You’ve probably heard the phrase “book smart.” It’s a way to describe people who excel academically, but seem unable to put their knowledge to any practical use. Their expertise may appear to be vast and impressive, but it is essentially useless. They are well informed in theory, but they are fools in practice.

I’m deeply concerned that there are many men and women in the church today who are book smart when it comes to the Bible. They know the truth of God’s Word, but it has not taken root or made any transformation in their lives. They might be able to give all the right answers on a quiz about biblical theology, but if that knowledge has not penetrated their hearts and brought about real faith and repentance, it’s worthless.

That’s not to say the truth itself is worthless or ineffective. God’s Word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). But that doesn’t mean the truth always secures a positive, sanctifying result. After all, the truth hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay.

And you don’t have to reject the truth to become hardened to it. Those who hear God’s Word without being doers are actually desensitized and deadened by the exercise rather than renewed and revived. That’s the central point of James 1 and 2. Faith without works is dead.

What we are really talking about is the difference between knowing the Lord and knowing about Him. No amount of academic knowledge can substitute for real repentance and living faith. Those are the essential marks of a right relationship with God.

Anyone can know about God and His truth. Some of the world’s foremost Bible scholars are liberals who see Scripture as nothing more than a historical artifact or a piece of literature. While their knowledge of God’s Word is often vast, their hearts remain cold and unmoved by the truth.

Similar examples of dead faith abound in churches around the globe. Pews are filled every Sunday with people who grew up in the church, surrounded by the truth and familiar with the usual Bible stories, but who have kept their knowledge at arm’s length. Perhaps they haven’t grown completely cold to biblical truth, but they haven’t really obeyed it yet, either.

Some of them may even think about the Bible and its teachings constantly, or blog about it daily—but they treat it like a hobby rather than truly submitting to its authority. Others never think about it except on Sundays. Like a reference volume or a textbook, it sits static in a dusty corner of their minds, accessed only in the need of the moment, and then quickly ignored again.

That is a dangerous and tragic way to handle the truth of Scripture. Knowing about God is simply not enough. Grasping the facts alone is not the same as being saved. In fact, apart from true faith and repentance, a person who merely knows about God is no better off than the demons (James 2:19).

The catch is that knowing about God is still a vital part of truly knowing Him. For every person who understands the truth but remains in that hearer-only category, there are many more who know next nothing about the God of Scripture, but who are content to put their trust in a god of their own making.  Their flawed perception of God comes from ignorance of the Bible, poor teaching, bad theology, or mismatched bits of biblical truth they’ve cobbled together through the years. In some cases, their concept of God is purely a figment of their imagination.

Put simply, that is idolatry–such people have substituted a fictional deity for the Lord. It’s no different from worshiping a golden calf, a bronze Buddha, or a stone sphinx.

And it’s not just people outside the church who think and live that way. Plenty of people who have been exposed to the truth of Scripture prefer to worship their own, homemade versions of God. Projecting their own values and characteristics on the Lord, they presume He can’t truly be all that His Word claims He is–that there must be limits to His knowledge, power, wrath, and judgment.

Or they choose one of the Lord’s more favorable attributes and camp on it to the exclusion of everything else He has revealed about Himself in His Word. For example, we are naturally thrilled by the truth of 1 John 4:8 “God is love.” But if your theology begins and ends there, you’re not really worshiping the true God of the Bible, but one you’ve concocted. True biblical faith doesn’t cherry-pick the truth. Everything Scripture teaches about the nature, character, and work of the Lord is vital and necessary. Choosing anything short of that is idolatry.

So while it’s not enough to hear the truth without obeying it, nevertheless, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word” (Romans 10:17). In other words, hearing and understanding the truth about God is still absolutely essential for a right relationship with Him. You can’t know God without first knowing what is true about Him. And a true knowledge of the true God is likewise the necessary foundation for authentic obedience to His word.

The purpose of Grace to You is to bring you resources like that—Bible teaching that helps you know God more deeply. We exist to energize your spiritual growth and refine your knowledge of God and your love for His Word.

When you walk by faith, you will claim all that God has for you; but unbelief is always content to settle for something less than God’s best.