Study

Last updated on Aug 3, 2020

Christian Education Responsibility

• • • You are ultimately responsible for your Christian education.

    • Pray

    • Read the Bible

Ultimately, each individual responsible for whether or not they accept salvation through Christ.  No one can accept Jesus for them.  No amount of dunking or sprinkling at any age is going to save you.  Despite good intentions, their parents can’t baptize them as an infant.  As they lie unconscious in the hospital clinging to life, their family can’t either.  At best, all that will have happened is that they will have gotten wet.  At worst, they will incorrectly assume that others actions saved them.

You have to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior (Romans 10:9)(Romans 1).   And it has to be sincere.  You are responsible to insure that you do what needs to be done to insure your Christian growth (which is to repent and ask Christ to be your Savior) and as a sign of obedience to Him, be baptized.  As your responsible for your part in your own salvation, you likewise you are also responsible for your knowledge of and relationship with God.  That topic was discussed in the last article, Relationship.

Having a good relationship with God, a Christian must pray and study.  First, prayer is like a conversation with God.  We’ll not study prayer is right now; however know this:

1. 1. 1. Pray continuously (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
      2. The Lord is close to those who call on Him (Psalm 145:18)
      3. God will reveal increasable things (Jeremiah 33:3)
      4. Ask for His wisdom (James 1:5)
      5. The Holy Spirit will help us pray (Romans 8:26)

The second part is to study the Word of God.  There are a lot of resources available to help you.  The Bible, books, Videos, Christian radio, Christian Web Sites, study guides and the like.  Be warned though, Willful neglecting of God's Word will result in Him ignoring our prayers (Proverbs 28:9).

Where should I concentrate my studies on, you ask?  Primarily the Bible.  Primarily?  Well, the Bible is the Word of God.  All that God requires you to know of Him and His will is contained in the Bible.  The Bible should be your number one go to resource for when you have a question; spiritually or not.

All other materials, let me emphasize this, all other materials are man’s footnotes on God’s Word.  Man, being fallible, could make a mistake on the interpretation of the Bible or passage and its intended context.  If there is ever a disagreement with the Bible, the Word of God, and study materials or men, dismiss the later and go with the Bible.  When used in its proper context, the Bible is never, ever, wrong.

Hopefully I didn’t scare you into thinking that it is inappropriate to use study materials or to listen to other people.  As you mature in Christ, you will start to notice on your own when things that are being taught or done don’t sync up with what God says.  And hopefully, the materials you potentially use have been scrutinized by those very knowledgeable in the Bible so that the less mature Christians won’t encounter them, or will at least be specifically warned.  Likewise, hopefully you’ll never encounter a false preacher, as they should have been excommunicated by Elders before they spread their poison.

As a whole, most the Bible is readable and understandable by the average person.  Granted, there is deep and difficult to understand passages in the Bible and not even the most the scholarly Bible expert knows the Bible 100%.  But saving grace of the Bible is simple to grasp and can be acted upon by even the "youngest" of those introduced to God's Word.  No external resources are needed to grasp these fundamentals.