JACKSON, Tenn. — Sept. 13, 2017 — International Bible teacher Kay Arthur said her purpose in everything she does is to encourage Christians to know the Bible.
“I’m here to provoke you to study the word of God,” Arthur told students at her chapel address Sept. 13 on the Union University campus.
Arthur is the co-CEO of Precept Ministries International and the author of numerous books and Bible studies. Her chapel message focused on the first chapters of Genesis and the serpent’s deception of Adam and Eve. She said the first step in Satan’s deception is to get someone to question what God says, and this is easy when people don’t know what God says.
“We’re in trouble,” Arthur said. “I believe we’re in trouble because the church in the United States of America does not know God.”
She said the world is in a time of crisis and war, and Christians have to prepare themselves for the conflict.
“You have to gird yourselves,” she said. “You have to put on the full armor of God. You’ve got to know the Word of God. It is the only offensive weapon God has given us.”
Arthur said using the word of God may bring war, imprisonment, loss of status or jobs and other conflicts, but it is necessary to combat the deception of Satan. She said biblical education is more important than college education, seminary education or any other education.
“I don’t have a college degree,” she said. “I’m dyslexic, and I’m a woman - and glad to be a woman. But I know the book. Do you know the book?”
Arthur said in addition to showing the truth about Satan the deceiver, Genesis shows the truth about Jesus the savior, and this is the most important truth found in the Bible because it has the power to change lives.
“It’s one thing to know the word,” she said. “It’s another to live it.”
Arthur said this is why knowing and understanding the Bible must become the priority of every Christian’s life.
“These words are your life,” Arthur said. “If they will become your life, then you will become a man or woman used mightily of God and not ashamed when you see him face to face.”
Arthur also spoke at the Union Auxiliary luncheon and in an Old Testament survey class while on Union’s campus. Her full chapel address is available to watch online .