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January‐12‐10
7:48 PM
1. The Bible: 7. The Church:
a. The Inspiration of Scripture a. What is the church?
b. The reliability of Scripture b. When did it start?
c. The canon of Scripture c. The church through the ages
d. Dating problems and discrepancies
8. Angels and Demons (without Tom Hanks):
2. God: a. What are angels?
a. The attributes of God (Who is God?) b. Angelic beings
b. The Trinity c. Demonic beings
c. Free will? d. A devil by any other name
e. Demon possession
3. Jesus Christ:
a. The incarnation (fully God and fully Man?) 9. Salvation
b. The resurrection a. Repentance
c. The ascension b. Faith
c. Regeneration
4. Christ's death: d. Election
a. Sin and the Old Testament (atonement) e. Predestination & Foreknowledge
b. Christ as our substitute in death f. Justification
c. How do we have assurance? g. Glorification
5. Man & Sin:
a. What is man?
b. Adam ‐ represented us when he sinned?
c. Why are we held responsible for what he did?
6. The Holy Spirit:
a. Who is he in the trinity?
b. Who is he to us?
c. Filled with the Spirit?
d. The Fruit of the Spirit
Laying the
Foundatio...
Read pg 139 ‐ Bringing your faith to work
○ A "DaVinci Code view of the Bible"
1. The Inspiration of Scripture
a. The Bible originated in the mind of God, not the mind of man.
In Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; and Hebrews 10:7, Jesus says that what was written about him in the Old
Testament would come to pass.
b. Two types of inspiration
i. Plenary "ALL" ‐ Means that all of scripture is inspired, not just part
ii. Verbal ‐ Means that inspiration extends to the words of scripture, not just the ideas
c. Were the authors simply "machines" with which the bible was written?
Consider This: God is the source of the Bible in that he inspired real people to write it, yet
when we read the Bible, the circumstances and character of the writers remain evident; we
are planted into the texture and detail of history rather than being catapulted into a realm
simply of ideas.
d. Read Page 16 ‐ The complete book of bible answers
2. The Reliability of Scripture
a. Eyewitness Evidence
i. "Peter, Paul, and John all claimed to be eyewitnesses, and Luke and the writer of Hebrews
claim to have been informed by eyewitnesses. No hearsay evidence was presented, and
these witnesses could (and did) tell where they were when the resurrection happened and
what they were doing"
b. Documentary Evidence
i. There are over 24,000 partial & complete copies of the New Testament
ii. There are more [New Testament] manuscripts copied with greater accuracy and
earlier dating than for any secular classic from antiquity.
iii. No other book is even a close second to the Bible on either the number or early
dating of the copies. The average secular work from antiquity survives on only a
handful of manuscripts; the New Testament boasts thousands.
The average gap between the original composition and the earliest copy is over
1,000 years for other books.
The New Testament, however, has a fragment within one generation from its original
composition, whole books within about 100 years from the time of the autograph
[original manuscript], most of the New Testament in less than 200 years, and the
entire New Testament within 250 years from the date of its completion.
The degree of accuracy of the copies is greater for the New Testament than for other
books that can be compared. Most books do not survive with enough manuscripts
that make comparison possible.
c. The harmony of the gospel, separate authors and dates, but they confirm each other
d. The Bible is trustworthy because of the thousands of accurate prophecies it contains.
The Bible is a book of prophecy. It is a book where God speaks to man and tells him
what will happen. In the Bible God proves that He truly is God by His ability to know
the future. Many details concerning the Jewish people were told by God hundreds of
No other religious book makes the same claims that the Bible makes, and no other
book is as consistently accurate as the Bible.
e. The Bible’s reliability is seen in its remarkable consistency.
For a book that was written by over 40 people, over the course of 2000years, the Bible
is internally coherent. The message, meaning, and purpose of the Bible do not change
from book to book, or from section to section. The Bible is able to achieve a level of
internal consistency unlike any other religious writing. The Old Testament jives with
the New Testament. The story remains the same.
f. The accuracy of the Bible is supported by significant historical evidence.
This is an important one. The Bible is not just a religious book, it is also a history book.
It chronicles the history of the Jewish people as they came into contact with
Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Romans, and many other cultures. So we not only
have the account of the Jewish people from the Bible, but we also have written
records and accounts from these others civilizations.
So far historical research and archaeology have served to confirm the accuracy of the
Bible. The Bible’s accuracy as a history book helps us see that the claims that it makes
about itself can be trusted. The Bible wasn’t just written by some dude in his garage in
the middle ages.
3. The Cannon of Scripture
a. "Cannon" comes from the Greek word meaning "measuring stick"
b. 5 Tests used:
i. Was the book written or backed by a prophet or apostle of God?
ii. Is the book authoritative?
iii. Does the book tell the truth about God as it is already known by previous revelation?
iv. Does the book give evidence of having the power of God?
v. Was the book accepted by the people of God?
c. Read paragraphs 2‐4 on page 90 of Case for Christ
4. Discrepancies
In the many thousands of manuscript copies we possess of the New Testament, scholars
have discovered that there are some 150,000 "variants."
This may seem like a staggering figure to the uninformed mind.
But to those who study the issue, the numbers are not so damning as it may initially
appear.
Indeed, a look at the hard evidence shows that the New Testament manuscripts are
amazingly accurate and trustworthy.
To begin, we must emphasize that out of these 150,000 variants, 99 percent hold virtually
no significance whatsoever.
Many of these variants simply involve a missing letter in a word; some involve
reversing the order of two words (such as "Christ Jesus" instead of "Jesus Christ");
some may involve the absence of one or more insignificant words.
Really, when all the facts are put on the table, only about 50 of the variants have any
real significance - and even then, no doctrine of the Christian faith or any moral
commandment is effected by them.
For more than ninety-nine percent of the cases the original text can be reconstructed
to a practical certainty.
Even in the few cases where some perplexity remains, this does not impinge on the
meaning of Scripture to the point of clouding a tenet of the faith or a mandate of life.
Thus, in the Bible as we have it (and as it is conveyed to us through faithful translations)
By practicing the science of textual criticism - comparing all the available manuscripts with
each other - we can come to an assurance regarding what the original document must
have said.
Let us suppose we have five manuscript copies of an original document that no
longer exists. Each of the manuscript copies are different. Our goal is to compare the
manuscript copies and ascertain what the original must have said. Here are the five
copies:
Manuscript #1: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole worl.
Manuscript #2: Christ Jesus is the Savior of the whole world.
Manuscript #3: Jesus Christ s the Savior of the whole world.
Manuscript #4: Jesus Christ is th Savior of the whle world.
Manuscript #5: Jesus Christ is the Savor of the whole wrld.
5. Sources:
a. http://calvarywoodland.blogspot.com
b. http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/Manuscript.html
c. Know what you believe ‐ Paul Little
d. Complete book of bible answers ‐ Ron Little
e. The case for Christ ‐ Lee Strobel
f. Bringing your faith to work with you ‐ Norman Geisler, Randy Douglas
Exploring God's Attributes
To understand it is best to examine the logic behind his existence. To do so we will examine Norman
Geisler's argument for the existence of God.
1. Some things undeniably exist
It is undeniable that some things exist. To deny one’s own existence cannot be done without
affirming it.
2. My nonexistence is possible
a. 3 logical categories of existence:
i. Impossible
ii. Possible
iii. Necessary
So, my existence is not impossible.
What exists only proves that its existence is possible. Only impossible things can not exist.
My existence is not necessary. A necessary existence is on that cannot not exist. If there is a
necessary being, then it must exist necessarily.
b. How do I know that I am not a necessary being?
i. A necessary existence would be pure actuality with no potentiality
1) If it had potentiality, it would be possible for it not to exist, but this is precisely what a
necessary existence cannot do.
2) Actuality is the state of actually existing, pure actuality is the state of existing without
being able to exist in any other way
ii. A necessary existence would be changeless
1) Whatever changes must have the ability to change, but since a necessary existence
has not possibility (potential) it cannot have the possibility to change.
iii. A necessary existence would have to be a nontemporal and nonspatial existence
1) Space and time involve change of position and moment. A necessary existence cannot
involve either of these.
iv. A necessary existence would have to be eternal
1) If it ever did not exist, then it would be a possible existence.
2) It has no possibility of non‐existence
v. There can be only one necessary existence
1) What is pure actuality must be one since there is no way for one thing to differ from
another in its being unless there is real potentiality for differentiation.
vi. A necessary existence would have to be simple and undivided.
1) There is no principle of differentiation in it, all is simply one
vii. A necessary existence would have to be infinite in whatever attributes it possesses
viii. A necessary existence would have to be an uncaused being
1) If it is caused, it can not be necessary &
2) It is impossible to be self‐caused,
3) Therefore it must be uncaused.
3. Whatever has the possibility not to exist is currently caused to exist by another
The existence of a potential existent is either;
4. There cannot be an infinite regress of current causes of existence
a. Only a necessary Being can cause the existence of a contingent being. Therefore, the very first
being causing the existence of a contingent being must be a necessary being.
5. Therefore, a first uncaused cause of my existence exists
a. If I undeniably exist and if my nonexistence is possible, then I must have a cause that actualizes my
existence.
6. This uncaused cause must be infinite, unchanging, all powerful, all‐knowing and all‐perfect
a. All‐Powerful
i. By power we mean what can effect a change in another or what can cause something else
to be or not to be in some way.
ii. This uncaused cause is infinite in its being
iii. Hence, it has non‐limited causal power to do anything that is possible to do, though it
cannot do what is impossible to do
b. All‐Knowing
i. Knowing beings exist
ii. I am a knowing being
iii. Whatever I am, I have been caused to be
1) I cause my own becoming, but not my being
iv. Hence, the actual ability to know is caused to be
v. The cause cannot give what it does not have to give
vi. his uncaused cause is infinite in its being
vii. Hence, it has non‐limited ability to know anything it is possible to know, and it must know
simply, eternally and in an unchanging way.
7. This infinitely perfect Being is appropriately called "God"
a. By "God" we mean what is worthy of worship
b. If the foregoing arguments are sound we have good reason to believe that an ultimate value
worthy of our worship or ultimate commitment does indeed exist. For what is infinately good,
and is the ground and creator of all finite goods and persons is certainly worthy of worship.
Nothing has more intrinsic value than the ultimate ground and source of all value. Hence, nothing
is more worthy of worship than the infinitely perfect uncaused cause of all that exists. It is
appropriate to call this cause "God"
8. Therefore, God exists
What in religion is known as the ultimate object of worship or commitment is by reason know to exist.
The God the heart needs, the head has good reason to believe really exists
9. This God who exists is identical to the God described in the Christian Scriptures
The God described in the Bible is said to be;
i. Eternal (Col 1:16; Heb. 1:2)
ii. Changeless (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 6:18)
iii. Infinite (I Kings 8:27; Isa 66:1)
iv. All‐Loving (John 3:16; I John 4:16)
v. All‐Powerful (Heb. 1:3; Matt. 19:26)
10. Therefore, the God described in the Bible exists
c. He ascended to Heaven
d. The ascension completes the resurrection. Without the resurrection Christ’s death would be
meaningless as far as the great issues of life are concerned. And without the ascension, the
resurrection would also be incomplete and meaningless. We would have a resurrected person, but
not one who was now at God’s right hand in the place of authority.
Please note the progression:
First there is Christ’s descent to earth‐‐God becoming man, the incarnation.
This is followed by Christ’s death and resurrection as the God‐Man Savior.
But for God’s purposes to be fulfilled and our need supplied, there must also be
Christ’s ascent into heaven as the God‐Man Savior and King of His people.
It is important to remember that the New Testament was written by men who were
thoroughly convinced that Jesus was at the right hand of the Father, and that through the
ministry of the Holy Spirit they were in union with this ascended Lord and were, by His
commission and through His ascended authority and power, left here to continue the work
which He began.
Laying the
foundatio...
What is man?
1. Man is a created being;
a. We are created in God’s image, we reflect God in personality.
i. We reason (intellect),
ii. We feel (emotion),
iii. We choose (will)
b. The Importance of Special Creation:
If man evolved as a product of chance (as evolutionists teach), then the ideas of sin and
salvation really make no sense. If there was no supernatural origin, then why would there be
a supernatural destiny (salvation in heaven)? (If random fate caused a man to be, then
random fate must determine a person’s character.) In fact, an eternal destiny for man after
death would be no more likely that dogs or dandelions living eternally if evolution were
true. Only if man was uniquely created by God and in God’s image does it make sense that
man is accountable (sin) and has a destiny (salvation or judgment). The real motive behind
the evolutionary theory, it seems, is to eliminate the need for God and His revelation about
sin and salvation.
2. Man is a dependent being;
• We are born into sin and our only hope to escape the fate that waits is through God. We are
dependent on him, but he is worthy of that dependence as he paid the price to give us the very
Salvation that we are so dependent on.
3. Man is an intelligent being;
• God created us with the ability to understand who we are, who he is and to relate to him on a
personal level, this is the product of intellect
4. Man is a moral being;
a. We are the only being on earth created with a sense of morality and the ability for moral
reasoning.
b. We are all created with an internal moral compass. The “magnetic north” that guides that
compass must be God.
c. The absolute standard for morality is God Himself, and every moral action must be judged in the
light of His nature.
d. Scripture is accepted as morally authoritative, the Word of God, being derived from God.
5. Man is a love being;
a. We were created to be loved by God ‐ Jer. 31:3
b. We were created to love God – Matt. 22:37
c. We were created to love others – Matt 22:39, 1 John 3:11
6. Man is triune being; Gen 2:7
a. Body: Where our senses dwell
b. Soul: Where self dwells
c. Spirit: Where God dwells
God's Purpose for man
1. Relationship
• God the Father wanted a family of children to share life with and know in a personal way
2. Character
• Reproduce God’s character. God wants us to look like him on the inside
3. Function
Sin
1. What is sin?
a. Sin is any violation of the perfect holiness of God
Sin is lawlessness ‐ 1 John 3:4
b. We have all sinned – Romans 3:23
2. The fall of man
a. The event;
○ The Fall of Man (the entrance of sin into humanity) was a specific historical event. Adam and Eve
were real people (Matt.19:3‐5). They committed a particular sin (Genesis 3) That sin affected all of
mankind (Rom.5:12‐21).
3. The process;
a. The test.
Adam and Eve were clearly told the privileges of their home in the Garden of Eden and the
prohibition: they were not to eat of one certain tree. There was no other temptation in the
garden. There was simply a single choice to obey or disobey God.
b. The temptation.
Satan chose to appear in an animal form – a serpent (Even today he usually does not want to be
seen or known as he really is.). His approach was to first question God’s goodness (“Has God said,
you shall not eat…” – 3:1). Then he blatantly denied God’s justice – that there were consequences
for sin (“You surely shall not die” – 3:4).
c. The sin.
When Eve had listened to the serpent and doubted God’s words, she saw and desired the fruit and
ate it. She then furthered Satan’s temptation by giving Adam the fruit. He also listened, doubted,
saw, desired and then ate. This sin was unique in that they sinned without having a sin nature.
They sinned only by choice. The rest of mankind is now sinful by nature and by choice.
4. The Results;
a. On the Serpent (3:14).
i. The serpent was condemned to crawl (3:14). All the animal kingdom in fact was affected by
the Fall (Rom.8:20).
b. On Satan (3:15).
i. Satan’s kingdom would forever be opposed (“enmity”) by Eve’s godly descendants
(believers).
ii. Christ (a descendant of Eve) would deal the death blow to Satan (“head”) on the cross,
although Satan was allowed to cause Christ to suffer (“heel”). This verse is the first
revelation of the gospel in the Bible.
c. On Eve and women. Women would;
1. always have pain in childbirth,
2. Be under the rule of the husband
d. On Adam and men.
1. The ground was cursed so that sustaining life would require difficult and painful labor.
2. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden.
e. On the human race.
1. Man would now die
2. Mankind experienced a sense of guilt (“made a covering” and a loss of fellowship with God
(“hid themselves” .
3. Sin also brought death upon the race – both physical and spiritual (Eph.2:3; Rom.5:12).
Who is the Holy Spirit?
1. The third person of the trinity, as much a part of the Godhead as the Father and the Son
2. Perhaps the least understood or unknown person of the Trinity
3. The person of the Trinity who the most personally and intimately involved in the conversion, birth and
ongoing development of the Christian
"The Holy Spirit is the third divine person of the eternal Godhead, co‐equal, co‐eternal, and co‐
existent with the Father and the son. It is His ministry to convict and convert man as well as to
reveal the Son and the Father to the believer. Since the glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Holy Spirit in all His glorious operations is working through all who believe on the Father through
the Son. This is why the present era is known as the age of the Holy Spirit"
‐Kevin Conner
The Personality of The Holy Spirit
1. Four important principles to remember
a. Thee Holy Spirit is God, but He is a Person, not a force
b. We cannot focus on the Holy Spirit too much. Why? What is the Holy Spirit’s mission? To reveal
Jesus. What is Jesus mission…to reveal the Father. What about the Father…to send Jesus and the
Holy Spirit so we can come to Him. Perfect Harmony. They never had a crisis management
meeting in Heaven. They never tried to sit down and work things out. They never had a power
struggle amongst themselves.
c. The Holy Spirit gives gifts for use in ministry and empowers effective ministry
d. The Holy Spirit is a distinct Person within the Godhead, not a force, a thing, or an "it"
2. Qualities that a person has…(a force or thing does not)
a. The Holy Spirit has intellect. 1 Corinthians 2:10
b. The Holy Spirit has knowledge. 1 Corinthians 2:11
c. The Holy Spirit has emotions. Ephesians 4:30
d. The Holy Spirit
e. The Holy Spirit Loves. Romans 15:30
3. Things only a person would do (a force or thing does not)
a. He teaches you things about God and yourself. John 14:26
b. He tells the truth. John 15:26
c. He guides. John 16:13
d. He convinces. John 16:8
e. He prays for you. Romans 8:26‐27
f. He commands. Acts 13:2
4. The Holy Spirit was on the scene long before the day of Pentecost
a. He moved upon the face of the waters and was the active agent in creation. Jesus was the Word,
the Holy Spirit moved.
i. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (elohiym el‐o‐heem') created the heaven and the earth.
ii. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
iii. Genesis 1:27 So God (elohiym again) created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them.
5. The Holy Spirit gave us the Word of God. 2 Peter 1:20‐21
6. The Holy Spirit regenerates our spirit when we accept Jesus Christ into our life. John 3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
a. In fact, the Holy Spirit has always worked hand‐in‐hand with Jesus Christ
b. His Birth ‐ Matthew 1:20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
“Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child
within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
1. Origin
a. The church began on the day of Pentecost, with the coming of the Holy Spirit in its new work of sealing and
permanently indwelling believers.
b. The church is built by Jesus Christ; it is not a purely human organization.
• (Matthew 16:17-19)
c. The Church is the body of Christ; it belongs to him and is an intimate part of him.
2. Purpose
a. The purpose of the church is clear, from the Jesus himself: Evangelism & Discipleship
• (Matthew 28:18-20)
• (Acts 1:8)
3. Church Government
a. CENTRALIZED (Episcopal) form of church government is where a central council has much authority over
the running and ordinances of the local congregation. This is typical of denominational mainline churches
where the pastor is appointed and regulated by the directions and rules of the central council. This kind is
usually one with a long history and has established branches.
b. PRESBYTERIAN form of church government is where the local church is governed by a board of elders
which has final authority over every aspect of the church, including the appointment and work of the pastor.
• The pastor may or may not be a member of this board. This kind of church may be denominational or
independent.
c. CONGREGATIONAL form is where the majority rules, the democracy style of government where the people
vote to elect their pastor and the church board to administer the affairs of the church. It is usually an
independent church.
d. PASTORAL form of government is where one is in authority, with the board or elders or deacons in the
advisory and co-laboring capacity. The pastor is directly accountable to the eldership of his church, and he
runs the ministry according to his depth and knowledge in God. It is usually an independent church. The
person may not be a pastor in his primary call, but it is considered as pastoral in that the pastoral function has
a more dominant role and the vision is more localized, called to raise a church in a particular place and time.
4. Church History
Holy Catholic Church
313 AD Constantine declares Christianity
The Medieval Church Age
“Official” (state) religion of the Roman Empire
The “Holy Roman Empire” begins with the crowning
Of Otto I in 962 – separation of the church from the 1050: THE GREAT SCHISM
Roman Empire Split due to papal declaration of supreme authority
Eastern Orthodox
Protestant Roman Catholic
5.
4 main groups developed through the Reformation
Many new "denominations" are formed as various truths are restored to the church & Christianity is spread
The "Modern" church age :
As the various groups settled in North America further divisions
resulted in many independent denominations ‐ over 900
estimated in the U.S. alone.
6. The “Flavors of Christianity:
1. THE NATURE OF ANGELS
a. They Are Created Beings.
In Ps. 148:1‐5 angels are among the things exhorted to praise the Lord on the ground that
"he commanded and they were created." That angels are created beings is also proved by
Col. 1:16, which reads: "for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and
on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones,
kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him
and for him."
b. They Are Pure Spirits.
The nature of angels is spirit unmixed with materiality. Angels do not possess bodies as a
part of their being; even though they may assume bodies for the execution of certain
purposes of God, as in Gen. 19. We affirm that angels are pure spirits because in Heb. 1:14
they are called spirits. Man is never thus unqualifiedly designated. Christ said "a spirit hath
not flesh and bones" (Luke 24:39).
c. They Constitute an Order of Creatures Higher than Man.
Of man it is said that he was "made a little lower than the angel" (Heb. 2:7). Angels are said
to be greater than man in might (2 Pet. 2:11). Their superior power is also implied in Matt.
26:53; 28:2; 2 Thess. 1:7. Yet angels are ministering servants to believers (Heb. 1:14), and
shall be judged by them (1 Cor. 6:3). This last fact would seem to indicate that man, though
now inferior in nature to angels, shall in his glorified state, as a trophy of God’s redeeming
grace, be exalted with Christ far above angels (Eph. 1:20,21; Phil 2:6‐9).
d. They are Sexless.
Matt. 22:30 declares that angels do not marry, which implies them sexless. "Sons of God" in
Gen. 6:2 are not angels, but descendants of Seth: the true worshippers of God, as
distinguished from the descendants of Cain.
e. They are Deathless.
Luke 20:36 declares that angels cannot die, which means they cannot cease to exist.
2. CLASSES OF ANGELS
a. The angels consist of the elect angels and the fallen angels. The following Scriptures allude to and
distinguish these two classes:
i. 1 Tim. 5:21 ``I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the holy
angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone.``
ii. 2 Pet. 2:4 ``For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell,in
gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.``
iii. Jude 6
iv. The elect angels are those whom God chose to preserve in holiness. The others He
permitted to fall and for them no redemption or possibility of escape has been provided.
3. ORGANIZATIONS, ORDERS, AND RANKS AMONG ANGELS
a. In Jude 9 we have Michael mentioned as an archangel. See also 1 Thess. 4:16. Archangel means
the chief of angels. Gabriel seems also to occupy a relatively high place among the angels. See
Dan. 8:16; 9:16,21; Luke 1:19.
b. The mention of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers among the invisible things in Col.
1:16 implies rank and organization among the angels. And in Eph. 1:21 and 3:10 we have the
mention of rule, authority, power, and dominion in the heavenly places.
4. CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM
a. The only winged beings mentioned in Scripture are cherubim and seraphim (singular ‐ cherub and
seraph). We do not have a great deal of information about either. Neither are ever specifically
referred to as angels.
b. Cherubim: God stationed cherubim at the east entrance of the Garden of Eden with a flaming
1. What is Christianity?
a. The essence of the Christianity is that God, in his infinite love and goodness, has provided
for us the gift of eternal salvation through the sacrificial death of his Son – Jesus Christ.
This gift is to provide a way for us to spend eternity in his presence free of the
consequences of sin which we allowed into the human race. Salvation does not come
through knowing or understanding the words or message of Jesus Christ, but rather
through accepting the gift of Salvation which he provided.
2. Repentance
a. What is it?
a) "The word used in the Old Testament for repentance means to turn or
return. It implies a personal decision to turn away from sin and to
God. In the New Testament, the terms "repent" and "repentance" that
apply to man's relationship to sin and God have the basic meaning of a
change of mind. They imply a change of mind about sin, and a turning to
God"
‐Paul Little ‐ "Know what you believe"
b) Repentance is the first aspect of Salvation – Mark 1:15 reads “The time
promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God
is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
b. The importance:
i. John the Baptist began his ministry with a call to repentance
Matt.3:1‐3 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness
and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to
God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ” The prophet Isaiah was
speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the
wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for
him!’”
ii. Jesus began his ministry with a call to repentance
Matt. 4:17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and
turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near."
iii. Jesus told his disciples that repentance brings forgiveness of sins
Luke 24:47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in
the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem:
‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
c. Peter taught it on the day of Pentecost
Acts 2:38 ‐ 39 Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and
turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the
Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”
d. Paul taught its importance for all men
Acts 17:30‐31 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in
earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of
their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with
justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this
is by raising him from the dead.”
3. Faith
a. Faith (belief) is the second aspect of Salvation. Romans 10:8‐9 reads “And that message is
the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
4. The Necessity of Salvation
a. Our Sin. Romans 2:23 states that EVERY person has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
Our sin creates a barrier between us and God.
b. The Holiness of God – John wrote, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John
1:5) and Isaiah declared that “His name is Holy” (Isaiah 57:15). God’s perfect holiness is
incompatible with our sinful nature, therefore there must be a mechanism to replace (or
cleanse) our nature.
c. Justification – “If God, the Judge, is without injustice and completely righteous in all His
decisions, then how can He announce a sinner righteous? And sinners we all are. There are
only three options open to God as sinners stand in His courtroom. He must condemn them,
compromise His own righteousness to receive them as they are, or He can change them
into righteous people. If He can exercise the third option, then He can announce them
righteous, which is justification. But any righteousness the sinner has must be actual, not
fictitious; real, not imagined; acceptable by God’s standards, and not a whit short. If this
can be accomplished, then, and only then, can He justify.”
‐Charles Caldwell Ryrie
a. Justification consists not only of man’s sin, but of man’s negative righteousness, his lack of
perfect righteousness. Isaiah declares that all of our righteous deeds are as filthy rags in
the sight of the perfect holiness of God (Isa. 64:6). Man not only needs the subtraction of
his sin, but also the addition of perfect righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. God’s
solution to this problem is found in the doctrines of “imputation” and “justification” as set
forth in the Bible.
b. Job stated the problem accurately when he asked, “How can a man be in the right before
God?” Justification answers this question posed by Job. Doctrinally, justification is the
judicial act of God, based on the work of Jesus Christ, which justly declares and treats as
righteous the one who believes in Jesus Christ and who stands by imputation in the
righteousness of Christ.
5. The Unpardonable Sin
a. There is only one sin today which can keep a person separated from God and lost, the sin
of rejection of Christ or unbelief in Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
i. Acts 4:12
ii. John 12:48
iii. John 3:36