07/30/13 BIBLICAL FAITH + BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP = BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING
Thinking about the confusion in today's society, concerning the Bible and the faith of the Bible, it is obvious that people settle for (often, desire) Bible illiteracy.
It is not enough to know what the Bible says, we must know what the Bible says in context, what God meant when He inspired the Bible writers. The New Testament cannot be fully appreciated without understanding the meaning of the Old Testament, and the Old Testament will be misrepresented and misunderstood if we do not understand the New Testament.
Biblical scholarship must be joined with Biblical faith in order to have Biblical understanding.
Biblical Christianity is the right relationship between God and man, provided by the Son of God, built upon the revelation of God (the Bible), and manifested by the indwelling Spirit of God.
This revelation and all of the benefits that go with this right relationship have been entrusted to the people of God, the Church. The Church is not a denominational or organizational group, it is the living Body of Christ, enlivened by the Holy Spirit and enlightened by the Holy Bible.
Therefore a person must make certain that he is part of a local congregation that is faithful to God's revelation.
REMEMBER...
A person can believe what he wants to believe, but a person cannot be a Christian if he does not believe the Bible.
To become the mature Christian God wants us to become, we should join our unapologetic and uncompromising belief in the authority of the Bible with a proper understanding of what the Bible says and means.
