All the different religious sects of this world make it seem hard or even impossible to read or study on your own. Did you realize Jesus Christ said that would be a problem? (Contemporary English Version) At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, and he said: My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you. While many religious people mean well, most are concerned with controlling and manipulating people, building membership, gathering money, their building projects or assigned works, and on the list goes. They have left off learning what the Bible teaches and have become wise and intellectual individuals. They can't serve two masters. There are two basic reasons they make the Bible seem hard to understand: One is they want to build and justify a perceived need in you, a need for them to lead and teach you. Or, they just don't know what the Bible teaches. They can't teach what they don't know.
What makes the Bible simple is personal familiarity with it. If you saw a brand new (unturned) rubix cube sitting on a shelf for the first time, it would be hard to know what is was from one view. Your perspective might allow you to see a blue square while another person might be seeing a yellow square. A third person might see a sort of three colored pyramid. All would be right, but none would really understand what they were looking at. If each person is able to pick up the cube with six colored sides and roll it around in their hands, each would fully understand what they are looking at. That is what religious sects preclude sincere Bible students from doing, as each sect is convinced they have the one and only true understanding of the Bible. They are each consumed with teaching their understanding to others, rather than continuing to examine the Bible from different perspectives. They are also determined that members adhere to their organizational dogma or doctrine. We encourage you to join us in examining the Bible from what might seem a little different perspective than you have viewed it before. There is never any reason to fear such an effort. Simply remember to always make yourself noble minded by making sure everything you learn actually finds support in the Bible. (Acts 17:11) If you know a scripture that says the Bible is a blue square, don't doubt that scripture you know because someone can show you another scripture that says it is a red square. Just continue to meditate on both those scriptures, and others, until the one and only clear picture of truth emerges. That is God's definition of being a noble minded person. (Acts 17:11) Toward the goal of gaining Bible familiarity, then, please consider:
Are you aware of, and do you know, the God of the Bible who predates Christianity by 4000 years? Studious men have quite accurately traced the Bible record to account for about 6000 years of time from the creation of Adam and Eve until our day (about 6040 years actually, as of 2015). The Bible is divided into two sections, the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures, and the New Testament or Christian Greek Scriptures. The Old Testament portion of the Bible accounts for 2/3 of its volume, and is the record of the first 4000 years (4026 years to be more precise) of mankind's history since Adam. Christianity was introduced by the New Testament portion of the Bible about 2000 years ago, and about 4000 years after creation. Christianity came into existence with the birth and preaching work of Jesus Christ. (Christianity was more accurately brought to birth in 29 CE, when Jesus presented himself as the promised Jewish Messiah.) Who, then, was the God of the Bible during that 4000 year record before Christ? Do you think it's important to know Him? Since God had His name recorded for us in those Old Testament (OT) Scriptures, might it be important to know that name? What was He teaching mankind during all those years before Christ? Since He dedicated 2/3 of the Bible to that Old Testament record, doesn't that make it seem important? Of course it does! What, then, does this pre-Christian God teach us in the record of that 4000 years? How does it impact the teachings by Christ as recorded for us in the New Testament?
The Bible is one Bible, of course! One of the most wonderful things about it is its consistency and integrity. The Bible is all truth, and the more you learn about any one part of it, the more you know about the rest of it. That includes learning about both the Old and New Testaments. It is wonderful! For those who have chosen to express faith in Christ Jesus with little knowledge of the OT, do not be alarmed by this line of thinking: it is only good in every way to learn about the God who predates Christianity. We should certainly start by knowing the OT God's name. He introduced himself to us as Jehovah, saying Jehovah is his name, that He is our salvation, that we should trust in Him forever, and that He, whose name alone is Jehovah, is the most high God of all. (Exodus 6:3 ; Isaiah 12:2 & 26:4; Psalm 83:18) The truth is, Jehovah had his personal name used over 6000 times in the most ancient copies of the original Hebrew (OT) Scriptures. It would seem he wanted us to know it!
As to those who already believe in Christ Jesus, however, how do we reconcile a belief in both Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. Again, the nice thing about the Bible is we don't need to reconcile anything: Both Jehovah and Christ made their relationship clear in their respective teachings. All we need do is open our mind and listen and learn. (We must also avoid being derailed by well meaning religious people who are stuck on the red square and want to stick us there as well.) In Luke 10:21 we considered above, Jesus thanked his Father he had hidden the truth from wise and intellectual people, and made it clear to ordinary people. Jesus went on to say: (Luke 10:22 & 23 CEV) My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too. (23) Jesus then turned to his disciples and said to them in private, "You are really blessed to see what you see!" We can be just as "blessed" as were Jesus disciples. All we need do is listen to what he taught us about his Father Jehovah and what the Father taught us as well.
Very early in the 4000 year record of the Hebrew Scriptures, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, Jehovah God (the Father Jesus spoke to and about so often) made us a promise. As the first promise of the Bible, Jehovah prophesied He would raise up a seed from the woman who would crush Satan's head.(Gen 3:15) (Satan is the spirit creature who instigated the rebellion by Adam and Eve.) Jehovah could have instantly crushed all three of them, of course. Satan had asserted, however, that God was bad in withholding something from Adam and Eve, and that they would be better off disobeying God (Gen 3:1-5). Satan also implied all God's creation was bad, and they would all fail if put to the test (Job 1:9-12). Killing the three of them instantly would not have settled the issues raised by Satan in front of all God's children, in heaven and on earth. Settling those issues would be the purpose and task of the seed of the woman Jehovah promised to raise up: First he would clear Jehovah's name of the reproach Satan placed upon it, and then he would prove Jehovah's creation was good. Jehovah then spent the next 4000 years of OT record producing that promised seed of the woman, later known as the Messiah. The OT told us many things about the coming Messiah or Christ, so we would be able to identify him when he arrived. Jehovah even gave prophecies indicating when the Christ would arrive. People who studied the Hebrew Scriptures were thus looking for the Christ when Jesus presented himself in 29 CE as the seed of promise from Gen 3:15. All persons had to do to take Jehovah's side in the issue of right and wrong, was to express faith in Christ Jesus as the son of God and as Jesus called himself, the son of man (or seed of the woman). (Mar 14:61-62) Jesus explained how Jehovah likened the earth to a vineyard to produce people who would be obedient as sons and daughters. He sent them prophets and leaders during the four thousand years before Christ, and the people rejected and killed most of them. Finally Jehovah would send his only son, but they would kill him too. The religious leaders then started trying to kill Jesus, for they realized he was talking about them. It has not changed (Mark 12:1-12).
You see, our gaining hope and life has been a simple and consistent process for all those 6000 years of Bible record. Jehovah's eyes have been roving about in the earth to find every single person of goodwill; to find every person will be a part of Jehovah's good creation if given the opportunity. (2 Chron 16:9a) When Jehovah found one who was upright, He led them to the teachings about the coming Messiah (for those first 4000 years), or, for the last 2000 years, Jehovah has been leading upright individuals to the teachings of the Christ. (Joh 6:44a) The teachings of the Christ are recorded in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the Apostle John. When one of us turns to Jesus, Jesus then teaches us about his Father Jehovah. (Mat 11:27) Jesus said our very life depends on knowing both he and his Father. (Joh 17:3) As Jesus finally and fully submits to his Father Jehovah, his doing so making him the exact opposite of Satan and Adam and Eve, Jesus provides the eternal solution to creation's problems. (1 Cor 15:20-28) All faithful creation will worship Jehovah forever, in paradise and peace, with the faithfulness of the Christ resting as a shield over us forever. Everything God does is perfect. Any rebellion against his will causes harm. We have what has happened as the eternal witness to that fact. Never again would Jehovah need to tolerate any rebellion against him. Those who have been judged by him as upright never would rebel. God knows those who love him. When he judges them upright, they are eternally so. Jesus Christ proved that as well.
This website is dedicated to helping people recognize how very easy it is to understand the Bible (Pro 4:6), and to warn and protect them against being misled by what often amount to well meaning but confused individuals and groups. (Mat 24:23-26) Note the Bible says some of those false prophets, whether ignorant or malicious, would perform great signs in support of their lies. It seems those great signs mostly amount to the great cloud of people they are able to deceive to follow after them. Many of these sects have great followings and are well accredited by mankind. Do not be deceived. Reading your Bible is your protection. To the end of helping people view the Bible as simple and clear, we try to view the it from different perspectives, but always providing scriptural support for what is taught. That is the oh-so-simple way you avoid being deceived by us, or any other person: by using the Bible to verify everything you are told. God himself refers to individuals who do so as noble minded. (Acts 17:11)
Religion is a badge you wear in the form of your membership in any one of the oh-so-many religious sects that fill the earth. You give your worship to the group in the form of your time, energy and resources; and the group provides you with the promise you are on the road to salvation or paradise based on your approved membership in the group and your performing the works they give you to do. (Those works can range from sitting in attendance at group meetings to volunteering to build projects or to do evangelizing work.) Christianity is very different from that and reflects who you are as an individual person. It is based on your personal faith in the teachings of Christ Jesus.
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