The Four Spiritual Laws

Topic: THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS Bobby Earls, First Baptist Icard

January 14, 2001

Bill Bright sat down one afternoon in 1957 and wrote down what he commonly said in witnessing to students, professors, business executives - as well as men on skid row. To his amazement, he had been sharing basically the same thing with everyone without realizing it. He set about to make that message as clear and as essential as possible. He called it God's Plan for Your Life. It was a positively stated summary of the truths of the Gospel, focusing on the person of Jesus and His claims: who He is, why He came, and how to know Him personally. Bill Bright is the founder and president of Campus Crusade for Christ International.

Have you heard of the four spiritual laws? Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so are there spiritual laws that govern your relationship with God. * LAW 1: God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for your life. * God's love: God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). * God's plan: [Christ speaking] I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly (John 10:10). * Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life? Because... * LAW 2: Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. * Man is sinful: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 2:23). Man was created to have fellowship with God, but because of his own stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin. * Man is separated: The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). A great gulf separates the Holy God from sinful man. Man may try to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion - but he inevitably fails. * LAW 3: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. * He died in our place: God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). * He rose from the dead: Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred...(1 Cor. 15:3-6). * He is the Only Way to God: Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6). God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place, to pay the penalty for our sins. * LAW 4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. * We must receive Christ: As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (John 1:12). * We receive Christ through faith. By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). * When we receive Christ, we experience a new birth: Read John 3:1-8. * We receive Christ through personal invitation: [Christ speaking,] Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him (Rev. 3:20). The Four Spiritual Laws (c) copyrighted 1965, 1994 by Bill Bright, NewLife Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. Used by permission.