"For you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

I Peter 1:9, NIV 

 

Peter reminds his readers in this one sentence what they are aiming for: Salvation. 

 

As we go through this noble quest to study through the New Testament in 90 days, it is good for us to remember why we are studying. It's not for bragging rights. Nor is it for a sense of accomplishment. Nor is it so you can "win" religious arguments. No, the reason that we study is to build our faith. And the goal of that faith is to be saved.

 

I say this to remind you why you selected the categories that you did when you set out on your study. You were interested in finding out, for yourself, what God had to say about the topics that were most important to you. By now your notebooks are probably filling up nicely, and it might prove beneficial to review them from time to time to jog your memory on the important passages that you have been recording.

 

For instance, if one of your topics is salvation you might want to start slimming the verses down in some way that makes the most sense to you. Carolyn (my sweet wife) likes to put the verses into "bullet points" so she can see at a glance the highlights of each passage. The idea here is not to re-word God's Word; rather, it is to put it in a concise form that will give the main idea so that you can really go back and study it later.

 

So for salvation, you might have vital scriptures on grace, faith, Christ's sacrifice, repentance, baptism, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, confession of your belief in Jesus, walking in the light, etc... By bullet pointing these verses you will have a quick index of subjects that you may want to go back and study. After all, when we are talking about a subject as important as eternal life (or death) we want to make sure!

 

That's why we study! Because the goal of our faith is the salvation of our souls!

 

And we don't want to miss out on anything that God has revealed that can help us achieve that vital goal!

 

"Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care..."

I Peter 1:10, NIV 

 

Today is day 34 of the Bible study, with the 9th through 11th chapters of Acts being the Scriptures for the day. May God bless you richly as you continue towards the goal of your faith!