Building
on the foundation of faith.
Today,
reply is on whether reading the Bible will strengthen or weaken ones
faith. In the same way fellowship within a community of faith (we
say, attending church; having a church home; ministering to others;
performing godly works and unselfish service) permits a developing
believer to be set apart for sacred use and communion with divinity,
regular reading and study of the holy writings consecrate and nourish
human consciousness and self-will. Benefits, blessing/cursing,
correction, guidance, possibilities, and privilege from GOD are
established that may not be gained by any other means, or from
anywhere else in the world. Because small children and teens often
are introduced to the Bible as a collection of adventure tales and
bedtime stories, their parents may have failed to realize that the
sacred writings provide lessons that children absolutely must receive
as they are growing, not after they are grown. There are multiple
themes to equip youth for the mature expression of adult
accountability, duty, godliness, gratitude, reverence, and suffering.
A fighter in the “Yahoo! Answers” public forum on Religion and
Spirituality, who uses the ID “Anonymous” (no profile is shown)
posted the following:
Christians
help! The more I read the bible, the more my faith weakens?
Shall
I stop reading the bible before I completely lose my faith in God?
I
was born and raised by Christians, and I was blissfully ignorant to
the biblical teachings. But now I'm actually reading and studying the
bible critically, it's making me question God and my faith.
I
don't want to lose faith. I don't want to become an atheist. I just
want to be Christian like my family and friends. Is it okay if I stop
reading the bible?
THE
GOLDEN ARROW: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine
power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And
beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be
in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But
he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and
hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the
rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election
sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an
entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2nd Peter
1: 2-11, King James Version, KJV)
THE
DOUBLE DAGGER: How GOD Is Communicating (10/31/2018); The Option of
Atheism (02/11/2018); Standing On The ABCs? (11/09/2017); Actual
Utterance From GOD? (08/11/2017); Determining What Is Sin
(06/15/2017); The Bible and Salvation (09/14/2016); From Cover to
Cover? (01/04/2016); On Producing Atheists (03/16/2013); The
Children, not the Dogs (03/17/2013)
“Anonymous”,
it would be o.k. if you stopped listening to and participating in
academic and literary studies of the Bible. The goal in Christianity
is to become Christlike and to commune with divinity, not to fit in
with family, friends and other social groups. From the time of
Moses, the process of GOD is that of oral proclamation using
spokespersons (i.e., prophets), while the use of apostles, scholars
and writers have been important for sharing and spreading the
revelation from Jesus Christ. Developing believers and full members
within the church where Jesus Christ is head are encouraged to
acknowledge the holy writings as a source for the nourishment of
their own life essence (we say, breath; spirit; word)
imparted by divinity through baptism as well as through the hearing
of preaching, prophecy, testimony, and witness. The Scriptures
should be received as a divine tool that crystallizes and focuses
consciousness and self-will for believers. The Scriptures provide
the common language and vocabulary for sharing sacred experience
along with reference points for comparing (showing sameness) and
contrasting (showing differences) among events and for streams of
truth that are necessary as the discernment, recognition, and ability
to respond to divinity as an active presence.
At
all times (start to finish), developing and expressing Christian
belief is a sacred process of discovery, gradual growth, and
transformation. Sinners who become “born again” also must “grow
up again,” and become mature in their sacred knowledge,
discipline, and practice as the offspring of GOD, joint-heirs with
Jesus Christ, his new creation, and vessels becoming filled
with fresh endowments of divine spirit (e.g., faith, forbearance,
holiness, longsuffering, lovingkindness, personhood, righteousness,
wisdom, wrath against sin).
Those
who complain and criticize the Scriptures because they are ancient,
because they describe the infirmity and weakness of human
consciousness and self-will, or because they speak of Israel and the
Jews, usually are operating according to secular knowledge,
and are relying on the finite human tools of intellect, logic,
philosophy, politics, science, and technology. However, it is the
divine law, eternal purpose, immutable truth, and sovereign will of
an immortal, incorruptible, invisible Deity that must come into
understanding. Embracing the frameworks of time and space yet
enduring as forward-looking, Christians carefully examine a record of
divinity appearing through thousands of events, within thousands of
lives, over the course of thousands of years. Believers are to
apprehend as their own inheritance a treasure made up of counsels,
covenant agreements, government documents (chronicles), examples,
instructions, praises, sacred process, promises, prophecies, and
warnings. Consider again the following that uses language from the
Bible:
(1.)
Hebrews 11: 6, King James Version (KJV): 6 But without faith it
is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him.
(2.)
Romans 10: 17, KJV: 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God.
(3.)
2nd Timothy 3: 16-17, KJV: 16 All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works.
There
is far more that should be said, correctly examined, and spiritually
apprehended. (For example, (4.) Romans 10: 1-4, KJV: 1 Brethren,
my heart’s desire and prayer to
God for Israel is, that they might be saved. 2 For I bear them
record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one
that believeth.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be
it unto you according to your faith.
THE
BLACK PHOENIX
Washington,
DC
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