Knowing God Through His Word with Greg Gilbert
On today’s episode we’re continuing our series, Knowing and Loving God, with Greg Gilbert, the senior pastor at Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. As we continue talking about knowing and loving God, it’s important that we lay a foundation for how we come to know him: through his Word. Our guest, Greg, is also the author of What Is the Gospel? (Crossway, 2010), Assured: Discover Grace, Let Go of Guilt, and Rest in Your Salvation (Baker, 2019), and the commentary in the ESV Story of Redemption Bible (Crossway, 2018). He is the co-author of What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission (Crossway, 2011). You can follow him on Twitter.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
What is meant by the phrase we often hear and use, “the Word of God”? What are the different forms of the Word of God? How has God spoken to his people?
Why is his written Word, the Bible, so important?
How do we know that the Bible really is God’s Word?
What belongs in the Bible and what does not belong in the Bible?
Why is it important to read and study the whole canon of Scripture?
What is the most important thing we can keep in mind as we read and study?
What’s the value in understanding the big story of the Bible?
How can we get a better understanding of the story of Redemption?
How can we begin to look for Jesus, the Word made flesh, as we read?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“The Bible is the Word of God written, this is what God says, so every single word of it from start to finish, Genesis to Revelation, is from him.
“The Word of God is Jesus - the Word become flesh.” (John 1:14, Hebrews, Colossians, 1 Corinthians 1, Proverbs 1, 8, 9)
“The written word of God, the Bible, depends for its authority on the endorsement and authorization of the incarnate word, Jesus.”
“Ultimately, we trust the Bible because Jesus said we ought to.”
“The Bible is the foundation of our faith and life. It’s how God nourishes us spiritually. It’s how he gives us life, spiritually.”
“When you became a Christian, when you went from death to life, from darkness to light, the way that happened was through the Word of God, through the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus which is articulated in the Bible.”
“When God gives life, he’s going to give it through his Word. That’s an unbroken pattern in Scripture.”
“Theologically speaking, the reason we trust that the Bible is the Word of God is because Jesus is the one guy who’s ever gotten up from the dead. And if he actually got up from the dead, we should probably listen to him.”
“From start to finish, Genesis to Malachi, Jesus endorsed the Old Testament as the Word of God, and then he authorized the writing of the New Testament.”
“It’s critical that you get the story, because the whole point is going from catastrophe in Genesis to promise of a remedy for that catastrophe. And then it’s this unfolding narrative of how God is bringing about that remedy until it all comes to a head on this guy from Nazareth, Jesus.”
“When you read the Old Testament, the New Testament will never be the same to you again.”
“Always ask the question: How is this pointing to Jesus?”
“There are threads in the narrative that are making their way towards Jesus. At the end of the whole story, Jesus gathers up all the threads and says, ‘this was all about me in the first place.” The kingship in Israel, the temple in Israel, the covenants, the sacrifices, all of these things are threads that make their way through the whole story and Jesus says they’re all about him.”
“You start asking ‘What are these things teaching me about Jesus?’ rather than ‘What is this teaching me about myself?’ and you’ll start to see things.”
“It’s important to be a part of a church, and the main reason for that is not really what you can get out of it, it's just that as a Christian your King commands you to be a part of one of his embassies on the earth.”
“Don't read [the Bible] passively. Don’t just let a passage roll over you like water. Set some goals. Study it in order to understand it as a whole.”
“You’re never ever going to win God’s favor, it’s just not going to happen. You forfeited that a long time ago. Any favor you’ve got from God right now is 100% earned for you by Jesus. Which means that various ones of us don’t have various amounts of God’s favor. We all - because we’re united to Christ - have the same amount of favor that Jesus Christ has, if we’re united to him. And if we’re not we have zero favor from God.”
“If you’re planting your feet on things that are so transient and so passing, it’s really no wonder that people feel untethered from anything meaningful or important. On the other hand, the Bible has been here (some if it) for 4,000 years. It survived the fall of the Roman empire. It’s been here a really long time through a lot of big stuff. Human beings need to be grounded, tethered, established in something solid.”
“It’s been 4,000 years and I know exactly what the Bible says. That’s a refreshing thing.”
Practical steps to grow in your understanding of God's Word:
“Make sure you’re a part of a church where the Bible is being preached in all of its epic glory. If you’re just getting moralism or ‘how-to’s, you may be encouraged Sunday to Sunday, but you’re not going to deepen your understanding of the Bible.”
“Get a commentary / tour guide to help you read through the Bible”
HYMN
RESOURCES
Why Trust the Bible? by Greg Gilbert
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why is God’s written Word so important?
What is the value in understanding the big story of the Bible?
What specific steps can you take to gain a better understanding of the big story of redemption?
How can you look for Jesus - the Word made flesh - as you read God’s Word?
What are you going to do or implement as a result of what you’ve learned this week?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
Affiliate links used are used where appropriate. Thank you for supporting the products that support Journeywomen!
FOR MORE OF JOURNEYWOMEN
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Follow Us: Instagram | Facebook
Support the podcast by writing a review
