Today, The Bible & You

Today’s Front Page

The Nation’s Christian Newspaper

January 2022

Q & A

Question: It is so difficult to understand the Bible when I try to read it.  The words seem simple enough, but understanding what those words mean has been very difficult for me.  How is it possible to understand the Bible?  Is there an easy step by step way?

Answer: Your question shows that you are on the right track.  God promises us in Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me shall find me.” 

 The first chapter of the book of Genesis tells us that God made two great lights and set them in the firmament of the heavens, a greater light (the sun) to rule the day, and a lesser light (the moon) to rule the night.  The moon, however, is lightless of itself.  It shines into the darkness only by virtue of its relationship to the greater light, the sun.  It has nothing of itself to offer a world in the dark; it has only the sunlight that it receives and faithfully reflects, just as we have only the light of the Lord, and nothing of our own, to offer the world of darkness around us.  We must take our attention away from us — to the Lord Jesus.  This is what repentance means.

 True repentance is not being sorry for something you have done wrong.  Now if you do something wrong, you should be sorry; but that is not real repentance.  Real repentance is hilariously exciting.  It is facing the facts of life, recognizing how God made you, how you were intended to function, and then being restored to that relationship of mutual inter-availability that the Lord Jesus enjoyed between Himself and the Father, a mutual inter-availability in which you are prepared to let Him be God.  That is true repentance.

 You give Him your hands for Him to work with, your feet for Him to walk with, your lips for Him to speak with, your eyes for Him to see with, your ears Him to hear with, your mind for Him to think with, your heart for Him to love with.  You tell Him, “Thank You for being my Creator within the creature.  You are in Business.” 

 Faith means letting Him live in you through HIs Word.  In any particular situation you encounter, any particular need and responsibility that faces you, you will never let Him until you are prepared to admit that you cannot, and only God can.

• In what ways, have you tried to live the Christian life for the Lord Jesus, instead of allowing Him to live it through you?
• In growing faith, what do you need to allow the Lord to be in your life at this time?

 Do you know what it is to live purposefully?

 Is there an urgent sense of mission or some compelling thrust within you which makes life add up to the sheer adventure that God always intended life to be?  If so, there is good news awaiting you, good news about the treasury of purpose and truth and wisdom to be found in the person of Christ, for living purposefully means trading our poverty for Christ’s wealth … our weakness for Christ’s strength.  We exchange the bankruptcy of the fallen Adam for all the fullness of the Life of Christ, and we discover the sheer adventure of allowing Jesus Christ to be God in our experience, for God He is!

 Are you experiencing the indwelling life of Christ?  Are you standing aside, fully recognizing that you can do nothing on your own?  Are you allowing the Jesus in you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to act on your behalf?  Have you allowed God to inhabit all of your life, or are you still cordoning off portions of your life, where our Lord Jesus is not allowed?  Our Lord Jesus desires to indwell each of His followers to the point where their heart’s desire is “All of Him in All of Me.”

 So many today are trying to claim Christianity apart of Jesus, THE Christ, THE Messiah, THE Savior, THE Son of God, God himself.  They call themselves Christian for many reasons.  Some claim Christianity because they admire Jesus.  Some say they are Christian they are Christians because they were raised in a home where their parents were Christian.  Others refer to themselves as Christians because they attend a Christian church.  Some say they are Christians because they believe in God.  Still others call themselves Christian to fit in, to gain business, to impress others, to cover up a secret life.  Others falsely think an emotional experience, or a baby baptism is enough for them to call themselves Christian.  Some claim to be Christian because they went to a Christian school, lived a good life, or went forward in a church service when invited to do so without true conversion.

 Let me help you here if you have doubts as to whether you may truly be a Christian.  None of the above “reasons” are enough to refer to yourself as a Christian!  These are simply lame excuses, and none are not supported by God’s Word, The Bible.  The Bible teaches that there is only one way you can rightfully refer to yourself as a Christian … you must be “born-again.”  Our Lord Jesus Himself addressed this topic directly in a personal conversation with a devout Jewish Pharisee named Nicodemus telling him: “… Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).”

 Only one way?  Yes, only one way!  That is exactly what the Bible teaches!  No other way!  The Bible describes a process through which you can be “born again.”  There are many scriptures that could be cited to explain the process, but here are the ones that I use when asked:

1. Realize that you are “lost” — totally estranged from God and separated from God by a sinful nature. (Romans 3:23 — “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”)
2. Acknowledge that sin deserves punishment. (Romans 6:23 — “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”)
3. Acknowledge that the Lord Jesus took the punishment for your sins by dying on the cross. (Romans 5:8 — “But God demonstrated his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”)
4. Ask the Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins and come into your life. (1st John 1:7, 9, “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. . . If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”)

 The harsh reality is that if you cannot point to a specific time in your life when you truly went through the above process, then you are not a Christian.

You can become a Christian right now.

Use the following prayer as your own or pray one that contains these elements:

“Dear God, I admit that you are holy and that my sins have separated me from you.  I am a sinner.  I recognize that I deserve punishment.  I also know that the Lord Jesus died for my sins and that He was raised from the dead.  I turn from self and sin and trust You to be my Savior and Lord. Forgive me Lord Jesus.  Take control of my life and help me to be the person that you want me to be.  Thank You, Lord, for hearing my prayer and saving my soul. Amen.” 

 God promises in the Bible that anyone who asks the Lord Jesus to forgive them, then He will. (Romans 10:13 — “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”)  If you prayed the above prayer or one equivalent to it and meant it, you can be assured that God has saved you and you are “born again.”

 The Bible offers many other words of assurance about your salvation.  One of the clearest descriptions of that assurance can be found in 1st John 5:11-13, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

 NOW, as a “born-again” believer you can call yourself a Christian.  You should unite with a local church where you can grow by learning more about Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word and through small group Bible study with other “born again” Christians.

Printed with permission of Today, The Bible & You located at P.O. Box 1722, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74013, Phone No. (918) 279-1136.  The name of the original article in January 2022 issue of Today’s Front Page Christian newspaper was “Q & A.” www.JohnBarela.com.