As we pursue sinking our roots deeper into God's Word, we need to understand the basic biblical principles that lead to truth, and most of all, lead to Him who is the Truth. A fundamental requirement for discerning the truth is found in the remarkable statement made by the Lord in Matthew 11:25:
As the Lord Jesus Himself declares, the immature are far more likely to have a greater understanding of the Scriptures than the wise and intelligent. Most of the great perversions of Scripture have come from those who believed that they had a superior insight into the Scriptures because of their wisdom and intelligence. Does this mean that we should seek to stay spiritually immature? Of course not. However, we must understand that true spiritual maturity has qualities that are childlike. The Lord also said in Matthew 18:3:
A child is teachable. Being teachable is one of the basic qualities of humility. In James 4:6 we are told, "But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."' God's ways are much higher than our ways. In order for us to understand Him, or His Word, we must keep a humble, teachable attitude.
In Scripture, the Word of God is called a river of life. A river is ever flowing, continually going somewhere. If we remain in that river we too will be ever flowing, moving forward. As we are told in I Corinthians 2:10: "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." If we are following the Spirit, we will be going deeper. Even the knowledge of basic doctrines will be expanding for us as we come to understand the depth of His ways. However, they should never expand beyond what can clearly be established by the Scriptures themselves. In all things we must always come back to "It is written" (see Matthew 4:4).