This first group of tracts is, in fact, the heart and soul of our whole outreach work. Without these, the goal of the exercise would become pointless, just another religious exercise, without real purpose, because, unless you and I focus our whole attention, our faith and our trust on, and in, Jesus Christ, the Word of God become man, then we’ve not come to any real understanding of who he is, or the truth of his words in Jh.14:6 when he said of himself, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father (God Almighty) but by me.” And again, “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

In this group of 15 bible studies we’re looking at what we, as believers in God’s Word, Jesus Christ, receive from our God.

These 21 studies look at how becoming a truth Christian, a child of God Almighty, affects us in every area of our lives.

This final group of 16 studies on discipleship looks at what our God expects to get out of our having been reborn of the Seed of his Word, by the Spirit of that Word; the Spirit of Christ.

I wonder, at times, how many of us realise just what a very practical, everyday thing faith really is, or at least, is meant to be! Too often it’s seen as a super religious thing, probably due mostly to man’s religions. But in fact it is a very everyday, practical, essential part of living, with people. By it we choose to believe, or not believe, what others are saying to us. By it we choose to trust, or not trust, those around us, those in leadership, those in medicine, etc. It’s exactly the same for us in relation to God. As it was said of Abraham in the Word, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Gen:15:1-6); so, for those of us who truly believe what God is saying to us in Jesus Christ, most certainly including Calvary, then we too are reckoned as righteous before God, without sin, completely clean and acceptable to him.

Having come up through one of man’s great religions, including spending three years in a monastery, studying its doctrines and teachings, I was left with the idea that holiness could be seen as following certain religious practices; as being devoted to God through these, i.e., being a priest or a religious brother etc. When this wonderful Lord Jesus Christ graciously came into my life as my Saviour, Lord and Master, being a bit unsure about this “holiness” matter, I asked him to show me what it really was in his eyes. He took me to an old Bible dictionary where I found that the origin of the word was found in the word ‘whole’. My new nature sang with joy at this, realising, for the first time, that to be “holy to God” was nothing like what I’d believed up to that point, but was in fact nothing more, or less, than being “wholly belonging to him.” And, as Jesus had purchased me by his life blood, this was already a fact in my life. What a marvel!!

Jesus said unless we’re re-born of the Holy Spirit we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Jh.3:3-5. And again, the Word tells us we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in us. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in us, although our bodies are dead because of sin, our spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, then he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in us. Rom 8:9-11. Do you know this reality in your life?

If we don’t get our relationship with God right, according to his Word, and this both on an individual and a collective level, we have no hope of progressing spiritually.

And if we don’t get our relationship with Christians, both genuine and nominal, just right, and this also according to God’s Word, then any relationship we may think we have with God is in very grave danger of falling apart, if it hasn’t already done so.

It’s very clear in the Word of God that all our relationships are interdependent. This being so, it is imperative that we work on all of them, making sure that they line up with that Word.