I’ll go further into Bible study below but here are some basic Scriptures to start with. Don’t worry about fully understanding everything in them right now. Just get a feel for what they are telling you then we’ll talk about the next important part of the new life you have found.

For no one is put right in God’s sight by doing what the Law requires; what the Law does is to make us know that we have sinned. But now God’s way of putting people right with himself has been revealed. It has nothing to do with law, even though the Law of Moses and the prophets gave their witness to it. Romans 3:20-21(GNB)

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:22-23 (NLT)

They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as a way to forgive people’s sins through their faith in him. God can forgive them because the blood sacrifice of Jesus pays for their sins. God gave Jesus to show that he always does what is right and fair. He was right in the past when he was patient and did not punish people for their sins. And in our own time, he still does what is right. God worked all this out in a way that allows him to judge people fairly and still make right any person who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:24-26 (ERV)

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of the Jewish people is that they would be saved. I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God, but they are misguided. They don’t understand how to receive God’s approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God’s way of receiving his approval. Christ is the fulfillment of Moses’ Teachings so that everyone who has faith may receive God’s approval…If you declare that Jesus is Lord, and believe that God brought him back to life, you will be saved. By believing you receive God’s approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved.  Romans 10:3-4 & 9-10 (GW)

My friends, what good is it for one of you to say that you have faith if your actions do not prove it? Can that faith save you? Suppose there are brothers or sisters who need clothes and don’t have enough to eat. What good is there in your saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”—if you don’t give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions, then it is dead. James 2:14-17 (GW)

I chose those Scriptures to represent the basics of the Christian faith. In them we learn about a God that always does what is right, punishing sin while at the same time loving the sinner. You see that God worked through Moses and the prophets and the Jewish people to teach the world about sin’s cost and pave the way for Jesus who would pay that cost. You see how God’s plan has been misunderstood because of humankind’s pride. We always want to be the ones in control, continuously rebelling against the Creator of everything, imagining, somehow, that we know better and failing on the most basic levels. You have taken the first step toward stopping that cycle. You have submitted to God and asked for Him to guide your life. So how should you live now?

Hebrews 5:11-6:3 (NLT) talks about spiritual maturity but during that conversation, it talks about the basics of the Christian life that all Jesus followers should have down (but so many don’t). Here is what it says :

“So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.” 

Now bear with me because I am going to get into a little deeper Bible study with you for a moment. Don’t worry you will not have to start out reading your Bible like this but it might be interesting for a bit and it will give you an idea of just how rich the Word of God is. This scripture (like most of the New Testament) was written in ancient Greek so we will have to talk a little about that language and the Greek phrases that make up these basic teachings of fundamental importance that are mentioned so we can really understand them. Let’s pull out the things that the passage said were so important and dissect them as we go. They are:

Basic teachings about Christ: This is the foundation of the Gospel and it was found in the group of scriptures you read right before this study. Here is a synopsis: God is Holy and just and must judge sin with death. We are all sinners and spiritually dead because of it. God loves us all. God became a man named Jesus and died for our sins thus taking our punishment on Himself. With the punishment paid, God is now free to offer us forgiveness and a new life – an existence in which the Holy Spirit of God gives us life instead of our old sinful self that only brings death. God is not a tyrant, He wants us to freely accept Him so He does not force this on us, but only a fool would refuse such an offer. This new life is not based on our lack of sin or how many good things we do but instead on our faith in Jesus. Real faith, however, will motivate us to avoid sin and do good things.

Repenting from evil deeds: (Most translations say dead works instead of evil deeds. The difference in translation comes because like many terms this Greek phrase has a depth that is hard to render in Modern language. It means something that has no life in it and will lead to death or deserves the death penalty. That would encompass trying to reach God by keeping the law and not trying to reach God at all and living a sinful life. Both show a lack of faith in Christ and are equally destructive. 

Placing our faith in God: Like most places in scripture, faith is an active word that does things. If your faith does not move you to change your life it is not really faith as meant in the Bible. It means you are completely persuaded and trust the object of your faith.

Baptisms(,) the laying on of hands: The comma in parenthesis was not in the original Greek. It doesn’t have such punctuation, so the translators put it in to make it understandable in English. In this case, I think the comma might cause some confusion. The combining of the two phrases means more that I think is important. This is not talking about baptisms like you see in church when they dunk someone in water. That is an important ceremony as a symbol of faith and commitment but it is not one of the basics they are talking about here. There is a different Greek word for that type of Baptism. This baptism is the word used for cleaning an item to get it ready for something or to make it fit for service. The phrase translated here as, “laying on of hands” is only used for imparting spiritual gifts. The combination of these, without the comma, renders the idea of laying hands on someone to give them spiritual power from God to do a certain thing. All through scripture we see the Spirit of God coming on people or being given to people for the task they are called to do. Sometimes this was God Himself giving spiritual power but often He used another person to lay hands on someone or anoint someone and pray and God gave the gift in response to that act of faith. I think this is telling us that a basic of the Christian faith is that God has tasks for us to accomplish and we should expect him to give us the spiritual power and gifts it takes. We should also be ready both to pray for others for this and to be prayed for by others to receive our own spiritual empowerment. 

The resurrection of the dead: This is a little easier. Jesus made it clear that everyone who dies will someday be resurrected to either punishment or an eternal life with God.

Eternal judgment: Those who have NOT put their faith in Jesus have this to look forward to. The Greek word for “eternal” is the same word used for “eternal life” and “eternal God.” So it means forever. No wonder it is important for us to know this, so we can avoid it and help others avoid it.

So those are the basics that we should all have down pat. I think as Christians we have some work to do in this area – just like the Christians from the book of Hebrews. But if those are the basics what does this “maturity” mean and how do we get to that. I will spare you any more deep study for now and just tell you that my research has convinced me that the maturity the author is referring to has to do with Christian unity and learning to live together with other believers in a supportive and loving environment. In that case, we don’t even need the law, because we follow the commandments of God instinctively out of a deep love for people and a desire to see them prosper and not be harmed. So that brings us to the next step on your Christian journey.

The Bible talks about being part of the “body of Christ.” It comes from a word picture that the Apostle Paul gave in several of his letters to the early churches in the cities of the ancient Roman Empire not long after Jesus left the earth. (These are found in the Bible, CLICK HERE to see one such passage). Paul said the church (which is one of the Bible’s names for the people who have decided to follow Jesus) was like the human body. It has many unique parts that do different things, but it is all one body of individuals linked by the new life they have found through Jesus. It is important for new believers to start hanging out with other “members of the body.” A church (what our modern language calls a building where people worship God) is a good place to start looking for people like that. There are plenty of phonies in churches (we will talk more about why that is and what to do about it) but if you go looking for people who have had a legitimate experience with God, you will find them.

Once you connect with people that truly long to know God and live for Him, Sunday morning will not be enough. You will want to get together with a small group and dig deep to explore the life God intends for believers. But a church is where most people make those first connections.

Pray for God to help you choose the right church. Check them out on the internet before you go and look for some type of “statement of faith” or “what we believe” entry to see if they believe what the Bible teaches. Here is a good example of such a statement that is Bible-based: Faith – our Statement of Faith, the Common Faith of the Believers. “The Apostles Creed” is an old statement of faith that is a good place to start. Here is a beautiful song of that creed to make it easy to remember: This I Believe (The Creed) – Hillsong Worship – YouTube. Mainly search for people who love Jesus and have given their lives over to His control. When someone truly believes, that person’s lifestyle will be different.

Beware of cults. I’m not talking about a radical group that lives in a compound (staying away from those goes without saying). The ones I’m referring to might be your misguided neighbors or the friendly person working in the cubical next to you. The quickest way to tell the main cults is to find out if they believe that Jesus was God come in a real body to pay the cost of human sin. Keep this in mind. Jesus was clear about who He was. He had this conversation with one of His disciples: Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? John 14:6-9 (NLT). This is but one of many places where the Bible reveals Jesus as “God with us.” Beware of anyone who tries to alter or twist scriptures into saying something other than what they plainly say.

We will talk more about cults later on this page. Just know that not everyone or every organization that claims to be Christian is a real follower of Jesus. Some have even produced Bibles that have been altered to portray Jesus as less than God. Satan has lots of counterfeits and many of them are even more active in approaching you to join them than real Christians are. A person new to the Christian faith might be fooled. So what do you do if you encounter a person involved in a cult? If you are a new believer, they might be much more prepared to argue scripture than you are. They are often well trained in the art of debate on Christian topics. There is nothing wrong with politely denying them your time until you feel you might be ready for such an encounter.

This brings us to the concept of sharing our new faith with others. Now that you are a follower of Jesus, you have only one real job – share Christ – everything else is just a vehicle to survive and take us to people with which we can share him – our families, our coworkers, our friends. They all need Jesus as badly as we do. Jesus gave His disciples (which includes us, now that we have answered His call to follow Him) this assignment in Mark 16:15 (CEV) Then he told them, “Go and preach the good news to everyone in the world.” Preaching has two parts: Showing Christ and sharing Christ. Here are some quick tips from the Billy Graham Association: Sharing Your Faith 101. Our Bible study will teach us how to do both and the Holy Spirit will help us. Jesus promised to give us the Holy Spirit if we ask. He is the third person of the Trinity – the spirit of God and Christ inside us that empowers us in many ways. Now is a good time to start asking God to fill you with His Spirit so you can live and share this new life effectively.

I promised more about Bible study and this is a good place to revisit that topic. The Scriptures are also called the “Word of God,” which is also one of Jesus’s titles because he embodies what we learn in the Bible. Studying “The Word” to learn more about how to serve God is another way to know what real “Christianity” (the act of following Christ) looks like. The Bible is a reliable mystery, unlike any other book. As you can see, it is supernaturally deep and rich, allowing us to find new hidden gems in its words even after studying it for years. But the Scriptures were written in ancient languages that require years of training to understand. It can get heavy on the intellectual side but don’t worry. The basics of faith in Jesus are so simple that a child can understand. For those who have the ability, Bible reading or listening is a must – but scholarship is not. Again, pray for God to give you His Spirit to help you to understand what you read.

Remember Paul’s analogy of the body. God did not design everyone to be a Biblical language scholar. We all have our strengths and our Creator made us that way for a reason. We are blessed to have scholars who have given huge portions of their lives to bring us accurate renditions of the Bible. If such study is not in your skillset, find a God-gifted teacher. What you truly care about, you will seek to understand.

The internet is full of resources but also full of dangerous false teaching. Radio has some good preachers and teachers with fewer dangers, but in my experience, avoid most of the hucksters on television. Anyone who teaches that giving to their ministry is a way to receive the blessings of God (particularly in the form of health and wealth) is someone to be avoided. They may quote lots of scriptures but even the devil did that when he tempted Jesus. The Bible is a whole unified message and you need to get to know it that way. Until then know that Jesus called his disciples to servanthood, not earthly success. Success itself is not a bad thing if it comes with a humble heart and a generous nature. When evaluating preachers and teachers, look for that pride we talked about. I’m not talking about confidence. Watch out for conceited ego. You can see it in how they act, the way they talk, and the life they are living (the Bible calls this their fruit). If a person is full of themselves, it is easy for them to go astray and take others with them. Excluding anyone who differs from them, elevating themselves over others, and isolating themselves and their followers from other Christians is another hallmark of false teachers and an indicator they are sliding toward being a cult.

A church with good Bible teachers is a blessing indeed, but you can see why you should still read or listen to the Bible yourself. The stories in the Bible are interesting in a language with which you are familiar. For most of us, that is not the King James Version. You might wonder about the three letters in parenthesis after the Bible verses I quote. Those designate which version of the Bible the quote is from. I recommend comparing translations to better understand the text.

When beginning to study the Bible it is wise to choose a translation that is closest to the way you speak. If you are from King Arthur’s court the King James Version might be the right choice, otherwise, I would give a modern language version a try. (You will encounter people that have strong opinions about translations. No need to argue with such people. We have already seen that there have been perversions of the Scriptures produced, so it is best to stick with the well-known translations from reputable sources. The goal is to understand what the Bible is saying. That is why comparing translations is useful.)  

Here is a link to one of my favorite chapters of Scripture on one of my favorite online Bible sites in two different versions side by side: Romans 8 KJV NLT Parallel (biblehub.com). See the difference? The second translation, the New Living Translation, is one I really like and recommend. On the Bible Hub site, it is easy to change translations to gain a better understanding of the text. See the row of three-letter designators? Clicking on a different set of letters will bring up a different translation. You can change the whole page to that translation or just one side of the side-by-side view. Play around a little with this site and you will see how powerful it is. Bible Hub is fast and has lots of study helps such as Strongs which I will discuss briefly since it involves more advanced study.

Remember I said the Bible was written in ancient languages. You can get a little closer to understanding those original languages as you progress in your studies by using a Strong’s Concordance. This video does a good job of explaining it. Unless you are already well familiar with the Bible, this is a link you will probably want to return to later. How to use Strongs Concordance in Book and Online form for Your Bible Study – video

I suggest getting to know the culture behind the language. One good thing to know upfront is that the ancient Hebrew and Arab cultures loved to use what is called hyperbole. Hyperbole is defined as

1. A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in “I could sleep for a year” or “This book weighs a ton.”
2. In rhetoric, an obvious exaggeration; an extravagant statement or assertion not intended to be understood literally.

Keeping that in mind can help you understand some of the things said in Scripture that sound crazy to our culture. Some people have gone too far and tried to explain away everything they don’t like in scripture as hyperbole in order to create their own image of God, so take care. Some translations attempt to convert some hyperbole in Scripture into modern equivalents but that can alter the meaning sometimes so comparing translations and understanding the culture is essential to fully understanding the Bible deeply.

Here is a good resource: Manners and Customs from Bible Lands. For an even more complete coverage of the topic, here is another online book: Manners and Customs of the Bible.

The NET Bible John 1 | Lumina (netbible.org) is an excellent way to go deep in your study because it has in-depth translation notes that let you see why the translators rendered a verse a certain way. Here is a Bible study program that is free to install on your computer e-Sword: Free Bible Study for the PC | Downloads. When it comes to phone and tablet apps, go to your app store and look up Youversion and Blue Letter Bible. Those are the two I like best along with the Bible Project app mentioned earlier.

The electronic world has given us so many great resources, but I think you should always have at least one physical Bible in book form. A good study Bible is an investment (around $30 – $100) so I advise starting with a simple inexpensive Bible until you have studied Scripture enough to know what would work best for you. If money is a problem, check out Christian ministry thrift stores (In our area, we have The Potter’s House). They often have donated Bibles to give away. You might find an expensive Study Bible there for little or no money.

Again use some caution about Bibles study notes. They are helpful, but compare notes from various sources and seek to understand Scripture for yourself instead of becoming stuck on one point of view. As you grow with God, you will probably change some of the preconceived ideas you started with. God does not reveal His secrets to only one person. He wants us to need each other – remember “the body” analogy. Look for a group of people you can be open and honest with and study Scripture together.

There are a few things to know when choosing a Bible, even a free one. There are 66 Books in a standard Christian Bible. Here is a simple list – Books of the Bible List in Order. Some Bibles have extra books called the Apocrypha. Catholic Bibles have these. In general, these books are Jewish fiction or histories written in the time between the last book of the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament (some sources suggest some of the Apocrypha books were written as late as 400 AD) It is not evil to read them, but I recommend avoiding them until you know the authoritative Scriptures well. The Apocrypha has some value in the study of Jewish history and cultural practices but also has a good amount of false information in them. When you are ready for a more detailed discussion of these books go here: What are the Catholic Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical books? and here: What Is the Apocrypha? | Desiring God.

There are other ancient books you might run into such as the book of Enoch. These books look and sound like Scripture, but they are not. As I mentioned earlier, the books in the standard Bible have been guarded and protected by devout followers of God for thousands of years. There are valid reasons for these extra books not being included in what is called the “Canon” of Scripture. For an overview of how the canon works go here: The canon of Scripture – What is it?

So why does God allow all these cults and scripture counterfeits to exist? Why does he let satan hang around? Can’t He wipe them out? We might also ask why God lets bad things happen to good people? For that matter why does God not just make the world right again and make everyone a Christian? Can’t He just come down and clean all this mess up? The answer is – of course He could. But He has chosen not to and about His reasons we can only speculate because He has not told us plainly. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that God hides Himself. Here is an interesting write-up about that: A God who Hides Himself: He does many Things, but He Conceals Himself. To see some ideas about why, read this:Why Does God Hide Himself From Us? (bibleveryday.com) and Science in the Bible: God Hides Himself, and this, Why Does God Hide Himself from Christians?. If God showed Himself openly, we would certainly want to be on His side. But God is not interested in fair-weather friends. He hides just out of view and watches and works secretly, asking us to have faith: “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6.” It’s also necessary for us to be honest about where those types of questions come from. It’s that pride thing again. In our minds we are saying, “If I was in control of this world, I would do things differently,” and what we really mean is, “I would do things better.” We find ourselves stepping into that same hole again. PRIDE! The stuff that makes us enemies with God.

Let’s ask another question. Why is there a devil in the first place? Where did he come from? We don’t know the full story, but the Bible gives us a few glimpses of some events that took place in the spiritual world that is normally unseen by humans. As mentioned before, Scripture often is saying more than one thing at a time. In the middle of writing about things happening in their own time, the Old Testament prophets would sometimes say odd things that make you think perhaps a spiritual image was superimposed over their vision that gave them a peek into another world.

Ezekiel 28 has some passages like that. The prophet is talking about the King of Tyre when he suddenly starts saying things that do not sound like he is talking about a human being: “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:14-15 (KJV). Isaiah 14:12-15 has something similar: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” (KJV). Many scholars believe this is a prophecy about an angelic being that God created so wonderfully that pride overtook him, and he dreamed of being like God himself. PRIDE! There it is, perhaps the first sin – wanting to be like God. Incidentally, it is the same sin that made Adam and Eve fall in the garden. They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because the devil promised them it would make them like God. They wanted to say for themselves what was right and wrong. Genesis 3 NIV – The Fall – Now the serpent was more…

In the Bible, there is a lot of talk about God’s hatred of idols. Now we see why that might be. They are man’s attempt to create a God in man’s image instead of accepting God for who He is. Some people make idols out of wood or stone and some people create them in their minds. When we say, “I can’t believe in a God who would…” it is the first step in creating our image of God like we want Him instead of trying to learn and submit to how He really is and His plan. Do you see how we have come back to the source of some of those “why” questions? It is not wrong to ask why, but if God chooses not to tell us and it leads us to rebel against Him because we don’t like the way He does things, it is a sure path to destruction. Satan took that path and started a spiritual war that he has no hope of winning.

Throughout Scripture, we see hints about that war that is taking place in the spiritual world and how it affects this physical life. The most vivid picture of it is in Revelation 12. These are some of the symbols to look for in this passage: The dragon & serpent = satan | stars in heaven = angels | the woman = Israel, the ancestral people of Jesus | The woman’s seed = followers of Jesus. Revelation 12. CLICK THIS LINK TO READ ABOUT IT (NIV) – The Woman and the Dragon – A great sign. As we read to the end of Revelation, we see satan’s ultimate destination is a place of punishment called the lake of fire. No human knows what that might indicate literally but one thing is for sure, satan has already lost this war. Yet he still keeps fighting—how twisted.

One of Satan’s main strategies is to infiltrate “the church” and get believers to worship something other than the real God. If he can get you involved in being religious instead of having a real relationship, he can lead you further and further away from God. He frequently attacks the most visible symbols of Christianity.

Since we mentioned the Catholic church in our Bible study section, it might be good to discuss some of the features of this sect of Christianity that might cause a new follower of Jesus problems. Within the Catholic are many faithful followers of Christ, but the international Roman Catholic institution historically has had some problems. They encourage putting faith in humans (such as Jesus’s mother Mary and saints) and objects (such as rosaries and crucifixes ). Remember our discussion of how God hates idols. Here is the second commandment: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me. Exodus 20:4. Wow! I think I would not even flirt with something that God considers hatred toward Him. Some Catholics say they are only “venerating” such things but when I watch the practice it sure looks like an act of worship. My family and I were missionaries for a while in a foreign country where Catholicism was a thin coverup for the same paganism their ancestors had always practiced. I saw how much the Catholic church institution was willing to allow the faith to degrade into superstition and the worship of earthly things so long as they kept their allegiance to the pope. When an angel gave John a wonderful prophetic vision, watch what happened: Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 (ESV). The angel made it clear that humans and other created beings (even mighty angels) are not to be worshiped. I count many Catholics as my friends and love and respect them as my fellow brothers and sisters in the faith. It depends on what is in their heart and to whom they have given their lives. But I would be negligent not to mention this in a guide to new followers of Jesus.

In regard to Scripture, the Roman Catholic institution has not encouraged individual study of Scripture. It prefers its membership get their “truth” from the “church” and they seem to put more value in official church opinion than in the Bible. That is less true today, perhaps, but take care when interacting with Catholics and dealing with things produced by the Roman Catholic institution. For more information here are a couple of articles to consider. Can a Devout Roman Catholic Be Genuinely Born Again?  |  Is the Catholic Church part of Christianity or is it a separate religion? (This last article has a good list of the most important things that Scripture teaches that are necessary to our faith in the God of the Bible.)

With all this controversy, it could make a person start wondering about Christianity. Besides the article about the Resurrection that was mentioned earlier, is there any proof of what we believe?

How much evidence should we expect to find? The Evidence for Christianity (Beside this article, the site has a lot of resources to check out as you have time.)

All this brings up the point, can we even trust the Bible? Is all of this real or just one more religion made up by men and written down in old scrolls? Good question. As we learned God wants us to trust Him and have faith. However, our faith is far from an unreasonable faith. Archeological evidence abounds in the support of the Bible. Here are some links to articles describing some of that evidence, often flying in the face of critics: www.growingchristians.org | www.answersingenesis.org | www.redeemersavior.com | www.crossway.org

Okay, so the Bible might be a real record from the past. Can we trust what it says about God? How do we know God created the Universe? Does science agree with that idea? Yes, it does. Not every scientist agrees but there is ample scientific evidence for the Bible’s record of creation. Here is an excellent book written by an MIT scientist on the science behind a belief in what the Bible says about Creation and the early days of the earth. In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood (This is a huge scientific work. Though written so non-scientists can understand, it will take some time, so you might need to revisit it as you have availability.)

But what about Jesus? What makes Jesus any different from other religious leaders? CLICK HERE for a logical examination of Jesus’s claim to be God.

You might wonder why you need to know all that. It is important to know how to defend your faith. As we have seen Jesus had lots of enemies in His day and they are numerous today as well. Those enemies will be after you now. Jesus gave His disciples this warning and you will find it often holds true today: “If the world hates you, know that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, I have chosen you out of the world, and you don’t belong to the world. This is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘Servants aren’t greater than their master.’ If the world harassed me, it will harass you too. If it kept my word, it will also keep yours. The world will do all these things to you on account of my name, because it doesn’t know the one who sent me.” John 15:18-21 (CEB)

Some of the harassment (and worse, perhaps) will come from people and organizations but some will be from invisible spiritual enemies led by the “devil” (also called “satan”) as we talked about earlier. “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:8 (GNB). Believing in the devil might sound a little freaky but that’s because satan hides himself as much as God does. He knows it is not to his advantage for people to know he is around doing his dirty work. To give you an idea why he hides, it might be fun for you to listen to a few songs by my favorite Christian singer/songwriter, Keith Green (Keith is in Heaven now but he left us with compelling music and his humor might make you smile): No One Believes In Me Anymore (Satan’s Boast) – YouTube | Lies – Keith Green – YouTube | Keith Green – Dear John Letter (To The Devil) – YouTube.

You probably didn’t know it, but just like Keith talks about in “Dear John Letter,” before you got right with God, you were serving Satan. What happens in the spiritual world determines how things go in the physical world.  In the spiritual world, there are only two kingdoms. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of royal people. It is a place where our differences all work together as part of God’s perfect plan. People have unique roles in God’s  Kingdom, but we are all children of the King. In satan’s kingdom there is nothing but slaves. When we make God the King of our lives, He adopts us into His family and gives us His protection from the powers of evil. (Because what happens in the spiritual world is far more important than what takes place in the physical,  God’s protection does not always take the form we expect – we will talk about that more later). Though God wants to give everyone the benefits of being His children, He allows everyone the freedom to choose Him or reject Him. Our Creator is not interested in robots; he wants real relationship. The danger is that since God is the only source of goodness and truth, there is only one place to go when we walk away from God – we  immediately step into the realm of evil and deception. Satan is waiting to attack and enslave anyone who rejects the protection and freedom that Jesus gives.

From the moment we have the capacity to choose, we find ourselves in this struggle because there is another wrinkle in our problem. God gave the original two humans real freedom which came with a special choice. They could choose to let God be their King and determine what was good or evil, or they could disobey God and decide for themselves what was right and wrong. Satan tempted them with the same prideful sin he had committed – trying to be like God. Our ancestors chose to disobey God. It is only our pride that might lead us to think any of us would have done better.

God had placed man in charge of the world so the entire of creation, past and present, including all their offspring of which we are part, suffered for that decision. We find ourselves outside of God’s Kingdom, proclaiming ourselves as the gods of our lives, deciding for ourselves what is right and wrong and making a mess of everything. I suspect that is why humans have a tendency to make idols. It is our useless attempt to recreate the situation we lost for ourselves and still make a god the way we like him.

But God had a plan. He began to teach the human race, taking thousands of years to show them that life can never work that way no matter how long he gives them to try. The world became so wicked at one point that God completely reset it, starting over with the best humans at the time. Humankind started right back up again with the same sins. Over and over, God chose people to carry his message to the world. He gave them laws to follow, human kings to lead them, prophets to warn them, and still humans just couldn’t do this life on their own. He showed humanity that to be a truly good God you have to be fair and just. Justice demands that such a grave sin as rebellion against God must be punished by the death of the sinful. So humankind is stuck. It is impossible for them to be their own gods and it is impossible for them to earn their way back into the real God’s Kingdom. Of course, Satan is right there flaunting our failures, demanding God fulfill his own justice.

But all through the ages, in all the messages God was sending, He was giving clues to a plan He had – a way for humans to get out of the impossible situation they had created for themselves. God was sending a savior…a savior to sacrifice Himself to pay the penalty humans could not pay themselves. But no one human could die for all humans in every age of time. It wouldn’t be enough. It would take someone more infinite than all of creation who existed outside of time. Someone who didn’t have their own sin to die for. Only God himself would fit that description. But human sin demanded human death and God was not a human. Can you see now what had to happen? God had to become human but stay God at the same time. Or as it says in Colossians 2:9 (NLT), For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

Jesus paid the price to give humanity another chance. Now God is able, even as a God of justice, to offer us the choice to be a part of his Kingdom again. Because Jesus was God and human, He was more than enough to pay the price not just for one time but for all time. God is free to continue to offer his mercy to us freely, time and time again because there is no more payment needed. Because of what Jesus did, even if we fail and abandon Him, even if we sin repeatedly, our Heavenly Father is right behind us, with His arms wide open waiting for us to come running back to Him. Until the end of our lives, the only thing that stands between us and God is our choice.

So you might ask, “Now that I have made the choice to be a part of God’s Kingdom, what does living in God’s Kingdom look like. When we decide to follow Jesus, He calls us to put to death the part of us that served the devil. God works in people’s lives to block satan’s full power, giving people opportunities to choose the Godly kingdom, but in the end, it is the choice of each individual in each moment. The Bible talks about the battle that is going on inside of Christians. The old part of us wants to live again and the demons that satan has assigned to temp us are constantly trying to get us to choose that life. In the past, you might have encountered a Christian that was losing that battle. Remember how badly they represented Jesus. Satan’s spiritual forces, while not even a challenge to God, are far more powerful and deceptive than we can battle on our own. Anytime someone walks away from God and His way of doing things they put themselves at satan’s mercy. So if you ever come to your senses and find yourself doing things you know you shouldn’t be doing, thinking ways you shouldn’t be thinking, no matter how far you have gone down that road, repent quickly (ask God to forgive you and get back to your new life, a life that rejects sin and shares God’s love). Bible study will help you to see what God expects from his followers. The last several paragraphs were all based on things found in Scripture. I want to challenge you to search for those references in your Bible study to “prove out” what I am telling you. That is how we need to be. Always making the Bible our place to go for answers. Remember the Bible is an honest book. It shows both the successes and failures of people that were trying to follow God. We can learn from both.

This is a good place to discuss how satan will try to talk to us in our minds. Here is where we can really see how evil he is. The devil tries to get us to sin, then if we do sin he tells us what an awful person we are and how God will never want us. He will condemn us for the very sin he got us to commit. You see it’s not the sin that is important to him. His goal is to keep us away from God. He has only one plan for the people under his control – to lure them into the downward spiral of self-destruction. At the same time, he seeds them with arrogant thoughts, causing them to work to build themselves up by tearing others down. He whispers the same thing in the ear of both sides of such battles: “Look what that person did, how could God expect you to forgive something like that, you have to get them back.” Satan’s perfect world is one where people bite and devour one another and blame God for it all. Those who are most in his control, he will use against God’s children and against each other. Satan is continuously trying to discredit God so his servants often pretend to be Christians and end up in churches. He has put a lot of them in positions of power. Others he sends out to kill in the name of God. You can see how well humankind has allowed him to fool it. That is the reason the world seems to be in such a mess – it is. Satan wants people to hate others and hate themselves, so eventually, they hate God. The greatest weapons for a follower of Jesus are peace and forgiveness. Forgive ourselves and forgive others so we can experience the peace of God’s forgiveness.

Let’s revisit the cults we talked about earlier. They are good examples of satan’s deceptive work. Here are some of the most prominent cults:

The Jehovah’s Witnesses – They have their own bible called the New World Translation which has been altered to portray Jesus as less than God. They harbor “Godly hatred” for those outside their cult but can appear peaceful and pleasant. They are preoccupied with the timetable of the end of the world and believe only special people will go to heaven. They produce publications under the “Watchtower” logo. As the name implies, they are active at witnessing and have likely come to your door.

The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons or LDS) – They have been around for a long time and are excellent publicity artists spending big money to rebrand themselves from a very checkered past. They stress strong family values and Mormon community care. They collect genealogical information so they can pray for the dead of the past. They have many secret rituals and symbols. They also spend time going door to door.

Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist). – They deny the reality of the physical existence and teach that healing will come when a person stops believing in the physical body that does not really exist. Since they don’t believe the physical is real, they don’t believe sin is real.

These are some of satan’s best counterfeits because they can often be devout, nice, moral people. I mention them because each one of these groups claims to be Christian. Scripture is clear about how important the true “gospel” (the good news about Jesus) is: I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. Galatians 1:6-9 (NLT). This passage was addressing things happening during the time it was written but it seems God inspired the writer to word it to address the situation today as well. (That is one of the powers of Scripture.) The Christian Scientist would deny the need for “the loving mercy of Christ” because they don’t believe in sin. Twisting the truth concerning Christ is at the core of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ false teaching, and the founder of Mormonism claimed to get his revelations from an angel. It is not necessary to know all about the cults, just watch out for them. If you want to study the topic in-depth, here is a resource: The Kingdom of the Cults.

You will never argue someone out of a cult unless they were ready to escape already. One of the key features of a cult is they are very good at creating an environment that is hard to leave. The group provides a family, often to people who are searching for somewhere to belong or who have been with the group all their lives. There are definite benefits to belonging. When a person escapes, not only do they lose that family and those benefits, but they receive condemnation from the group. They are on the outside now and depending on how much of their life and livelihood they had invested with the group, they can face substantial pressure. Such situations are stark examples of how the devil works in general. The entire world is his cult. To be a follower of Jesus means we have left that life behind and we will be on the outside in a lot of ways. Satan doesn’t give up his prey easily.

Each member of every cult is a precious creation of God bound in one of the devil’s webs. Satan is an excellent forger, so we have no reason to have anything but compassion for his victims. While we will not argue them out of his trap, we might pray them out and love them out. Seldom will a cult member let you get that close emotionally, but if they do, sincere compassion and honesty can give them hope there is life outside of the “family.” Here’s a short article. How Do I Witness to Someone Involved in a Cult? | Christian Research Institute (equip.org). Once you feel strong in your faith and firm in your knowledge of the Bible you might consider talking to someone who comes to your door trying to lure you into one of the cults. If you feel like you’re ready, Here is a resource – 10 Surprisingly Simple Tips for Talking with Cult Members. Remember you probably will not argue them out but with prayer the Lord might free them just as He did us.

So you see many people have been deceived. God doesn’t force anyone to serve Him. He’s not a slave master like satan. For that reason and others (some of which we cannot understand), God chooses to leave things this way for now, but He promises to help us through it and make it work for our good in the end. Jesus said, “I have told you this so that through Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble, but be courageous—I have overcome the world!” John 16:33 (ISV). Once again, He’s asking us to trust Him.

As you grow in your faith and your knowledge of the Bible, be careful of pride creeping in again. Keep in mind, satan’s best weapon is to let people think they are in control. Otherwise, they might come to their senses and run to the God who really loves them. The devil uses whatever trick works best at the time to get us to abandon our faith. Too often horrible events send us running to God, as they should. It is usually more effective for satan to move us toward a slow erosion into making our faith just one more thing on our to-do list. Prayer and Bible reading should never be a mindless ritual. Jesus warned us, “And when you pray, don’t be like the people who don’t know God. They say the same things again and again. They think that if they say it enough, their god will hear them.” Matthew 6:7. (ERV)

Part of us humans is flesh and blood. We can get so caught up with the care and feeding of that part that it is easy for us to start believing our physical existence is the most important thing. In reality, it is the least important. Our physical part will last such a short time and it is so fragile and meaningless in the end. In several places in Scripture, Jesus warned people not to get too caught up in this physical life. It is because of what he said in Luke 12:34 (KJV), “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 

C.S. Lewis said, “This life is the dream from which someday we will awaken.” Someday we will find ourselves in an existence so much more real than this life that we will regret worrying so much about “the cares of this world” as the Bible calls them. Seek to know God on a spiritual level. Have a sincere talk with the One your soul has always longed to know. Ask Him to reveal himself to you and show you what He wants you to learn, then have faith that He will do that in His time.

Even if some try to deny it, we all innately know that there is more to this life than flesh and blood. We all must come to a spiritual encounter with God. In John 4:23-24 (KJV) Jesus tells a woman, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

God wants honest communication with us, so we can grow. He wants a relationship. That takes a conscious commitment on our part, not a religious ritual. When you read about Jesus in the New Testament Gospels, you will see He had the most trouble with religious people who were hypocrites and did not really know God. Never get so busy doing Christian things that you leave Christ behind. If you find you are doing things just to check off the religious box and it is not affecting the rest of your life, it is time to reconnect with the God you first gave your life to. In Revelation 2:1-5, God sent a letter to the believers in Ephesus praising them for their work and endurance but then He says, “But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning. So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you don’t change, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Guard your faith and constantly renew your fervor for Jesus. He is worth it. If you ever start to drift away, run back quickly. Remember, The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 (ESV).

I pray this will give you a good start on your way and that the Lord blesses your journey. If you have questions, please go to the contact page and ask what you will. Life with God through Jesus is the most important thing in our lives, and we love to share Him in any way we can.

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