Statement of Faith

I. The Scriptures

1. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were written by men in such a way that God is truly and actually the author. God caused words to be spoken by the mouth of, and written in the writings of certain men so that those words are inspired of God. Scripture is God’s Word!

2 Peter 1:21 …men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:21 God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago…

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God…

Hebrews 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets…

2. Jesus Christ testifies to the authenticity of the Old Testament Scriptures.

Luke 24:44-45 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…

Matthew 5:17-18 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

3. Jesus Christ testifies to the authenticity of the New Testament Scriptures by promising the Apostles they would be given supernatural enablement to write the New Testament Scriptures. They would be led to remember accurately the words and deeds of Jesus and to interpret them rightly and to record them for future generations so that they might be believed.

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

John 17:18-20 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word…”

4. God is faithful to preserve His Word

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

1 Peter 1:24-25 “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Psalm 119:89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

5. The Scriptures are complete and perfect just as the Lord has given them to us. They are not to be changed, altered, added to, or taken away from.

Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect…

Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it…

Proverbs 30:6 Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Revelation 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

6. The Word of God is true and without any error.

John 17:17 …your word is truth.

Psalm 119:160 The sum of your word is truth…

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true…

John 10:35 Scripture cannot be broken…

7. The Scriptures are the supreme standard and authority by which all human opinion, teaching, doctrine and statements of faith are to be tested.

1 John 5:9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater…

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world…

1 Thessalonians 5:21 … test everything; hold fast what is good.

NKJ Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

Acts 17:10-11 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

8. The Scriptures are able to make one wise for salvation.

2 Timothy 3:15 …from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

9. The Scriptures are also able to teach us how to live in a manner that is pleasing to the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Isaiah 66:2 …this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.

10. God has chosen the Scriptures as the only revealed channel through which His saving power flows.

1 Peter 1:23 …you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…

James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth…

James 1:21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Romans 10:17 …faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

11. It is Jesus Christ who must be received and believed upon in order to gain salvation. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the channel of God’s saving power because they reveal this Christ.

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…

Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

John 5:46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

12. From beginning to end, the Scriptures bear witness to Christ.

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen…

Psalm 45:6-8 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions; 8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 53:3-4 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

Micah 5:2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

Matthew 1:1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

Colossians 1:15-18 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Revelation 22:20-21 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

13. All things in Scripture are not equally plain and easy to be understood by all, yet those things which are necessary to be known and believed for salvation are clearly set forth in the Scriptures so that the most simple of men might understand and believe them.

2 Peter 3:15-16 …our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

2 Timothy 3:15 …and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

14. Obeying the Scriptures is one of the chief marks of a true Christian.

John 8:31 Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples…”

James 1:22 …be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Matthew 7:24-27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

1 John 2:4-5 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:

15. Even more, loving and delighting in the Scriptures marks the genuine Christian.

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 119:72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Psalm 119:103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

NKJ 1 Peter 2:2 …as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby…

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

16. The Word of Christ will judge all mankind in the last day.

John 12:48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

 

II. The One True God

1. There is one, and only one, true and living God.

1 Corinthians 8:4 …there is no God but one…

Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one…

Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.

Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ‘ “

Isaiah 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God…

2. This one true and living God is worthy to be feared and admired by all.

Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

Psalm 96:2-9 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

3. This God is inexpressibly glorious in holiness.

Exodus 15:11 Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Isaiah 6:3 Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!

Revelation 4:8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.

4. This God alone is creator and sustainer of all things.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah 40:28 The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Psalm 102:25 Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, 27 but you are the same, and your years have no end.

Isaiah 44:24 I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…

Jeremiah 32:17 Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Nehemiah 9:6 “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

5. This one true and living God is absolutely sovereign in the affairs of Heaven and Earth being independent and supreme in all things according to the counsel of His own will.

2 Chronicles 20:6 O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.

Daniel 4:35 He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

Psalm 33:11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.

Isaiah 14:24 The LORD of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…”

Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Acts 4:24 …Sovereign Lord…

6. This includes absolute sovereignty over the salvation of men.

John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Ephesians 1:4-5 …he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will

Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…

Romans 9:11 …though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad–in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls…

Romans 9:15-16 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

7. God alone knows all things before they occur because they all occur exactly as He has purposed.

Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.

Isaiah 46:9-10 I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose…

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

8. And for all this, God is neither the author of sin nor can guilt or blame be attributed to Him for the evil intentions and actions of any of His creatures.

James 1:13-14 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Acts 2:22-23 Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know – 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

9. Men often put themselves in the place of finding fault with God for His designs, but it is in no way wise or advantageous for men to argue with God or find fault with Him.

Job 9:4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength – who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?

Job 40:2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?”

Proverbs 21:30 No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.

Isaiah 45:9 Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?

Romans 9:18-21 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?

III. The Trinity

1. While God testifies that He alone is God and there is no other…

Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”

2. God also identifies Himself with the plural pronoun “US”…showing that more than one person defines who God is.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 11:6-7 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

3. In fact, God reveals Himself as three distinct Persons…the Father…the Son who is Jesus Christ…and the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:16-17 …when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

John 14:16-26 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you… 21 …he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 23 … “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him… 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Ephesians 2:18 For through [Christ Jesus] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

4. While each of these three Persons is distinct, each is set forth in Scripture as being fully and equally God.

Philippians 4:20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Romans 9:5 Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Acts 5:3-4 Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …You have not lied to men but to God.”

5. Though they share the same nature and essence of God, God the Father is not the same person as either God the Son or God the Holy Spirit. Scripture clearly differentiates between the one Spirit…and the one Lord Jesus Christ…and the one Father…thus, three persons are one God.

Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body and one Spirit–just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call– 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

6. This is also evident by observing the manner in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit interact with each other. God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit relate to one another in a manner only possible if they each possess a personal identity distinct from the other two. The Father sends the Son.

1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

7. The Son sends the Spirit.

John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

8. The Spirit proceeds from the Father.

John 15:26 …the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father…

9. The Spirit descends upon the Son.

Matthew 3:16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him

10. The Father speaks to His Son.

Luke 3:22 …a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

11. The Son speaks to the Father.

John 11:41 And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.”

12. The Spirit speaks about the Son.

John 15:26 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

13. The Father loves the Son.

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son…

14. The Son loves the Father.

John 14:31 …I love the Father.

15. The Spirit pours out the love of the Father.

Romans 5:5 …God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

16. The Father gets glory from the Son.

John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

17. The Son gets glory from the Father.

John 8:54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’”

18. The Son gets glory from the Spirit.

John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

19. The Father forsakes His Son.

Matthew 27:46 …about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

20. The Son returns to His Father.

Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

21. The Father highly exalts the Son.

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

22. Not only are God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit actively interacting with each other, they are each actively involved in the salvation of sinners. Man’s salvation depends on all three Persons.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound

Ephesians 2:18 For through [Christ Jesus] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

Ephesians 3:14-17 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…

Hebrews 9:13-14 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

1Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

23. The Christian’s spiritual life originates from and is upheld by the God who is three Persons.

John 5:21 …the Father raises the dead and gives them life…

John 5:21 …the Son gives life to whom he will.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.

24. All three of these glorious Persons will be the objects of eternal fellowship and worship for the children of God.

John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Revelation 7:15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Revelation 21:3-4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:22-25 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day–and there will be no night there.

Revelation 22:3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

IV. God the Father

1. God the Father is revealed in Scripture as One who is spirit and as One who is seeking for true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24 …the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

2. The Father is unseen by man.

John 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen…

John 6:46 …not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.

3. The Father reveals Himself to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

John 14:8-9 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

4. The Father so loved sinners in this world that He sent His Son into the world to bring eternal life to those who believe.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

5. God the Father is first, the Father of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ…but by adoption, the Father has bestowed the wonderful privilege to saved sinners of also regarding God as Father.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ

2John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

John 20:17 …go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God…”

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God…

6. The Father has predestined and chosen those who will be saved.

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…

1 Thessalonians 1:4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you…

7. No one can come to Christ, except the Father grants it.

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

John 6:45 Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me…

8. No one who denies the Son has the Father.

John 5:23 Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

1 John 2:23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.

John 15:23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also.

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.”

9. At the end of this age, the Father will receive the Kingdom of Christ from His reigning Son…then Christ and all things will be in subjection to the Father that God may be all in all.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

Ephesians 4:6 …one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

V. God the Son: Jesus Christ

1. Jesus Christ is fully God.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 20:28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.”

2. Jesus Christ is equal to God the Father.

John 5:18 …he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

John 10:30-33 “I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

NKJ Philippians 2:6 …who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God…

3. Jesus Christ reveals God the Father

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

2 Corinthians 4:4 …Christ, who is the image of God.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…

4. Jesus Christ is the Creator.

1 Corinthians 8:6 …one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

John 1:3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him.

Hebrews 1:1-2 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

5. Jesus Christ is fully Man.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Galatians 4:4 …when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…

Romans 8:3 God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…

Hebrews 2:17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect…

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Romans 5:15 …that one man Jesus Christ…

1 Timothy 2:5 …there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

6. He was born of a virgin.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” , which means, God with us…

7. Jesus Christ is Lord of all.

Acts 2:36 God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified…

Acts 10:36 Jesus Christ…he is Lord of all…

Romans 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Revelation 17:14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings…

8. Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

John 1:38-41 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

John 4:25-26 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

9. Jesus Christ is the only way by which men may savingly come to God the Father.

Hebrews 7:25 …he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

10. Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and men. A mediator is one who intervenes between God and men in order to restore peace and friendship. The New Covenant that guarantees peace and friendship between God and man was ratified by our Mediator Jesus Christ through the shedding of His blood.

1 Timothy 2:5 …there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…

Hebrews 8:6 Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

Hebrews 9:15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 12:24 Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant…

Jeremiah 31:33-34 “…this is the covenant that I will make…declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

11. Jesus Christ alone bore the penalty for His people’s sin.

Hebrews 9:26 …he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Isaiah 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

12. After dying for the sins of His people…Christ was buried the same day…rose from the dead the third day…and ascended forty days thereafter to the right hand of His Father where He now intercedes for His people.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…

Mark 9:31 …for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

Acts 1:3 To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

Mark 16:19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Romans 8:34 Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

13. Jesus Christ has earned the exalted honor of being seated with His Father as the Great King over all kings…and as the victorious High Priest of God.

Hebrews 1:3 After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…

Hebrews 8:1 …we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…

Hebrews 4:14 …we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God…

Hebrews 7:26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Revelation 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Psalm 72:11 May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!

14. Soon, He will come again…

Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Acts 1:9-11 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

15. And when He does, Jesus Christ will judge the world in righteousness.

John 5:22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son…

Acts 10:42 …he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead…

Acts 17:31 …because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

VI. God the Holy Spirit

1. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and was sent into this world by Christ to bear witness of Christ.

John 15:26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.

John 16:7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

John 16:14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

2. The Spirit of God is characterized as One who may be lied to, who is able to speak, able to teach, and who is able to be grieved…indicating the Spirit is a person, not just an impersonal force or power.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?”

Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 28:25 The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet…

Hebrews 3:7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice…”

Hebrews 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us…

Luke 12:12 …for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say…

Isaiah 63:10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Hebrews 10:29 …has outraged the Spirit of grace?

3. Furthermore, the Spirit possesses both mind and will, again indicating the Spirit is a distinct person, not a lifeless force.

Romans 8:27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

1Corinthians 12:8-11 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

4. Jesus spoke of the Spirit as a person who could be blasphemed against.

Matthew 12:31-32 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Mark 3:28-30 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”– 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Luke 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

5. The Holy Spirit came into this world to convict men of their sin, their need of righteousness, and of coming judgment.

John 16:8-11 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged…

6. It is the Spirit who causes men to be born again.

John 3:8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

7. He indwells all true believers. Anyone who does not have the Spirit does not belong to Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 6:19 …do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

2Timothy 1:14 …the Holy Spirit who dwells within us…

Romans 8:9 Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

8. The Holy Spirit is the Guarantee of our salvation.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 5:5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

1 John 3:24 And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

1 John 4:13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

9. He is the Spirit of Adoption who bears witness to God’s people of the love God has for them.

Romans 8:15-16 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…

Romans 5:5 …God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

10. And He will dwell with God’s people forever.

John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…

11. The Holy Spirit is the source of the church’s power.

Luke 24:49 …behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Acts 1:4-5 …wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

Acts 1:8 …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

1Corinthians 2:3-4 I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…

1Thessalonians 1:4-5 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

12. He distributes spiritual gifts to the Church.

1 Corinthians 12:7-11 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

13. He leads the people of God into truth.

John 14:26 …the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things…

John 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth…

1Corinthians 2:11-13 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

14. It is the Spirit of God who transforms and sanctifies believers increasingly into the image of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 …we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2Thessalonians 2:13 …sanctification by the Spirit…

1Peter 1:2 …the sanctification of the Spirit…

15. He leads the people of God into the fight against sin.

Romans 8:13 …if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

16. We are to seek greater manifestations of the Spirit’s presence and His filling.

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit…

Luke 11:13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

17. When filled with the Spirit, the early church often experienced great boldness and power in declaring the Gospel and extolling the mighty works of God.

Acts 2:4, 11 …they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak…the mighty works of God.

Acts 2:17,18, 21 …I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy… I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy…And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Acts 4:31 …they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 6:10 …they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Acts 10:45-46 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God.

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

1Corinthians 2:4 …my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power…

1Thessalonians 1:5 …our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

18. It is imperative that we do not quench the Spirit’s fiery influences by sinful attitudes and actions.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

VII. The Depravity of Man

1. Man was definitely created in a good and upright and holy condition.

Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Ecclesiastes 7:29 God made man upright…

2. But man willfully sinned against God by breaking the command of God

Genesis 2:15-17 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

3. In this one act of rebellion, Adam represented the entire human race in such a way that the guilt of his sin was imputed to all of mankind so that condemnation and death came upon us all.

Romans 5:15 …many died through one man’s trespass…

Romans 5:18 …one trespass led to condemnation for all men…

Romans 5:19 …by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…

1Corinthians 15:21 …by a man came death…

1Corinthians 15:22 …in Adam all die…

4. We now so thoroughly bear Adam’s guilt and Adam’s nature that all men are conceived in sin and come forth from the womb as sinners.

Isaiah 48:8 …from before birth you were called a rebel.

Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

Genesis 8:21 …the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.

5. By nature, all men are dead in sin.

Ephesians 2:1-2 …you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked…

Colossians 2:13 …you…were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh…

6. By nature, all men are under the power of sin.

Romans 3:9-10 …we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one…”

7. By nature, all men are children of wrath.

Ephesians 2:3 …we…were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

8. By nature, all men have a heart that is deceitful and desperately sick.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

9. By nature, the truth of God is folly to man.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

10. And in this state, God declares that we all are absolutely incapable of any good whatsoever…whether in thought, in deed, or in our best attempts to do that which we think is righteous.

Genesis 6:5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Proverbs 15:26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD…

Romans 3:12 …no one does good, not even one.

Romans 8:7 …the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Titus 1:16 They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

Jeremiah 4:22 They are ‘wise’ in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.

NKJ Proverbs 21:4 …the plowing of the wicked (is) sin.

Proverbs 28:9 Even his prayer is an abomination.

NKJ Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…

11. Yet as evil as it is, men love their condition, and love their sin, and willfully pursue every form of unrighteousness.

NKJ Job 15:16 …man…is abominable and filthy, Who drinks iniquity like water!

John 3:19 …the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

Isaiah 30:9 …they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD…

Ephesians 4:19 …greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

12. While we love our sin in our fallen state, we also reject God, refuse to seek Him, and will not come to Him.

Romans 3:11 …no one understands; no one seeks for God.

John 1:11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

John 5:40 …you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Romans 1:18 …men…by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Romans 1:25 …they exchanged the truth about God for a lie…

13. Unless saved from this evil condition, men and women will suffer eternally for their sins.

Romans 2:5-6, 8-9 …because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works… 8 for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek…

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

14. But once saved by faith in Jesus Christ…God’s people are no longer totally depraved, but possess the mind of Christ, the character of God, and a new heart characterized by purity…God’s people possess a new nature no longer incapable of good, but zealous for good works.

1 Corinthians 2:16 …we have the mind of Christ.

Ephesians 4:24 …the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

2Peter 1:4 …partakers of the divine nature…

Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Romans 15:14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness…

Ephesians 2:10 …we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…

Titus 2:13-14 …our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15. In fact, righteousness and obedience are the proof and evidence of truly being saved.

Matthew 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…

1 John 2:3 …by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

1 John 3:9-10 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

VIII. Election

1. Election is most certainly taught in the Scriptures.

NKJ 1 Thessalonians 1:4 …knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God.

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?

Mark 13:27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.

2. Election is God’s eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life, not based on anything God foresaw in the sinner, but based entirely on His mercy to choose them.

Mark 13:20 …the elect, whom he chose…

Acts 13:48 …as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Ephesians 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world…

James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth…

James 2:5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom…

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Romans 9:10-16 …when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad–in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls– 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

3. Though God sovereignly elects some to salvation, while passing over others, nevertheless, all men are responsible to repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark 1:14-15 Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent…

1 John 3:23 …this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ…

4. And all those who do repent and believe, will most certainly be saved.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out…

Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…

5. While, on the other hand, those who refuse to repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ incur guilt in so doing and are personally responsible for their own willful rejection of the Gospel.

Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!

John 5:40 …you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Acts7:51 You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Acts 13:46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

Hebrews 2:3 …how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

Hebrews 10:28-29 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God…

Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Ezekiel 18:30-32 Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.

Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?

IX. The Way of Salvation

1. Salvation comes from God alone. He invented it. He designed it. He initiates it. He causes it. He empowers it. And He completes it. The saving of sinners belongs to God alone!

Psalm 3:8 Salvation belongs to the LORD…

Psalm 27:9 O God of my salvation!

Psalm 62:1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation.

Isaiah 43:11 “I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior.”

Isaiah 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

Revelation 7:10 “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 19:1 “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God…”

2. Man has nothing to boast about.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

3. God’s salvation is wonderfully complete, full, and perfect! God never partially saves anyone. When God saves a sinner, they are well saved. He saves that sinner to the uttermost!

Hebrews 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

4. The sinner is rescued from everything that is truly harmful, dangerous and deadly. God saves the sinner from his lostness,

Luke 19:9-10 “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

5. …and from his far-off-ness,

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

6. …and from the futile ways of his forefathers,

1 Peter 1:18 …you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers…

7. …and from the domain of darkness,

Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…

8. …and from the present evil age,

Galatians 1:4 …who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…

9. …and from the corruption that is in the world,

2 Peter 1:4 …having escaped from the corruption that is in the world…

10. …and from every one of his enemies,

Luke 1:68-71 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies…”

11. …including deliverance from the devil and slavery to him.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

12. But this is not all, there is much more to God’s salvation! When God saves a sinner, He thoroughly saves that sinner from his sins.

Matthew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

13. This includes a full pardon for all sins,

Luke 1:77 …to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins…

14. …and redemption from the curse of the Law,

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…

15. …and salvation from the wrath of God. God saves us from Himself! Hallelujah!

Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

16. But there’s more still! In this life, God breaks the power of sin in the life of the one He saves,

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

17. …and delivers him from slavery to sin,

Romans 6:17-18 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

18. …and washes him from all his uncleanness and from his idols,

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

19. …transforming him from one degree of glory to another into the image of Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

20. But it gets even better than this! God’s salvation ultimately sweeps the saints into the presence of Christ to behold His beauty and glory,

John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me…

21. …at which sight the beholder is made like what he sees…into the very likeness of Christ Himself,

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

22. …entirely free from sin,

Eph 5:27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

23. …fully glorified…

Romans 8:30 … those whom he justified he also glorified.

24. …having received a body in the likeness of Christ’s glorious body…

Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

25. …a body imperishable, raised in glory, raised in power…a spiritual body,

1Corinthians 15:42-44 What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

26. …and this saved one will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of his Father…

Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

27. …forevermore delivered from death,

Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever…

28. …and from all pain and sorrow,

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore…

29. …reigning through all eternity with Christ. What a glorious salvation! Praise the Lord!

2 Timothy 2:12 … if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us…

Revelation 22:5 …and they will reign forever and ever.

Hebrews 2:3 …such a great salvation…

30. And all of this magnificent salvation is found only in Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:25, 27-30 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon…27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation…

John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 4:11-12 Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

1Thessalonians 5:9 …salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…

2Timothy 2:10 …the salvation that is in Christ Jesus…

Hebrews 2:9-10 …Jesus… 10 … the founder of their salvation…

Hebrews 5:9 …he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…

31. And by faith in Him.

Acts 10:43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…

2 Timothy 3:15 …salvation through faith in Christ Jesus…

32. But sinners will only believe on Christ if Christ has been made known to them. How can anyone believe in someone they have never heard of? And how can they believe in a salvation they have never heard of? The truth is…they cannot.

Romans 10:13-14 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

33. God specifically tells us that the message of salvation proclaimed to sinners is what He uses to save sinners.

Acts 11:14 …he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.

Acts 13:26 Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

Acts 16:17 “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…

Ephesians 1:13 …the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation…

34. Christ’s death, burial and resurrection are central to this message of salvation.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…

35. It is only those who believe this message of salvation who experience the salvation promised in the message…the outcome of faith in Christ is the salvation of your soul.

1Peter 1:9 …the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

X. Regeneration

1. Man, by nature, is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.

Ephesians 2:1-2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience…

Colossians 2:13 …you…were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh…

2. In order to be saved, man must pass from this state of spiritual death to a state of spiritual life. Only God can do this…and He does this by making spiritually dead sinners alive together with Christ.

Ephesians 2:4-5 God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…

3. This life-giving act of God is also described as being born again, or being born of the Spirit.

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:7-8 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

4. This miraculous new birth is regeneration. Regeneration happens according to God’s perfect will and is in no way a result of any work performed by the individual.

Titus 3:5 …he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration…

5. The regenerating new birth always results in a radical transformation to the individual.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

6. A new heart is promised to those born of God.

Ezekiel 36:26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

7. And saving faith springs forth.

1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God…

8. As does hope.

1Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

9. The desire for righteousness is also present with those who have been born of God so that sin is no longer the practice of one’s life.

1 John 3:9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

1 John 5:18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

10. This new birth results in a disposition to love.

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

11. The new birth also guarantees that the saint will overcome this world and be victorious in the end.

1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.

12. This does not happen by the will of man.

John 1:12-13 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

13. Nor does it happen apart from the Word of God.

1 Peter 1:23 …you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;

XI. Repentance and Faith

1. Repentance and faith are both commanded by the Lord.

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent…

1 John 3:23 …this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ…

2. Both are elementary aspects of Christianity.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…

3. True repentance and true faith are always found together. You can’t have one without the other.

Mark 1:14-15 Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Acts 20:21 …testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4. Jesus warns us that the absence of either of these is deadly and results in the eternal punishment of the sinner.

Luke 13:3 …unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Mark 16:16 …whoever does not believe will be condemned.

5. But it must be added that sinners are saved from their sins by Jesus Christ alone…only by the free grace and mercy of God in providing us with a Savior…not by any work done by the sinner.

2 Timothy 1:9 [God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…

Titus 3:5 …he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…

6. Although repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus are always required of the sinner for salvation…neither of these in any way merit or earn favor with God. Rather, both are gifts that God gives to us…not works that we offer to Him.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Philippians 1:29 …it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but suffer for his sake…

Acts 11:18 Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life…

2 Timothy 2:25 …correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

7. Repentance is repeatedly set forth in the Scriptures as a change of mind that leads one to turn away from sin and turn towards God.

Ezekiel 14:6 Thus says the Lord GOD: Repent and turn away from your idols…

Ezekiel 18:30 Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore, and turn again…

Acts 26:20 …repent and turn to God…

Acts 20:21 …testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God…

8. Not all repentance is repentance that leads to salvation.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Psalm 78:34-37 When he killed them, they sought him; they repented and sought God earnestly. 35 They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God their redeemer. 36 But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. 37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

Jeremiah 34:15-16 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is called by my name, 16 but then you turned around and profaned my name…

9. Saving faith is confidence in the person and work of Jesus Christ that moves one to wholly rely upon and trust in Christ for salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 …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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

John 20:31 …these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

10. All faith is not saving faith.

John 2:23-25 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

James 2:19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!

11. Although no one can be saved by works…true repentance and true faith always accompany a change of life producing good works that bear witness to the authenticity of that repentance and faith.

Acts 26:20 …repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Luke 3:8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good1 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

XII. Justification

1. Justification is that gracious act of God by which He both acquits the believing sinner of all sin and counts him righteous.

Romans 3:23-24 …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift…

Romans 4:7-8 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

Romans 4:3 “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

2. The justifying righteousness of God is only for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Romans 3:21 …the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:10 …with the heart one believes and is justified…

3. God is able to justify sinners and remain just Himself because Jesus Christ perfectly satisfied justice by obeying God in our place, becoming sin in our place, and by shedding His own blood in our place.

Romans 5:19 …by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 5:9 …therefore, we have now been justified by his blood…

Romans 3:26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

4. God justifies even the most ungodly of believing men, counting them righteous entirely apart from any works or good they have done.

Romans 4:5-6 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…

Romans 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Galatians 2:16 …yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

5. Now for those who trust Him, Christ is the end of all our efforts at earning God’s favor by law-keeping, since He alone has satisfied all the legal demands of the law.

Romans 10:4 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes

Philippians 3:8-9 I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…

Colossians 2:13-14 …having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

6. Those justified by faith in Jesus Christ are justified from all sins…it is the total pardon of all the sinner’s sins from the past and from the future…total pardon!

Psalm 103:2-3 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity…

Acts 13:39 …and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

Romans 4:7-8 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Hebrews 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

XIII. Sanctification

1. In Scripture, sanctification can either refer to the initial one-time act wherein the Lord first sets an individual apart for Himself.

Acts 20:32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

1 Corinthians 6:11 …you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Hebrews 10:10 …we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

2. Or sanctification refers to the process of being transformed progressively and by degrees into the holiness and likeness of Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:19 …present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely…

Hebrews 10:14 …those who are being sanctified.

3. Though sanctification involves the idea of making one holy and causing one to belong completely to God, sanctification and holiness also involve becoming pure. Purity is an essential aspect to sanctification.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

2 Timothy 2:20-21 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

4. It is the will of God that all Christians be sanctified.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor…

5. God predestinated His children to this.

Romans 8:29 …those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…

6. The chief means used by the Spirit to bring about this change is the Word of God.

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Ephesians 5:25-26 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word…

7. The end of sanctification is eternal life.

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

8. Each Christian is actively involved in his own sanctification.

Romans 6:19 …just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

2 Corinthians 7:1 …let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

9. And though the sanctifying process is not completed or perfected in this life, it is definitely possible for the Christian to possess a clear conscience and to live in such a state so as to know of no present sin against himself.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I…am already perfect…

Acts 24:16 I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

1Corinthians 4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself…

10. Sinlessness, perfection and the fullness of promised Christlikeness await the Christian at death when the spirit is made perfect and at the second coming of Christ when the body is made perfect.

Hebrews 12:22-23 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect…

1John 3:2 …we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Jude 1:24 …to him who is able…to present you blameless before the presence of his glory…

Romans 8:23 …we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Philippians 3:20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

XIV. Perseverance of the Saints

1. It is most certainly taught in the Scriptures that none who God truly saves will ever totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end. The Lord makes certain that none shall ever depart from Him by putting a fear of Himself in the heart of His people.

Jeremiah 32:40 I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

2. All who have come to faith in Jesus Christ, being justified by that faith, shall certainly arrive at a glorified state.

Romans 8:30 …those whom he justified he also glorified.

3. The power of God keeps the saint in a believing state.

NKJ 1 Peter 1:5 …who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

4. God’s greatness keeps Christians from perishing. They have eternal life and it is the will of God that this life does indeed prove to be eternal.

John 10:28-29 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

John 6:38-40 I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

5. The Scriptures declare it to be a certainty that God will finish every work that He starts.

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge– 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you– 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

6. And each child of God is sealed by the Holy Spirit of God as a guarantee that his salvation is secure.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 …it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

2 Corinthians 5:5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

7. Absolutely nothing is able to separate the Christian from the love of Christ.

Rom 8:35, 37-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?37 …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

8. But this in no way rules out that Christians must strive and fight and willingly persevere in order to be saved.

Matthew 10:22 …the one who endures to the end will be saved.

1Corinthians 9:26-27 I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Philippians 2:12-13 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Hebrews 3:14 For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

9. Nor does this rule out that Christians may fall into temptation and into sin. They may grieve the Holy Spirit and bring upon themselves the discipline of the Lord, but in all these things, God shall definitely preserve them in the faith if they are truly His Children.

1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

James 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways…

Proverbs 24:16 …the righteous falls seven times and rises again…

Ephesians 4:30 …do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Hebrews 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives…

Psalm 37:28 For the LORD…will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever…

2Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

10. Though all of God’s saints will certainly persevere to the end, many professing Christians do, however, fall away from the faith, which only serves to prove that such individuals were never truly saved by God and that something was defective with their faith.

Matthew 13:20-21 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.

1 Timothy 1:19 …holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith…

1Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…

1Timothy 6:10 …some have wandered away from the faith…

1Timothy 6:21 …some have swerved from the faith.

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Hebrews 10:26-27 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

2 Peter 2:20-22 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

XV. The Law of God

1. Throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments, God expresses His will for man through laws, commandments, statutes and rules.

Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

Malachi 4:4 Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

1Corinthians 7:19 For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

1John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

2. The commandments of God are holy and righteous and good even as God Himself is holy and righteous and good.

Romans 7:12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

3. Jesus taught that the first and greatest commandment given in the Law is to love God with all the heart, soul, and mind. And the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:35-39 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

4. These two commandments are the basis for all the commandments found in the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

5. All these commandments shall stand until Heaven and earth pass away. Jesus did not come to abolish or relax them.

Matthew 5:17-19 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

6. Though God’s commandments must not be relaxed, they must, however, be interpreted in light of the New Testament revelation of Jesus and His Apostles who gave fuller, richer, deeper expression to the righteous requirements of God’s Law.

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…

Matthew 5:27-28 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

1Corinthians 9:8-11 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

7. God offers man eternal life if he will keep His Law.

Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

Matthew 19:17-19 “…If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19 Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:25-28 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Romans 7:10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.

8. But all men have failed to keep God’s Law, so the Law does not bring life, instead, it brings the knowledge of sin and it brings wrath.

John 7:19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.

Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Romans 4:15 …the law brings wrath…

9. The Law stirs up lawlessness.

Romans 7:5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

Romans 7:8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.

1Corinthians 15:56 … the power of sin is the law.

10. As a result, all who rely on their own Law-keeping to obtain favor with God are under a curse.

Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

11. So the main use of the Law is to convict and convince sinners of their sin.

1 Timothy 1:8-10 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine…

12. When the Son of God came into this world, He did not lighten the demands of the Law in the least.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

13. Rather, as a man, the Son of God came fully under the authority of the Law.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law…

14. And being under the Law, Jesus Christ honored His Father’s Law by fulfilling all righteousness and pleasing His Father always.

Matthew 3:14-15 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”

Matthew 3:17 “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

John 4:34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

John 8:29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.

15. And to crown His obedience, Jesus became obedient to the point of death on a cross and there took the curse of the Law upon Himself.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”

16. This He did to redeem those who were under the Law and its curse.

Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

17. That all their lawless deeds may be forgiven.

Romans 4:7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered…

18. Now all who trust Jesus Christ are no longer under the Law and its curse, but under the grace of God.

Romans 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

1 Corinthians 9:20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19. The Christian is considered dead to the Law and married to Christ.

NKJ Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another– to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

20. This is not to say that the Christian becomes lawless, rather, just the opposite is true, by the Spirit’s mighty working the Christian is the only one who actually does fulfill the Law as a pattern of life.

Romans 8:3-4 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

1John 2:3-4 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him…

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

21. The Christian is no longer held captive by a law he does not want to keep, but rather he serves in the freedom of the Spirit keeping the commandments of God from the heart.

Romans 7:6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

2 Corinthians 3:17 …where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

22. Not being under the Law means the Christian is free from the curse and condemnation of the Law.

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

23. It means the Christian has a perfect standing before God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by doing works of the Law.

Galatians 2:16 …yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Galatians 3:12 …the law is not of faith…

24. It means that when the Christian does fall into sin, the Law has no claim on him because his Advocate Jesus Christ successfully pleads his case having fully paid his sin.

1 John 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

25. It means the Christian must never look to be perfected by the Law apart from faith in Christ. To do so is to seek to be perfected by the flesh.

Galatians 3:1-3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

26. Although the laws and commandments of Scripture are profitable to the Christian…

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

27. The Christian will never find the power for fulfilling the law in the law itself, but must look to Christ in faith for the power to grow into His image.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

28. So looking to Christ in faith never overthrows the law, rather it unleashes the life-transforming power to uphold the law.

Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

29. Jesus Christ is the Christian’s ultimate standard of righteousness.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

1John 2:6 …whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1Peter 2:21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

XVI. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ

1. Jesus promised His disciples that He would one day come again in order to gather them to Himself.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him…

2. Jesus will return to this earth in the same manner and with the same resurrected human nature with which He departed from this earth.

Acts 1:11 “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

3. And Scripture emphasizes that Jesus’ return will not be secret or unknown…but that every eye will see Him and every ear will hear.

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Matthew 24:30-31 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

4. The day in which the Lord returns is sometimes referred to in Scriptures as the Day of the Lord.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

2 Peter 3:4 & 10 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”… 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

5. When our Lord returns on that great Day of the Lord, this age will come to an end, the heavens and earth that are now present shall be destroyed, and the eternal kingdom consisting of a new heavens and a new earth shall be ushered in.

2Peter 3:10-13 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

6. On that day, all the nations will be judged.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 …when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

Matthew 25:31-33 When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.

7. And those who are prepared for the Lord’s return shall be received into the marriage supper of the Lamb, while those who are unprepared will be shut out forever.

Matthew 25:1-12 Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’

8. Jesus is coming soon!

Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

XVII. Man’s Eternal State: Eternal Life

1. The Scriptures plainly and repeatedly teach that all men will finally and permanently remain in either one of two states: eternal life or eternal punishment.

Daniel 12:2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

John 5:28-29 …an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Romans 2:6-11 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

Matthew 25:34, 41 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:46 …these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

2. Faith in Jesus Christ is always the determining factor…for those who believe on the Son of God, there is eternal life. For those who don’t trust and obey Him, there is wrath.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

3. Eternal life is described as a wonderful everlasting paradise in the presence of God with pleasures and delights and glory that simply escape imagination.

Matthew 25:21 Enter into the joy of your master.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Romans 8:18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Luke 23:43 …he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’

Revelation 7:15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

4. After the coming Day of Judgment, God’s children will live forever in the midst of new heavens and a new earth.

Isaiah 65:17 For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

2 Peter 3:13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…

5. And in that place no sin or anything that defiles will ever be found.

Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers…

Revelation 21:27 …nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:3 No longer will there be anything accursed…

6. God’s Children shall possess new glorified bodies in that place.

Philippians 3:21 [The Lord Jesus Christ] will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:48-54 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Isaiah 26:19 Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

7. And they shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Matthew 13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

Daniel 12:3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.

8. And they shall be with Christ.

John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

9. And they shall be like Christ.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him…

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

1 Corinthians 15:49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

10. And they shall reign forever and ever with Christ.

Revelation 11:15 The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

2 Timothy 2:12 …if we endure, we will also reign with him…

Revelation 3:21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

1 Corinthians 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!

Revelation 22:5 They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

11. And above all they shall behold God!

Revelation 22:3-4 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

1 John 3:2 …we shall see him as he is.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

12. And the glory of God and of the Lamb will awe the Children of God with wonder and light and splendor and kindness forevermore.

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there.

Revelation 21:11 …having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Revelation 22:5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Ephesians 2:7 …in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

XVIII. Man’s Eternal State: Eternal Punishment

1. The Scriptures describe the eternal state of the wicked with the most fearful of terms.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might…

Revelation 14:10 …he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night…

Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Mark 9:48 …where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.

Matthew 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

2. Jesus describes the eternal torments of the wicked as something to be escaped at all costs.

Matthew 18:8-9 And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

3. The Scriptures describe the eternal dwelling place of the wicked as a lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur…

Revelation 20:15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

4. And it is called the second death.

Revelation 2:11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.

Revelation 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 …the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.

5. The second death does not indicate annihilation or the ceasing of existence…in which case the eternal state of the wicked would be the same as if they had never been born. Rather, Scriptures teach that it would have been better to have never been born than after having been born to suffer the second death.

Matthew 26:24 The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.

6. The second death is eternal…forever and ever. There will be unending misery, torment and tribulation as the wicked suffer the just punishment for sin.

2 Thessalonians 1:9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction…

Matthew 25:46 …these will go away into eternal punishment…

Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night…

7. These sufferings will not be greater or lesser than the wicked deserve…but exactly according to the perfect pure justice of the Lord.

Matthew 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Romans 2:6 He will render to each one according to his works…

Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

XIX. The Church

1. The church is the body of Christ and is the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 1:22-23 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

2. Christ is the Savior of the church.

Ephesians 5:23 Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

3. Christ loves the church and died for the church.

Ephesians 5:25 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…

Acts 20:28 …the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

4. The Church is the pillar and buttress of truth.

1Timothy 3:15 …if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

5. The New Testament norm is that all Christians will gather with and belong to particular congregations of saints which form local churches.

Acts 15:41 …he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth…

1 Corinthians 11:18 …when you come together as a church…

1 Corinthians 16:1 …as I directed the churches of Galatia…

1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians…

6. Jesus assumes His people will gather into churches.

Matthew 18:17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

7. Paul assumes the Corinthian church will gather together.

1Corinthians 5:4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus…

8. The writer of Hebrews admonishes us to meet together.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

9. A church may have only two or three who gather together in the name of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 18:17-20 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

10. The only Scriptural officers of the church are elders [i.e. overseers] and deacons.

Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons…

1 Timothy 3:1-2 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach…

1 Timothy 3:8 Deacons likewise must be dignified…

11. Elders are to graciously rule in the church and those in the church are to humbly submit to their rule.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1Thessalonians 5:12-13 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.

1Timothy 5:17 …the elders who rule well…

1Peter 5:1-5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Acts 20:17, 28 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

XX. Church Discipline

1. According to God’s Word, a church must cut off from its fellowship any person who insists on holding to false or heretical doctrine; or who persistently conducts himself/herself in a manner inconsistent with his/her Christian profession; or who causes division within the church.

Romans 16:17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

Titus 3:10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him…

2John 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting…

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

1Corinthians 5:1-5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

1Timothy 1:20 …Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

1Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler–not even to eat with such a one.

1Corinthians 5:13 “Purge the evil person from among you.”

2Thessalonians 3:6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

2Thessalonians 3:14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

2Timothy 3:1-5 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

2. As a general rule and whenever possible, gracious efforts should be made to restore the erring, resolve difficulty, correct error, and remove offense through personal counsel and admonition before more drastic steps are taken.

1Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

James 5:19-20 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him…

3. When possible, sin should be dealt with privately at first, only becoming more public as necessity requires.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

4. However, at times, the unrepentant nature of one’s sin, being already public, immediate excommunication from the church may be required.

1Corinthians 5:1-5 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. 3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

5. Church elders are not above the discipline of the church.

1 Timothy 5:19-20 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.

6. Two goals of discipline described in God’s Word are the welfare and purity of the church, and the restoration and spiritual growth of the offender.

1Corinthians 5:6-8 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

2Timothy 2:16-18 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

Matthew 18:15 If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

1Corinthians 5:5 …deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord…

1Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

XXI. Baptism

1. Christian Baptism is the one-time immersion into water…

Mark 1:9-10 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water…

Acts 8:38-39 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And…they came up out of the water…

2. …of a believing disciple of Jesus Christ…

Acts 2:41 …those who received his word were baptized…

Acts 8:12 But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

NKJ Acts 8:36-37 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Acts 10:47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 18:8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

3. …done in the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 28:19 …baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

4. The term Baptism means “Immersion” and immersion is the only fitting way to symbolically represent our spiritual death, burial and resurrection.

Romans 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:12 …having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

5. Baptism is clearly commanded by the Lord and by His followers as an important act of obedience that flows from repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 10:48 …he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ…

6. But this ordinance does not of itself confer any saving merit to the sinner. We are cleansed from our sins by the washing of Christ’s blood, not by the washing of water in baptism.

1John 1:7 …the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

NKJ Revelation 1:5 …and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood…

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation…

Revelation 7:14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

7. And we are made alive in Christ, not by the washing of water in baptism, but by the washing of regeneration.

Titus 3:5 …he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit

XXII. The Lord’s Supper

1. The Supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by Him, to be observed by His churches, until the end of the world as an ongoing remembrance and proclamation of His death.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

2. The outward elements used in the observance of the Supper are bread and that which comes of the fruit of the vine.

Matthew 26:26-29 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

3. Although Jesus says of the bread “this is my body”

1 Corinthians 11:24 This is my body…

4. He was speaking figuratively implying that the bread was emblematic or representative of His body. In the same way He took the cup saying “this cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

1 Corinthians 11:25 This cup is the new covenant in my blood…

5. Certainly He did not mean that the cup He was holding was actually the New Covenant in His blood, but was speaking figuratively, so also He spoke figuratively concerning the bread. The whole concept of eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus Christ is figurative of having faith in Him.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

6. Partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner is strongly warned against.

1Corinthians 11:27-30 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

7. Eating the bread and drinking the cup in an unworthy manner specifically applies to taking the Lord’s Supper while being guilty of possessing actions and attitudes towards others in the church that are unloving.

1Corinthians 11:20-22 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. 21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

1Corinthians 11:33-34 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another– 34 if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home–so that when you come together it will not be for judgment.

XXIII. The Lord’s Day

1. The New Testament Scriptures teach that there is a day called the Lord’s Day.

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day

2. Because the early church clearly regarded the first day of the week with special attention…it is commonly assumed the first day of the week is the Lord’s Day.

Mark 16:9 …the first day of the week…

Luke 24:1 …on the first day of the week…

John 20:19 …the first day of the week…

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week…

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week…

3. The New Testament Church gives the example of assembling on the first day of the week for worship and the breaking of bread and the preaching of the Word.

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

4. The first day of the week was also chosen as the day for giving money to help the poor.

1 Corinthians 16:2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

5. It is fitting to view the first day of the week as a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and the redemption of His people.

Mark 16:9 He rose early on the first day of the week…

1 Peter 1:3 …he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

6. And it is this first day the Lord chose to manifestly meet with His people following His resurrection.

John 20:19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

XXIV. The Great Commission

1. The Church alone has been given the responsibility to bear witness to Jesus Christ in this world. It is our solemn and joyful obligation to proclaim Christ among the nations.

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mark 16:15-16 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Luke 24:47-48 …repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

XXV. Liberty of Conscience

1. God alone is Lord of the conscience and we are not to impress the doctrines, opinions and commandments of men upon God’s people where those doctrines, opinions and commandments are contrary to God’s Word or not contained therein.

Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Romans 14:4-6 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

James 4:12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Acts 4:19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge…”

Matthew 15:9 …in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Colossians 2:20-23 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations – 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 ( referring to things that all perish as they are used) – according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

XXVI. Marriage and Sexuality

1. In the beginning God created man in His image as male and female.

• Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

2. Though sexually different, in Christ, the male and the female have equal personal dignity before God.

• Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
• 1Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

3. Although it is to be admitted that God formerly allowed godly men to marry more than one wife and even made provision for such under the Mosaic Law…

• Deuteronomy 21:15 If a man has two wives…
• 1Samuel 1:1-2 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah…2 He had two wives.

4. Yet according to God’s purpose as revealed at creation and affirmed again in the New Testament by our Lord Jesus Christ, the concept of marriage has only one meaning. It refers to the God-ordained joining of one man to one woman in a single, exclusive, union in which the two become one flesh.

• Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
• Mark 10:6-9 …from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.

5. This marriage union forms a binding covenant between the husband and the wife.

• Malachi 2:14 …she is your companion and your wife by covenant.

6. Though God has allowed divorce in certain cases…

• Deuteronomy 24:1-4 When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD.
• Matthew 19:9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.

7. This marriage union is meant to be permanent.

• Matthew 19:6 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.
• 1Corinthians 7:10 To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband…
• 1Corinthians 7:12-13 …if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him.

8. Only to be separated by death.

• Romans 7:2-3 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

9. When marriage is entered into as designed by God, it becomes a beautiful picture of Christ and His Church.

• Ephesians 5:31-33 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

10. God intends for sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are so married to one another.

• 1Corinthians 7:2-4 …each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
• Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
• Proverbs 5:15-21 Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well. 16 Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets? 17 Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, 19 a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love. 20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with a forbidden woman and embrace the bosom of an adulteress? 21 For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his paths.

11. God has commanded that no sexual activity whatsoever is to be engaged in outside of a marriage union between one man and one woman. All sexual activity outside the realm of Scriptural marriage is counted sinful and is displeasing to God.

• Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery.
• Leviticus 18:20 And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her.
• Leviticus 18:22-23 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.
• Leviticus 20:10-16 If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
• Romans 1:26-27 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
• 1Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

12. The only acceptable alternative to marriage between one man and one woman is the faithful single life of celibacy as celebrated by Paul in the First Corinthian Letter.

• 1Corinthians 7:7-9 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. 8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

13. We are exceedingly thankful that God offers redemption and restoration to sinners guilty of desecrating God’s holy standard of marriage and sexual intimacy…redemption that is offered to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

• 1Corinthians 6:9-11 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.