Why We Need to Read the Bible and Go to Church

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31 KJV)

If we are saved by believing that Christ had died for our sin, why do we need to read the Bible and go to church? This is really due to our sinful nature and our deceitful heart. We can believe in something and then change your mind later. We can deceive ourselves. We need to strengthen our faith by knowing who we believe, why we believe and experience His grace. While we are saved by faith, we are assured of our salvation by our personal knowledge of God and our experience of His grace.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 BSB, NIV)

And finally, there is another reason why we need read the Bible and go to church. We are exhorted by the word of God to do so.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV)

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)

Knowing God will lead us to know ourselves. Knowing ourselves will lead us to depend on God's grace to grow in faith and assurance of our salvation.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8 CSB)

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. (Ephesians 4:14 NLT)