How to Study the Bible - 2

	It's always good to have the opportunity to be back with  you  to  talk about  God's  Word  and  about  the   wonderful freedom that we enjoy through it.  John said in chapter 20, verses 30-3l of his Gospel  account that, "Many other  signs  therefore  Jesus  also performed in the  presence  of  his  disciples, which are not written in this book;  but  these have been written that  you  may  believe  that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God;  and  that believing you may have life in his name.   John closes his book with these two verses: "This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these things; and we know his witness is true.  And there are also many other  things which Jesus did, which if they were written  in detail, I suppose that even  the  world  itself would  not  contain the books which were written."
	As we talked before about suggestions  for studying  the  Bible,  some  of  you   probably wondered "Which Bible should I use?"  This  is a natural question, since  there  are  so  many versions on the market.  There are usually  two things  to  consider  when  choosing  a  Bible: accuracy and readability.  Of the two, accuracy should  always   be   given   precedence   over readability.   You  may   have   noticed   that quotations used on this program have been taken from the  New  American  Standard  translation. Although every version available has  its  weak points, the New American Standard is one of the better translations as far as  faithfulness  to the original text  is  concerned.   And  it  is presented in a  readable  manner.   Other  good translations include the American Standard, the King James and the New  King  James.   The  New American Standard is a revision of the American Standard  intended  to  update  some   of   the language.   Obviously,  the  same  relationship exists between the  King  James  and  New  King James.  There are also other good  translations available.  However, there are  two  groups  of so-called "translations" of which we should  be wary.  One would  include  those  Bibles  that were  translated   for   a   specific   motive, especially to support  a  particular  doctrine. While  large  groups  of  scholars  worked   to translate the versions in  the  earlier  group, this latter category contains books prepared by small groups and usually by  a  single  person. It  is  not  hard  to  see  the  difference  in accuracy between a large-group translation and one  prepared  by  an  individual.   The   last category of versions contains  works  that  are not  really  translations  at  all.   They  are paraphrases.  While it is  a  good  thought  to want to express the Bible in a way  that  would make it most  meaningful  in  today's  culture, this is a system of  interpretation  which  is much too subjective for  serious  Bible  study. Some of these paraphrases  are  acceptable  for casual reading, but the danger exists that what we read "casually" enters our mind with just as much weight as what we read when we  are  doing more serious studying.
	When Paul visited Athens, he made a speech which is recorded in Acts  17:23-31.   In  this speech he said "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent,  because  He has fixed a day in  which  He  will  judge  the world in righteousness through a  Man  whom He has appointed, having furnished  proof  to  all men by raising Him from the dead."
	Through these programs, we are  attempting to share  with  you  what  we  feel  the  Bible teaches  about  various  subjects  of   extreme importance.  Hopefully, you can see  in  us  an attitude of love and  respect  for  the  Bible. But, more than seeing this attitude, it is  our prayer that you will join us  in  some  serious examination of the things we believe.   So,  as you present your questions to us, we would like to ask YOU this: How do  YOU  feel  about  the Bible?  Does it play a very important  role  in your life?  What do you find when you  confront the Bible  with  your  personal  and  religious practices? What would you do  if  you  found  a difference between what the Bible  teaches  and what  you  are  doing?   These  are   difficult questions, questions that many of us prefer  to avoid or ignore.  But we can ignore  them only so long.  
	Jesus stated in John  12:48  "He  who rejects Me, and does not  receive  My  sayings, has one who judges him; the  word  I  spoke  is what will judge him at the last day."
	Reading and understanding  our  Bibles  is not   something    we    can    do    with    a "take-it-or-leave-it"  attitude.   Let's   work together to truly understand God's Word, and to put into practice what we find in It.
	One question that some ask  is  "How does God deal differently with the unsaved  and  the saved?"  Or, as one person worded  it,  "Please explain God's two systems of forgiveness."
	God created a perfect world, a world  that was void of sin.  But, through the  deceit  of Satan, Adam and  Eve  managed  to  change  that situation and sin entered the world.   This  is told both in the Genesis  account  and  in  New Testament passages such  as  Rom.  5: 12.   This same verse tells us, by the way,  that  we  are all guilty of our own sins, and not the sins of Adam.   Isaiah  59:1-2  tells   us   that   our iniquities have made a  separation  between  us and God,  Matt, 18:1-3 and similar verses  show us that children still enjoy a  closeness  with God since they are not guilty of any sin.  But, as these  same  children  grow  up  and  become responsible  for  their  actions,  their   sins create this barrier between them and God,  Rom. 3:23 states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Verse 23 of chapter 6  of that same book adds that the wages  of  sin  is death.  Hebrews  9:28  says  that  after  death comes the  judgment,  and  chapter  10  verses 26-31 complete the picture by making  us  aware that it is a terrifying thing to fall into  the hands of the living God.
	So a person outside of Christ  can  expect only to continue the state of  separation  that we saw in Isaiah 59 and  the  book  of  Romans. But the second part of Romans 6:23 gives us the other half of the picture.  The  free  gift  of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus  our  Lord. There are many passages that tell us about  the sacrifice  of  Jesus  and   about   his   blood cleansing us.  Some of these are Col. 1:14  and 2:13, 1 Jn. 1:7 and Rev. 1:5.
	By the grace of God, the  blood  of  Jesus cleanses us through faith (Eph. 1:7  and  2:8). This is a gift of God, which means that  it  is totally unmerited.  But this does not  mean  it is unconditional.  Romans l0:8-l7 says we  must hear, believe, confess and "call upon the  name of the Lord."  Peter clarifies for us  in  Acts chapter two what it means to call on  the  name of the Lord.  In verse 21 he  says  that  every one who calls on the name of the Lord shall  be saved.  But a few verses later,  in  verse  37, the people are still asking "What must we  do?" When someone asks us a question we have already answered, we usually repeat  the  same  answer, presented in a different form.  Peter does this in verse 38 where he  says  to  repent  and  be baptized in the name of Jesus  Christ  for  the remission of sins.  The term "calling upon  the name" of someone means simply to rely upon  the power or authority of that person.   If  it  is true that Peter had repentance and  baptism  in mind when he said to call on the  name  of  the Lord, then we would not be  surprised  to  find these  concepts  mentioned  together  in  other passages.  In fact, the  other  place  we  hear about calling on the name of  the  Lord  is  in Acts 22: 16 when Paul is recounting what Ananias told him he needed to do in order to be  saved. Ananias told Paul "Arise and  be  baptized  and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord."
	The answer   to  the  first  part  of  our question, then, is that  God  forgives  sinners when they hear His word, believe what it  says, repent of their past lives,  confess  Jesus  as Lord and Messiah, and join themselves with  his blood by  being  buried  and  raised  with  him through baptism (Rom.  6:1-11).   Gal.  3:24-27 states that we are justified by faith  when  we clothe ourselves with Christ  through  baptism. Col. 2:12 says we can be raised up with  Christ through faith in the working of  God  after  we have  been  buried  with  Christ  in   baptism. Thereafter, as long as a Christian walks in the light, the blood of Christ cleanses him of  his sins (1 Jn.  1:7).    Verse  9  says  God  will forgive our sins if we are willing  to  confess them.  So the answer to the second part of  the question is that God forgives  Christians  when they repent of their sins (which is implied  by the walking in the  light)  and  confess  their Sins.
	In other words, a Christian does not  have to go back and start all over again every  time he sins.  1 Jn. 2: 1-3 says we  have  a  special advocate to represent  us  before  the  Father, What a freedom this is  to  be  liberated  from sin,  and  to  have  Jesus  Christ  Himself  to represent us!  John goes on in  verses  3-6  to point out that we can count on this freedom  if we  follow  God's   commandments.    Verse   4 associates  these  commandments   with   truth. Remember, it is this truth which shall make  us free.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."