[Darris McNeely] I love it when social scientists study religion and try to figure out whether it's good or not or the impact of religion upon human life. An article this morning in the Wall Street Journal (August 8, 2013) asks, "Does Faith Make You Healthier?". And it cites another one of these ongoing surveys about whether or not people who are religious are actually healthier. And the basic results were yes. Those people of faith, people who practice religion, people who go to church, synagogue, mosque, or whatever, believing in God and the spiritual life usually are happier. They suffer lower rates of depression, higher rates of optimism, and a lower mortality rate. Parts of these other studies also show that people who have a religious identification and church attendance, they are associated with less social isolation, lower risk of substance abuse, lower rates of suicide, greater happiness and life satisfaction.

Really none of this is new to a person who reads the Bible, who studies it, has a relationship with God and is a person of faith.

What is interesting to note is sometimes how, as this article points out, social scientists spin certain concepts and words and in a sense promote what other religionists even promote as a health and wealth version of the gospel, that if you just do right, believe God, do this, do that, follow this particular formula of one preacher or one religion, you will be healthier, wealthier, and overall just better. But again students of the Bible should understand that the true gospel, the true message of God from the Bible not only does have certain tangible benefits when one follows them, but there's never ever from the scriptures a complete guarantee that life is going to be free from depression, free from conflict, free from other problems just like everyone else has who walks the face of this earth.

In fact, even a Christian, even a Jew, even a person of faith, whatever, are going to face the struggles of life in this world today, and it is to the degree perhaps that they are connected to in faith or belief or many, many other factors as to how they will handle all of those. The Bible does not teach a health and wealth gospel, but it does teach that to obey God, to keep His laws, to taste and see the way of God is going to produce a good way of life totally not only here but certainly for the spiritual person and for all eternity.

The Apostle Paul had a statement in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 beginning in verse 16 as he addressed this. He said, "Therefore we do not loose heart even though our outward man is perishing." Our outward life is growing older. It will eventually decay. Eventually we will die. We will suffer the various matters of life that will take our physical life at some point as Paul says here. But here's the key, "Yet the inward man is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16).

The true gospel, the message of the Bible here in this 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is to focus upon the inward person, the development of the inner-life and the spiritual life so that life then can deal with all the challenges, any of the difficulties, the successes, the highs and the lows of this physical world and how we live within it. That's the ultimate key. And that's what Paul is getting across here. He says, "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

And so focus on the inward develop, the spiritual life with God, with His word, with the scriptures, with the Bible and no matter what happens in this life we'll be able to meet those challenges. That's a critical key.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.