A Believer’s Responsibility to the Word of God
The third and last part about the Word of God and the spiritual life concerns the believer’s responsibility. Basically, the believer’s responsibility to the Word of God, insofar as the spiritual life is concerned, is twofold.
First, he is responsible to meditate upon the Word of God. Meditation involves contemplating with the mind upon the Word of God so that we clearly understand what the Scriptures teach and, therefore, it can have an effect in our lives. There are several Scriptures that emphasize the importance of meditating upon the Word of God: Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2; 104:34; 119:11, 15, 97, 99; Jeremiah 15:6; Matthew 4:4; Romans 15:4; Philippians 4:8; and Colossians 3:16–17. However, meditating upon the Word of God does presuppose studying the Word of God. We cannot meditate upon that which we have not studied. So, first and foremost, it emphasizes the importance of studying the Word of God.
Second, it also implies memorizing the Word of God. We cannot meditate on that which we do not have in the mind. It gets into the mind by means of memorization. To meditate presupposes studying the Word of God and it implies memorizing the Word of God. The purpose is to obey the Word of God. By means of studying, memorizing, and meditating, we will know what it demands and, therefore, we can obey it.
The believer’s first responsibility, then, is to meditate upon the word and the second responsibility is to integrate doctrine and practice. James 1:23–24 states:
23For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror: 24for he beholds himself, and goes away, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was.
The point of these verses is that we have the responsibility of integrating what we have learned doctrinally with day-to-day practice. The Greek word that James used for the term one is the term “male.” It is especially obligatory for the male, since he is the spiritual head of the home.
Excerpt from Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum:
MBS138 THE SPIRITUAL LIFE AND THE HOLY SPIRIT: Pg 29-30
