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Who do we say that Jesus is? What do we believe about God’s character and commands? Our most honest answers will reveal a great deal about us and our view of the Lord. This week, Gary Wilkerson and Joshua West discuss how our experiences and willingness to study scripture will create a particular lens through which we understand God’s law and nature. As sinful people, we will have incorrect ideas about the Bible and the Lord, but part of our calling to spiritually mature is to identify the assumptions we make when we think about God and challenge them against scripture.
Key Points from the Podcast
• When we love someone, we will want to learn more about them. Every believer should desire to learn more and more about who God is from the Bible; an earnest interest in what the scripture says about God is a hallmark of Christians.
• What is our worldview, and how does it color our understanding of the Bible? Our upbringing and denominational affiliation will affect how we read scripture and view God.
• If we are a good student of the Bible, we may find ourselves at odds with some institutions or churches that adhere to only one viewpoint because our understanding of scripture may be more nuanced.
• Ignoring parts of the Bible because they make us uncomfortable or doesn’t match up with our beliefs about the world is dangerous. It’s impossible to fully understand God if we toss out parts of the book that he uses to describe himself.
• The problematic lens that people of the modern age use to view God is not unique. Every generation of humanity has held erroneous ideas about God. Every culture has wandered from biblical values at some point and experienced decline.
• Only interpreting the Bible by what our preacher says is a poor lens. We need to investigate the scriptures for ourselves and check what others say about God against the Bible.
• When we approach the Bible with the purpose of answering the questions we want answered, we will often end up with incorrect or out-of-context understandings of scripture.
• Dispensationalism is a lens through which many people unknowingly adhere to, and here Joshua and Gary define and discuss it.
Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast
2 Timothy 2:15, Acts 17:10-12
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast
• Evan Wilkerson Instagram
Episodes in this Podcast Series
About Joshua West
Joshua West serves as the Church Leadership Network director at World Challenge helping equip and empower pastors all over the world. Joshua’s desire is to raise up ministers who will correctly and boldly preach the word with passion and integrity. The point of all his work and writings is to preach the gospel, glorify God and to teach sound doctrine.
