One Year!

Today, July 2nd is the one-year anniversary of Grace Bible Study. It has been an exciting year filled with much study, teaching, and learning. In Christianity, success is mostly measured in numbers. The first question you are asked about a church is “how many are you running?” This question is automatic because today you are measured by the seats filled not by the doctrine taught. Most people want to know what kind of music you have and not what doctrine you teach. They want to know if you use one of the new versions of the Bible so it is “easy to read” and not what you believe about the actual words. Many people today come to church to be entertained and not edified. Our focus here is being rooted, built up and stablished in the faith. This can only be accomplished by teaching God’s word from a Pauline perspective. Yes, this will keep us relatively small in comparison to the denominational churches, but God does not measure by numbers, he measures by obedience and belief. God measures by faith in what HE said, because this is all that really matters. As a right divider, I believe every word in my King James Bible as written, believing that God can handle inspiring, and preserving it for my use. I trust every verse in its dispensational context because this is the ONLY way every verse in the Bible can make complete sense and be in perfect harmony with every other verse in scripture. We don’t spend an inordinate amount of time during our services killing time, rather we spend almost every minute letting God’s word lead, guide and direct us as it can so clearly do when studied correctly. We don’t sit around and wait for God’s will to be revealed to us by some circumstance that happens around us, we read, study, and believe God’s will as he spoke it in his word. This probably sounds like a lot of work and yes, it is, but understanding things in scripture that you have always wondered about can be very exciting. Learning that God meant for you to understand his word and that you can understand his word makes the work much easier.  I don’t mean just the verses you have heard your whole life, I mean the verses the preacher never preaches and the teacher avoids because they don’t agree with your agenda or denomination. We are about one thing, letting God’s word direct us, not going to God’s word to prove our position. This stance requires letting God be true and every man a liar. Inherent to properly understanding your Bible is separating what God has separated and separating it the way he did. It requires keeping the distinction between Israel and the church that God put in place. It requires seeing the obvious difference between prophecy and mystery that God put in the Bible. It requires NOT pulling verses from anywhere in scripture to try to prove yourself right. It requires following the Apostle that Jesus Christ our Savior called and sent to you. It requires NOT avoiding the verses that don’t agree with your agenda. The outcome of these things is an understanding of scripture you never thought was possible. YES, God wrote his word so you can understand it, but you never will until you stop following the Greek experts, scholars, and commentators and put your faith in what God said. Yes, you will understand concepts, doctrines, and Biblical principles but you will not understand God’s entire plan and purpose throughout the ages. This past year has flown by. How much more do you understand about God’s word now than you did a year ago?