14 Questions to Ask Your Bible in your Bible study time

by Stephen Altrogge

1. Who is the author of the passage?

2. Who were the recipients?

3. What is the historical background of the passage?

4. What is the outline/structure of the passage?

5. Are any words repeated? Any significance to the repetition?

6. Are there any unusual words in the passage that call for more exploration?

7. How does the passage fit into the surrounding paragraph? Chapter? Book?

8. Why did the author place the passage here and not somewhere else?

9. In one sentence, what is the main point of the passage? (Essence of the Text in a Sentence)

10. How would the original audience have been affected by the passage?

11. How does this passage connect to the overall storyline of the Bible?

12. How does this passage reveal Jesus as Savior?

13. How does God want this passage to function in my life?

14. What kind of response dose this passage call for?

Ten Reasons To Not Ask Jesus Into Your Heart

by:Todd Friel
The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart.

Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.

Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.

Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding. the Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.

Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.

If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert. Here is why.

1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts. Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.
The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church. Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.
The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.

2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds
us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.

3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.

4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.

5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.

6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.

7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.

8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced. People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.

9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.

10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?

So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.
If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.

How to teach Kids about Salvation

 

Many people wonder how should we teach kids about salvation. The following is a list ,after careful research and studying, of ways that we can lead our and other children to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

1. God own you- God Himself created you, so you owe him all of your praise

2. God law shows us that He is good and prefect and we have broken God's law. Thus we have sin!

3. Sin is no laughing matter, cause God is not laughing at our sin.

4. But Jesus came, he didn't have to come but God love people that He sent His son Jesus to die the death that we should.

5. Since Jesus was perfect, the nails and the crown of thorns was not His greatest pain. It was that your sin was place on Him and he was treated by God in the way you should be treated.

6. You will NOT be able to get to heaven on your goodness. Your Goodness is not good enough for God.

7. Christianity is this: we have no hope without one person, Jesus Christ.

8. Repent (turn away) and trust in Jesus.

9. Saying a prayer dose not mean you know Jesus. The fact that you know Jesus is that you are walking the walk of Christ

• When talking to a child about salvation:

1. * Ask follow-up questions. When a child asks a question, often he does not know exactly what to ask. Get clarification before deciding how to answer a question. For example, you might say, “Tell me more about what you are thinking,” or “What made you ask that question? Where did you hear about this?” Remember, many times the question a child asks may not be the actual question for which he is needing an answer. Avoid asking questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no.”

2. * Avoid giving more information than a child needs. Adults can be tempted to tell all they know on a subject. When a child asks a question, only answer what the child is asking. If a child asks for more information, be more specific with your answers.

3. * Don’t jump to conclusions. A child may ask, “Why did Andy get baptized?” This question may be only a request for information, not a request for the gospel presentation.

4. * Speak in clear terms. Avoid symbolic analogies that may distract from discussion and understanding.

5. * Use simple wording. Rather than using the phrase “accepting Jesus into your heart,” say the words “becoming a Christian.”

Steps in talking with a child about God’s plan for salvation:

1. God loves you and has a great plan for you (Psalm 139:13-16). Talk about these truths: God made the world, God made people, God made you, God wants to have a relationship with people, and God wants to have a relationship with you. Say, “Tell me one way you know God loves you.”

2. We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). Everyone must understand that he is separated from God. Sin is best understood as choosing to do things our way instead of God’s way. (Give some examples of sin such as disobedience, ungratefulness, untruthfulness, etc.) Then ask the child: “Have you sinned? What does God think about sin?” Point out that everyone has sinned.

3. Even though we choose to sin, God still loves us and offers to forgive us (Romans 5:8). Ask, “How do you think it makes God feel when you sin?” Focus on the fact that God loves the child even when he sins. Say: “God promised that one day a Savior would come and not sin and would die for all people. Do you know who that Savior is? Did you know that He died for you?”

4. Jesus died for us (John 3:16). Talk about John 3:16 and explain that because sin separates people from God, everyone needs a Savior. Ask, “Do you know why Jesus died?” Say, “Jesus loved you so much. He willingly died for you, so you could be with God forever.” If the child is old enough to understand the resurrection, say, “Jesus rose from the dead, so we could have eternal life.”

5. You can become a Christian by confessing that Jesus is your Savior and Lord (Romans 10:9). Ask, “Would you like to be a Christian?” State that the word confess means to say that Jesus is your Savior and that you must: Admit you have sinned. Believe that Jesus is God’s Son. Confess that Jesus is Savior and Lord.

6. Review and follow up. Encourage a child to tell you in his own words what he understands and believes. Either ask the child to repeat a prayer after you or help the child know what to say in his prayer. After the prayer, read Romans 10:13 and remind him that this verse is a promise. Jesus will be his Savior forever.

   About Baptism:

   * Always make distinctions between baptism and becoming a Christian. Point out that becoming a Christian comes first, and then baptism follows because it is a way of showing he has become a Christian.

   * Avoid emphasizing the emotional side of the baptism experience. Keep in mind that public recognition should not become a motivating factor for making a decision.

Some information taken from Lifeway Christian Recourses

Is Jesus Really the Only Way?

From: John Hendrix

If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (Matt. 19:147).

• Jesus is saying that in God's economy both moral and immoral people are equally alienated from God. God is equally offended by both.

• Many people avoid Jesus by avoiding sin because they are trying to become their own saviors … attempting to justify themselves. But the gospel is neither moralism nor relativism and so it is equally offensive to the moral and the irreligious.

• If you look to your moral performance as the basis of your relationship with God, then you commit idolatry because inwardly you are setting up self as a false savior which never be good enough to please God.

• If we are trusting in the being politically active, generous, compassionate, a good parent, a good spouse, of trusting in our moral uprightness or our service to others then we trust in these as our “Saviors”.

• In the gospel “I am accepted through Christ, therefore I obey” while every other religion operates on the principle of “I obey, therefore I am accepted.”

What is Repentance

By: Rick Tower

• A repentant person is teachable

• A repentant person is open to correction.

• A repentant person actually grows in holiness.

• A repentant person ask more questions rather than makes defensive statements.

• A repentant person understands Biblical teaching.

• A repentant person is not resistant to correction.

Things that should be concerning the Church today.

• The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.

• Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life

• Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.

• The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.

• The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.