Sadly, it has been believed by some Christians that information alone will result in transformation. But the entire point of study is to repent of what grieves the Lord and to be increasingly transformed to be more and more like Jesus. Simply, information must lead to transformation or we have nothing but head knowledge; this is what Paul called the kind of knowledge that “puffs up” with pride rather than increasing our humility and reliance on Jesus.

Jesus told us to obey.

Jesus foresaw this potential problem, and some of His last directives to us include not just teaching people, but teaching them to obey His Word. In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.

Not only study, but obedience

Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that we should not only study Scripture, but also obey what we learn from it. Speaking of this, Jesus said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28).

In using the word “obedience” I am assuming that there will be some degree of resistance in you because that word has negative connotations for many people. But Jesus repeatedly connects loving Him with obeying Him (e.g., John 14:15, 21, 23–24). In fact, Jesus is emphatic that obedience to Him will flow out of our love for Him. What this does not mean is that we must obey Jesus so that He will love us. Rather, He has loved us by grace apart from anything we have done and as a result we trust Him, which is the essence of faith. It is because Jesus is perfectly good and loves us that we should logically obey Him if we claim to love Him, as evidence of our trust in Him. If we really believe that Jesus is wiser than us, holier than us, kinder than us, more loving than us, and is for us, then it is foolish to disobey Him.

Self-deception

Jesus’ own brother James says it this way, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). We have all likely met someone who had a lot of Bible knowledge but lacked a love for Jesus and obedience to the Bible; oftentimes we discover that they are very deceived people who arrogantly consider themselves spiritually mature when in fact they are not. Such people are by definition hypocrites since they do not obey what they have learned; they are like Satan, who is also deceived in that he is more wise and powerful than Jesus. The Bible records that Satan knows the Bible, but does not love Jesus or obey Him, which explains his unparalleled pride and self-deception.

Don't be a Bible student like Satan.

Because we do not want to be Bible students like Satan, we must always come to our study of Scripture with humility, bending our knee under the authority of Scripture, and with an eagerness to repent as God the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and folly. We must also continually connect all of our biblical study to the person and work of Jesus; He Himself taught that the key to understanding Scripture was to connect it to Him (e.g., Luke 24:27, 44–45; John 5:39).

Conclusion

In conclusion, as we open the Bible to meet with Jesus, repent of sin that causes distance from Jesus, and are filled with the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus, we are able to gladly obey Scripture; thus, we may live like and for Jesus because we live with Jesus according to His Word. Having now studied this, we will be blessed if we obey God’s command to study His word. As Jesus said in John 13:17, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Books to read.

If you would like to study the spiritual disciplines in greater detail, Donald S. Whitney has written a wonderful book titled Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that would be helpful for you to read. Also helpful are Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster, and Sacred Pathways, by Gary Thomas.

1. Have a good Bible.

Every Christian needs a good Bible that they can easily read and enjoy. A translation such as the English Standard Version (ESV), the ESV Study Bible is very well done, or the New International Version (NIV) is preferable as your primary reading Bible, although there are many other translations that are also quite good (e.g., New King James Version, New American Standard Version).

2. Have some good Christian books.

If you want to build a reference library, the first book you should buy is A Commentary and Reference Survey by John Glynn by John Glynn. That book will tell you which other books are the best resources available for in-depth Christian study and anyone who is serious about studying should have a copy of this book.

3. Have some good (free) online study resources.

There are many great websites that can help you do Bible word studies and such for free. Good examples include the following, with the first one built and run by Mars Hill elder, Zack Hubert:

ReGreek specializes in word studies from the Bible 's original languages.
Crosswalk has many translations and Bible study tools.
Bible Gateway has many translations and Bible study tools.
CCEL has most of the major works from Christian history for free and a “Study Bible” feature that pulls up historical church commentary on specified verses.
E Sword has numerous Bible study tools.

4. Have some good Bible software.

If you can afford it, Bible study software provides some amazing resources and companies like Logos Bible Software are worth considering.

5. Have some good websites.

There are many great resources available for free on the web with articles, books, blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, and MP3s. The following are some recommendations:

Desiring God is the website featuring a large repository of sermons and articles from my friend, Dr. John Piper.
Covenant Seminary has a “Free Downloads” link on their front page that will enable you to listen to hundreds of hours of their class lectures on many areas of Christian study. I am grateful to my friends at Covenant who have given the church such a gracious gift.
Mars Hill Church is where hundreds of hours of my teaching is available for free and has been the number one podcast on iTunes for religion and spirituality.
carm has good articles on cults, world religions, and apologetical issues.
equip.org has good articles, book reviews, and more, on cults, world religions, and apologetical issues.
www.christianitytoday.com/historyhas some great articles on Christian history and biography.
www.monergism.com has an almost overwhelming number of free articles on nearly every theological issue from a Reformed perspective.

6. Have some good community.

Most of the Bible was written to communities of people and is therefore best studied in community with other Christians. For this reason, getting plugged into a Community Group and/or taking midweek classes in addition to regularly attending a Sunday church service is essential.
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In following Jesus’ command to love God with “all our mind,” the Christian life is supposed to include regular times of study and learning. The goal of such study is to have what Paul called “the mind of Christ” so that we can live the life of Christ by the power of the Spirit of Christ. Therefore, this month we will examine the contemplative spiritual discipline of study and the correlating active spiritual discipline of obedience.

Study

In John 17:17, Jesus prayed that we would study our Bible. He said, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Therefore, to become more and more like Jesus we must have regular time in God’s Word. The Scriptures have much to say about the benefits of regular study.

Scripture regarding study

“For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the LORD, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.” (Ezra 7:10)

“Give me understanding to learn your commands.” (Psalm 119:73)

“Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.” (Proverbs 9:9)

“Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.” (Proverbs 10:14)

“Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 23:12)

“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.” (1 Timothy 2:11)

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls [books], especially the parchments [Scriptures].” (2 Timothy 4:13)

To help us learn Scripture, we are told to:

Hear God’s Word (Luke 11:28; Romans 10:17), which means that listening to sermons, lectures, and audio Bibles is very beneficial.
Read God’s Word (e.g., Revelation 1:3) as Jesus often did.
Study God’s Word (e.g., Ezra 7:10; Acts 17:11) as Jesus often did, which caused people to be amazed at His insights (Matthew 7:28–29).
Memorize God’s Word (Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 22:17–19) as Jesus did, which enabled Him to freely quote Scripture as needed (e.g., Matthew 4:1–11).

Conclusion

Because Jesus humbly entered into history as a human being, He had to grow and learn just like we do (Luke 2:52). Subsequently, when we see Jesus frequently quoting Scripture from memory throughout His life, we must infer that He spent considerable amounts of time hearing Scripture, reading Scripture, studying Scripture, and memorizing Scripture.

Here's a video interview from my time here in Sydney. Read the article from the Sydney Anglican Network.

We're in the later parts of building a new theResurgence.com. Will you help us out by letting us know how you use this site?

Work on your weakness
Once you discover whether you are more naturally a contemplative or an activist you must then work on your area of weakness. In my years as a pastor I have found that most of us lean heavily toward the contemplative or the active disciplines at the expense of the other. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for people to read about Jesus in their Bible and only see His contemplative or activist scenes at the expense of seeing the healthy tension that Jesus lived in. As a result, when a contemplative thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him sitting alone in the wilderness and silently reading Scripture and praying. Conversely, when an activist thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him performing miracles, preaching, and casting out demons, never sitting down or taking a day off. The truth is that Jesus practiced every contemplative discipline and every active discipline (with the exception of lovemaking). To follow in His example means we must follow in His entire example.

Immature Christians
One of the worst things I have witnessed is immature Christians who judge another Christian as immature because they do not have the same natural strength in a particular spiritual discipline. This takes many forms, such as the spiritually disciplined evangelist who looks down on people who don’t share their faith every moment of every day with everyone they encounter. Another example is the spiritually disciplined student who looks down on people who do not read enormous books written by dead guys for hours at a time and geek out learning the difference between things like transubstantiation and consubstantiation.
If the distinction between contemplatives and activists is not understood in marriage, the result can be very painful; conflict ensues when spouses try to impose how they do their spiritual disciplines upon one another. Perhaps the worst case I am personally aware of was a well-intentioned young husband who had his wife sit on their couch while he gave her theology lectures complete with a white board and then expected to quiz her. He was shocked to realize that she did not find this romantic. She would have preferred that he put the white board away and got a job to feed their family; they could not eat all his theology books and they were getting hungry.

You must begin with humility
In short, when it comes to the spiritual disciplines we must each begin with humility. Every Christian is spiritually disciplined in some areas of their life and spiritually undisciplined in others. Therefore, each Christian we meet is a potential teacher of sorts, able to help us grow as disciples more like Jesus. We must be willing to inquire of their strengths and learn from them.
As a final word of preface, two items are important to note before we study spiritual disciplines here together in the coming months. One, the spiritual disciplines are not something we have to do to make God love us. Rather, because God already does love us, the spiritual disciplines are something that we get to do as we love Him back and enjoy growing in our loving relationship with Him. Two, the spiritual disciplines are not intended to enslave us. Rather, they are intended to lead us into growing freedom in the same way that a trained athlete or musician is free to enjoy the task more than a novice.

Which Are You?
The key is to discover whether you are more naturally a contemplative or an activist and then work on your area of weakness. In my years as a pastor I have found that most of us lean heavily toward the contemplative or the active disciplines at the expense of the other. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for people to read about Jesus in their Bible and only see His contemplative or activist scenes at the expense of seeing the healthy tension that Jesus lived in. As a result, when a contemplative thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him sitting alone in the wilderness and silently reading Scripture and praying. Conversely, when an activist thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him performing miracles, preaching, and casting out demons, never sitting down or taking a day off. The truth is that Jesus practiced every contemplative discipline and every active discipline (with the exception of lovemaking). To follow in His example means we must follow in His entire example.

Active Disciplines
Study
Fellowship
Speaking
Teaching
Activism
Work
Lovemaking
Evangelism
Service
Feasting

Contemplative Disciplines
Solitude
Silence
Meditation
Prayer
Sabbath
Chastity
Worship
Journaling
Fasting

To become skilled at something requires discipline.
What good musicians, athletes, and Christians share in common is discipline, which, interestingly enough, shares the same root word as disciple. Therefore, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is to be a person who lives a disciplined lifestyle patterned after the example of Jesus by the enabling of the same Holy Spirit that empowered Him.

The Spiritual Disciplines
The spiritual disciplines are varying ways that God works in our lives to mold us to be continually more like Jesus. In this series, I will be examining two spiritual disciplines each month, in hopes of teaching you how they are practiced and aiding you in becoming increasingly disciplined. Being spiritually disciplined is not the pursuit of some mythical balance. Rather, as Ecclesiastes says, there are times and seasons in life; our spiritual life will need to be constantly adjusted to best serve our soul in these various seasons. Therefore, the key to living a spiritually disciplined life is living in tension because that is exactly what the spiritual disciplines create.

Contemplative and Active
The tension of the spiritual disciplines comes from the fact that they fall into two broad and general categories: contemplative and active. There are many ways to simplify this distinction. The contemplative disciplines are about being, whereas the active disciplines are about doing. The contemplative spiritual disciplines help us to slow down and connect with God, whereas the active disciplines compel us to be busy and connect with others. The contemplative disciplines focus on the world of ideas, whereas the active disciplines focus on the world of projects.

Contemplatives are energized by quiet, rest, solitude, and Sabbath.
Activists are energized by noise, projects, community, and chaos.
Contemplatives are attuned to what is happening in them.
Activists are attuned to what is happening around them.

Death by Love is the brand new book that I just wrote. It will be available online and in bookstores September 30th. Go to the new website, and make sure to glance at the sample chapter too.

Somethings you can do on the site:
1. Watch the trailer.
2. Get the embed code to put on your blog, website, facebook, etc.
3. Download the art for screensavers.
4. Join the facebook group to get the details on a few contests in which we'll give out a ton of free books.
5. Read the sample chapter in a really cool flash application.

As one of the most important theologians of our day, Dr. Wayne Grudem has impacted me tremendously since my conversion to Christianity at the age of nineteen. I believe the first book of his I read was Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Today, I own every book he has published that I am aware of. His Systematic Theology is in my opinion the finest on the market and the standard for Mars Hill Church and many of the churches we are affiliated with in the Acts 29 Network.

Over a year ago while in Raleigh, N. C., I met Dr. Grudem’s son Elliot and was encouraged at the loving and respectful way he spoke of his father. Sometimes a man is great in print or on the stage, but far less impressive the closer you get to him in the everyday affairs of life. But the way Elliot spoke of his dad was incredibly reassuring and made me all the more eager to one day meet and thank him.