Most believers would agree that the Bible is profitable, but if asked, the same number might have difficulty explaining to what extent or by what means one profits from its reading. I recently read a book by A.W. Pink entitled, “Profiting from the Word.” For the next few months I will share helpful insights gained from this book.

THE SCRIPTURES AND SIN

1) We know we have profited from the Word when we are convicted of sin.

Scripture opens our eyes to our own sinfulness and shows us our need of a savior. Pink affirms, “When the Holy Spirit applies the Word to his heart and conscience, opening his sin-blinded eyes to see his relation and attitude to God, he cries, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone.’ It is in this way that each truly saved soul is brought to realize his need of Christ"(10). In Luke 5:31-32, Jesus states, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

2) We know we have profited from the Word when we are distressed about our sin.

After Peter preached in Acts 2:37, we are told that the hearers were “pricked in their heart.” May the same be true of us when we read the Scriptures. God’s Word is meant to break our hard hearts and humble us before a Holy God. According to Pink, “It is when the Holy Spirit applies (The Bible) in such a way that I am made to see and feel my inward corruptions that I am really blessed” (12).

3) We know we have profited from the Word when we are led to repentance.

Conviction and distress over sin should lead to a response. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the Scriptures are profitable for "reproof." We are also told in Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

4) We know we have profited from the Word when a deeper hatred of sin is produced.

God’s word says, “Let those who love the LORD hate evil” (Psalm 97:10). When commenting on this verse, C.H. Spurgeon affirmed, “We cannot love God without hating that which He hates. We are not only to avoid evil, and refuse to continue in it, but we must be up in arms against it, and bear towards it a hearty indignation” (13).

5) We know we have profited from the Word when the Word causes us to abandon sin.

Paul affirms, “"Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness" (2 Timothy 2:19). Although the struggle with sin is ongoing in our lives, a helpful way to determine whether we are profiting from the Word is whether or not we are able to resist sins that had previously entangled us. Pink asks the question in this way, “Is the reading and studying of God’s Word producing a purging of my ways” (15)?

6) We know we have profited from the Word when we are protected from sin.

We often think that simply doing away with evil will suffice. Scripture is clear that evil should be replaced with god-honoring activity. Paul asserts, “Overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). According to Pink, “The more Christ’s Word dwells in us ‘richly’ (Col. 3:16), the less room will there be for the exercise of sin in our hearts and lives” (15).

Pink, A.W. Profiting from the Word. Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust. 1977. 9-18.