The Real and Present Danger of Not Studying the Bible

Far too often my heart aches for those who see a quote, read a book, listen to an eloquent speaker, or even watch a “Christian” movie and believe all of it to be accurately true in the Bible. They never take the time to read for themselves what the Scriptures actually say on the matter at hand. Dear friends, if you have a habit of taking for granted what someone tells you is in the Bible instead of studying the Bible for yourself you are putting yourself at a huge risk of being sucked into a very real and present danger of believing Satan’s lies!

Oh, but you say, “I only read Christian authors” or “But they are quoting the Bible, it has to be true” or “But this person is a godly person and would never misquote the Bible”. While all of these are very legitimate and wonderful qualities there is still a danger of falling for Satan’s lies if you don’t study the Bible for yourself. Let me explain…

Did you know that Satan knows the Bible too?

Did you know that he can and will use actual Scripture from the Bible against you? The answer is a resounding YES, he absolutely does and will!

Still don’t believe it? Well, please break out your Bible and see what a bit of studying will uncover. If you don’t have a Bible on hand at the moment I have provided the Scriptures from the New International Version (NIV) that we are studying today, but please go back and double check the Scriptures and go deeper into study yourself when you get the chance.

From the very beginning, all the way back to the Garden of Eden, Satan has tried to use God’s holy word against mankind. Just look at the very first temptation on record in the Bible in Genesis 3:1-5:

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5, NIV)

Here we see Eve talking with the serpent (who is Satan). Satan does not tempt Eve by telling her how good the fruit is going to taste. He simply questions God’s word and God’s perfect judgment. Just one little twist of God’s word and low and behold Eve is tempted into sinning!

Unfortunately, Satan Doesn’t Stop there.

He even has the audacity to use Scripture to tempt Jesus Himself! In Matthew 4:1-11 we read about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. Satan tempts Jesus three times. Satan questions Jesus’ authority and even uses Scripture as a means to do so!

The account in Matthew differs slightly from the account in Luke (4:1-13) as far as the order of the temptations. But, both accounts show Satan quoting Scripture from Psalms 91:11-12 as a means to tempt Jesus.

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

                ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
                and they will lift you up in their hands,
                so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ “ (Matthew 4:5-7, NIV)

If Satan is so bold as to use Scripture as a means to tempt Jesus, don’t you think he would absolutely do the same to you? Of course he would! How much easier would it be to tempt us with a twist of Scripture than it was for Satan to tempt Jesus?

See, Satan is the father of lies.

He will use anything and everything to try to trip us up. In John 8:44, Jesus even calls those that believe in Satan’s lies children of the devil. And, calls Satan a murderer and the father of lies!

⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44, NIV)

Satan prowls around the earth just looking for a way to confuse you, lie to you, and make you second guess the truth. Please don’t think for one minute that you will be spared because you are a believer. If Satan is going to tempt Jesus, for sure he will attempt to deceive all of us, whether you are a believer or not!

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Peter 5:8-9, NIV)

So what are we to do?

If Satan is that persistent what could we possibly do to resist his lies? Well, we can see from 1 Peter 5:8-9 above that we should “be alert”, to have a “sober mind”, and stand “firm in the faith”.  We should always continue to search and study Scripture so that we can “be alert” to what the whole truth really is. By studying the Bible, in context, and with a receptive heart guided by the Holy Spirit we will have a “sober mind” as to what God has and has not said making it easier to stand “firm in the faith”.

When we just take someone’s word for what the Bible actually says or means we are relying on other humans as our source of truth who may have very well been led into believing a lie of Satan. Who is better to put your full trust and confidence in, God and His holy word, or man’s opinion that could have been swayed with a twist of deception?

⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. ⁹ It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes. (Psalm 118:8-9, NIV)

God has provided us with many ways to resist the devil.

This includes the “Armor of God” which is written about in Ephesians 6:10-20. We are to put on this armor as a defense against all the many spiritual forces of evil so that we can not only be protected but to be able to stand firm against the attacks of the devil and resist his lies.

Now, a proper study on the “Armor of God” is far too in depth for this particular lesson, but I will be writing a full Bible Study Series on the “Armor of God” in the future. For now though, let’s take a brief look at the parts of the armor shall we…

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:14-17, NIV)

What I want to point out here is that there is only one offensive weapon included with the armor. Do you see it? It is the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” in verse 17.

The word of God is our greatest weapon in fighting off the devil!

The armor is unbelievable holy protection and Ephesians goes on to tell us how extremely important prayer is, but our weapon is God’s word!

Looking back at Matthew 4:1-11 or Luke 4:1-13, you will see that Jesus used the word of God as His weapon to battle the temptations of Satan. We should do the same! Sadly however, we cannot use the sword of the Spirit (the word of God) if we don’t know it and don’t study it for ourselves!

The Bible isn’t just simply a weapon to use to fight off Satan however. God’s word is infallible! God’s word is truth in every way and is a wonderful God-given tool for us to use in all areas of our life.

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV)

The Bible is also NOT a weapon that should be pulled out and used to threaten and hurt other people every time they disagree with you!!

It is extremely important to use the tools God has given us, including the sword of the Spirit (the word of God) in a truthful manner that pursues righteousness, faith, love and peace!

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:22-26, NIV)

Look carefully at these verses from 2 Timothy 2:22-26 above! We are not supposed to be running around fighting everyone who happens to disagree with us on some minor point or has a differing view.

We should also not be so quick to think that we are always right!

In many different ways, we are often influenced by Satan so that we may very well have “it” (whatever “it” is) wrong. It could very well be that we are the “opponents” in the verses above from 2 Timothy 2:22-26 that have not come to our senses yet and are still trying to “escape the trap of the devil”.

For this exact reason, I beg of you to continue to or begin studying the Bible with an open mind and open heart so that you can be led by the Holy Spirit into the whole truth of Scripture in its entirety and not just someone’s opinion of what it says.

I get it, I really do. It can seem like studying the Bible is hard, or that you don’t understand it, or that you just don’t have the time. Sorry my friend, but these are also lies of Satan. Of course he wants to make you feel like you would never understand the Bible!

Remember… Satan loses in the end!!

He will do everything he can to keep you from knowing God’s word and all of its holy truth including making you believe you can’t understand it or that you don’t have time to study.

We sometimes think it is easier to just read a book or even a Bible commentary to quickly understand what the Bible is supposed to say. We even have a tendency to believe that just listening to a sermon on Sunday morning or on the TV or online is enough. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, my friend, but that’s not enough!

Even the best scholars and commentary writers or even the most famous preachers in the world can get things wrong at times! We cannot see into the hearts of mankind. Therefore, we can never be 100% sure that what they are telling us isn’t mixed with a bit of greed, pride, or even longing of power. One look to the past and you will see all sorts of examples where human beings get God’s word distorted or down right wrong. Better yet, look at 2 Timothy 4:3-4:

³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths… (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NIV)

Now please don’t take what I am saying to the other extreme!

There are a ton of very wonderful and godly teachers and preachers out there who truly have the best of intentions at heart. What I am saying though is that we have a responsibility to Jesus Christ, to our eternal life and our life here on earth, to continually seek God first and foremost in everything we do, say, think, and believe!

By all means we should be intently listening to what the godly men and women around us have to say because we can learn so much from them. But, we should also take all of their words of advice and theology (yes… even mine! I’m not perfect either!) back to Scripture and see what God has to say about them before we completely believe their words as God’s holy and infallible truth!

We will begin to be able to recognize God’s truth in those godly people we are listening to when we grow in truth through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and dedicating time to studying the Bible. We then should hold on to those truths so that we also can grow our faith, have a closer walk with God and be able to defend ourselves from the lies of Satan.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9, NIV)

Can you now see that studying the Bible should be high on our priority list? Satan is a tricky one that we need to be in constant guard against. Please don’t let the devil fool you into thinking that the Bible is too hard to learn or that you don’t have the time. Even a few minutes a day in God’s word, instead of scrolling through Facebook or Instagram, can honestly change your entire life and prevent you from falling into the real and present danger of believing Satan’s lies!

Always in Christ’s Love,

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.