Bible Study

A lot of people have issues with the Bible. A lot of these people even belong to churches. It's a big book, full of challenging and life-changing words. Some people like to look through it, and while they have a very easy time accepting parts like loving our neighbour, they aren't as willing to accept other parts of the very same work.

But if one considers the Bible untrustworthy in some places, why is there any basis to believe that any part of it at all is trustworthy?

That's kind of how I see the issue. I kind of think that the Bible is take-it-or-leave it, with no "create your own" option. Personally, I've decided to take it, but that doesn't mean that I automatically understand everything written in it. It just means that I'm trying.

I compare Bible study to something I learned in horseback riding. In riding, there is a saying that goes as follows:

"If your horse says no, you either asked the question wrong, or asked the wrong question." (Referring to moments when your horse may not do exactly as you think you've asked him or her)

Bible study is similar, because I've found that every time I felt I had found error, the error was not in the text itself, but in the way I was framing things. In Bible study, we need to learn to ask the right questions, the right way, and be humble.

Attitudes

This world makes me sad sometimes. It's a rough place to live. There is an overwhelming atmosphere of despair, rooted in everything people say and do. It's a sense of despair that comes from the belief that this is all there is to life; you just get through it. The doctrine of today is that people are just animals, this is all just a big rat race, we are here because of random chance, and we are nothing more than a bunch of molecules. Emotions are simply chemical reactions in the brain. There is nothing deeper, there is nothing higher. What is love? Oxytocin. That's it.

When I look at the world, here are the products I notice, the products of this reductionist worldview: In a world where there is no purpose, life is not sacred. Suicide is no big deal, it's just a person's choice. In a world where we are all just animals, brutal and violent behaviour is justified, because after all, don't we all just operate by "instinct?" In this worldview, nothing really matters. Nothing is all that valuable in the end. People certainly aren't.

Based on the bible, I reject this worldview. I firmly believe that we were meant for more, and I think that if people truly understood their worth, then they would stop settling for the bare minimum, just existing. I believe that we were intentionally created by an all-powerful, awesome God, a God who is by very definition Love. This God wants everything for us. He has created us with purpose, and for relationship with Him. How incredible a purpose is that? We are meant for relationship with the Most High, the God of EVERYTHING.

This God loves us so much, that we are worth dying for. This is the love story of the ages; that the Lover would stop at nothing, not even the brutal death of the Cross, to free his beloved. It's at the very core of Christiany; of humanity: we are worth dying for.

I trip over this all the time. Puny little me, who can't do anything right, one of billions of people on a tiny blue ball floating through space. Not only does God know me, but He LOVES me.

How would this change the world, if people truly knew the worth they have that comes from their Creator? What would that look like?

I think people wouldn't settle for anything. I think that our day-to-day interactions would change, if we understood that we are on the same bus, in the same office, living amongst beautiful people for whom the Creator of all gave everything. I think that we would have no choice but to be joyful! I think that we would defend each other and carry each other, and that people would know true love. True love, the kind that only comes from God, would change everything.

The Age of Understanding

Just a quick reply between classes to an interesting issue a friend raised: Whether people who never have the chance to learn about God can go to heaven. That was actually an issue that troubled me a lot when I first believed, but I have found an answer through a lot of Scripture reading and talking with various pastors.

There is something called the Age of Understanding. It's different for each person. If a person dies before their own Age of Understanding (for example, infant deaths), God's mercy covers them and they go to heaven. Basically, the Age of Understanding comes when a person has the capability to understand Christ's death and its meaning, and also the chance to hear of it. People who never hear about God go to heaven. But once someone is past their Age, when they are fully able to process the message of salvation and have had enough opportunity, then they have a choice to make: to accept that they are a sinful being in need of grace, and go on to serve the true God, believing that Christ has paid the ultimate sacrifice for them. If they choose not to (and it is all about choice here), then the person is consciously rejecting God's offer of eternity in heaven. It is their own choice which condemns them.

So people of other religions who are never exposed to Christianity fall under the grace of not being past their Age of Understanding. Some people can live to be eighty years old and never be able to understand the Good News. They also fall under grace. Christ absolutely loves everyone, he died for us "while we were yet sinners," Romans 5:8 (KJV). But in response to that love, we have a choice: to accept it or not. It is when people reject this love and the grace that goes with it, that they are condemned to hell. It is never to late for them to turn around until their death, but it is a choice they make alone. Even if they are good people by the world's standards, you cannot earn your way to heaven. The bible teaches us that "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23-24 (emphasis mine). No matter how many good things you have done, you have also sinned, and it is impossible for a sinner to enter God's Kingdom. This is why we need the pardon offered through Christ so badly. We can't do it on our own.

And this is what I find troubling about a lot of my friends. I know them, they are extremely smart, and I am afraid that they are past the Age of Understanding. They need this Truth in their lives, they need to obtain forgiveness for their sins. Not only for the sake of their eternal soul, but so that they can know the joy that comes from living as God meant us to, in communion with him and with each other through fellowship. And I know that I alone cannot save my friends; all I can do is bring them to the foot of the Cross. Whether they accept the great gift is their choice alone.

I feel like I have such a responsibility to all of my friends, because I know the Truth. And friends shouldn't let friends go to hell, right? If I truly have found this pure joy in Christ, shouldn't I share it with all the world? "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23. God has made his plan of salvation known (Psalm 98:2), and we can't be exclusive with it in the church. We need to live unafraid, as saved people, and spread this joy that we have. This is what is means to be a Christian; literally it means "Christ-follower." So I find my relationships difficult. These are things that are essential to me, this is how I live my life, and people don't share these values. Moreover, they don't even understand them. I pray for my friends all the time. Not simply for their salvation, but also for God to bless and keep them under his wing. That he would guide their steps. But grace is not something a person can comprehend until they have experienced it. I wish everyone would come to this place of peace, in the love of God. No human can love like the God who is Love.

Please keep in mind reading this that I am not perfect, not in the least. I am not a pastor. I have not spent years in schools learning theology. But I am doing my best to live in Christ and to understand what that means. One must always go back to the bible, because God's Word alone is ultimate Truth, and it is what we live by. This is just one Christian's struggles with her faith.