How to Grow in Knowledge of God’s Word

Text: 2 Peter 3:18

Read

The will of God has been revealed & preserved in the Bible (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)
Knowledge will not be given to us miraculously – those days are over (1 Corinthians 13:8-10)
The most basic way to gain knowledge of God’s word is to read it – make it a priority & habit (1 Timothy 4:13)

Meditate

Reading is good – but reading without comprehending, retaining, and applying is useless (James 1:23-25)
We should meditate upon the word (Psalm 1:2; 119:97) – helps us to retain, memorize, and recall later

Listen

The Lord expects us to listen (Luke 8:8)
When the word is taught, we should receive it “with great eagerness” (Acts 17:11)
By listening we might learn something new (Acts 17:19-20, 32-34), be reminded of something we’ve forgotten (1 Timothy 4:6; Hebrews 2:1), or gain a better understanding of a particular topic (Acts 18:24-26)

Study

The Bereans examined the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11)
Studying is more than just reading, listening, memorizing, etc. – involves us developing a deeper knowledge of the Scriptures (2 Timothy 2:15)
Some questions are more difficult than others (2 Peter 3:16)
God expects us to grow in our knowledge & understanding throughout our lives (Hebrews 5:11-14)

Practice

James made a connection between not doing God’s will and forgetting His will (James 1:23-25)
Our natural response to hearing God’s word should be obedience (James 1:22)
As we develop behavioral habits, we retain instructions better, allowing us to build upon those things

Teach

To be able to teach one must have a competent level of knowledge on the subject (Hebrews 5:12; 1 Timothy 1:7)
To teach, we must know the truth well enough to: accurately represent the Scriptures (1 Peter 4:11), handle potential questions that arise (1 Peter 3:15), and be able to defend the truth against attack (Titus 1:10-11)
We’ll never have all the answers to every possible question/objection – but preparing for these as best we can will certainly help us grow in knowledge