Surprised When Searching the Scriptures

With today’s technology, Bible study has become easier and quicker than ever before. One innovation that expedites Bible study is the ability to search for anything in the Bible very quickly with Bible software. One can learn rapidly from some simple searches, and many people are very surprised at what they find (or fail to find). For example:

• Search for the phrase “faith only” and you only get one verse: “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).
• Search for the phrase “faith alone” and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “grace only” or “grace alone” and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “ask Jesus” (as in “ask Jesus to come into your heart”) and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “accept Jesus” (as in “accept Jesus as your personal Savior”) and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “personal Savior” and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “the pastor” (as in “the pastor of a church”) and you get zero results.
• Search for the phrase “into Jesus” and you only get one verse: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Romans 6:3).
• Search for the phrase “into Christ” and you only get one verse: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).
• Search for the phrase “fallen from grace” and you get one result: “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace” (Galatians 5:4).

More examples could be given, but does any of this surprise you? Does it surprise you that much of the modern “Christian” terminology is not found in the Bible at all, and sometimes the Bible says just the opposite? God commands men to do what the Bible says and speak as the Bible speaks (John 4:23, 24; 12:48; 14:15; Col. 3:17; 1 Tim. 1:10; 6:3; 2 Tim. 1:13; 3:16, 17; Titus 2:1, 8; 1 Pet. 4:11; cf. 1 John 2:3-6; 5:3; 2 John 9-11).

Friends, please be like the Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11; cf. 1 Thess. 5:21). Although searches like those above can be helpful, do not merely perform random searches, but rather study the Bible in depth and in context, to determine the original meaning and any applications to your life. Please contact me if I can help you in any way.