Jesus said: It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by God". Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.John chapter 6 verse 45
Lead me in your truth and teach me for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.Psalm 25 verse 5
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose. Psalm 25 verse 12
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 32 verse 8
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51 verse 6
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. Psalm 86 verse 11
Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law. Psalm 94 verse 12
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143 verse 10
All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's peace. Isaiah chapter 54 verse 13
Jesus said: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew chapter 11 verse 29
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. Psalm 71 verse 17
Christian Basics
In chapter 6 of the letter to the Hebrew Christians, the writer makes a statement about what he refers to as the foundational teachings of Christianity:
This series, which I have entitled ‘Christian Basics’, is based largely upon the topics mentioned here, but is broadened to cover two major doctrinal areas which Hebrews does not reference in this list, these being ‘the Human Condition’ and ‘Grace’.
Understanding our human condition is vital if we are ever to understand salvation, since if we believe that we are, somehow, all right and able to be good boys and girls without any assistance from above, and that we’re better off being free from all of those religious rules and regulations, then we will also believe that ‘salvation’, whatever it may be, is an irrelevance and of interest only to those who find comfort and support in religion.
The reality, of course, is that without the help of God we are, literally, helpless, since the help that we need is not forthcoming from anywhere else, especially from ourselves, as we are experts in deceiving ourselves into believing that we are models of probity and propriety while our rough edges, of which we are blissfully ignorant, rip and shred those around us with gay abandon and lead us to enquire, with genuine bemusement, “What’s wrong with you?”
Grace, which is also absent from the Hebrews list, is arguably the most important concept in Christianity, being unique among religions, in that it promises us the means to enable us to become everything that God has purposed us to be without the inevitable frustration of finding that, by our own efforts, we are unable to achieve even a fraction of the progress towards perfection that is required of us by our chosen path of enlightenment.
From the observance of duty and ethical rectitude of Confucianism to the contemplative mysticism of Zen Buddhism, every way that men have chosen to pursue perfection has required them to strive to make themselves better – to pull themselves up by their own boot-straps – with one notable exception.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ tells us that we are incapable of any such feat, and that all of our efforts are destined to fail. The only answer is, like the drowning man, to stop striving and start trusting in the grace of our Almighty Saviour, who not only does all of the heavy lifting in getting us out of the overwhelming tide, but continues throughout our journeys on solid ground to empower and enable us to live the lives that He has called us to live.
Much of the material in this series has been adapted from a study on Hebrews 6:1-2 that I produced for our church some years ago. I hope that you will not only find it interesting and helpful, but that it will also spur you on to thinking more deeply about these, and other, great doctrines of the Christian faith and, through that, draw you into an ever-deepening intimacy with the God who has reached out by grace to bring you into the fulness of human perfection in Jesus Christ.
So, let's jump in and start by considering the thorny subject of the Human Condition.
Endless hours over centuries and millennia have been spent attempting to understand human nature.
It’s one thing to understand human nature, but another thing to get to grips with the human condition. That is what we will endeavour to do in this article.
Read on ...Grace is a word that we normally associate today with ease and beauty of movement.
In Christianity, however, the word has a quite different significance, and is, in fact, one of the key concepts that lead us to an understanding of who God is and how He relates to us.
Read on ...Mark's Gospel opens with the prophet John the Baptist "... baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). After Jesus was baptised by John, He himself began to go about preaching, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).
Read on ...A common misconception is that faith means believing something despite the fact that either (a) there is no evidence for it, or (b) the available evidence contradicts it. Our faith is not based on myth and fable, but on sound reason and incontestable proof.
Read on ...There are a number of different ways that the word 'faith' is used in the Bible. Let's have a look at a selection of them.
Read on ..."All of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
Read on ...All four gospel writers quote John as identifying Jesus as the one who would baptise with the Holy Spirit. Matthew and Luke further report that “he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. From this it is clear that baptism with the Holy Spirit is in some way similar to baptism with water, but at the same time significantly different.
Read on ...The laying on of hands is a spiritual exercise that is expressed through a physical action, usually done in order to transmit some spiritual power or energy from one person to another, although sometimes it is done as a means of identifying with someone else.
Read on ...Every human being who has ever died will be brought back to life at the end of the present age.
The first person to experience this type of resurrection was Jesus, “the pioneer and perfector of our faith”.
His resurrection has already taken place. The rest of us will have to wait a little while longer!
Read on ...As Christians, we make much of the fact that God is love, and rightly so, but we must always bear in mind that love is not limited to kindness, gentleness, mercy, and compassion.
Love is about wanting the best for everyone, and so love is also concerned with truth, righteousness, and justice.
Read on ...There are five pivotal days in the history of the world:
- The day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens
- The day in which Jesus Christ died on the cross to make atonement for our sins
- The day in which He rose from the dead to secure our redemption
- The day on which He will return to establish His Kingdom on the earth
- The day on which He will sit to judge the living and the dead.