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A huge cause for absence of spiritual growth is the lack of personal knowledge of God through the scripture. Even though God's word is within easy reach for most of us, and we can even carry many versions in our phone, many do not do any serious study for themselves. The result is a spiritual catastrophe. God is glorious in combining different aspects of ability and character. But unless we take the trouble to search Him out, we may get mistaken with knowing just one or two aspects without the balance that comes with the knowledge of the other aspects too. Of course, that will lead to a distorted view of God in our thinking, and then in our expectation of what He wants to do for us. A very common example is when people imagine that God will do everything that is connected with salvation, and that their responsibility is only to believe. Another is to exaggerate the grace of God and negate His holiness, righteousness and justice.

Another contributing factor is the assumption that since the Bible is the inspired word of God, we can take every word in it literally and in a stand-alone way. This removes the context of verses – to whom they were addressed and in what situation, and whether they are directly applicable to us. It also takes away the consideration of the different literary styles used in the Bible. For example, a proverb, which is a general observation of some aspect of life, is taken literally and sometimes treated like a scientific statement or a promise. Our tongue does not have any supernatural power to make things happen (Pr.18:21). God is not making a promise that parenting is all that is required to guarantee the children's future (Pr.22:6). Parables are to teach us moral principles and not to be taken as teaching detailed truths. The story of the rich man and Lazarus cannot teach us truths about life after death. (Compare how people talk about Peter at the gate of heaven!)

If we mentally accept Jesus' resurrection and say that Jesus is Lord, is that really sufficient for salvation (Ro.10:9)? What about important factors that are missing here, such as conviction as sinners, turning away from our sinful way of life to following Jesus (2Co.5:15)? When this concerns our eternity, can we just assure ourselves with mere positive thinking that it is well with our souls?

It is really amazing how God can love sinners like us, who, if we only try to look at ourselves honestly, do not deserve any mercy from Him. But after having been freely forgiven and accepted because God took the impact of justice concerning our sins on Himself, how can we now assume that we don't have to worry any more about a life of sin because 'we are under the blood', 'nothing can take us away from the love of God' etc.? Aren't we then effectively trampling the Son of God under our feet for our advantage?

Only a serious study of the old and new testaments fully can give us a proper understanding of God and His dealings with us.

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