Psalm 119:97–104
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
There is a certain amount of intellectual striving that characterizes the Christian faith. It is not lived out as a stagnant thing, but one that must progress by way of sanctification. In fact, it cannot be stagnant, for Christ himself takes on the work of sanctifying His church and causes them to become purified, zealous for good works, and ready to live unto righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30, Ephesians 5:26, Titus 2:14, Colossians 1:22). A regenerate Christian cannot help but—through their unthinkable debt to their savior—seek with all that is in them to know and worship their God. The Holy Spirit will evidence itself by its fruit in their lives.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil 2:12–13)
How must the christian labor over their salvation? Isn't the work of Christ to save them complete? The greek word for "work out" means, "to continually work to bring something to completion or fruition." They are justified by grace through faith—yes. Yet there is still a labor and a striving that must occur. This potentially confusing relationship between justification and sanctification is elaborated on by J.C. Ryle:
I am persuaded that one great cause of the darkness and uncomfortable feelings of many well-meaning people in the matter of religion, is their habit of confounding, and not distinguishing, justification and sanctification. It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they are two separate things. No doubt they cannot be divided, and every one that is a partaker of either is a partaker of both. But never, never ought they to be confounded, and never ought the distinction between them to be forgotten. (Holiness)
There must be a rhythm, a heartbeat of sanctification in the core of us, and it must drive us forward. The Holy Spirit ignites and sustains this flame, and our faith in Christ is the fuel. Yet we are the vessel, and we must take action to move. Ryle goes on, "The very first step towards sanctification, no less than justification, is to come with faith to Christ. We must first live and then work."
The christian life must always be laboring on lest it become the lukewarm one in Revelation 3:16 or the salt that has lost its saltiness in Matthew 5:13. This sense or conviction of a need to progress arises in the soul of a believer as they continue to seek and knock. Faithful study and prayer will continually fuel the flame within them that forces them onward into new territory. There are many perils along the way that they must navigate, such as the Slough of Despond, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and the Doubting Castle, but their faithful Lord has given them armor and the supplies that they need. They must be always sober and watchful, for they know not when the master will return.
Let us not fall away from our guard as we begin this wonderful journey. For ones like me who are closer to the beginning, I have some thoughts that I want to share.
Just as there must be a practical hardening process (some call growing up) when a man leaves his childhood home to start his own, there must also be an intellectual one when he is sent forth from the strong foundation of a faithful christian upbringing. Questions must arise and they must be dealt with. Who is to say that the tradition I inherited is the right one out of all the many that are out there? Where can I fall back to; what smart people will be smart enough to defend against the strong intellectual enemies that arise eloquently spouting their philosophies? Did I just happen to end up in the right combination of protestant traditions or is one other denomination closer adhering to God's word? Have I been properly trained on how to best read and understand God's word for myself?
To be honest, it is unsettling to me that I have not made some sort of doctrinal shift or developed some non-trivial and defendable disagreements with something that I have been taught. Part of me desires such testimony to prove I am not merely being blindly and ignorantly fed as I imagine children in muslim or mormon families are. It is true that every individual must work out their own salvation and I am not exempt from that. I must obey the commands that I see in scripture. I must do as Paul instructs Titus:
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
The pressure to do this hits hard when the new responsibility to spiritually lead a family is thrust upon a young man who is still trying to get his bearings in life. Yet, it must be done. I must strive to, "hold firm," and be, "able to give instruction in sound doctrine." So how do I begin to make progress on the task ahead of me?
I am 24 now. In recent years I have had times of clarity and times of confusion. Sometimes the world just seems to make sense, and sometimes nothing seems to make sense. I think that is part of the nature of the ebb and flow of learning. My own constructs must be torn down to pave the way for the Spirit to build them back up. I've begun to feel more comfortable with not feeling like I've got it together, because as Paul said, "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion," I know I am in progress and what matters most is that I am asking God to work on me. The way that I view a lot of my convictions right now is that they are, "in progress" and I think that's okay, given that they are tertiary doctrinal concerns. For example, I have not proved to myself one way or the other which eschatological view is most faithful to the word of God. If one were to ask me which I hold to, all I can say is that I am searching still. I must give the different revelations from the history of Christ's Church their due attention, and by faith arrive at a "sound doctrine" that I can teach my household. I'm unsatisfied with a surface level look into the other views driven by a preconceived notion.
The vastness of things that remain yet to be studied and processed is exhilaratingly daunting. I often find myself confused by the contentedness of most people in the world to ignore past knowledge. How can a person in their right mind mildly dismiss the work that humanity has done in the last several thousand years as they have worked together to understand the Bible and God. Neal Postman's book, "Amusing Ourselves to Death" does assist some in understanding that, I think.
There simply aren't enough years in this life to sufficiently enjoy history through reading books. Even an ambitious reader may lend themselves to read 52 books in a year and still feel panicked that they haven't even covered the catalogue of 10 authors while the number of years that they have left is shrinking double digits. A large portion of my life has been characterized by a disinterest in books, which is a shame. Now I wistfully look upon those blessed souls who have the time and ability to read a book every day. I can't find the words to express my grief and confusion for anyone who sees themselves as sufficient without reading, but I don't have to, for many have already.
What is most important, however, is that one always be reading God's word. That is the key to all understanding, as the Psalmist says in the passage I opened this article with.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
One who's habit is meditating on God's commandments is made wiser than their teachers. Ultimately, God's word is sufficient, and we must study it fiercely. If we ever find ourselves unable to deeply engage with His word such that we grow weary and dull of it, we must sound the alarm bells. It is our sure guide in this confusing ocean of knowledge. Without it we will be lead astray and build our house on sand. We must not be content with an elementary ability in studying it. Hear the word in Hebrews 5:
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Our study of God's word should be constant, deliberate, and methodical. Not haphazard and occasional. Why should we treat it as closer to a bedtime story for our toddler than the textbook that will prepare us for the exam? The truths in the Bible are far more important and urgent for us to efficiently study, meditate on, and memorize than calculus.
I fear that those like me who grew up swimming in the waters of christian teaching will fail to see the true depth of scripture. The already acquired level of understanding may confuse them into not realizing the many levels that are deeper and richer (Romans 11:33). The Holy Spirit is good to us if we are faithful to study God's word; He will teach us amazing and wonderful things. Put more effort into it, and see what happens. There will be no gains without pains. I should mention that all this should be done under the authority and guidance of a faithful church, as God intended us not to be completely left on our own.
Studying the word will not produce a dullness, but a vibrance. It will bring conviction and clarity. It will orient our thoughts for the day, and so it is best done at the beginning of the day. It will grow us up into salvation (1 Peter 2:2-3). By God's grace, He will remind us of old truths that we have forgotten right when you need them the most. I am persuaded that so many problems in life can be traced back to a lack of consistent and deliberate time in the Word. My life experience confirms that. The times I feel the most clarity of thought and motivation to live a holy life are the times when I am most intentional about learning about God.
I think the point of what I am trying to say is this: The Christian must always be learning and growing. That is part of the reality of our nature and our salvation. We aren't stagnant things. We are striving, laboring, changing, and learning beings. It is articulated in the doctrine of sanctification that Christ is always causing us to change for the better. We need to realize this and be wary of any signs of lukewarmness or stagnation. If you feel a lack of effort or sedimentary contentment in life, there likely is a problem, for the Christian life is not one of comfort and sitting still, but one of watchfulness and effort. We know that when we read God's word we will be taught, for, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching." We must be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:15) and "do our best" to "rightly handle the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15). We must "be transformed by the renewal of our minds so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God" (Romans 12:1-2).
The good news is that the joy that comes from striving to be holy is the joy of fellowshipping more closely with the God of the universe, and is, therefore, unbeatable.