I advise you to
read the Bible to learn of God. The Bible is God’s word. When reading the
Bible, we should pray, asking the Holy Spirit to help us to understand his
word. We cannot understand the spiritual truths of the Bible unless the Holy
Spirit guides us. A good place to begin reading is in the Gospels: Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John. The Gospels tell us of the good news of salvation offered
to sinners through grace by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Brief summary of the Christian faith:
There is one living and true God. He is one God in three persons, the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is eternal, with no beginning and no end. He
created the heavens and the earth. The first man Adam was initially sin free
and at peace with God. Adam and his wife Eve, were tempted by Satan, and then
chose to sin against God. Mankind fell when Adam, the first man sinned (Genesis
2-3.) The Bible tells us: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God” (Romans 3:23) Because of sin, all men are naturally children of wrath,
separated from God and deserving of eternity in hell. No one can earn their way to heaven through
good works. Salvation is through Christ alone and is a gift of God.
Through no merit
of our own, God chose a people for himself before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4.) Jesus
Christ, the eternal Son of God came to earth to save his chosen people from their
sins. Jesus was born of a virgin and was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18.) He is
fully man and fully God. Jesus is righteous and never sinned. He willingly died
on the cross bearing God's wrath for our sins. On the third day he rose from the dead, victorious over death and Satan. A short time later, he then ascended to heaven where he
reigns as King of kings. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21
God offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life
to all who will come to him by grace through faith. "All that the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out."
John 6:37. There is no penalty for sin for those who
trust in him alone as Lord and Savior. His death on the cross cleanses us from
all our sins and sets us free from the power of sin. In Christ, we are adopted by God the Father
and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Those that are united to Christ by faith will spend eternity with him.
Those that die unbelieving and those that are unbelievers when the Lord returns will perish.
One day soon,
the Lord will return to judge the living and the dead; (the dead will be resurrected
from their graves.) When he returns, every knee will bow and every tongue will
confess that he is Lord (Romans 14:11.) There will be a new heaven and a new
earth (Revelation 21.) God’s chosen people will reign with him in glory and will
forever worship their King.
I have included two passages of Scripture below which tell of God's grace towards his children and the riches of Christ which are bestowed upon believers.
But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:1-10
Additional Note
In addition to reading the Bible personally, it is very important to find a good church which preaches the Bible. When we hear preaching, we learn from God's word and grow in our faith. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." Romans 10:17. I am a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church which is committed to teaching and following biblical truths. If interested in the OPC, you may find a congregation near you on the following website: https://www.opc.org/locator.html. There are many good churches in other denominations as well. In finding a church, it is important to make sure what is being taught is from the Bible. There are errors being taught today which include: works based salvation, the prosperity gospel, new apostolic movement, gay marriage, etc. We must beware of anything that is not scriptural.
