This is the third lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

Living the Bible is a blessing, not a burden. It is a gift, not a loss. To “live the Bible” is to draw close to our Creator, not to scale a ladder to God.

Living the Bible is an organic process, like the seed of God’s word landing in rich soil, sprouting, growing, and bringing a harvest. Life from life. Or, as John 1 puts it, speaking of Christ the Word, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:4). Living the Bible is not about worshiping a book. It is about having the word of the living God—in Christ and in Scripture—go in deep, and make us different.

To be more precise, what we mean by “living the Bible” is continual life transformation through the work of the Holy Spirit using the implanted word of God. Let’s take that definition one phrase at a time.

Continual life transformation. Whenever we look around at life or inside ourselves and have a proper sense of dissatisfaction, that sense that things should be different, we are longing for transformation. We’d like to reshape painful circumstances, or harmful people, or sin in ourselves. This is appropriate. God wants to reshape things. Things can be different. They must be different. That is the meaning and the promise of transformation. In 2 Corinthians Paul says: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (3:17-18). Paul does not say: “try to transform yourselves,” or “when you die you’ll be transformed,” or “you have been transformed.” Instead, he proclaims a process, which is what makes perfect sense: “you are being transformed.” That means with every passing year we can become wiser, more mature, more loving, more forgiving, more honest. It means that we become more like Christ (“transformed into his image”) as we “contemplate the Lord’s glory.” And how exactly do we “contemplate the Lord’s glory”? Not with vague imaginings, but with careful scrutiny of the life and teachings of Jesus found in Scripture.

Through the work of the Holy Spirit. Studying the Bible does not lead to transformation in and of itself. A work of God’s Spirit is necessary. Many scholars who become experts in the texts of the Bible know all the words, the history, the culture of the Bible, but remain untouched if there is no acceptance by faith. The Holy Spirit is involved on the front end and the back end of Scripture. Inspiration on the front end; illumination on the back end. The authors of Scripture were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and now we must be illumined by the Holy Spirit in order to comprehend the truths it holds. Living the Bible, in other words, is a supernatural accomplishment—on both ends.

Using the implanted word of God. The epistle of James speaks powerfully about living the Bible, which we will cover in the weeks ahead. In chapter 1 James uses the phrase “the implanted word of God.” This is consistent with the teaching of Jesus, the idea of the new covenant in Jeremiah 31, and many other biblical touchstones. James says we are to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (ESV; in NIV “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you”).

We should not miss this little word: “save.” The “implanted word” can “save” us. Forget every cliche you’ve ever heard, every oversimplification of “saved.” To be saved is to be rescued. Sooner or later most people realize they cannot rescue themselves. We have all fallen overboard and need someone to throw us a life ring. We are all like people who have broken both legs and need a doctor to put the bones back together and other people to rehab us when we’re on crutches. We all must say: “I once was blind, but now I see.” And so this little word “save” is the order of the day. Pure and simple. The world is in trouble; our society is in trouble; we are in trouble. We need to be saved. And we will be, if we “humbly accept the implanted word.”

This does not contradict the biblical truth that we are “saved” by the sacrificial death of Jesus. The wider truth is that “saving” is a God-driven action that has many layers and phases. We have been saved (Eph. 2:8). We are being saved (2 Cor. 2:15). We will be saved in the future (1 Cor. 3:15).

Disintegration, decay, and destruction do not need to have the final word. We can be rescued and healed, preserved and protected, freed and empowered. There is a word that saves—if we humbly receive it.

Prayer: Lord, this day I humbly accept your word. Plant it deeply. Transform me thoroughly. Save me from anything that wants to injure me today.

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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s minister at large. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel is the author of 18 books, including How to Understand the Bible—A Simple Guide and Spiritual Influence: the Hidden Power Behind Leadership (Zondervan, 2012). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.