped to follow Paul’s admonition in 2 Cor. 10:3-5, i.e. to take every thought captive to Christ. Being ill-equipped, they will fall into the same category of believers mentioned in the epistle To The Hebrews, those who “…need milk and not strong meat…” (Hebrews 5:11-14)

Reading Christian literature, attending church or small group fellowship is simply not sufficient when it comes to producing believers who are, in the words of the Hebrew epistle, “…those who are of full age…”, i.e. mature, of full growth

Here’s to the development of men who are of full growth!

Proverbs 25:2.