Breach/Bridge

About my stressful situation?  I tendered my resignation.  It was hard, to admit to others (especially myself that I needed to let go of work).  I need to be honest and recognise that I was in a toxic work environment, and that I needed to leave for my mental wellbeing.  I had trouble sleeping, been having nightmares of work, and was dreading returning to the workplace.  It has been a huge relief to send that resignation letter.  Now, time to build towards a career I'm passionate about.  Manufacturing is definitely not for me.

I've also received my second dose of the AZ vaccine over the past weekend, making it the last member of my family to be fully vaccinated.  Can't wait to resume a life of normalcy (and to vote out this phony PN government).

It also because of work that I have been putting off my Bible class lesson(s) recap.  So this will be a long post.

11th July 

Topic: How do we get to Jesus Christ, and what does he want from us

As opposed to a marriage (with the exchanging of vows, etc), our relationship with Christianity is non-transactional.  In due time, the wisdom of what happens will come to life.

Matthew 7:21

The people in question knew of the existence of Jesus, but they didn't follow him.  That's why they weren't worthy to join God in heaven.  Jesus Christ represents the Head of the church. The church represents the body of Christ. As such, wherever Christ leads as the head, the church follows as the body. 

Back towards the comparison of marriage, the church is also a bride to Christ.  The church also represents the subjects of the kingdom of God, with Christ as the king.

Mark 16:16

Baptism is the next step towards God. It's an action.  The life of a Christian is both knowing and doing. As mentioned in Matthew 7:21, we recognise ("Lord, Lord...) and we take steps to do the will of Jesus, to be saved.

Acts 2:37-39, & 41

An additional step is to keep repenting of sins. It's a lifelong journey of bettering yourself and to stay away from sin.

In summary, the five steps of salvation:

1) Hear the word of God

2) Believe in the word of God

3) Repent of the sins/look towards to your new life

4) Confess to Jesus Christ

5) Baptism

18th & 25th July

John 6:44

No man can come to Jesus unless God pulls him in.  When the verse mentions "raise him up", this is referencing the converting of one's physical body to a spiritual body.  To go to God, you must go through Jesus, as he speaks through us from the word of God (aka the Bible) 

John 8:24-32 

If you don't believe in Jesus, you will die for your sins.  Jesus says "God is the truth, I speak the truth, and if you believe in me, then you'll join the truth and the truth shall set you free (from sins)" 

John 8:28

The words "lifting up" references Jesus when he was crucified

Hebrews 11:6

You must believe in God to be able to seek him. 

Acts 2:38

Repenting for your sins

Acts 17:30

God asks men to repent, for Judgement Day is coming.  The "times of ignorance" references to Acts 17:1-29

Romans 10:9-10

Theme: confession

Believing in your heart isn't enough; you also need to verbally confess that you believe in Jesus.  The belief that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  Heart for righteousness, and mouth for confessions unto salvation.  Going back to the "Steps towards Salvation", you must first hear the gospel, and then believe in the word of God.

Matthew 10:32

If you confess of Christ to others, then Jesus will acknowledge you.  Conversely, you need to confess to others, otherwise Jesus cannot speak for you. 

Mark 16:16

Those who believe in baptism will be saved. 

1 Peter 3:21

Peter clarifies that baptism isn't just the physical act of cleaning/washing oneself, but that it's action to become a Christian 

1st August

Verses: Acts 8:26-29

This lesson covers my question from a few weeks back on "what are the steps to salvation?", because in these verses, the Ethiopian eunuch (who was a jew) asked the same question as myself.

The start of this chapter talks about three characters, who are not connected to one another, but their story happened at the same time: Saul (who will later become the apostle  Paul), Simon (the Sorcerer) and Philip (the evangelist).

Philip was going down (to Gaza), while the Ethiopian eunuch was going up, towards Jerusalem, and they met in the middle.  The eunuch was reading Isaiah (Chapter 53, which was on the prophecy of Jesus), but he didn't understand what he was reading.  Philip offered to explain it to him. 

So the eunuch started by hearing the word of God, he understood it through Philip, he repented, confessed his belief of God and then asked to be baptised.   So in conclusion, Acts 8 is the reenactment of the five steps of salvation.