sjdean said in post #1:
How best is it for new beleivers like myself to keep their faith strong in testing and troubling times?
We should pray to God every day, such as with the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), praising and worshipping him, confessing our sins to him, asking him for what we need today, and thanking him for all he's given us (Philippians 4:6b). And throughout the day we should immediately bring to him in prayer anything that we become worried about at anytime (Philippians 4:6-7).
We also need to examine ourselves to make sure that we're truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12). The way to do this is to read every word of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4) and see if we accept everything that it teaches as having come from God (John 8:47, 2 Timothy 3:16). For just as a true faith will initially come from reading (or hearing) what the Bible teaches (Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 3:15), so we can know that we're remaining in the true faith if we continue to believe that everything the Bible teaches came from God (John 8:31b, 2 Timothy 4:2-4, 1 Timothy 4:1, Mark 8:35-38).
In order to have any real relationship with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), most importantly we must believe the right things about Jesus (John 14:6-7): that he's God the Word made flesh (John 1:1,14), that he's the Christ (1 John 5:1, 1 John 2:22), that he's the only begotten (only born) Son of God (John 3:16,36, 1 John 2:23), meaning that he's the only person ever born without any human father (Luke 1:34-35). And we must believe that Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21) and so he could die on the Cross for our sins and rise from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He rose and will remain forever in an immortal flesh and blood human body (Luke 24:39, 2 John 1:7), as our eternally-human high priest/mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26).
Once we come into faith in Jesus, we must obey him and God the Father and the Holy Spirit by repenting from all our sins and getting water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). Then we can get hands laid on us to receive the Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:17) and one or more of his wonderful Spiritual gifts (Acts 19:6, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Then, washed from all our sins by water baptism (Acts 22:16) and empowered by the Holy Spirit within us (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16), we must each and every day for the rest of our lives deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23, 2 Corinthians 5:15), by continuing in the faith unto the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6, 2 Timothy 2:12b), by repenting from every sin that we might commit (Hebrews 10:26-29, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46), and by doing the particular spiritual works which he has given us as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8, Titus 3:8).
But if we as believers wrongly employ our free will to refuse to do these things, then we can't expect to have any continued real relationship with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit. For a continued real relationship with them requires that we not only continue to believe in them but also continue to obey them (John 15:10, John 14:21,23). Faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and cannot ultimately save us (James 2:14-26, Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9, Revelation 22:14).
At some point in the future, Jesus will descend bodily from heaven (Acts 1:11-12, Zechariah 14:3-4, Revelation 19:11-21) and obedient believers will be resurrected or changed in the twinkling of an eye into immortal human bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53). Then Jesus will judge all believers (Psalms 50:4-5, cf. Mark 13:27) by their works (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 2:6-8, Luke 12:45-48, Matthew 25:19-30). Then obedient believers will reign on the earth with the returned Jesus for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). Sometime after that, obedient believers will live with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the city of New Jerusalem on a new earth (Revelation 21:1-8).
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sjdean said in post #3:
Deuteronomy and all the previous chapters just seem to go on and on and on about sizes and dimensions, numbers and repetitions.
Instead of trying to read Deuteronomy (or any other book in the Old Testament) all at once, you can think of the Bible as seven volumes:
1. Genesis to Deuteronomy
2. Joshua to Esther
3. Job to Song of Solomon
4. Isaiah to Malachi
5. Matthew to Acts
6. Romans to Philemon
7. Hebrews to Revelation
You can read a chapter in each volume every day. This will keep you current in every part of the Bible. There won't be any part of the Bible that you haven't read recently enough to remember what it says. When you reach the end of a volume, simply start again at the first chapter of that volume. In this way, you will be cycling through smaller volumes like #6 and #7 much more often than larger volumes like #2, but the smaller volumes are so much more dense with doctrine that it can be profitable to read them over and over more often.
In addition to this systematic reading of the Bible, if you pray to God for special guidance through a particular situation you might find yourself in, you can (if God leads you to) open the Bible (as it were) randomly, and then read whatever two or three chapters you happen to open upon. For God may want you to read those particular chapters at that time, in order to apply their basic principles to your situation at that time.
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The best way to study the Bible, as a whole, is simply to read every word of it (Matthew 4:4) over and over again. It ends up explaining itself, once every word of it has become completely engrained in one's memory, and one sees all the connections between verses regarding something in one place in the Bible and other verses regarding that same thing in other places in the Bible: It's by comparing and combining related verses from different places in the Bible that we arrive at correct doctrine (Isaiah 28:9-10, 1 Corinthians 2:13).
It's also a good practice to always end each reading session with a prayer for understanding and remembrance of the entire Bible.
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Also, it should be pointed out that Deuteronomy (and other books in the Old Testament) contains many commandments the letter of which Christians aren't to follow. For on the Cross, for both Jews and Gentiles (John 11:51-52), the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law was disannulled (Hebrews 7:18-19), abolished (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, 2 Corinthians 3:6-18), rendered obsolete (Hebrews 8:13, Galatians 3:2-25, Galatians 4:21-5:8), taken away and replaced (Hebrews 10:9b) by the better hope (Hebrews 7:19), the better covenant (Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6-12), the second covenant (Hebrews 8:7, Hebrews 10:9b), of the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:2b, John 1:17, Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 9:15), so that the law was changed (Hebrews 7:12).
All believers, both Jews and Gentles, are delivered from the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law and shouldn't keep it (Romans 7:6, 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Galatians 2:11-21) or have any desire to keep it (Galatians 4:21-5:8, Galatians 3:2-25). Believers keep the spirit of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Romans 7:6) by loving others (Galatians 5:14, Romans 13:8-10), by doing unto others as they would have others do to them (Matthew 7:12).
The New Covenant is a new law (Hebrews 7:12, Hebrews 7:18-19, Hebrews 10), consisting of the commandments given by Jesus Christ himself in the New Testament (John 14:15), such as those commandments he gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19-7:29) and in the writings of Paul the apostle (1 Corinthians 14:37, cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:2). These New Covenant commandments exceed in righteousness the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Matthew 5:20-48). So there's no reason why any believer should ever want to go back under the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Galatians 3:2-5:26).
Believers can thank God that the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law was just a temporary "schoolmaster" (Galatians 3:24-25), just a temporary "shadow" (Colossians 2:16-17), which God set up because of sins long after he'd set up the original promise of the Abrahamic Covenant and long before he brought that promise to fulfillment in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16-29, Matthew 26:28).
The letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law has been made obsolete by the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:13). For example, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required an Aaronic priesthood (Exodus 30:30), whereas the New Covenant has replaced the Aaronic priesthood with the Melchisedechian priesthood (Hebrews 7:11-28). And the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required animal sacrifices (e.g. Leviticus 23:19), whereas the New Covenant has replaced those animal sacrifices with the one-time sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10).
The letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law is the Hagar to the New Covenant's Sarah (Galatians 4:22-25), so that those people, whether Jews or Gentiles, who try to keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law are like Ishmael, while those people, whether Jews or Gentiles, who keep the New Covenant are like Isaac (Galatians 4:22-31).
The letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law itself, written and engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:7, Deuteronomy 27:8), was the ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), the ministration of condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9a), which has been done away (2 Corinthians 3:11a), which has been abolished (2 Corinthians 3:13b), yet it's still able to spiritually blind some people as with a veil from beholding Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:14-16), whereas the New Covenant is the ministration of the spirit (2 Corinthians 3:8,6) and the ministration of righteousness (2 Corinthians 3:9b), which remaineth (2 Corinthians 3:11b), and which permits believers to remove the veil and behold Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:16-18, cf. Mark 15:38, Hebrews 7:18-19, Ephesians 2:15-18, Colossians 2:14-17).
And yet a mistaken spirit of Pharisaism is still able to deceive even some believers into thinking that they still must keep the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law in order to be saved (Acts 15:1,5), or in order to become perfect (Galatians 3:2-5:26). But this is a false, cursed gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), for if any believers are keeping the letter of any part of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, thinking that they must do so in order to be saved, or in order to become perfect, then they've fallen from grace (Galatians 5:2-8).
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Jesus shows in the Sermon on the Mount how his New Covenant, Christian commandments are stricter than the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law forbade murder (Matthew 5:21, Exodus 20:13), whereas the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ forbids even calling people names (Matthew 5:22). Also, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law forbade adultery (Matthew 5:27, Exodus 20:14), whereas the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ forbids even looking at another woman with lust (Matthew 5:28). Also, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law permitted divorce and remarriage (Matthew 5:31, Deuteronomy 24:1-2), whereas the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ forbids it (Matthew 5:32, Mark 10:11-12, Luke 16:18), except for a single exemption granted only to husbands who discover that their newlywed wife isn't a virgin, but had committed fornication (Matthew 19:9).
Jesus also shows in the Sermon on the Mount that while his New Covenant, Christian law is stricter than the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, at the same time it's also more merciful than the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required taking an eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38, Deuteronomy 19:21), whereas the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ requires turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). Also, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required hatred for one's enemies (Matthew 5:43b, cf. Deuteronomy 23:6), whereas the New Covenant law of Jesus Christ requires love for one's enemies (Matthew 5:44).
Also, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, the ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), required, for example, that adulterers be put to death (Leviticus 20:10), whereas Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:4-11). And, for another example, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required that anyone who does any work on the sabbath is to be put to death (Exodus 31:14, Numbers 15:32-36), whereas Jesus allowed his disciples to work on the sabbath and said they were guiltless (Matthew 12:1-8), just as Jesus himself worked on the sabbath (John 5:17-18).
So in obeying the New Covenant commandments of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:19-7:29, John 14:15, 1 Corinthians 14:37), believers, both Jews and Gentiles, are both more merciful and loving, and they also exceed in righteousness those who try to keep the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Matthew 5:20-48, Ephesians 2:15-16, Hebrews 7:18-19, Colossians 2:14-17, 2 Corinthians 3:6-18).
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