Sadly, it has been believed by some Christians that information alone will result in transformation. But the entire point of study is to repent of what grieves the Lord and to be increasingly transformed to be more and more like Jesus. Simply, information must lead to transformation or we have nothing but head knowledge; this is what Paul called the kind of knowledge that “puffs up” with pride rather than increasing our humility and reliance on Jesus.

Jesus told us to obey.

Jesus foresaw this potential problem, and some of His last directives to us include not just teaching people, but teaching them to obey His Word. In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.

Not only study, but obedience

Elsewhere in Scripture we are told that we should not only study Scripture, but also obey what we learn from it. Speaking of this, Jesus said, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28).

In using the word “obedience” I am assuming that there will be some degree of resistance in you because that word has negative connotations for many people. But Jesus repeatedly connects loving Him with obeying Him (e.g., John 14:15, 21, 23–24). In fact, Jesus is emphatic that obedience to Him will flow out of our love for Him. What this does not mean is that we must obey Jesus so that He will love us. Rather, He has loved us by grace apart from anything we have done and as a result we trust Him, which is the essence of faith. It is because Jesus is perfectly good and loves us that we should logically obey Him if we claim to love Him, as evidence of our trust in Him. If we really believe that Jesus is wiser than us, holier than us, kinder than us, more loving than us, and is for us, then it is foolish to disobey Him.

Self-deception

Jesus’ own brother James says it this way, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22). We have all likely met someone who had a lot of Bible knowledge but lacked a love for Jesus and obedience to the Bible; oftentimes we discover that they are very deceived people who arrogantly consider themselves spiritually mature when in fact they are not. Such people are by definition hypocrites since they do not obey what they have learned; they are like Satan, who is also deceived in that he is more wise and powerful than Jesus. The Bible records that Satan knows the Bible, but does not love Jesus or obey Him, which explains his unparalleled pride and self-deception.

Don't be a Bible student like Satan.

Because we do not want to be Bible students like Satan, we must always come to our study of Scripture with humility, bending our knee under the authority of Scripture, and with an eagerness to repent as God the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and folly. We must also continually connect all of our biblical study to the person and work of Jesus; He Himself taught that the key to understanding Scripture was to connect it to Him (e.g., Luke 24:27, 44–45; John 5:39).

Conclusion

In conclusion, as we open the Bible to meet with Jesus, repent of sin that causes distance from Jesus, and are filled with the same Holy Spirit who empowered Jesus, we are able to gladly obey Scripture; thus, we may live like and for Jesus because we live with Jesus according to His Word. Having now studied this, we will be blessed if we obey God’s command to study His word. As Jesus said in John 13:17, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Books to read.

If you would like to study the spiritual disciplines in greater detail, Donald S. Whitney has written a wonderful book titled Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life that would be helpful for you to read. Also helpful are Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster, and Sacred Pathways, by Gary Thomas.