WIKIPEDIA,
THE INTERNET AND THE BIBLE
Nowadays, there are many
different sources from which information can be sought. There are magazines,
television, radio, school books and literature, from which one can get
information. They give us an understanding even of the near planets and distant
cultures about which we could not learn any otherwise. Anyone who has the will
can find what he is seeking.
One source of information is also Wikipedia and the Internet.
Both of them are quite new. The Internet with its millions of home sites and
numerous chats has been in general use only for approximately twenty years, and
Wikipedia even less, for about eight years. Thus, they are trends of the
present generation.
The Wikipedia, which is also included in the Internet, is one of
the most many-faceted sources of information. It is “an encyclopaedia of free
content”, and it is a continuously growing reference book in which there is
information about numerous issues: dieting, plants, history or any issue
someone has deemed important and about which he has written. The whole contents
of the Wikipedia are indeed determined by what private persons have written or
improved the writings of others because this is also possible. Thus, it is a
versatile source of information from where a lot of information can be found.
Another source of information is also the Bible; the book that
many do not want to read because they regard it as old-fashioned.
However, the fact is that the message of the Bible and
especially of the New Testament is more important and topical than the message
of the Wikipedia or the Internet. It is important because it tells not only about
this life but also about the coming one. It tells especially about Jesus whom
is said to be the way to the new life, paradise and to the heaven of God. These
are more important than any temporal and earthly issues. For example, in the
Gospel of John it is written:
- (John 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and shall go in and
out, and find pasture.
- (John14:1-6) Let not your heart be troubled: you believe
in God, believe also in me.
2 In my
Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I
go to prepare a place for you.
3 And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that
where I am, there you may be also.
4 And where I go
you know, and the way you know.
5 Thomas said to
him, Lord, we know not where you go; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no
man comes to the Father, but by me.
So that the matter would not remain only on the theoretical level, you too
can turn to Jesus and get to heaven. The following issues are important in this:
1. Turn to Jesus Christ and
give your life to Him
The first phase in being
saved is naturally turning to Jesus Christ. You can tell Him that you are a sinner
who needs salvation and that you want the plan of God to come true in your
life. At first, there is no need to try to become better, just go to Him as you
are with all of your faults. According to the Bible, there is eternal life only
in Jesus and therefore we must turn to Him so that we can get it:
- (John 5:40) And you will not come to me, that you might have life.
- (John 6:68,69) Then Simon Peter
answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal
life.
69 And we believe and are sure that you are that Christ, the Son of
the living God.
- (John 10:9) I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved...
2. Receiving
The second issue is simply
receiving. As eternal life can be received as a gift through the Son of God,
Jesus, you must receive Him into your life (in other words you can simply
say, " Lord Jesus, come into my life!). According to the Bible, He
already stands behind the door of our heart and waits for a chance to step into
our lives:
- (Rev 3:20) Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
If you have done this, you
have then, according to the Scriptures, taken on God and eternal life. You have
this in spite of how you feel at this moment. Do not base your assurance of
salvation on your feelings that can change, but on the word of God and on Jesus
Christ, just like the anchor of a ship is never thrown inside the ship but
always outside.
- (John 1:12) But as
many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
even to them that believe on his name
- (1 John 5:11-13) And this is the
record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son.
12 He that has
the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life.
13 These things have I written to you that believe on the name of the
Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may
believe on the name of the Son of God.
THE PRAYER OF SALVATION:
Lord,
Jesus, I turn to You. I confess that I have sinned against You and have not
lived according to Your will. However, I want to turn away from my sins and
follow You with all my heart. I also believe that my sins have been forgiven
through Your atonement and I have received eternal life through You. I thank
You for the salvation that You have given me. Amen.
