Prioritizing Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Which part of your Bible should you spend more time in? J.I. Packer thinks the answer is the four gospels. Today I read a though-provoking quote by Packer in which he made the point that people often have unclear views of Christian discipleship. This can be remedied he writes by, "constant meditation on the four gospels, over and above the rest of our Bible reading". He continues...

"...gospel study enables us both to keep our Lord in clear view and to hold before our minds the relational frame of discipleship to him. The doctrines on which our discipleship rests are clearest in the epistles, but the nature of discipleship itself is most vividly portrayed in the gospels. Some Christians seem to prefer the epistles to the gospels and talk of graduating from the gospels to the epistles as if this were a mark of growing up spiritually; but really this attitude is a very bad sign, suggesting that we are more interested in theological notions than in fellowship with the Lord Jesus in person. We should think, rather, of the theology of the epistles as preparing us to understand better the disciple relationship with Christ that is set forth in the gospels, and we should never let ourselves forget that the four gospel are, as has often and rightly been said, the most wonderful books on earth."
—J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, page 61

Comments (3)

I found that meditating on the Gospels for too long of a time caused my spiritual life to dwindle. As I was reading through them, in chronilogical order, by the end, I found that I wasn't getting anything out of it anymore. I think that this was due to the lack of application it seems to have. Other books of the Bible (like most of the New Testament) are about HOW to live based on the basic truths that are stated in the gospels. So I think that it's important to read them, but spending too much time in them didn't work for me. I needed the application to go along with it.

Posted by Sean B. | February 7, 2009 12:12 AM

I was just talking to a friend about many rebelutionaries' tendency to ignore the Gospels and Jesus Himself.

I think that too often we become disciples of people we know such as pastors or teachers or our friends or of authors of books we read or even sports "heroes" or of things like filmmaking, writing, debating, Apple computers, femininity and etiquette (for us girls) or politics. And yet we neglect to be disciples of Jesus!

We would do better to read the Gospels, and pray alone for an hour in model after Christ, than we do pursuing all these things to bring us success and make it look as if we are doing hard things.

Too often, we pursue the tools God has given us to use or surrender in obedience to Him, and we make them "gods" and follow their leading.

We are even disciples of doctrines and of church instead of the living Man, the Author of the Law, our Bridegroom, Truth and Grace, Jesus Himself.

I mean, who of us are as evidently passionate when we talk about Jesus as we are when we talk about our earthly endeavors?

Do you spend as much time studying the Bible and seeking to love Jesus as you do the subjects of interest and the people in your life? Does the world know Jesus is your passion? The world knew that of everyone in the Bible who had a heart for God.

Where are the men and women with a heart of complete and consuming passion for God today?

Let me see that you carry the Cross (Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27), that you follow in His Footsteps and care for the least as you would Him (Matthew 25:31-46), that you know Him -- that every Thought of His is of interest to you, every Breath stirs your heart, every Step beckons, every Word is pored over and memorized as would each priceless, treasured word of a letter from your dearest friend!

Tell me, show me He is precious to you! I want to see Him when I see you.

I want to see true Christianity lived out.

Posted by Nicole T. | February 7, 2009 6:56 PM

This is something I've been trying to practice since seeing how strongly J.C. Ryle recommended it (in both Holiness and Thoughts for Young Men): keeping one bookmark cycling through the gospels while also reading elsewhere.

Posted by Josh M | February 9, 2009 3:40 PM

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