Once we become aware of the truth of God and accept his grace unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior it’s only the beginning of our walk with God. Our spiritual journey, the individual race God has assigned to us, is just starting. What are we supposed to do at that point? How do we go about it? Not to worry; God has left us explicit instructions on what we are to do and how to go about doing it. God is very thorough and he has left us his Word, our Holy Bible, as our guide through this life after we have become children of God.
In numerous places in the Bible God commands us to continually read, study and meditate on God’s Word for knowledge, understanding and wisdom that only the Bible can provide as the wisdom of God. That means we’re to read our Bibles daily along with prayers to God the Father asking him for revelation of his Word through the Holy Spirit of God. That means reading the Bible completely through from one end to the other, not just once, but multiple times. In fact, never stop reading the Bible. I try to read the entire Bible every year because I want to know it like the back of my hand. I want the Bible stories to become so ingrained in my soul I recognize them instantly, like an old friend.
God wants fellowship with us. God wants us to know him. That happens when we talk to God in prayer and God talks to us when we read the pages of the Bible. When we don’t read the Bible God can’t talk to us and fellowship is broken. When you read the Bible God is speaking to you individually through its pages, as if the Bible was written for you alone. The Bible is a living thing. As you read the Bible the Holy Spirit emerges to sit on your shoulder to help you understand what you’re reading. You’re never closer to God than when you’re in his Word. The more you read the Bible the more you’re getting to know God.
All professional athletes who run competitive races have to train for it. Believers are spiritual athletes and intense Bible study is the training we need to put in to complete the work God has for us to do. We can’t effectively run the spiritual race God has given us without preparation. Knowledge is power and when you know the Bible you have the power and wisdom of God at your fingertips. We need this power and wisdom to confront Satan and the powers of darkness that control this world. We’re in enemy territory until we return home to God so we must never let our guard down.
Besides knowing God and fellowshipping with him, the other reason we need to know the Bible intimately is so that we can obey the commands of God in general and the Great Commission in particular. Before he ascended back to heaven Jesus told all his disciples to preach the gospel of Christ to all the world and, as believers, we are those disciples. We have been appointed to do the work of God here on earth. We don’t have a choice in the matter if we want to please God. In addition to sharing our witness for Christ we are to do good works so that men will see the light of God in our actions and be drawn to the truth of God. The key to pleasing God and obeying his commandments is to study his Word so you know how to witness to the nonbeliever and you’re ready to go whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Listen to me carefully. I’ve been studying Christianity for 20 years and I know this stuff. Every believer will one day stand before the bema judgment seat of Christ. One of the first questions Jesus will ask you is, “Have you witnessed the gospel of Christ and if so, how often?” Another question is, “Have you saved anyone to the kingdom of God through your witness?” You need to be able to answer yes to both questions. Another question Jesus will ask is, “What good works have you done?” Everyone will have done some good works but your goal should be to have a ton of good works on your ledger so you have treasures awaiting you in heaven. One last note, good works won’t help you at all if you haven’t first witnessed the gospel of Christ effectively while on earth. Our salvation in heaven is secure through our faith in Jesus but our rewards in heaven will depend on our works in the flesh. We have the choice in this world to serve God and to obey his commands. We need to do both to please God. Our position in heaven and our standing among the saints of heaven depends on what we do for God here on earth. Whatever honor and glory we receive in heaven will last for eternity and vice versa.
What does all this have to do with fake religions and false gods? Like I said earlier, we know knowledge is power. We need to know the basic beliefs of the followers of fake religions so we can effectively witness to them by countering the tenets of their faith, whatever they may be. We earn their respect when we know what they believe and they’re more likely to listen to us. Studying fake religions only increases our faith in God so it serves an additional purpose for us. I’ve included in this blog series a brief synopsis of the top 16 fake religion in the world (out of about 4200 religions) that are the most important to us here in the United States. Become familiar with these fake religions in case you ever have to witness the gospel to one of their followers. There are about 10,000 atheists in this country and maybe 20,000 agnostics. The number of believers of fake religions is hundreds of times greater than that so you’re much more likely to witness to a believer of a fake religion than you are an atheist or agnostic. I’ve summarized the fake religions covered in this blog series below:
FAKE RELIGIONS
1.Islam – Two billion followers. The majority religion in 51 countries of the world primarily in the Middle East, North Africa and a large swath of southern Asia.
2.Hinduism – 1.3 billion followers, mostly in India. Hindu is also the majority religion in Nepal and Mauritius.
3.Buddhisism – 500 million followers. Buddhism is the majority religion in ten countries of southeast Asia.
4.Shintoism – 113 million followers. A Japanese religion.
5.Sikhism – 28 million followers. An Indian religion centered in the Punjab region of India.
6.Taoism – 20 million followers. A religion of China and Taiwan.
7.Mormonism – 14 million followers. Half in the U. S. and half abroad.
8.Jehovah’s Witnesses – 8.5 million followers. Half in the U. S. and half abroad.
9.Korean Shamanism – 8 million followers. A ethnic religion on the Korean peninsula.
10.Confucianism – 6-10 million followers. A Chinese religion.
11.Caodaism – 4-6 million followers. A Vietnamese religion.
12.Jainism – 4-6 million followers. An Indian religion.
13.Bahaism – 5 million followers. Originated in Iran but because of persecution now in India.
14.Zorastrianism – 130,000 followers. Originated in Iran but now in India.
15.Christian Science – 50,000 followers. An American religion.
16.Scientology – 31,000 followers. An American religion.