Gospel Basics Part 1 Joint -- What We Should All Know Word 092020

I. Purpose of Series: Helping Christians Obtain a More Mature Understanding of Their Faith (Moving from a Basic to an Operational Understanding) THE THREE DIMENSIONS AND THE TWO SIDES OF SALVATION A. Moving from a Basics Understanding to an Operational Understanding Native First People Proverb: "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach him to fish and he eats for a lifetime." In this lesson, we will explore the difference between learning the basics of one's faith as a child and as an adult. The difference between knowing one's faith as a child and knowing one's faith as an adult is like the differences between the below listed illustrations: EXAMPLES 1. Experiencing A Great Restaurant vs. Knowing How to Operate A Great Restaurant. 2. Knowing How to Operate a Car vs. Knowing How the Car Operates, that is, how its Engine and Drive Train Work. 3. Knowing What A Cake from Scratch Tastes Like vs. Knowing How to Bake A Cake from Scratch. 4. Knowing a person by reading a biography about him or her vs. knowing a person who has shared his or her dreams, fears, work, and family life with you for several years. While this qualitative difference between knowing the basics of one's faith as a child and as an adult will not affect, change, or diminish one's salvation, it should affect how we teach and live out this truth in our day-to-day lives. Knowing this truth will prevent us from teaching false doctrine and keeps us from certain errors and deceptions. B. The Problem of Having Only Half of the Gospel = The Problem of Understanding Only One Half of an Equation In the examples below, we are attempting to show how knowing only a part or half of the truth or equation can mean disaster. In the first, the Devil correctly quotes Scripture, but Jesus shows that a mature answer requires knowing how a verse is to be used within its context and how it is to be used as part of the whole witness of Scripture. In this example, Jesus responds with a more appropriate Scripture and a more important principle for his context and occasion. The second example shows that physical laws are similar in that you must have all the elements if you want certain reactions to occur and certain results to happen. Drinking or inhaling hydrogen versus water is no joke. EXAMPLES 1. Matthew 4:5-7 (Devil quotes [not misquotes] the Scriptures.) Note how Jesus uses all of Scripture in its correct context. 2. H2O: One cannot have water (H2O) if only two-thirds of the molecules are present, that is, Hydrogen without the Oxygen molecules II. The Basics (What We Should Have All Heard and Been Taught) (If the class is pressed for time, read the bold referenced texts only.) A. God's Purpose and Desire John 3:14-21; esp. v. 16--For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. Romans 2:4--Don't you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin? (CEV) Ephesians 1:4-9--Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God's own adopted children. God was very kind to us because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God. Christ sacrificed his life's blood to set us free, which means that our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because God was so kind to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. (CEV) Ephesians 3:6-12-- 6Here is the mystery. Because of the good news, God's promises are for non-Jews as well as for Jews. Both groups are parts of one body. They share in the promise. It belongs to them because they belong to Christ Jesus. . .. 11That was God's plan from the beginning. He has worked it out through Christ Jesus our Lord. 12Through him and through faith in him we can approach God. We can come to him freely. We can come without fear. (CEV) 1 Timothy 2:1-7, esp. v. 4--God desires all to be saved. (CEV) (See also Ezekiel 18:31-32.) 2 Peter 3:8-10--But you must not forget, dear friends, that a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. (CEV) B. The Nature of Humanity--All Have Sinned Genesis 8:21--And the Lord was pleased with the sacrifice and said to himself, "I will never again curse the earth, destroying all living things, even though people's thoughts and actions are bent toward evil from childhood." (CEV) Psalms 14:1-3 (Cf. Psalms 53:1-3) --. . .. No one does good! The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; . . . to see if there is even one with real understanding, one who seeks for God. But no, all have turned away from God; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not even one! (CEV) Psalms 143:1-2--Listen, LORD, as I pray! You are faithful and honest and will answer my prayer. I am your servant. Don't try me in your court because no one is innocent by your standards. (CEV) Proverbs 20:9--Who can say, "I have cleansed my heart, I am pure and free from sin?" (CEV) Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29--There is not a single person in all the earth who is always good and never sins. . .. "I discovered that God created people to be upright, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path." (CEV) Isaiah 53:1-12, esp. v. 6--We all . . . have gone astray. . .. (CEV) Romans 3:9-20--. . .. We have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. . .. Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses and to bring the entire world into judgment before God. For no one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what his law commands. For the more we know God's law, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying it. (CEV) Romans 7:14-8:14--The law is good then. The trouble is not with the law but with me, because I am sold into slavery, with sin as my master. . .. I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can't make myself do right. I want to, but I can't. . .. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things. . .. If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. . .. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. (CEV) 1 Corinthians 1:18-21--I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. . .. As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas. . .." Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe. (CEV) James 4:1-6--What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you.. . And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong--you want only what will give you pleasure. . .. I say it again, that if you aim to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. (CEV) C. The Sentence and Judgment upon All Humanity: Death Ezekiel 18:4--The soul who sins is the one who will die. . .. (CEV) Romans 6:23--For the wages of sin is death. . .. (CEV) (Cf. Hebrews 9 (esp. 19-22) --Moses told the people everything that the Law said they must do. . .. And no sins can be forgiven unless blood is offered.) (CEV) D. The Escape from Our Punishment = Christ's Gift of His Death and Resurrection and Our Receipt by Confession and Repentance Psalm 32:5--Then I acknowledged my sin to you . . . and you forgave the guilt of my sin. (CEV) Acts 4:12--Only one name . . . which can save. (CEV) John 14:6--No one comes to the Father, but by Jesus. Romans 3:21-24--But now righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (CEV) Romans 6:23--For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. (CEV) Romans 10:9-10--That if, you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (CEV) Ephesians 2:8-9--For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith . . . not by works, so that no one can boast. (CEV) Hebrews 9-10-Jesus is our perfect substitution and sacrifice. 1 Timothy 2:5--Jesus as the only mediator. 1 Peter 1:5--Faith shields believers until salvation is revealed. 1 Peter 3:18--For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (CEV) 1 John 1:9-10--If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (CEV) III. Class Questions/Reading A. Post-Moderns, Biblical Illiteracy, and Biblical Vocabulary The gospel and the need for salvation are foreign to most people who have not read the Bible and who have not been raised in a Christian church. This is true even for Christians who have attended church, but who have not been participants in an adult Bible study program in any consistent and long-term manner. Consequently, like the unchurch or unbeliever terms like "sin," "trespasses," "debts," "wages," "salvation," "being born again," and "grace" are "lost" in translation for many believers. Terms like trespasses and debts are more likely to apply strictly to legal property violations (trespassing) and financial debt, not to violations of God's law, the spiritual and moral penalties involved, and the procedure for paying off those spiritual and ethical debts. Grace is more like something associated with mealtime rituals or prayers, not as all the various spiritual gifts given by God, including the gift of a right relationship with God and the canceling of the penalties associated with one's hurts, bad habits, hang-ups, and stinky or faulty thinking and attitudes. Instead of "sins," "debts," and "trespasses," we must instead speak of a person's hurts, habits, hang-ups, and "stinky or backward thinking" that they have inflicted upon themselves and the hurts, bad habits, hang-ups, and stinky or faulty thinking that they have inflicted upon others. Instead of salvation and being born again, we must talk to them instead about having freedom from and healing of those hurts, habits, hang-ups, and faulty thinking patterns. We must talk about a cure from these things and how to receive this healing, cure, or freedom. We must relate how God has made a way for their freedom and a cure for their healing. B. Post-Moderns Relative Value of Ethical Judgment To help you understand why the Biblical writers--and why our Protestant forebears-seemed to have had such a visceral and harsh reaction to sin, I would like the reader to consider sin and salvation as being analogous terms for cancer and wellness? (Sin = Cancer; Salvation = Wellness.) I would also like to introduce some fascinating facts regarding human anatomy and mortality. We know that the weight of the human heart makes up approximately 2% of the total body mass of a person and that the weight of the human brain makes up approximately 4%. The heart equals 2%, while the brain equals 4%. We also know that an injury or an infection to just a small portion of one of those organs can spell death to the whole body. For example, a blocked artery cutting off blood flow either to the heart (a heart attack) or to the brain (a stroke) can mean death or permanent disability. Therefore, if only one small portion of one's heart (not the whole heart) is damaged at first, we know that the rest of the heart and eventually the whole body can be adversely affected. Consequently, if 99% of one's body is healthy, but 1% of the body is diseased or has cancer, death can occur. Given these basic facts regarding human anatomy and mortality, let us turn to our discussion regarding sin as spiritual cancer. How would you feel if you were diagnosed as having cancer? How would you feel if your team of doctors told you after several months of complementary medicine (herbs, vegetable diets, deep breathing exercises, cleansing routines, etc.) and traditional medicine (chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery) that you were now 80% to 90 % cancer-free? Would you feel good about hearing that report? Would you say that being 80% to 90% cancer-free was good enough for you if you still were going to die from cancer? What if the doctor told you that your response to the treatment worked so well that you have placed in the top 20% of patients who would eventually die in 6 months? Would you feel better knowing that you were in the top 10% or the top 1% of those undergoing treatment instead of being in the 20 percentiles? Would these relative rankings of your treatment results sound encouraging? When it comes to cancer, a relative rating scale does not make sense. You and I want an absolute rating scale. You and I want to know that the test came back negative for cancer. You want a report from your doctor that says you are in full remission or that you are 100% cancer-free. 80%, 90%, 95%, or 99% is not the target for which you and I would be aiming. Our target is to be 100% cancer-free. Even in our every day-to-day world, we operate with absolute scales. For example, when we sign contracts, we expect the parties to fulfill their obligations completely--absolutely. If we sign contracts with car dealers to trade in our used vehicles for $4,000, we do not expect the dealers to turn around and give us only 75% to 85% of the agreed-upon price. Many of us would walk out of the showroom if the dealer gave us 99% of the contractual price: $3,960. We would say that it is not the $40 in and of itself that we would not receive that would make us reject the deal, but that it is the principle, i.e., fairness or honesty. We would feel that the dealers were trying to take advantage of us or were trying to cheat us out of what we were promised even if, on a relative scale, we would have received 99% of what we wanted and were promised. In the same way, many of us would refuse to get married if our fiancé told us that for 364 days of the year (not 365 days of the year or the whole year), he or she would stay faithful and true to the marital vows. Although the fiancé or spouse would score a 99.7% on their faithfulness index each year, we want absolute compliance, 100% compliance, not relative compliance. Marital and sexual faithfulness requires an absolute score of 100%--not a relative score of 99.7%. We all use both absolute and relative scales each and every day. So contrary to conventional wisdom using an absolute scale for evaluating and decision making does not make one a Neanderthal (i.e., Caveman) morally or scientifically. Even in a post-modern society, we use both absolute and relative scales. Biblical writers portrayed God's attitude about sin using an absolute scale. Just as we find a relative rating scale for physical cancer to be inadequate, God finds a relative rating for spiritual cancer to be inadequate and deficient. God is not satisfied with us being 80% or 90% good or sin-free. God is not satisfied with Christians being better than non-Christians or with you being a better person morally and spiritually than another Christian. Far from being archaic, barbaric, and outdated, an absolute rating scale for sin makes perfect sense when the effect of sin is rightly understood pain, suffering, and death. God wants a 100% cure for sin. God wants us to be 100% sin-free. Sin cannot be graded on a curve. The good news is that God has provided a cure for this "sin cancer." Not only is it 100% effective, but it is also 100% safe and free. What if I told you that this safe, free, and effective cure is what Christians call the "Good News", the "Gospel", or salvation? God wants to give to each and every individual who has, is, or will live on this planet this cure for sin. There is, however, one catch. Each and every person must voluntarily acknowledge, receive and accept such a gift by confessing and admitting (1) his or her need for the cure, (2) his or her inability to cure himself or herself, (3) God as the ultimate gift (that is, Jesus' as being the person's substitute on the cross where Jesus took on God's punishment for that person), (4) God as the ultimate giver of this gift of substitution, and (5) the sovereignty of God, that is, God's right to rule over, control, and order human, social and environmental affairs. As we shall see below, the receipt of salvation does not mean that a person will never sin again. Salvation means that persons have been born into a new reality where the possibility of being sin-free is achievable. This new reality is one in which a person can grow to become more and more like Jesus, who committed no sin. Christians call this process after salvation "sanctification." Sanctification is the process of growing spiritually, emotionally, and theologically mature. The goal is process-oriented, that is, to grow developmentally until we become totally transformed and 100% sin-free. None of us will achieve the end results on this side of the resurrection; but all of us are to enter the developmental, sanctification process and to faithfully participate and hasten our growth towards perfection. When Christ returns to earth for the second time (i.e., the Second Advent), Christians shall all be changed in an instant and be made perfect. You can think of sanctification as a form of Holy contagion where the Holy Spirit invades all parts of your body and starts a Holy mutation of your inner being. God's holy contagion is slowly transforming us, growing us. God is slowly causing us to mutate into a more mature and holy form of ourselves: the original, non-fictional X-men and X-women. IV. Lesson Summary and Review and Preview of Coming Lesson A. Summary and Review 1. Four Parts of the Basics of the Gospel (1. God's Desire, 2. Sin, 3. Punishment and Death, 4. Our Escape via Confession and Repentance) 2. Moving Towards a More Mature Understanding of the Gospel--Beyond the Basics a. Does salvation have more to do with (1) having a relationship with God and an invitation from God than with (2) ethics, that is, doing good and getting a reward? b. Does being good and being a good neighbor--as an example-give one of your neighbors the right to take up residence in your home and the right to demand that you house and feed him or her just because they have behaved better than or are more ethical than your own children or family members? In the same way, does doing good allow us or give us the right to "crash" God's kingdom and home? 3. Applications for One's Marriage and One's Relationship a. How can the recognition of the principle that we are all sinful be applied to our relationships (marriage, family, friends, coworkers, and church members) and our understanding of ourselves? b. How can we use the principles of "God's justice" and "God's desire" to help use relate to others? Do we have the same desire as God? Are our demands and use of justice transformative in the same way that God's justice is transformative? c. How does our understanding of "gift giving" and God's gift of salvation help us to relate to one another in healthy, mature, and responsible ways versus co-dependent or irresponsible ways? B. Preview of Next Lesson by Facilitator C. Closing Prayer V. Sharing the Gospel (Outside of Class/Extra Class Exercises and Experiential Learning Opportunities) There are three common illustrations and/or story metaphors that individuals can use to share the Gospel with friends and loved ones. These role playing exercises will help class members to overcome their initial nervousness in sharing these illustrations with their friends and family and will help them to memorize the main concepts shared in this lesson, "Part One of the Gospel Basics." A. One Verse Evangelism by Randy D. Raysbrook from the Navigators. This is a copywritten summary of how one verse (Romans 6:23) can be effectively used by any individual to summarize the Gospel message: (1) what are wages?, (2) what are the wages for sin?, (3) what is a gift and how does it differs from one's wage?, (4) what is the gift of God?, (5) do you want that gift? A booklet or hand held playing cards can be order from www.navigators.org or by calling (888) 547-9635 or (719) 637-3251 How to Share Christ's Love Conversationally & Visually By Randy D. Raysbrook B. The Bridge to Life/Four Spiritual Laws (See Below.) 1. Billy Graham EA Version: http://www.billygraham.org/SH_StepsToPeace.asp 2. Intervarsity Version: http://www.intervarsity.org/evangelism/download.php?article_id=5805&version_id=7807 3. Campus Crusade for Christ Version: http://www.campuscrusade.com/fourlawseng.htm C. The Roman Road to Salvation Opening Questions Do you want to be a Christian? If you knew what God says about becoming a Christian, would you do it? Romans 3:10 Who is good or perfect? As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. Romans 3:10 Romans 3:23 Who has sinned or done something wrong? For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. ~Romans 3:23~ Romans 5:12 From where did Sin Originally Come or How did it start? Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way, death came to all men, because all sinned. Romans 5:12-Romans 6:23a What is God's judgment or pronouncement regarding Sin? For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 Romans 5:8 and Romans 6:23b Who paid the price or wages for your sin and what did it cost? But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23 Roman 10:9-13 Did God give us a way out and what are the steps? That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of them all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:9-13~ Closing Questions, Words and Prayer Do you trust God? Do you want to claim this promise of salvation and eternal life? Pray this prayer. Dear God, I confess that I have done wrong and have not always followed you. I believe that Jesus is the Savior of the World. I believe that he died for me on the cross and rose again to pay for my wrong doings. I believe that you will accept my confession and will forgive me for all my past and future wrong doings or sins. I believe that you, Jesus, will send the Holy Spirit to live in me, to guide me, and to teach me all that you want me to do and to be. I accept you as my Lord and God to rule over me. Thank you, Jesus, for being my Savior and my Friend. I pray this in your name and authority, Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer from your heart, you have made the most important decision of your life. THE BASICS OF SALVATION-Student Handout Part One of the Gospel Basics Gospel Basics: Part One-Page 7 of 9 Copywritten (c) 1997, 2010, and 2020 by Floyd Knight. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means--graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems--without the written permission of the author.