ABC's of Christianity

It’s been said that the most read book in the world is the Bible. Researchers has created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years. They found that the Bible far outsold any other book, with a whopping 3.9 billion copies sold over the last 50 years. "Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung" (Emperor that introduced Communism to China) came in second with 820 million copies sold, and "Harry Potter" came in third with 400 million copies sold. Nevertheless, in church pulpits, and religious communities abroad the word of God has taken a backseat to motivational speeches, and prophetic utterances. In the absence of basic teaching and revelatory truth of the scriptures, people have lost the ability to discern right from wrong leaving them immature and disqualified to experience the deeper truths in the Kingdom of God. Today, we’re gonna talk about it...

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Transcript

“MANIFOLD TRUTHS”

BIBLICAL ESSENTIALS FOR OUR MODERN TIMES.

Manifold Truth…Now I know my ABC’s!!! 

⮚      It’s been said that the most read book in the world is the Bible. Researchers has created a list of the most read books in the world based on the number of copies each book sold over the last 50 years. They found that the Bible far outsold any other book, with a whopping 3.9 billion copies sold over the last 50 years. "Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung" (Emperor that introduced Communism to China) came in second with 820 million copies sold, and "Harry Potter" came in third with 400 million copies sold. Nevertheless, in church pulpits, and religious communities abroad the word of God has taken a backseat to motivational speeches, and prophetic utterances. In the absence of basic teaching and revelatory truth of the scriptures, people have lost the ability to discern right from wrong leaving them immature and disqualified to experience the deeper truths in the Kingdom of God. Today, we’re gonna talk about it...

⮚      The Missing Link…

▪          In many churches today, the rich teaching of Scripture is missing. Although there is amazing music, great motivational preaching, and inspirational teaching, there is a distinct absence of the verse-by-verse teaching of the Bible as the foundation for it all. When there is an absence of the teaching of Scripture, it creates an unstable environment for disastrous things to happen in the lives of God’s people. They lose the ability to discern right from wrong and to make decisions about their lives based on godly wisdom. Now, more than ever, we need a revival of the Bible.

▪          Just because a person grows older in years does not mean he or she matures spiritually. There are many believers today who have been saved and in church for years, yet they are biblically illiterate. Spiritually speaking, they should be in high school or beyond, but instead they remain stuck in first grade with no signs of preparedness for promotion or to be graduated to the next level spiritually. To grow spiritually, we need to hear the Word and apply its wisdom. Maturity comes when we hear the truth and put it into practice.

▪          Primary School 

▪          A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary education of children who are 5-12 years of age. Primary schooling follows pre-school and precedes secondary schooling.

▪          Primary Education 

▪          Programs that are typically designed to provide students with fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics and to establish a solid foundation for learning.

⮚      Learning our ABC’s…

▪          ABCs are part of the English alphabet; it helps form a basic understanding of the English language which helps us to improve all forms of communication. It is the building block of literacy. In a basic sense, literacy is the ability to read, write, speak and listen effectively to interact with the world around us. In a deeper sense, literacy shows us how to function in society, to achieve one's goals, develop one's knowledge and potential.

▪          The writer of Hebrews was concerned because believers were spiritually stuck in a place of immaturity. 

⮚      Hebrews 5:12

▪          For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

⮚      The Greek word for “ought” in this scripture text indicates an obligation or necessity; something that should be achieved or accomplished; something that is owed; or a moral duty. The Greek word for “teachers” describes a masterful teacher who is superior in his field of expertise. It was the same word used to describe rabbis in the First Century. The writer of Hebrews was telling believers, “You have heard and seen a lot. You should already know these subjects at an expert level. You are obligated to teach others, yet you are unable to do so.”

⮚      Hebrews 5:12  says, “…You have “need” that one teach you again….” The Greek word for “need” means a deficit that must be met. In other words, these Hebrew believers had a real spiritual problem — they didn’t know “the first principles of the oracles of God.” The Greek word for “first” describes the beginning or something elementary. The word “Principles” in the scripture text denotes basic elements, fundamentals, or foundational knowledge essential before advancing to higher education.

⮚      Those Hebrew believers, like many believers today, should have been experts in the things of God, and able to teach others. But they were not. Although they had heard the fundamentals of the faith, they didn’t really know them and therefore couldn’t advance to the next level. Without a firm grasp on the fundamentals — the primary principles of God’s Word — people arrive at wrong spiritual conclusions, believing things that sound good, but are not scripturally correct. 

⮚      These believers had heard and seen so much regarding the ABCs of the Christian faith that they should have been functioning on the level of a Rabbi. Yet they needed someone to teach them the fundamentals all over again. The word “teach” in Hebrews 5:12 denotes the systematic learning of a student through the ever-present instruction of a teacher. In other words, they needed the close, continual instruction and correction of a teacher — just like children in the first grade!

⮚      Got milk?!?!

▪          The writer of Hebrews continued by saying that these believers had “…become such as have need of milk, and not solid foods.” The Greek word for “milk” indicates something given to infants such as baby food. The Greek phrase “Solid food” signifies food required for a healthy adult. Although these Hebrew converts had been saved for years, they were spiritually underdeveloped and could only handle spiritual baby food, not solid adult food.

▪          According to the DSM-5, which stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders this is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States. The term mental retardation was used in DSM-5. However, intellectual disability is the term that has come into common use over the past two decades among medical, educational, and other professionals.

▪          Despite the name change, the deficits (the amount by which something is less than what is required or expected) in cognitive (relating to or involving the processes of thinking and reasoning vs experiencing emotions and the ability to choose) capacity beginning in the developmental period, with the accompanying diagnostic criteria, are considered to constitute a mental disorder. 

▪          1 Corinthians 15:46 says… “first in the natural, then in the spiritual”

▪          1 Peter 2:2 & 5, tells us… 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation…5 you yourselves like living stones are being “built up” as a “spiritual house”, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

▪          1 Timothy 4:6, gives us insight on how one can evaluate the nature of their ministry… “If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.”

▪          The KJV Translator used the word “remembrance” in this verse which does not reflect to true meaning of the Greek word used here, which is “Hupotithemi” this is a compound word which was used as an architectural term which means to lay a foundation underneath something.  So, what the writer is telling his reader, is in order for people to be stable, strong, secure, and built to last, they must be held up by good teaching of The Word of God. If not, they will be unstable, weak, insecure, and will fade over time.   

▪          Hebrews 5:13 says, “13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.” Again, “milk” is used, along with “unskillful” which in Greek means untested, undeveloped, inexperienced having insufficient knowledge, leading to failure due to ignorance. 

▪          Essentially, those who eat only spiritual baby food are untested, undeveloped, and inexperienced. They can arrive at very illogical and erroneous conclusions regarding the fundamentals of the faith, perceiving things as right that are actually wrong. 

▪          Many believers today fall into this category. All they can handle is spiritual milk, not solid food. They’re not growing in faith. They don’t know the fundamental truths of the faith, and as a result they are confused as to what is right and wrong. They remain ineffective on handling cultural issues of our modern society that’s destroying people’s minds, emotions, families, and lives. They do it primarily out of confusion or out of fear of being viewed as judgmental. Without the foundation of the Word of God, they are left “blowing in the wind” on the issues in our society.

▪          A person who lacks foundational knowledge of the word of God is called “a babe.” “Babe” in the Greek describes a baby, an infant, or an uneducated, unenlightened child. Although we all start at this stage, we don’t want to stay there. We should want to mature in our faith and move on to solid food.

⮚      Baby Gotta Eat!!!

▪          Hebrews 5:14 goes on to say, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Here we see the phrase “solid food” meaning food for an adult’s health. This spiritual food is reserved for those of “full age” which denotes a mature adult with adult responsibilities. When a person graduates from spiritual milk to solid food, he has the nutrients he needs to think and act responsibly like an adult. 

▪          Scripture says these spiritually mature adults have had their senses “exercised,” a term used to portray athletes who exercised, trained, and prepared for competition in the games of the ancient world. During these competitions the athletes often trained in the nude because the removal of clothes was often necessary to eliminate all hindrances that otherwise might have impeded the movements and progress of serious athletes. This word “exercised” represents serious spiritual commitment. In other words, these are people who are willing to remove every hindrance from their life in order to ensure spiritual success. 

▪          When the Word of God is working in your heart and mind, you are being “exercised” by it making you spiritually mature. being able to “discern good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). The word “discern” means to perceive, or to judge. When the Word of God is working in you, it elevates you to a higher level in the Lord. You don’t have to stop and say, “I wonder what God’s will is in this situation?” You will have already discerned His will because you know His Word, and you have been “exercised” by it. You know how to act spiritually because you have grown into a spiritual adult.

▪          The writer of Hebrews expands on the doctrine of Christ to point out that there are principles of truth based on that doctrine. These doctrines are principles, understandings, and applications for everyday living. So Hebrews 6:1-2 reads…

▪          Hebrews 6:1-2

●        1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

▪          Here are the six foundational principles or ABCs of the Christian faith. These are things you should be familiar with and be able to teach others. It is important not to just look at these teachings as separate, unrelated doctrines of the Bible. Together and individually, they are known as the ABCs of the doctrine of Christ, which is the cornerstone of our faith.

▪          These six teachings show how the doctrine of Christ breaks down and is applied to our human life. These teachings say to us: “Because of who Jesus is and what He has done for us, we can expect this to happen in our life, and that’s what we’re gonna unfold in the next episodes. 

▪          So “Like”, “Share”, & “Subscribe” and until we meet again. “Love”, “Joy” & “Peace”