Education

"The promise is for you and your children and for all whom are far off--
for all whom the Lord our God will call." (Acts 2:39)
"Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good.
In your teaching, show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned ..." (Titus 2:6-8)

A STATEMENT OF CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
* All people are dead in sin, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and “so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12b).
* God is the only one who can bring them back into a right relationship with himself. He does this through the atoning death of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As God’s word states, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” (Romans 5:10-11).
* In education, students must be taught the content of the gospel and be exhorted to repent from their sins for forgiveness and the reception of the Holy Spirit. As Peter declared, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” (Acts 2:38-39).
* Without God’s salvation, a person cannot fully understand God’s world, since their consciences are “seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:2) and “the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not” (2 Corinthians 4:4a), so that they “suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18, NIV). Thus, education of young people is incomplete without a saving knowledge of God.
* God has “made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11a). All truth comes from God, so that even the “heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1a). Truth is given in God’s revelation, which shows the beauty of truth and the requirement of obedience. As the Bible says, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29). This truth is to be taught and passed on to children. God-given truth also generates praise to God among God’s people since his “works are wonderful” (Psalm 139:14).
* Teaching methods must aim to foster in the children obedience and service to God, service to one another, and a pursuit of godliness. Thus, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13), and, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).
* A teacher must aim to display the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22-23) and teach by “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15a).
* A student may grow in knowledge alone, but this only exalts the ego, since “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1c, NIV), unless that person is diligently in pursuing (among other things) godliness and love (cf. 1 Peter 1:5-8).
* A teacher must foster such pursuit without evoking “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does” (1 John 2:16, NIV) through worldly methods, such as competition with other students.
* Parents are accountable to God for their children to be brought up “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4b) and to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). Teachers are gifted by the Holy Spirit to assist parents in their task (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27-29; Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 Peter 4:11-12).

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