The Word

For the Bible Tells Me So

Ezra 7:1-10

Similar to our context, Ezra the scribe lived in a time when the Word of God had been neglected. How are we to reorient our lives to what the Bible teaches?

• Karl Barth’s greatest theological truth: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.
• Our prayer is that we can get the Word off of our shelves and into our lives.

EZRA’S CONTEXT (EZRA 7:1-9)

Ezra’s example shows us:

• How to prioritize the Word of God when it is difficult to study
• How to stay faithful to the Word of God when the culture is antagonistic to its truth
• How to share the Word of God when God’s people have become biblically illiterate

EZRA’S PRACTICE (EZRA 7:10)

• #1: Devote – The Bible will benefit you only as much as you treasure it.
• #2: Study – To grow more in Christ, you must know more of Christ.
• #3: Apply – Studying the Bible is not meant to make you more liked by Jesus but to make you more like Jesus.
• #4: Teach – Much of our biblical illiteracy problem comes from the fact we have received truth that we have neglected to share with others.

John Bunyan once said: This Book will keep me from sin or sin will keep me from this Book.