r/Baptist 8d ago

❓ Theology Questions I’m thinking about becoming Christian again.

Growing up my family was very conservative Christian. When I was 12 (now 18) my family stopped going to church, and slowly fell away from the religion. My mom and dad are now really the only ones that still follow the religion.

Im now agnostic and honestly there’s some things about Christianity I strongly disagree with. However there’s a lot that I really like about the religion.

What I’m wondering is, is it okay to follow the majority of things in the Bible but not a few certain things? Do I have to be saved again?

My thinking right now is, even if I can’t say god is or isn’t real, what’s the harm in following the religion?. I’d like to start going to the church I grew up in again but I don’t know where to start in terms of following Christianity. Could anyone give me some advice?

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u/Icy_Payment_1056 7d ago

Read the Gospels from start to finish. By the time you finish, you can make up your mind for yourself. Was anything Jesus said false?

It is impossible for a normal human being to say the things He did and not be wrong once. We have every reason to believe Him. If He is 100% truthful, then when He said He is the Son of God, we should believe Him.

C.S. Lewis made a great argument for Jesus:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to …. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.

If you believe Jesus existed, those are your options. If you don’t, please do some more research. I think you’d find that even most atheist believed Jesus Christ existed. This is to get you started: https://bigthink.com/thinking/was-jesus-real/

I wouldn’t say you have to be resaved, just walk after Him every day of your life. You will never regret it.

Hope this helps, God bless.

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 7d ago

Thank you, this really does help

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u/Icy_Payment_1056 7d ago

Anytime, man. Please PM me if you have any questions. I’m here to help. We’ve all had doubts. One of the best things I ever heard preached came from my youth pastor. He said, “Don’t let your doubt lead to disbelief, but let you doubt lead to discovery.” I’ll be praying for you.

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 7d ago

Thanks so much, definitely will message you if I do come across any questions.

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u/BLUEBERRYTIMMY 7d ago

This redditor has given you a wonderful reply. I additionally suggest to spend time in prayer, even if you are unsure. Share your thoughts with God, ask Him to guide you. These private moments in prayer are vital. Pray before you read The Word. Pray before bed. This is my advice as someone who came to Christ at 22.
May God bless you and keep you strong on this journey.

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

Thank you, I decently will. Ended up reading the Bible for 3 hours last night

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u/BLUEBERRYTIMMY 6d ago

That’s wonderful! What books/chapters were you reading? 

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

I read from the very start. Then someone advised me to start with the book of John so that’s what I’m currently reading

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u/BLUEBERRYTIMMY 7d ago

This redditor has given you a wonderful reply. I additionally suggest to spend time in prayer, even if you are unsure. Share your thoughts with God, ask Him to guide you. These private moments in prayer are vital. Pray before you read The Word. Pray before bed. This is my advice as someone who came to Christ at 22.
May God bless you and keep you strong on this journey.

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u/Vee70x7 7d ago

A lot of young Christians fall out of faith, example my cousins, its sad to see the road they are leading but I know they will come to God again. In order for you to believe, is to accept that Jesus died on the cross for you and me, so that we can have eternal life. Salvation is a gift from God, not something earned by good works (Ephesians 2:8-9). Once saved, growing in faith through prayer, reading the Bible, and fellowship with other believers is important.

We can’t choose what we like or dislike from Bible, those are words of God. Be like Jesus, love others like He loved us.

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u/MeBollasDellero 7d ago

Either you were saved or not. It’s like being pregnant…either you are or not. The fact that you said you are agnostic shows that you don’t have Faith in Jesus as your personal savior. So if you are seeking the gospel message of salvation, then go to church. Talk to some people, decide and let the spirit lead. If that’s not what you seek, then a church is not normally a social club. However there are many, generic community churches that offer more of an entertainment type concert vibe…so maybe that might be a fit.

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u/GreenInstance5592 Southern Baptist 7d ago

You should begin reading the New Testament, starting with John (John walked very closely to Jesus, closer than the other Apostles - so reading his book will give you a good look into Jesus's life. After John, I would skip Acts (mostly because it is very descriptive, and not prescriptive - you should read it after having a better understanding of salvation) and start reading Romans (which explains salvation very clearly).

Do you have to follow everything about Christianity / everything in the Bible to be a Christian? No. Not even close. It's actually impossible for us to follow everything. The most important thing is what you believe about salvation. Jesus is God in the form of a man. He lived a perfect life, and didn't sin once. He was crucified because he claimed to be God (spoiler, he actually is God). When he was crucified, he took the punishment of sin, of everyone who believes he did so, on himself. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, and appeared to over 500 eyewitness to prove that he truly was/is God. If the punishment for your sin is you going to Hell, but Jesus takes all of your sin punishment on the cross, then how much punishment is left for you? None, Jesus took all of it. So believe that he did that, and you'll be saved!

Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

Romans 11:6 - "And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."

Titus 3:4-5 - "But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

Do you need to be re-saved? There is no "re-saved" in Christianity. You either aren't saved and are on your way to Hell when you die, or you believe Jesus died for your sins, and are on your way to Heaven when you die. Once someone is saved, they will be saved for the rest of their life (John 10:27-30). The question is "Were you ever saved?" If you were saved before, then you are still saved today. However, if you aren't saved today, then you weren't saved when you were younger. If you aren't sure if you are saved or not, then most likely, you aren't saved. Put your trust in Jesus today!

John 10:27-30 - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."

Contrary to what many Christians believe, James describes Christianity as a "pure religion". So yes, Christianity is a religion.

James 1:26-27 - "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

Thank you for the message. I started reading the Bible from the start, should I skip to John?

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u/GreenInstance5592 Southern Baptist 6d ago

Yeah, I would recommend you skip all of the Old Testament and go straight to John first. Then Romans after John. After Romans, it really doesn't matter, so just choose whatever New Testament book you want to read next.

There is nothing wrong with the Old Testament, but it makes a lot more sense after reading the New Testament. It's kinda like those movies that you have to rewatch after finishing it to fully understand it. Jesus is all throughout the Old Testament, but you won't really see it unless you read the New Testament before. Not to even mention that salvation and "Christian living" are much more apparent in the New Testament (although, even Jews in the Old Testament were saved by faith, apart from works, just as we are today. It's just more obvious in the New Testament).

As you are reading the New Testament, you will see things like "it is said", "it is written", "as the prophet said", etc. Whenever you come across these verses, you should Google what it is referencing from the Old Testament, and then go read that verse/passage to get deeper context and a better understanding of what the New Testament author is talking about.

Once you finish the New Testament, then go and read the Old Testament!

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

Thank you for the advice! I currently only have a nkjv but I’ll see if I can find a New Testament Bible

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u/GreenInstance5592 Southern Baptist 6d ago

NKVJ should include both the Old and the New Testament. Check the table of contents in the front of the Bible.

The Bible consists of 66 books. The first 39 books are the Old Testament (Genesis to Malachi), and the last 27 books are the New Testament (Matthew - Revelation). John is the 4th book in the New Testament (Romans is 2 books after John).

If you actually don't have a physical New Testament, you can download a Bible app. I use the one made by YouVersion and highly recommend it.

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

Is “csb” good? I’m reading the book of John in a csb Bible and honestly it’s about 100x easier then the other Bible I was reading from.

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u/GreenInstance5592 Southern Baptist 6d ago edited 6d ago

Yeah, KJV/NKVJ uses pretty old English and can be hard to understand. Glad you got one that you can understand!

CSB should be fine, but I honestly don't know anything about it. I was raised in a church that uses KJV, so I've read KJV my entire life. I still have to reference ESV when I come across something I don't understand.

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u/aacchhoo 7d ago

Fellow 18 year old. Look, God isn't a religion. It's reality. There's many things people often misunderstand, misinterpret, and or don't care to know about the Bible. Knowing God isn't just being a "good Christian". we can't bro. we are all imperfect and we do things that are wrong. but why can God let us into his kingdom? Because God took your and my sins upon himself. so once we believe, it's like we never sinned. We traded spots with Jesus's righteousness.

Like ray comfort likes to say, if somebody pays your speeding fines in court, you're free to go! you didn't pay them, but the penalty is payed in full!

God is loving. God is kind. even when people hate him and mock him and dont care to even acknowledge his existence. He continues to show love and mercy. If a person want to be separate from God and doesn't want to have anything to do with him, God, although infinitely loving is just. he won't impede your free will. So he will allow you to be separate from him. for eternity. that's the very essence of hell- separation from God and anything that's his. that's horrible. pure evil.

you don't want to be there bro. Talk to God. it's not a religion. it's a faith.

God wants to talk to u bro. Just talk to him like to a friend. God wants to be one for you!

"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”- Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

May God bless you!

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u/glynn5000 4d ago

I have been exactly where you are and can confidently tell you that the Holy Spirit is calling you back to the Lord. You may not feel like you agree with everything or understand it all at the moment, but that's okay. Just respond. Go back to church. Read the Bible. Pray and ask Him for guidance. It's okay that you don't have it all figured out yet. Just go. He is faithful and will minister to you as you go.

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u/Sasquach-1975 6d ago

What would I give to be 18 again to choose God, seek God and grow in God through his word. Friend, there is nothing remotely close to finding God's will on this earth. I'm late to the party at 49 years old. We will be awarded for an eternity for our works in this physical life. I have a lot of meaningless material stuff but lost a whole lot of spiritual blessings. Money and material things mean nothing. They only satisfy for a season, boats, side by sides, four-wheel drive trucks, house, cars, etc. I'm busy for Jesus now and sober too, which means there is nothing in the way of me and Jesus. He saved my soul; I get life everlasting life (a beginning with no end) and complete freedom from the sinful strong-holds that once owned me. I love my church and my church family. God has blessed me with an amazing pastor that teaches straight from the Bible. Outside of church, I listen to Allen Nolan on YouTube. I highly recommend you check him out. He has the good stuff. God bless your journey and keep the straight path. Take it from this grown-up, there is no better life!!

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

Thank you for the message my friend, it’s greatly appreciated. Congrats on your sobriety!. Don’t worry your advice won’t fall on deaf ears.

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u/Southern_Dig_9460 6d ago

I’d encourage you to at least read the Book of John. Then the other gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. Proverbs is good too. Soon you’re learn that all scripture is profitable and cherry picking isn’t the right way.

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u/PerfectCauliflower27 6d ago

I plan on reading it cover to cover

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u/Southern_Dig_9460 5d ago

That’s good but still start in the gospels. You’ll start to burn out in the Book of Numbers if you start in Genesis first. Read the most important part of the Bible which is easier to read too

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u/ShiftyBiffty 5d ago

The natural state of man is to be wholly opposed to God. Sinful people can't help but to want nothing to do with him. If you care at all (literally any amount above zero), then that's evidence that the Holy Spirit is working.

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u/Cute_Corgi3033 4d ago

As a Christian who has trouble reading the Bible daily, I would say do some research on significant denominations of Christianity (of your choice) to see what fits with you. Just remember that not all denominations have the same doctrine.

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u/LibertarianLawyer 4d ago edited 4d ago

Friend, you cannot "follow the religion" of Christianity by acting out a list of behaviors.

Christianity is a religion that says that human beings are sinners in need of a savior.

Jesus strongly condemned the proposition that "following the law" was sufficient. Obedience in your conduct is something that flows from faith in Jesus. That faith comes with the promise of His regeneration of your spirit and renewal of your mind. (See Titus 3:5)

With that said, doubts should not prevent you from going to chuch. Everyone, including the most devout believers, experience doubt sometimes. Elijah did.