Once a person is saved, i.e., passes from death (the state of the unbeliever) unto eternal life (the present and secure position of the believer), and is therefore a “child of God,” it is critical that he or she matures from childhood to adulthood. On-going Bible study resulting in becoming grounded in Bible Doctrine will accomplish this. This is not a performance of religion. Christianity is not a religion. Religion has always been a system in opposition to the Grace of God in which man by his own efforts, works or merit attempts to gain salvation and/or the approval of God. Religion has always been a tool of Satan in which he attempts to counterfeit Christianity, in which he attempts to distract the unbeliever from God’s grace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and in which he attempts to divert the believer from growing in God’s grace and fulfilling God’s plan for his life. Religion is always based on “good works” and the attitude that man is responsible in some way not only to save himself but also to successfully live a life pleasing to God. Religion is Satan’s primary means of deceiving the human race.

If Christianity is not a religion then what is it? It is a union or relationship with the person of Jesus Christ (John 17:21). Christianity is based only on one ingredient, which can only come from God. The ingredient is grace, which is God’s undeserved compassion and love for mankind. This sole empowering and operational element of Christianity was best demonstrated in the coming and work of Jesus Christ. Because God is just and must punish any who sin (Romans 2:12; 6:23), because all persons sin (Romans 3:23) and because no one can do anything to save himself (Ephesians 2:8,9), God through grace devised a way by which anyone can be redeemed from such sin and receive eternal life. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ into the world. He was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life. The religious leaders of that day delivered him to be crucified on a Roman cross. While on that cross Christ took upon Himself the sins (past, present and future) of the world and paid the penalty required by those sins (spiritual death - separation from God the Father). Upon His physical death Christ was buried, but in three days He rose from the grave and ascended into Heaven to be at the right hand of God the Father. All this was accomplished so that anyone who will turn (repent) from any self-effort or works system to Christ Jesus, accepting by faith alone (trusting in) Christ and His redeeming work alone for his personal salvation will be once and for all saved. He then fulfills God’s plan of grace for salvation and becomes a child of God by instantaneously becoming united with Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. This is why Christianity is not a religion. It is union (a relationship) with Christ.

But once one becomes a child of God, Satan doubles his effort to convince the believer that he must now adopt religion, i.e., living by self-effort in accordance with sundry requirements (good works), in order to live the Christian life. The recently “born again” Christian is unaware that the same way he received Christ Jesus (by grace through faith) is the only way he may now successfully live the Christian life (Colossians 2:6 - So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him . . . ), and Satan will do everything possible to keep the young Christian from learning this principle of God’s plan of grace for living. When Satan is successful in this deception, the believer is no less saved from God’s wrath but by being nonproductive he will be disciplined during this life by the loving hand of God the Father and eventually miss out on rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

The only solution to Satan’s onslaught against the believer is to consistently study God’s Word; to become grounded in Bible Doctrine (Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17). The Apostle Paul indicated that true Christian strength and the only way to properly live the Christian life was to have the “mind (thinking)” of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Although he walked and talked with Jesus upon the earth, Christians today are better suited to understanding the mind of Christ. Why? Because today we have the Bible, which is the very mind of Christ, i.e., the living Word (John 1:1) in written form. To study and understand it is to intimately know the Lord Jesus Christ. To intimately know the Lord Jesus Christ is to think as He would think. This then is the key to being transformed in our thinking processes, in defeating Satan on every battlefront and in successfully living the Christian life.

We are as we think. Although God knows all things, to include our every thought, from eternity past (Hebrews 4:13), He grants us freedom to think and choose in accordance with free will. But He will hold us accountable for our actions, which originate from our thought processes. (Proverbs 23:7 -For as he thinks in his heart, so is he . . . ). Our very thought processes determine, motivate and influence our behavior. Science and the medical profession have confirmed the connection between the mind and the body, otherwise known as “psychosomatics.” One’s mental state will affect one’s physical state. It has been shown that even the process of aging can either be slowed or accelerated due to one’s belief regarding “what is old.” This is why proper instruction and training during childhood often determines one’s behavior when one grows into adolescence and adulthood. As one thinks, so one acts.

There are basically only two ways of thinking as far as God is concerned. There is God’s way of thinking and there is man’s way of thinking. These two viewpoints, the divine and the human, are antithetical and clearly seen in Isaiah 55:7-9, Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” While the unbeliever is capable of only the “human viewpoint” (Ephesians 4:17,18), the believer is capable of both the “human” and the “divine” and usually struggles between the two. The believer lives in the world but is not “of the world” (John 15:19) and is therefore subject to the “human viewpoint” from every quarter (Colossians 2:8).

Many factors influence us in the “human realm,” e.g., our background instruction, our education, our culture, our traditions and experiences with religion. We are persuaded to believe in various systems of “salvation by works,” in sundry philosophies, in the “brotherhood of man,” in the “basic goodness of man” and in a whole host of other Satan-inspired and Satan-induced conventions. Upon salvation and without the Word of God, i.e., learning Bible Doctrine, these satanic conventions are all we have to draw upon. The believer who fails to consistently study the Word of God and learn Bible Doctrine will often remain under the control of the “human viewpoint.” He will soon be sucked away from the sphere of God’s grace into a legalistic system of living that is orchestrated by Satan. This will destroy his joy of salvation even though he can never lose his salvation. Along with the destruction of the joy of salvation, he will continually become frustrated and drift into a “carnal state,” i.e., controlled by the old “sin nature.” He will immediately start to “rationalize” his inability to live the Christian life by blaming God or others for his adversity. This allows him to avoid taking responsibility for his failures. He will also give into “denial,” i.e., he will disguise from himself the reality of his circumstances. This also allows him to cope with his unacceptable feelings, anxieties, hostilities and failures. This then leads to boredom, loneliness and discouragement, which further leads to an urgent search for happiness through pleasures of the flesh, i.e., sex, alcohol, drugs and various forms of entertainment. Unfortunately these activities will all leave the believer even emptier than he was before. And what is sad for the believer who has spiraled down to this state is that it could have all been avoided by learning Bible Doctrine and becoming engulfed in the “divine viewpoint.”

It is God’s will that the believer avoids the “human viewpoint” and adopts the “divine viewpoint” in all matters of life. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. (Romans 12:1-3) . It is the utmost importance that believers study God’s Word, its principles and standards, so that the believer’s thought patterns will conform to the “mind of Christ.” The believer’s ability to live in accordance with the “divine viewpoint” is in direct proportion to his ability to learn Bible Doctrine. The believer has God’s promise in this. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10,11) .

For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17)

There is simply no substitute for learning Bible Doctrine. Of all the disciplines we encounter in the Christian life, it is the most important. Without it we will fail to understand and truly appreciate the foundation stone of our relationship (union) with Jesus Christ, which is the concept of “by grace through faith” (not only for salvation but also for living). We will also fail to understand the mind (thinking) of Jesus Christ regarding the various issues that we will face in life. Without these tools, we can only fail. And this is why it is important to know Bible Doctrine.