Reaching
Holiness
Reaching holiness of the soul should be the goal of every person who comes to know God. This is not a pleasant subject to discuss, due to the fact that human beings, in general, possess a desire to continue behaving in the same way and doing whatever pleases them in spite of their conversion to Christ. Many enjoy listening to sermons and joining churches where tell them they can continue to be a degenerate scum bag, without losing their salvation because they are under the grace.
This is one of the reasons why this subject is not pleasant to all, because we have to discuss issues that man has no desire to discover. Instead we must talk of that which most people do not want to hear. Must talk about things that do not fill the pews of our churches with donors, but speak of issues that will sanctify the Church. It is only fitting to Christian love that we bring this topic to light even if it may not be pleasant to our ears.
One of the key ingredients necessary to reach holiness is to understand what God wants from us and obey Him. In order to do this, we must read or listen to the Word of God as it is written in the Bible.
Many wish to become physicians, attorneys or engineers, but few are willing to sacrifice their personal pleasures, in order to utilize their time to study these careers. They would like to obtain a doctorate degree, but only if the knowledge itself would somehow enter their brains without having to study.
By the same token, there are many Christians who would like to learn about the doctrines of our Christian faith, but relatively few are willing to sacrifice their pleasures and lifestyles to utilize that time for the reading of the Word of God. They would love to know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but only if somehow that knowledge could penetrate them without having to read the Bible on their own.
The majority of people read books that "explain" the Bible according to the feelings and interpretation of the author; but very few are willing to read the entire Bible, in succession, at least twenty times.
When books that "explain" the Bible are used, a brother may learn some good facts about Scripture, but he may also be getting the errors believed by its author. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit; books that explain the Bible are not. If you read 5 or 3 chapters per day (which is not impossible), you will be able to read the entire Bible in eight months or a year, depending if you read five or three chapters on a daily basis.
If you had a flowing spring nearby and you wanted a drink of water, the best is to go and get the water with your own hands. It would not be wise to ask someone to bring you a drink of water from the spring in his soiled hands. If you were to drink some polluted water, it is best that the pollution would be that from your own hands, and not someone else's soiled hands. You need to read the Bible on your own and not books that “explain the Bible”. These books can be a good supplement to your study of the Bible, but should never be a complement of the Bible much less become a substitute for the Word of God.