Tag: Bible

Don’t go down a dead end

It is amazing how often intelligent peoples’ thinking is self-contradictory. I have several pages of such contradictions – like this one that shows the impossibility of determinism: “If all our thoughts are determined, that must include the thoughts of neuro-scientists who hold to determinism. So determinism would mean we can never trust the conclusions of scientists as being true, including those of neuro-scientists”. Another one I like was put out in a TV advertisement for the Bank of Scotland, where a wise man said: “Some people say there are no right or wrong answers”. Then he added: “But what if they’re right? … Or wrong?”

So as we search for right answers, let us beware the dead end of self-contradicting theses.

It is normal to believe in free will – that our choices are real and that we have freedom to make our own decisions. Indeed, we consider it a “human right”, and we want the freedom of others to be acknowledged and respected. It is against this much-loved reality that determinism comes crashing.

The counterpart to freedom is responsibility: we may be held responsible for the use of our freedom. We will have to answer for any evil use of our freedom. There is unavoidable moral responsibility attached to human freedom. This instinct is written in our consciences and refers both to society’s and to God’s right to punish those who use their freedom to harm others. So freedom is not an absolute liberty to do all one may wish; it is best understood as the ability to do as one ought, despite the threat of those who would impede that liberty.

But there is a false form of freedom that is indeed illusory – and it is getting unfortunately quite invasive in society, though it will prove to be a dead end street: you don’t want to go down there, you’ll get nowhere. It is known as “expressive individualism”. 

This freedom, writes rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, “is embodied in words like authenticity, autonomy, self-expression, and self-realisation, to which we claim to have unfettered rights”. This extraordinary claim to quasi absolute freedom is a dead end street. It is at the basis of a lot of human pain in the lives of those who suppose they can define their own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life – of “who they are”, when this is in denial of what is “given”. It substitutes for the given-ness of our existence the mad dream that we can “invent ourselves”, alter the reality of who we truly are. Don’t go down that road.

If you want a different form of yourself, a better “you”, there is a preferable way, the right route to take. You can be “made over”, deeply and radically transformed into what you really ought to be. This is what Christian conversion is all about. When a person rejects his or her own reprobate inner self – those aspects of our personality that come under the description of “evil” – and when they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, calling on him to be their Saviour and Master, a radical renovation takes place. Jesus called it being “born again”. When you invite Jesus to save you from all evil, to clean you up on the inside, it’s like being recreated – “old things are passed away and all things become new.” And all this is from God, “whose service is perfect freedom”. By such healthy transformation the Lord demonstrates that he is in the business of turning sinners into saints!

Clive Every-Clayton

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Do not be fooled!

There’s good news and there’s fake news: it is important to discern which is which!

Christmas commemorates the messengers from heaven announcing “good news of great joy that will be for all people” (Luke 2.10). The incarnation of the Son of God was – and is – “good news”. And it is universal truth, “for all people”. And it’s a source of “great joy” – deep happiness and human fulfilment.

Though “fake news” seems to be a modern concept, there have always been purveyors of falsehoods, and their fake news is folly that leads people astray. Fake news is actually bad news because it’s false, so people believe a lie.

In previous blogs I have insisted that only God knows all truth; only he can communicate that absolute truth to us; he sent his Son into the world to tell us the truth that he wants us to know; and that hearing Jesus’ teaching “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” (John 8.31-32). There alone is the source of real truth, good news, not fake. 

It is not polite to call another person a “fool”, but twice in the Bible God uses this word to describe two types of people. Two of our perplexing questions are: “Does God exist?” and “What happens after death?” It’s vital to obtain true and reliable answers to these fundamental questions. God himself both gives the answers, and condemns as “fools” those who think differently. Concerning the existence of the Creator God, Lord of the Universe, Maker of all things visible and invisible: to deny his existence is a big mistake: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14.1). This is a foolish belief-statement for several reasons: first, it would require an exhaustive research of the entire universe to be able to make such an affirmation. As that is impossible, the statement merely expresses one person’s belief, or lack of belief. Secondly, it fails to consider seriously all the pointers to God’s existence in the amazing creation we observe all around us with its glorious beauty, the mathematical precision of its physical constants, and human beings themselves who, despite our fall into corruption, still reflect much of the personality of the God in whose image we were created.

So don’t draw the hasty and false conclusion that “There is no God”; if you haven’t found him yet, that’s no proof of his non-existence. Study the life and teaching of the One who came down to earth from Him at that first Christmas: you will see he is believable.

The word “fool” is also used in one of Jesus’ parables concerning the second big question – life after death. A farmer gets richer and richer until he no longer had enough space to keep all his goods. He decides to tear down his barns and build greater ones, saying to himself, “I have plenty of good things laid up for myself for many years; I will take life easy, eat, drink, and be merry”. Then Jesus adds: “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” (Luke 12.16-21).

Here is the folly of not preparing for eternity and the Day of Judgment that we must all face. Don’t believe the fake news that “when you’re dead you’re dead”. The Bible warns us: “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9.27). 

Please, for the sake of your eternal soul, don’t be fooled!

Clive Every-Clayton

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Relationship with God?

Where can we find the perfect partner who will love us constantly with perfect love? Only in the God of love who made us. His creative design for humans is that we find fulfilment – whatever may be our principal activities – only when we are in harmony with him. 

The great tragedy of world history was when sin made its entry into the human race – as is depicted in Genesis chapters 2 and 3. The first couple rejected God’s order – thinking they could better judge what is right and wrong. (That same mentality reigns in many today who set aside God’s infinitely wise guidelines – his commandments – and try out some new man-made ethics). 

With the arrival of sin twisting the hearts and perverting the actions of the first couple, their marital harmony was damaged, and this continued down the generations to our day. Hence any life-partner that a man or a woman might find, turns out to be vitiated by an indwelling tendency to selfishness rather than love, to rebellion rather than union, to pride and anger rather than sweetness of temper. Such unloving traits render marital bliss a great challenge to accomplish – though mercifully, by learning to overcome one’s selfishness and to forgive one’s partner’s failures, it is possible for reasonably happy families to exist!

Human hearts nevertheless often suffer from the lack of that steadfast love which ministers to our inner hunger of soul. People still long for a deep and enduring harmonious relationship and can spend their lives unsuccessfully trying to find the perfect partner. Of course the children from such broken relationships begin their lives with a kind of handicap in the area of love and trust. To prevent such harm is one of the reasons why God is against adultery. God is also against adultery because unfaithful lovers do not reflect as they should the loving harmony of God’s own Trinitarian relationship. We were made in his image so as to show forth his divine kind of love, and our inability to do so grieves God, brings distress to ourselves, and trouble to our nearest and dearest. 

In the midst of our depressing failure, however, there is a gleam of hope, for true fulfilment of our passion for love can come when we know in our experience that God loves us very, very much.

Ultimately, the only truly satisfying relationship of love is for us to be in a harmonious relationship with God (as Adam and Eve were in Paradise before sin interrupted their blessedness). We can turn to God and find in him the forgiveness of our failures and an assurance of his eternal love as we enter into spiritual union with Christ. This is the essence of what Christians call salvation from sin: to be loved despite our wretchedness and to be assured of God’s full forgiveness. That is the relationship we were made for. It alone provides true human fulfilment. 

So how can a person get that? What we have to do is, first of all, realise how much our sin is serious before God; we really have no idea – that’s why we need the Bible to enlighten us. Then we need to realise how great the love of Jesus, God’s Son, was, in coming into our sinful world to seek and save us from all the pains that sin has brought on us. Then we need to open our hearts to Him, inviting him to wash us clean, be our dearest friend and helper, and confirm his love to us. He promises to do just that!

Clive Every-Clayton

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Relationships

What contributes most to human happiness? Surely loving relationships must come high, if not first, on the list. Of course, good health, sufficient finances, and a decent place to live contribute a lot to our happiness. But the Good Book says, “Better is a poor meal where love is than a great feast with hatred” (c.f. Proverbs 15.17). To experience true love is joy of a deep kind that seriously boosts our level of happiness.

The search for true love is therefore a big part of our existential quest, for human relationships can be the source of great pleasure if they are good; however, they can be the cause of much pain if they are bad. Either way, they are an intricate part of everyone’s existence and the object of the deepest human longing.

The first difficulty, of course, is finding that special someone to love. But even when he or she is found, the next difficulty is putting up with their negative traits! The problem is that whoever we love, they are never 100% good, kind, loving, faithful, truthful etc. all the time. Not only that, they see and criticise our faults too!

What the human heart really yearns for is to find a perfect partner with whom we could enjoy a deep and lasting relationship of mutual love. Have you ever wondered why we so long for that? It is certainly not because we have evolved to want to pass on our genes to the next generation: such a ridiculous suggestion demeans our human nature and debases the whole concept of love. No: rather, our passion for love issues from our having been created in the likeness of a God of passionate love. 

Why does Christianity alone declare that “God is love” (1 John 4.8)? Because it reveals a Triune Godhead where Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have existed forever in a relationship of love. Jesus said that the Father loves the Son and that he loves the Father; and the Spirit of God sheds abroad God’s divine love in the hearts of believers (John 5.20, 14.31, Romans 5.5). So love is of the very essence of God. He did not need to create in order to have someone to love; the love within the persons of the divine Trinity was totally fulfilling. He created humans capable of love so that he might have the pleasure of loving them and receiving love from them. This is one of the key reasons for our existence – we are designed so as to enjoy a loving relationship with God. If we do not experience that we suffer dysfunction!  

Not that God is against human love: he grants us also the relative joy of loving human relationships. Having created Adam, he insisted it was not good for him to be alone, because he was a loving person with no companion. So God instituted marriage and created Eve. Before they sinned, their relationship was a wondrous reflection of the loving relationship between the three persons of the Trinity. In that relationship, that first couple which was truly human like we are, was able to enjoy the gift of sexual union according to God’s intention and have a family, with a third little human to love and which would return their love. Thus the love of the Trinity would be even better reflected. 

So love is so vital for us because we are image-bearers of a God of love. But full satisfaction in love can only come from a loving harmonious relationship with our loving Creator and saviour.

Clive Every-Clayton

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There is no other

The uniqueness of the Christmas event is well worth pondering. Has there ever been a serious claim that the one and only Creator God entered into human history and came to dwell among us? Such is the very essence of the Christian religion. 

Since the historic existence of Jesus of Nazareth cannot seriously be contested, the question of his full identity constitutes one of the most important that anyone can consider. Indeed, the whole search for authentic answers turns on this, for if it can be established that Jesus was, as he affirmed, the unique divine Son of God the Father, then we have in his words a revelation of divine truth about many vital areas of our human condition.

In previous blogs I have quoted many of Jesus’ sayings that express his teaching about his coming into the world from “the Father” to tell us truth that his Father had sent him to tell us. Jesus insists that he is speaking the truth, and the absolute truth of his words is a solid foundation for our faith.

As you read the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, you get the impression of reading of a real historic character – unique, certainly – even considerably different from normal humans, yet authentic, real, believable. The simplicity and yet the depth of his teaching make us wonder, as did his first hearers, “Where did this man get this wisdom?” (Matthew 13.54). The record of his amazing miracles corresponds perfectly with what only a divine Son of God could do. The disciples saw how his life fulfilled several predictions made about the Messiah in the Jewish Bible, and these can still be checked out today. His moral teaching, such as he gave in the Sermon on the Mount, has never been surpassed in twenty centuries, and millions of believers throughout the world can testify that following his guidance had led them to a life not only of purity but of profound well-being.

Indeed the most compelling proof of Jesus’ divine identity comes when a man or a woman in the grip of evil passions, realising the need of deliverance from their inner demons, cries out in desperate agony to the Lord Jesus to save them and experiences the radical transformation he operates in their own personal experience. Not everyone feels deeply their need of forgiveness and moral transformation; not many think of turning over a new leaf; not many realise that a miracle of redemption is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. But there are those who do feel their guilt before a holy and righteous God, who understand the seriousness of their position before the divine Judge of all the earth, and who, hearing that Jesus is a Saviour who receives sinners and frees them from their guilt and sin, cry out in earnest prayer, “Lord Jesus, save me”. Such converts can testify to their experience of the reality of the risen Saviour who came down to earth to set people free from their bondage to sin. 

The Bible’s teaching is clear: “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2.5-6). “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4.12). “No one comes to the Father except through me”, said Jesus (John 14.6). 

The Bible’s promise stands valid for all: “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved” (Romans 10.13). 

Clive Every-Clayton

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Jesus’ comments on Christmas

Jesus didn’t actually refer to his birthday, but he did make several comments on why he was born. Let’s look at them.

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth” (John 18.37). Here was a man who knew his purpose in life! And he knew “the truth”. This statement of Jesus is as vital as it is radical. Don’t we need to know the truth? Isn’t God the only One who knows the truth and the true answers to our existential questions? Jesus was born into the world to make that truth accessible. 

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12.46). Jesus sees the world of human being enshrouded in the darkness of sin and ignorance, needing light from beyond this world – divine light. He also said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8.12). I wonder if you are “walking in darkness”; here is hope for you.

“I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6.38). Jesus saw his primary aim in life was to obey His Father’s will and fulfil the plan for which he was sent. He lived and died in complete accord with the will of God his Father: “I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 5.30).

He said he “came to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19.10). The New Testament explains: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1.15). Jesus taught that we are lost when we are far from God, indifferent to his love, living in disobedience to his will, and careless of loving and pleasing him. Multitudes living like that are lost, they have no idea where they are going, but they are on their way to a lost eternity. Jesus came to seek such people, and to save them both from a life of sin and from an eternity in hell. 

He explained how he would do this, when he said he had come “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10.45). It’s as if lost sinners are held captive to evil habits and evil powers, subject to righteous judgment. A ransom price would “redeem” or deliver them; that price was Jesus’ own death. Sinless himself, he chose to bear our penalty on the cross, dying to redeem us. Such is his compassion for us in our bondage and our lost state.

 “I have come in my Father’s name” he declared, often alluding to “the Father who sent me” (John 5.43, 36, 37). He so represents God his Father that he says, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me” (John 12.44-45). 

Jesus sums up the ultimate aim of his coming: “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10.10). His coming was in order to give abundant life (“eternal life” – true human fulfilment) to people who trust in him. God loved us so much “that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3.16)

That’s why Jesus came at that first Christmas. We all need him.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Christmas – why all the fuss?

As Christmas approaches it seems that multitudes are on a spending spree: presents, Christmas trees, food and wine, cakes and puddings, turkeys and trimmings… So many people seem to be looking forward to a great family get-together and such joyous festivities should certainly not be disparaged. However, Christmas is not “all about” these things. Christmas certainly has its reasons for festive celebration but we need to remember exactly what Christmas really is “all about”.

While many Xmas cards wish us “Happy Holidays”, they seem to totally overlook the real meaning of Christmas. What is Christmas all about? It is the enthusiastic and wondering commemoration of the greatest event that has ever taken place since the original “Big Bang”! For that little baby boy, wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger, was none other than a totally unique incarnation of the one and only Creator God. The infinite Deity was clothed with human flesh, lying there helpless, totally dependent on his mother’s care. What wondrous lowliness in the majestic Lord of all!

This baby was Jesus: at Christmas we celebrate the beginning of the life-history of the greatest human being who ever lived – the one whose coming made a more beneficial impact on the history of the world than any number of other people.

This baby was conceived by a miracle: a work of God accomplished his unique conception without the sexual union of two parents. The young mother-to-be, Mary, received the divine message that she would become pregnant with a son who “will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”; he would “reign on the throne of his ancestor David”, as a king “whose kingdom shall have no end”. On hearing that announcement Mary was baffled and astonished, asking: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1.31-35)

The answer given to her by the heavenly messenger foretold the miraculous intervention of God’s Holy Spirit so that “the child that will be born will be called holy – the Son of God”.

In other words, here, on this unique occasion, the Son of God who was with the Father in eternity, was now clothed with human flesh, a historic human being, subject to the limitations of time and space. He was to grow up in the home of Joseph and Mary until the day when he was to be revealed to Israel and to begin his public ministry of teaching and working miracles, curing the sick and even raising the dead on three occasions. 

Joseph, who was pledged to be married to Mary, also received a divine communication: “the Lord appeared to him in a dream” saying that this unique baby conceived in her is “from the Holy Spirit… You shall call his name Jesus” he was told, “for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1.20-21).

This is what we celebrate. The world needed a Saviour and, very humbly, in the town of Bethlehem, about 2,028 years ago, the Saviour of the World was born.

Many great Christmas carols celebrate the big event: “He came down to earth from heaven, who is God and Lord of all”; yet “how silently, how silently the wondrous gift was given!” “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see: hail the incarnate deity! Pleased as man with man to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel” – which means, “God with us”. God came into the world, demonstrating that he exists! He came to save us from our sins.

That is what Christmas is all about.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Questions of morality

In his book Morality, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks quotes sociologist Emile Durkheim who argued that if any society was in a state of anomie – that is, lacking a shared moral code – there would be a rise of suicides. Without a unifying body of ideas, beliefs, and attitudes that shape our world, society would fragment and individuals would not be able to cope. Noting the increase in mental stresses and suicides, the Chief Rabbi affirms that “this aptly describes the state we inhabit today: a world of relativism… subjectivity, autonomy, individual rights, and self-esteem”.

Anomie literally means absence of law, but this translates into autonomy where each person is a law unto themselves. People in our muddled relativistic age believe they have the need and the freedom to choose or make up their own moral code.

Previously in the West, Christendom provided the basis for law which defines good morality, and this performed a vital service for society even though there were (and always will be) law-breakers. Why then has it been contested, overturned, and widely disobeyed?

The root of all turning away from righteous law is the human penchant for disobedience: evil, wickedness, and rebellion dwell deep within the human heart. Unless there is some imperious reason to impose on oneself the necessary moral self-discipline to keep such laws, the tendency is to “enjoy” sin and try to get away with it. But when the reality of an all-seeing righteous divine Judge is generally accepted, society leads a more wholesome life. Turning away from God and his law is simply the outcome of the sin-controlled human heart. If conscience’s light is not upheld by a good religious teaching and by the upright ethics of society, a downgrade is bound to occur.

From the 1960’s these two bulwarks have given way as various movements comprising the sexual revolution overtook the West. But by throwing off God, the absolute holy foundation of all Good, atheistic humanists also wiped away the source of absolute morality such as would be imposed on all humans everywhere.

Without an appeal to Transcendence, every idea about morality becomes relative: I think this is sin, but you think it’s good – who’s to decide? So we each have the burden of deciding our own moral code, since no-one can provide absolutes any more. So the tendency downwards continues uninterrupted, until, like today, people begin to realise that atheism cannot give us the moral guidelines we need, and we return to consider afresh the commandments of God.

When questions of morality are raised, Scripture gives two kinds of answers: first, clear commands, like the Ten Commandments and others which condemn sins categorically. But second, it emphasises the cultivation of virtues like loving care, self-denial, humble service, purity of mind, truthfulness, and faithfulness. Similarly it condemns vices such as hatred, pride, unbridled lust, greed, envy, selfish anger, and covetousness (the tenth commandment). The Bible does not address only deeds, it deals with feelings, thoughts, and motives too.

Christian biblical morality thus balances duty, freedom and responsibility before God. To know the good, we need both the guidance of good law and the discernment of a good conscience. There is no law more perfect than that of Jesus, expressed, for example, in his Sermon on the Mount and his commandments to love God and one’s brother, one’s neighbour, and even one’s enemy.

Do you want to know if some line of action is sinful or permitted? Check the law of God in Scripture. It is there that we may find the absolute light we all need.

Clive Every-Clayton

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Why not other religions?

Maybe some think that my referencing Christianity and the Bible as the source of true and valid answers shows disrespect for other religions. Why not turn to them instead?

Apparently there are about 4,000 religions in the world – a statistic that reveals humankind’s innate religious disposition. In every country people discern there must be some Higher Power, some transcendent Reality, some Deity. Allied to this intuition is the reflex that God must be the fount of all goodness and justice, and that we, by contrast are not totally good and pure. People therefore fear divine judgment – sometimes perceived as the intervention of evil spirits – and they feel the need for God’s protection and his mercy.

The brightest and noblest minds, therefore, giving thought to these uncertainties, propose varying theologies, moral systems, and religious practices with a view to connecting with the Divine, or appeasing the powerful Spirit, or obtaining peace of mind by God’s forgiveness. Christianity deals with these same troubles of the human spirit, but with a radical difference that sets it apart from all other religions of the world. The essence of Christianity’s uniqueness is that while other religions issue from humanity’s deep religious thinkers, the religion of the Bible comes by the initiative and intervention from out of this world – from God himself who became incarnate in Jesus.

I have written an (unpublished) book: “Only Christianity: why Christianity is truly unique and uniquely true”. Interestingly, the 12 or so reasons why the Christian faith is unique correspond to reasons why it is true. Let me give you some of them.

Firstly, Christianity is anchored in history: it is not a mere religious philosophy proposed by man. God’s interventions in history are recorded throughout the Old Testament – Creation, the call of Abraham, the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt, their entry into Canaan, and ultimately of course the absolutely unique incarnation of God in Jesus, his historic life, death, and resurrection, recorded by the apostles. That God thus became incarnate should be known throughout the world!

Secondly, the unique fact of fulfilled prophecy. Blaise Pascal, impressed by this fact, enumerated in his Pensées (§489ff/693ff) numerous Old Testament predictions that were subsequently fulfilled. “I see a number of religions in conflict,” he wrote, “and therefore all false, except one. … But I see Christianity and find its prophecies, which are not something that anyone can do” (§198/693). As a statistician, Pascal found this convincing.

Thirdly, it provides a conscience-appeasing atonement. The sacrifice of Christ, bearing our sins and our punishment, is an historical accomplishment by which alone the requirements of Justice are satisfied. Only the atoning death of the God-man, Jesus Christ, could permit the Righteous God and Judge of all to grant forgiveness in a way that does not undermine the whole justice of the universe. 

Fourthly, the promises of Jesus Christ offer a full and perfect remission of all sins – not as earned by one’s religious practice or deserved according to one’s efforts at holiness, as all other religions propose  – but by a life-transforming experience of God’s grace that makes believers God’s children. 

This conversion experience is also unique to Christianity: it makes saints out of sinners as they receive the risen Christ into their hearts in repentance and by faith. 

Finally, Christianity offers a love relationship with a loving God and saviour which is beyond imagining. Believers may be overwhelmed when they grasp the love and faithfulness of their Saviour and the lengths to which he went to save us from hell.

Could any other religion rival all that?

Clive Every-Clayton

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When you read the Bible

Before St Augustine became a Christian, he was struggling with immorality even as he discussed the big issues of the faith with friends. One day he heard a child’s voice in the street cry out repeatedly, “Take up and read”. Taking this as the voice of God, he picked up a copy of St Paul’s letter to the Romans, opened at 13.13-14, and read: “Let us behave … not in … sexual immorality and debauchery … Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature”. That powerful passage spoke to his heart and he capitulated to the Lordship of Christ, abandoning his immorality. Such is the power of God’s Word. He became a bishop and one of the greatest of all theologians.

When you read the Bible, read it with a pen in hand, ready to underline any passage that strikes you. Some verses are exceedingly rich and deserve to be memorised. The words of the Bible have an uplifting power. They convey truth from God that is totally trustworthy.

But the Bible is no mere compendium of fine words: it tells the story of humankind from God’s perspective. It is divided into two parts: the Old Testament is the Jewish Bible, written before Christ, and it starts with the creation of mankind and the tragic original disobedience that brought sin into the world. It recounts the covenants the Lord made, notably with Abraham, and the promises of a coming Messiah, “God with us”. The New Testament brings the Good News of the fulfilment of that promise in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The four Gospels which recount his life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection, are followed by the “Acts of the Apostles” which relates the earliest proclamation of the risen Christ by the eye-witnesses, and the consequent conversion of believers which brought about the beginning of the Christian church.

If you are approaching the Bible for the first time, it is good to read the early chapters of Genesis which lay the foundation for the rest of the Bible’s story. The first chapters of Exodus are also foundational. In Exodus chapters 19 and 20 the Ten Commandments are given.

But if you’re new to the Bible, read first at least one of the Gospels. After the Acts of the Apostles, there are numerous letters written to the early believers explaining the faith and guiding their Christian lives. These are well worth studying; they are very rich. While they often address specific issues raised in the early church, their principles are valid for all time, and so very relevant for Christians today.

Parts of the Old Testament may seem somewhat arduous; if you find them tough going, feel free to skip on to something you find more meaningful. There’s a lot to discover!

But keep your eye open, and your pen handy, to note down those jewels of truth that will make you stop and think, that challenge your outlook, or that speak to your heart. The key thing is to think about what you’re reading – What does this really mean? How should I react to this teaching? Is there a command to obey or a promise I can trust? What does this imply – about God, about my life? The Bible’s teaching needs to be applied to your own situation, and that demands honesty and humility. But in that way, the Bible will have its beneficial effect on you – you will be blessed with the positive result.

Clive Every-Clayton

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