Fbcj Solid Youth

Course correction part 2

Course correction part 1

Based on our Youth Ministry's responses to a survey we landed on this new series... Redeeming the Time. During this series we will be navigating through many different aspects of how we can practically redeem the time that God has given us upon this earth. In this intro message we talk about Ephesians 5:15-16 and what it means to biblically redeem the time by walking circumspectly and wisely with the Lord each day.

One of the biggest take-aways from 2020 that the Lord clearly wanted us to learn from all the craziness with COVID, cancel culture, etc. is the fact that grace is a necessary characteristic to have ready at an arm's length at any given moment -- towards family, friends, fellow Christians and the lost... This, without question, comes with maturity over time.

Now that we have gone through all the rules of Bible study, let's put it to work! When was Jesus born? That is what we will find out as we learn to use what we have learned...

There are some things in the Bible that will require time and personal maturity to understand. We must remember that God is infinitely wise and we will never be able to completely understand him. Similarly, God's book is supernatural and infinitely deep. We will never be able to exhaust it and completely understand it. This rule is best summarized when Jesus said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now (Jn. 16:12)."

These two rules of Bible study go hand-in-hand. We should never base a major doctrine on a question or a single verse or passage in the Bible. All the major doctrines in the Bible are repeated in various places. As a basic rule, always have 2-3 verses or passages that back up and prove what you believe about God, or anything else spiritually. If you faithfully do this, it is hard to get off track into false doctrine!

When studying the Bible, we should never violate a clear passage of scripture when trying to understand a more obscure or difficult passage of scripture. There are places in the Bible that can be hard to understand, but we need to be careful to keep those places in the Bible in the proper context with other verses and passages. If we do not, then we run the risk of believing in heresy!

Our attitude toward the Bible determines everything... the state of our heart impacts what we are able to truly hear from God. If we are going to be true Bible-believers, then we must be willing to change anything that we think or believe when we find that it does not line up with what the Scriptures clearly state.

There are many people that interpret the Bible figuratively rather than literally and literally rather than figuratively. How do we know when to interpret it one way or another? It is really easier than you may think... but it is extremely important to practice consistently to keep you from false doctrine!

This time of year seems to always be a season where many in youth ministry wax and wane in their walk with God. Coming out of summer camp, ending summer, starting school, and juggling all the various responsibilities with school, extra-curricular activities, work, and family while maintaining a walk with God isn't easy to learn! We need to take a pause and re-evaluate and refocus...

God is consistent. How he deals with mankind can differ from one dispensation to another, but the Lord does not change. Once God establishes a biblical truth in scripture he is consistent from beginning to end. This will be realized in the areas of typology and numerology in God's Book. I love it!

God cannot lie, and that also means the Bible cannot lie or contradict itself. If there happens to be an apparent contradiction, always give the Bible the benefit of the doubt. Apparent contradictions are often God's way of teaching us some great and deeper spiritual truths... and at the same time, scoffers will use those same passages as an excuse to walk farther and farther away from the will of God for their lives.

God created everything after the pattern of himself. This means that when we look out into his creation we can learn lessons of spiritual truths about himself, his doctrine, and other things from the Bible. We live in a world that does not believe that God and science can coexist, but that simply isn't true! Science proves God's existence, power, and even the Trinity.

To properly study and understand the Bible you must compare scripture with scripture. The Bible is the best and most reliable commentary on the Bible, NOT other commentaries written by human authors. Using cross-referencing and a concordance is extremely valuable tools to make this happen. All of these things are free and readily available through smartphone Bible apps, so there is no excuse!

Every word and every event has been specifically chosen by God to communicate his truth, his heart, and his mind to us in HIS BOOK... the Bible. Every word of God is pure and he warns us to not mess with his words (Prov. 30:5-6). The Lord has also promised to preserve every word in his book throughout all generations (Ps. 12:6-7). This truth should change the way we see, understand, and interact with the Bible. Is the Bible your final authority? It should be... Can you trust every single word of your Bible? You should be able to...

Every book, chapter, and verse in the Bible has 3 basic applications - (1) Historical, (2) Devotional, and (3) Doctrinal. Historical deals with the details surrounding the events as they were recorded in history... the Bible is 100% accurate in all historical details. Devotional deals with how this book, chapter, and verse apply to my current life circumstances. Doctrinal deals with the deeper spiritual truths that God desires to reveal about himself, his doctrine, his heart, along with future prophetic events. There truly is no other book like God's Word!!

According to 2 Timothy 2:15 we are called by God to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that neededth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." We must learn how to study the Bible properly, and part of that means we need to rightly divide it. The Bible has divisions, or dispensations, where God administers his plan in different ways throughout human history. This lesson dives into this topic.

One very important contextual detail that must be considered is the People Group Factor. God has written parts of the Bible to certain people groups. All of the Bible is for us, but only part is written specifically to us. Many, many false doctrines will arise if we misapply passages and verses to our lives that were never mean to be applied to us.

The first rule of Bible Study is CONTEXT... Verses and passages must be taken in their proper context in order to understand their meaning. Many, many people steeped in false doctrine take verses and passages from the Bible OUT OF CONTEXT in order to support their false doctrines. If a person takes God's words in their proper context they cannot believe in false doctrine.