Bible Studies

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What we have here is the basic belief system for the Christian. There are no secret handshakes or passwords, membership fees do not exist. This is either you are in or you're out... belief. Belief is something many take for granted and think that there has to be some hidden, underlying message, or something we have to do, to obtain eternal life.
Let's look at this. It says "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Pretty straight and to the point, that once we believe in Jesus Christ, Gods son, we will have everlasting life. The "whosoever" in this statement is: "a primary word in this Greek writing that is all inclusive... all, any, every, the whole (one)". It says nothing about having to do anything to accomplish this everlasting life... but believe.
Right in the middle of his (Christ's) dissertation to Nicodemus, he puts a "but" in his sentence. Many would think of the word "but" as negating everything previous to that word. This is not the case in this instance... the word "but" is used in a positive context of nevertheless, however, therefore, which puts us into a very comfortable spot. All we have to do is believe in Jesus (not on Him as many infer) but in him which is indicative to the trusting portion of the sentence. This would be more of a contractual belief that one tends to adhere to when considering representation in a trial setting. God being the almighty judge, determining who is worthy of this gift (doesn't cost anything so it must be a gift). So in other words, to believe in our attorney (who we have accepted as our public defender [free]), we have a trust going on that he will do everything he can to make it so we are not convicted.
The young Christian, or the baby Christian, is thrust into this learning process of "Christianity" with no idea of what they are in for. Books are thrust at them, scriptures quoted to them, church doctrine, and but of course the church membership. What happened to the teaching a child how to walk? Isn't it a normal parental procedure to take a child by the hand, and as an example teach this child how to walk the life of a "Christian"? The investment that the church takes in preparing the "new Christian" into a walk or believing with Christ is usually passed off to someone who thinks they know but are inherently in the same boat with the "baby Christian".
We do have "believers" that have believed for years and look back and have no idea what their salvation or even if they do have salvation, consist of. These are the ones who have for years been the backbone of the church family, and many other believers look to them for spiritual guidance. These are the ones, who sit at home and contemplate whether or not they are saved from perditions flames. The belief they have is the same as many other Christians, yet they haven’t the rust in their belief to truly convince themselves that in their behalf the flames of perdition have been quenched.
The belief system of the individual is not at fault here, or maybe it is… it is the way Christians are taught that is the problem. The bottom line to spiritual beliefs is that one believes in; God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth… Jesus as the Son of God manifested in the flesh by the means of a virgin birth… That Jesus was judged by Pontius Pilate, crucified, died, buried, and (descended into hell is another subject) rose on the third day… He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father… He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Yes this is the “Apostles Creed†and within the lines of this old and profound statement written by the church fathers is the secret of our belief system. Whether or not someone can heal the sick, prophesy, speak in other tongues, or be an excellent orator… none of this means anything if there is no belief.
In conclusion, there are those who have a minute belief system (John 3:16) that they can barely get their head around. There are others that deem it necessary to proclaim unending tasks to Christ and his Father in order to claim eternal life. The bottom line is that we as Christians should persevere the best we can, live our life according to the scriptures, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ… that he died for our sins and for that we may obtain our reward.

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