Basic HTML Version
the foolish one who deliberately
QUITS and GIVES UP- who REJECTS
God, and God's WAY, and rejects
Chris t as his Savior- who turns
FROM this direct ion of Goo's WAY
in his mind and heart- in
his inner
INTENT- who deliberately and in–
tentionally in his mind TURNS FROM
Christ, who is lost.
lf,
once having
been converted , having received
God's Spirit, and TASTED of the
joys of Goo's wAY, one deliberate–
!
y rejects that' way, makes the DECI–
SION, not under stress of tempta-
Read the Bible
(Continued from page 11 )
blue ink tend to soak through the
paper) . A set of colored penci ls can
a id in underlining a nd marking
words and passages of interes t.
Sorne people develop lheir own spe–
cial marking system using colors to
s ignify d ifferent subjects. The main
point is to develop a plan that will
help you read , r emember and
understand the Bible. Do whatever
is necessary to help you.
The physical surface of the pages
of the Bible is not holy or sacred.
The living Word of God is. So use
what will help you in your study of
God's Word. A well read and well
marked Bible is invaluable.
Useful Study Aids
Another way to read and study the
Bible is by subject. Perhaps you
would like to study about specific
subjects such as you read of in the
adver t isements in the pages of
The
Plain Truth.
This is where study
aids come into play.
First in importance is a concor–
dance. A concordance is a book that
lists most of the words in the Bible
and tells where they are used. Let's
say you want to look up the word
understanding.
In the concordance
you would look up the word just as
you would in a dictionary. There
will be a list showing every time t he
word
understanding
is used in the
Bible. You can look up each scrip–
tural reference if you want-or
select a few to read. When you do
look up
understanding,
pay atten–
tion to what is revea led in what you
read. You wi ll be surprísed at what
the Bible says is the basis of a good
understanding.
Once you have mastered the con-
September 1983
lion, but deliberately and finally,
NOT to go God's way, then God
says il is IMPOSSIBLE to renew such
a one to repenlance. He would have
lo REPENT of that decision . But if
he WILLFULLY made
it,
not in a
time of temptation, but calmly,
deliberately, willfully, then he just
WILL NOT ever repent of it.
But anyone who FEARS he may
have committed the " unpardonable
si n"- is perhaps worried about it
and HOPES he
has not
committed it
and still wANTS to have God 's sal-
cordance, you might want to pur–
chase a one-volume Bible dictio–
nary. In such a reference work you
will find a short ex planation of his–
torical events and background infor–
mation on personalities of the Bible.
For example you might like to read
about J ezebel, the infamous wife of
King Ahab of ancient Is rael. In a
Bible dictionary you could read a
short sketch about her colorful life.
I f you want more detailed infor–
mation , therc a re encyclopedias
available at public and other librar–
ies where you can go for certain
delailed study. In fact, it's nota bad
idea as you study at a library lo
spend a little time and read up on
subjects such as "Christmas," "Eas–
ter" and "Halloween."
A question many people ask
about Bible reading and study is,
" Do I need to understand Greek
and H ebrew to understand the
Bible?" The answer is no. The Bible
has been translalcd into more than
1,400 modern languages and dia–
lects. While there are a few places in
which translation problems exist,
lhey are mos t often corrected by
checking a different translation of
the Bible or a commentary, dictio–
nary or encyclopedia. As you
become more and more familiar
with the various s tudy aids, you will
see which ones will help you most.
Modern Trans lations He l p
Another important aid is a modern
translation of the Bible. In the
English-speaking world, the tradi–
tional Bible has been tbe King
J ames edition of 1611. But a more
modern la ngu age translat ion can be
helpful. And the re are many avai l–
able. Again, a public library is a
good place to s tart to see wbich ones
you enjoy most. 1 have found three
vation- no such has committed it.
Sueh a person MAY repent and go
right on to salvation IF HE w ANTS
TO!
lf
YOU have s tumbled and fallen
down,
DON'T
BE DISCOURAG ED!
Get up and press on ahead!
If
you see a Christian do some–
thing wrong, DON'T SIT IN JUDG–
MENT ANO CONDEMN-that's God's
business to judge, not yours! Lel 's
have compassion and mercy- wE
don' t know the inner hearl of
others-only Goo does! o
modern English-Janguage editions
suitable for basic reading Bibles–
the Revised Standard Ye r sion
(RSV) , the New lnternational Ver–
sion (NJV) and tbe Revised Autho–
rized Vers ion (RAV), which is
called in the United States the New
King J ames Version. The re are
other translations also that you
might find to your liking.
The Bible is a book that tells you
not to acce p t what you hea r
preached just because you hea rd a
preacher preach it. God says
through the apostle Paul , " Prove all
things; hold fast that which is good"
(1
Thess. 5:21 ). And Pau l told Tim–
othy, " Study [give di ligence] to
shew thyseiJ approved unto God, a
workman that needetb not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth" ( 11 Tim. 2: 15). Follow the
examples of t he Bereans in ancient
Greece who "searched the scrip–
tures daily, whether those things
were so" (Acts 17: 11 ).
There is nothing more rewarding
than reading and studying God's
revealed Word . All the adventure
and intrigue of history, the instruc–
tion of bow to live your daily Jife, all
the news of prophecies to come are
found in the Bible. lt's a thriller
such that when you st art to read
with understanding you will not be
able to put down.
Why not get started on a Bible
reading program r ight away? To
help you understand the Bible as you
read it, write in for the Ambassador
College Bibl e Correspondence
Course. It's a helpful Bible study
program to guide you in a systematic
study of the Bible. It will take you
through history, prophecy and how
to Jive a Chr ist ian life. I t's fre.e of
charge, too. You have nothing to lose
and everything to gain. o
41