Dr. John MacArthur – Elements of Productive Bible Study: Believe

The role of Scripture in your spiritual growth cannot be overestimated. In this short series, we’ve already seen the vital importance of reading it faithfully, interpreting it accurately, and even teaching it regularly.

However, no amount of reading and studying the Bible will encourage your spiritual growth if you lack the illumination of the Holy Spirit. In simple terms, for God’s Word to do its work in your life, you need to believe it.

It is true that nonbelievers can gain knowledge from the Bible—around the globe it is studied as literature, poetry, and narrative history. To some degree, anyone can read and make sense of the basic facts, study other people’s teaching, and gain something of an intellectual understanding about the meaning of Scripture.

But apart from the Holy Spirit, the Bible is a mystery to the human heart.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. . . . But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised (1 Corinthians2:12, 14).