Seek TRUTH - Choose LIFE
DOCTRINE
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:31
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (1-Timothy 4:16). For the past two thousand years we have had the scriptures and as we have entered the age of information and the abundance of information we have access to has greatly increased. in this day and age a single person can access more information in a day than anyone from over one hundred years ago in their whole lifetime. Easy access to information has somehow devalued it as it may seem, and especially written language. This applies also to the word of God. Why is it that something so important can be overlooked especially considering it's content and purpose for our lives? "In the age of information - ignorance is a choice". But this is only part of he story. One should not assume that all information is truth since there are agents of lies working hard to catch your attention in pursuit of their egoistic goals. Lies have always spread faster than truth and the sea of information we are bathing today has both. Truth is vital to our lives and it is of equal importance to have the wisdom to discern truth from lies. We live in a world and age where pride and force wars against truth and reason. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18). Christianity stands out from the many voices who claim absolute truth and has stood the test of time. Our purpose and morality, destiny of the world, meaning of life and origin of the world is well explained. It is the only faith that withstands history through cross examination and personal testimonies across many languages and times.
The following are attributes unique to Christianity that support the exclusivity of the Holy Bible as God breathed writing. The Holy Bible is a collection of 66 books written by more than 40 authors across thousands of years with a consistent and coherent narrative. Most of these writers wrote the documents in isolation from any other author of the adjacent texts of scriptures. The eyewitness accounts of the writers describing the events from different perspectives gives valid evidence that the events really happened as described by the eyewitnesses. These writers were from various social and economic backgrounds: kings, slaves, priests, prophets, farmers, soldiers, commanders, poets and public servants. The Holy Bible demonstrates that the events written in it have a solid foundation in historical documentation and are a reliable source of historical narrative. The discovery of the dead sea scrolls in 1947 in Khirbet Qumran demonstrated that the text and meaning written in the Holy Bible has been preserved for thousands of years from the original text to the letter.The vast quantity of manuscripts that support the writing of the Holy Bible far outnumbers any other document in history.From the local accounts in the first middle eastern settlements, reaching across the European continent, to the global flood that has reshaped the climate of the planet: the archeological evidence of the biblical accounts are abundant. This book gives purpose and meaning not just to our existence but to our life. True doctrine brings forth life and it is written in the holy scriptures. It is intended to be accessible and understood by everyone who seeks life. Jesus Christ said: Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me (John 5:39).
When God saved the Israelites from slavery and led them out of Egypt He gave them His laws. Yet they acted PROUDLY, And did NOT heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ (Nehemiah 9:29). Since the beginning of the world mankind has sinned against God by violating His one commandment through deception. the deception was very subtle yet effective. The devil who deceived the first woman only slightly changed God's command and made Eve question it. This led to Eve committing sin and leading her husband Adam into it as well. The sin of disobedience to God's will and all other sins are rooted in pride - to exalt oneself above what defines their true status. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king." (1-Samuel 15:23). As we examine the manifestation of pride in our society we can see how pride is the root of all sin and an expression of rebellion against the One and only true God. God condemns all forms of sin and therefore everyone who commits it. Pride is a deeply embedded attribute in our human flesh and we cannot get rid of it. But there is good news. Only God can bring our spirit to a new life and give us strength to fight against our pride by doing God's will.
When sovereign God created mankind He gave them reason to think freely and an ability to express it through choice. Mankind chose to rebel against God through disobedience and deception into pride. Once separated from God through sin - they were cast our of God's presence. From that time until this very day every child born into this world is born into sinful nature of the flesh. Because we are born into this selfish condition of pride we commit sin continually. By neglecting God's commandments and creating our own to suit our interests we place ourselves in place of God; this is idolatry and the worship of self. Jesus Christ said: Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). We are not only condemned to further follow in the way of sin but must reap the consequences of our sins. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). The sin living within us controls our lives and guides our destiny towards God's wrath and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. But there is only one man who was able to live a holy life and complete God's will without sin; His name is Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus that we are forgiven and given freedom from our condemnation for eternal death. God offers salvation through Jesus Christ yet we still need to accept God's gift of salvation.
Salvation starts will the knowledge of the truth and humility to realize our lost condition. This truth is found in the Holy bible that through many different symbols and events points us towards the savior - Jesus Christ. Every sin a person commits is a sin against God and God can't simply forgive people because He is good. There must be an atoning sacrifice, a penalty for sin. The wages for sin is death. Either a person carries their own death sentence or accepts God's atonement for their sins.
To save us from our eternal death only God can bear such punishment because our sin is against God but God cannot die. So in His wisdom God humbled Himself to a form of a man and lived a perfect life of obedience to the law He wrote for us. Having fulfilled that law He took our sins upon Himself and died in our place on the cross. Only the Son of God could carry the weight of everyone's sin and only son of man could carry out the punishment upon Himself - death. But on the third day He rose from the dead because He had done no sin and thus defeated death. Jesus Christ offers eternal life by faith in Him. We are saved by faith and not by any good work, hence faith is not a work. We all have free will and a choice to make. Choose life!