My Christian faith is the air that I breathe. It consumes my spirit that the Bible tells me will live forever. I thirst after Jesus, the water of life, as did the Samaritan woman at the well.

Bible-believing Christians have known God through His Word since Christ resurrected from the tomb two millennia ago. At that time, the Old Testament was their scripture. The New Testament gospels and letters were read as soon as they were written and distributed. We cannot alter the Church—instituted by Christ and fed by God through the Bible. When we are weak and ill-equipped to fight evil, we are lured into sin, and our souls are in jeopardy. This is why it is important for the Church to be vigilant in Bible teaching.

Liberality always tempts and tricks the gullible to sin. It is not the freedom that people think it is. On the contrary, liberality is often collusion with the enemy of our souls. The backlash against Christianity did not begin recently in universities and colleges. It has been present for centuries. Those alive in the sixties well remember JFK’s death; every person on the planet was grieving—grieving for a man formed by base instincts and molded by handlers to fulfill their agenda. Today, social media and AI makes it easier and faster to implement evil plans.

Belief in climate change and rising temperatures heightens our concerns that impending drought and famine may doom humanity. But we could die at any time. Old Testament prophets warned of a greater concern. Our wandering away from God brings profound consequences which have eternal significance. Amos and Hosea predicted that there would be droughts and famines caused by a lack of spiritual nourishment, a time when God’s Word would be sought but not be found. When we do not heed God’s warnings, we fall prey to things that God says will kill our spirits.

When the spirit is unhealthy, one is uncomfortable in his or her own body and uneasy being by oneself. In biblical days, groups of people congregated to worship, but they also fellowshipped with God on their own. The human spirit’s natural propensity is to relate with God based on the first three commandments. No person is alone when God is first on their mind and in their heart.

The Bible uses literary devices (such as similes and metaphors) to teach about God, but we must take great care when interpreting them. Everything which God speaks of must be honored and accurately described. The holy cannot be compared to anything pagan or anti-God. Believers must be careful when intersecting the secular world with Christianity because syncretism can lead to heresy. God is clear in His Word and His truth must never be compromised. Why is it, then, that so many Christians get so much wrong about their faith?

One common error is the belief that people become angels when they die. The Bible is clear. Angels minister to us (Heb. 1:14) but one day, with Christ, we will judge the world. In his first letter to Corinth, Paul spoke of how humans will eventually judge angels (1 Cor. 6:3). Luke 20:36 can partially explain this common error. Jesus tells the Sadducees that believers will only die once and are equal to the angels (becoming immortal like them). While we are unsure if angels are made in God’s image, the Bible says that they are sons of God. The truth is that Jesus became incarnate to save humans. Jesus did not die to save angels. Conflating humans with angels is significant because, while presently people are lower than the angels, one day they will be higher than angels and, together with Jesus, they will judge them.

Bible teachers have a huge responsibility in being faithful to God’s Word (James 3:1–2). While trivial disagreements are inconsequential and make no difference to salvation, those against God and His Word impact faith. Atheists, agnostics, and liberal Christians deny the Bible’s veracity because God’s ways go against their ways. Conservative biblical values are viewed as hateful and divisive, but they are not—they are simply beliefs which faithful Christians choose to believe. Christians must respect everyone’s views, show grace, and not be overly reactive, but they must stand firmly on God’s truth. To compromise what is of God is unfaithfulness to God.

Shallow Christianity is untenable; anyone who believes the Bible and listens to the news knows that spiritual warfare is increasing. Christ’s followers cannot be deterred from the narrow path, because God is with them every second of every day. While they are alive, they are lower than the angels, but because Jesus died for them and will return with the new heaven and new earth for them, they will be higher than the angels and will judge the angels with Him.