We Believe: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

We Believe: The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

In our previous message in this series, we spoke about the doctrine of salvation and all that Jesus accomplished for us in his redemptive ministry. 

This week we will speak about the person of the Holy Spirit, who is God presently with us to continue his work in and through us.   

Doctrinal Statement: We believe in God the Holy Spirit, giver and renewer of life, sent to guarantee our promised future.  The Spirit convicts concerning sin, enlightens to the truth, awakens to repentance and faith, regenerates sinners, and unites believers to Christ, making them partakers of the divine nature.  By the Spirit’s indwelling, Christians enjoy God’s presence and fellowship.  By being filled with the Holy Spirit, Christians are divinely empowered for witness and ministry.  As they bear the fruit of the Spirit and exercise spiritual gifts, believers edify the Church and bear witness to God’s kingdom. 

• The Holy Spirit is fully God.

• The Holy Spirit dwells in all believers.

• The Holy Spirit works salvation in those being saved.

• The Holy Spirit manifests God’s presence and power.

• The Holy Spirit empowers believers for service.

The Holy Spirit is Fully God

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2 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Paul repeatedly wrote about the Holy Spirit in his letters to the Corinthians.

He ascribed divine attributes to him, pointing to the Spirit’s coequality with the Father and the Son.

*In the verse above, Paul blessed the Corinthians with a prayerful benediction, affirming the personhood of Jesus, the Father (whom he customarily referred to as God), and the Holy Spirit. 

This indicated that the believers in Corinth (and believers everywhere) could know and experience each person of the Triune God. 

*Paul wanted them to enjoy “fellowship” with the Holy Spirit, which meant a close relationship.

The Holy Spirit is described in Scripture as eternal (Hebrews 9:14), all-powerful, all-knowing (I Corinthians 2:10,11), and everywhere present (Psalm 139:7-12), just as the Father and Son are.

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”

The biblical authors call him the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Father, the Spirit of God’s Son, the Spirit of Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ.

This reveals his essential union with the Father and the Son. 

His numerous titles, such as the Spirit of truth (John 14:17), the Spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), the Spirit of life (John 6:63), the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), and the Spirit of glory (I Peter 4:14), also affirm his divine identity.  

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭63‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

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Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭26‬-‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

When Jesus called him “another helper” like himself who would be with the disciples and aid them as Jesus had, Jesus ascribed divine honor to the Holy Spirit.  

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:25-‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.  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 ‭16‬:‭7‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 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. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

When various authors revealed the Spirit’s role in bringing forth and sustaining the creation (Psalm 104:30), they declared that he is fully divine in every way.

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

The First Council in Constantinople in 381 AD built upon the Nicene Creed, affirming the Holy Spirit’s divinity and role within the Trinity.

They affirmed this with the statement:

”And [we believe] in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver-of-Life, who proceedeth from the Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spake by the prophets.”

*And so we know that the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or power.  

He is a divine person, just as the Father and the Son are divine persons, and we should honor him in that way.

We should respond to the invitation to grow in our relationship with each person of the Trinity and genuinely experience Jesus’ grace, the Father’s love, and the Spirit’s fellowship. 

*In what ways are you aware of the Holy Spirit’s involvement in your life?

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 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.”

The Holy Spirit Dwells in All Believers

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

The context of this passage is Paul’s affirmation that the father has made all his promises available to those who trust in Jesus. 

And the guarantee of those promises was the “seal” of the indwelling Holy Spirit. 

*Using “seals” in ancient times was a common practice to indicate ownership and completion.

*The seals were often made of wax and stamped by the personal imprint of their guarantor.  

All of the believers in Corinth would have understood Paul’s practice. 

Paul’s metaphor has two meanings.

*First, it highlights that we are God’s possession.

He has put his imprint on us and claimed us as his own family.

*The Holy Spirit now assures us that we are God’s children and stirs our longing to draw near to him.

He produces the cry, “Abba, Father,” within us.  

*Second, it highlights that the Father will complete what he began in us. 

An ancient merchant would open one sack of grain and weigh the contents for the buyer. 

He would then seal the grain sack, pledging that all the other sacks contained the full weight. 

This metaphor means that the Spirit’s continual presence within us reminds us that God will bring about the fullness of our salvation. 

We will surely inherit everything God had planned and promised.

What a wonderful gift God has given us in the Holy Spirit!

We are not only forgiven and reconciled to a distant Father, but God has come to us in the person of his Spirit. 

We are never alone; he dwells in us and will be with us forever. 

*Christ has secured our union with God, and the Holy Spirit has sealed it. 

Whatever we may face in our journey through this present life, we can take comfort in knowing God’s Spirit is in us and with us. 

*If we turn our hearts and minds toward him, we will find him willing and able to guide us through all life’s challenges.

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John‬ ‭14‬:‭23‬-24 ‭ESV‬‬

“Jesus answered him, "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.  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”

The Holy Spirit Works Salvation in Those Being Saved

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2 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 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.”

In this part of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he compares the glory of the old covenant with the greater glory of the new covenant.

He uses the veil that Moses covered his face with as a metaphor for the transforming power of the presence of God.

Under the old covenant, God’s glory transformed Moses’ outer man and caused his face to shine.

Because of this, he needed a veil to protect Israel from the intense light.  

*But in the new covenant, the veil has been lifted, and God’s glory now transforms our inner man, causing us to reflect his character.

And the executor of that transformation is the Holy Spirit.  

*The Holy Spirit liberates us and progressively transforms us into the image of Christ. 

He imparts God’s life to us, reveals truth to us, guides us, comforts us, encourages us, and emboldens us.  

*Without him, we are spiritually helpless.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

We must take to heart Paul’s admonition to the Galatian believers (Galatians 3:1-6) - in essence DON’T TRY TO LIVE LIFE OR SERVE GOD WITHOUT RELYING ON ONGOING INTERACTIONS WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT BY FAITH!

How can you better honor the Holy Spirit in your life?

Is there anything the Holy Spirit has been addressing in your life that requires your greater attention?

The Holy Spirit Manifests God’s Presence and Power

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

The gospel had come to the Corinthians through Paul’s preaching, accompanied by the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. 

The Spirit was working miracles and healings among them and revealing revelational knowledge, wisdom and prophecies.

*Paul urged the Corinthian believers to yearn for this to continue but not for selfish or pseudo-spiritual reasons.

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.”

*The Spirit’s goal in manifesting his presence and power was to draw them to Christ. 

Even though the Corinthian church was riddled with problems and sins: divisions, drunkenness, lawsuits, immorality, compromise with the culture, disrespect towards leadership, and more, God continued to grace them with spiritual gifts.

Thus, you can clearly see two things:

1. Spiritual gifts are no clear indicator of Christian maturity or the pleasure of God

2. God wants his gifts operational within his church, even amongst maturing believers 

*Spiritual gifts are manifestations and ministries of the Holy Spirit given to every believer for edification and evangelism until the return of Christ.

*The word gifts in the original language of the New Testament is the same word translated as grace.

*So, the gifts are works of God’s grace in and through the believer.  

***They are literally outpourings of God’s grace manifested in various ways to reveal God’s power and love to the world!

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

God desires to manifest his presence and power amongst us. 

***He responds to our faith and spiritual hunger, visiting us though we are as imperfect as the Corinthians.

‭‭Mark‬ ‭10‬:‭46‬-‭52‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.”

We are not qualified to participate in the Spirit’s manifestation in our midst, but Jesus is.

In Christ, we may boldly come before God and call upon him to receive his presence and gifts. 

The book of Acts is a wonderful account of believers operating in the power of God after Christ’s death, burial and resurrection from the dead. 

*After Jesus’ ascension, the early church was left and empowered with the same Holy Spirit that we have today.

God does not want us to be satisfied with a non-experiential relationship with him. 

Christ died and rose again so that God’s presence through the Holy Spirit might dwell among us. 

Long ago, the prophet Habbakuk was crying out for God to move in the midst of terrible times in his land. 

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.”

‭‭Habakkuk‬ ‭3‬:‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Like Habbakuk, may we believe for the Holy Spirit to move in miraculous ways in our day!  

Why is it important to fully embrace the Holy Spirit as a person and not a divine force or power?

The Holy Spirit Empowers Believers for Service

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Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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.””

For nearly three years, Jesus trained his disciples to bring the message of repentance and faith to the world.  

Yet before he left, he commanded them to wait until they had received the Father’s promised Holy Spirit and were clothed with power.

Once the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, they were then to go to their city, region, and all the nations as his witnesses.

As the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in the Church’s missionary activity from the beginning, he still is - energizing us to do the work of the ministry. 

God desires to manifest his power among the nations, and this manifestation comes from the Holy Spirit.  

We can do everything God has called us to do with the Holy Spirit’s help.

Without his help, we can engage in religious activity but fail to advance God’s kingdom. 

God wants to repeatedly fill each of us with his Spirit, empowering and emboldening us for his service. 

God’s Spirit works healings and miracles through us.  

He reveals knowledge, wisdom, and prophecies through us.

God urges us to earnestly desire the Spirit’s empowerment to serve others and draw them to Christ.

We should keep seeking God and remain hungry and thirsty for his empowering presence. 

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Ephesians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

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We Believe: The Doctrine of Salvation

We Believe: The Doctrine of Salvation 

Whereas last week we focused on the message that Jesus preached, this week we will narrow in on the significance and results of his life and work. 

We summarize this in the idea of salvation.  

Salvation is the sum total of everything God did for us to deliver us from our lost condition in sin and bring us into a right relationship with him. 

The heart of salvation is the gospel message which includes regeneration, justification, sanctification and glorification.  

Doctrine Statement: We believe that salvation, planned in eternity and promised throughout Scripture, is God’s gracious act of rescue whereby he delivers lost and sinful people through faith in Christ’s redemptive work.  Because of his great love, God makes people spiritually alive in Christ through regeneration by the Holy Spirit.  By grace, God forgives and justifies people through faith, apart from works, conferring upon them all the benefits of union with Christ, including the gift of God’s righteousness, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and adoption into his family.  

• God planned salvation in eternity.

• God saves people by grace through faith.

• The Holy Spirit regenerates lost, sinful people.

• Believers are united with Christ.

• God credits righteousness to believers. 

God Planned Salvation in Eternity

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul exalts God for the salvation he gave to those who are in Christ. 

He wanted all believers to join him in celebrating the greatness of God and the salvation that belongs to us in Jesus. 

Paul referred to this salvation as the riches of God’s glorious inheritance in the saints.

God already chose us in Christ before he created the world so that we might be set apart as his children, forgiven and without blame.

Believers differ in understanding Paul’s language of God’s eternal choice and its relationship to his foreknowledge. 

But what is certain is that God planned our salvation before we existed.  

He knew we would need his mercy and deliverance from sin before he created the universe.

It is like parents who don’t expect their children to be functioning adults when they are born, but have nine months to prepare for the years ahead of sacrificial care, feeding, instruction, discipline and provision that they will need to offer the child for it to make it in the world.  

It is no surprise to God what our weaknesses are, or what we would have to sort through to learn to love him and honor him well in our imperfect frames.

In his infinite love, wisdom and grace, he makes no mistakes and is determined to work in his children and through his children for his glory.  

Psalm 103:8-14 ESV

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

The only way that we lose, is if we give up on Christ.

He does not quit us unless we quit him, and even then, he has shown us by sending Christ that he continues in gracious pursuit.  

This is why our relationship with God is continually described as a covenant with the example of marriage as our enduring picture. 

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.” 

-C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce.

So how do predestination and free will interrelate?

Romans 1:24-25

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,  because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!”

God wrestles with sinful humanity until he doesn’t - we must live in the fear of the Lord.

The wrath of God is ultimately God turning us over to what we desire and the consequences that follow. 

“What sinners want is not hell but sin. That hell is the inevitable consequence of unforgiven sin does not make the consequence desirable. It is not what people want — certainly not what they “most want.” Wanting sin is no more equal to wanting hell than wanting chocolate is equal to wanting obesity. Or wanting cigarettes is equal to wanting cancer.”

-John Piper

But God wants to save us. 

*Paul clearly states that God was motivated by love in planning our salvation. 

*His choice to save us was not made reluctantly or under obligation but by his good pleasure. 

*God loves us, and it pleases him to save us.  

*It is a comfort to know that we were already in God’s mind and heart long before we were born. 

*God wants each of us assured of his great love for us and eternal commitment to fulfill his salvific purposes for us. 

We should often pray Paul’s prayer that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ would give us wisdom and revelation to know him and the hope he has given us.  

His great power ensures we will receive the riches of his glorious inheritance secured for us by his Son. 

God has planned a great salvation for everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ. 

But how does God save people?

God Saves People by Grace Through Faith

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭10 ‭ESV‬‬

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Paul emphasized in all his writings that salvation is God’s gracious gift to us who believe; it is not something we earn or achieve through our good works.

He consistently taught that we are sinful and that no amount of good works can make up for our sins.

***There is nothing we can do to become deserving of God’s salvation.  

So, God planned and acted to save us, not because he was obligated to do so, but because of his great love for us. 

Because of the richness of his mercy, he chose to make us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our sins.

We experience this salvation when we believe the good news that God sent his son to suffer and die for our sins and rise from the dead to immortal life.

God is the one who saves us through his Son, Jesus Christ.

We do not save ourselves by earning a righteous standing through good works.

This cannot qualify us for God’s salvation. 

*What this means is that salvation is his gracious gift to us, secured by Jesus and freely given apart from works.

*As a result, none of us have any grounds to boast about ourselves.

*We can only boast in Jesus.  

*Knowing God saves us by grace through faith produces peace in our souls. 

*If we think we must work to earn God’s salvation, we will live with constant anxiety, wondering if we have done enough.

*Or we may succumb to an ugly pride through ignorance of our sinfulness.  

**This pride will make us critical of others we deem to be less holy. 

*Our hearts can only find rest when we embrace God’s gracious gift of salvation in the light of his holiness and our sinfulness.

The Holy Spirit Regenerates Lost, Sinful People

‭‭Titus‬ ‭3‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 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, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Paul wrote to Titus to instruct him on how to lead the church in Crete.

He repeatedly emphasized the need to teach the believers to live godly lives full of good works. 

Formerly, they were like all humans, sinful and sinning. 

But God had saved them.

The Holy Spirit brought their spiritual rebirth, just as Jesus discussed with Nicodemus (John 3).

This new birth did not happen because they had done anything to deserve it but because God was merciful, kind, and loving.  

The Holy Spirit renewed them to live a new life of godliness. 

Therefore, they could renounce sin and live for God as they awaited the return of Jesus Christ. 

Elsewhere, Paul adamantly taught that all of us have sinned and are incapable of fundamentally altering our internal sinful condition.

He described us as dead in our sins and enslaved to evil ways.

This is the concept of total depravity.  

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭7 ESV‬‬

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 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— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

*Indeed, all humans are sinners by nature and by choice.

Consequently, without the Holy Spirit, we are helpless to bring about our spiritual regeneration to be like God in holiness and righteousness. 

Only God can bring about this change through the Holy Spirit, who imparts God’s new life to lost, sinful people. 

It is his work that causes us to be spiritually regenerated and renewed. 

“What the law tried to do by a restraining power from without, the gospel does by an inspiring power from within.”

-Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army

We must never forget that we did not save ourselves. 

Before we were born of the Spirit, we could not see or enter the kingdom of God. 

But because we believed in Jesus, God granted us the right to become his children. 

He caused us to be born again by the Holy Spirit.

*This is God’s direct influence in and action upon your life. 

*God is not far away, but draws near to intimately relate with you. 

Therefore, let us pray that God would empower us to boldly communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to others so that others might also experience the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work.

Believers are United with Christ

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Paul wrote to the Galatian believers to emphasize that the basis of God’s salvation was what Jesus had already done. 

Paul taught that all believers are in Christ, and Christ is in them. 

They are all one in Christ Jesus, children of God with equal standing.  

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Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭27‬-‭29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 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. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

Each of them had received the Spirit of God’s Son into their hearts, crying out, “Abba!  Father!”

Paul wanted to assure them of their union with Christ so that they might learn to live their lives in and through Christ.  

***There is no power, person, or presence that can destroy your spiritual union with Christ. 

Romans 8 makes this abundantly clear. 

Let us, therefore, grow in our awareness of his presence in our lives.  

God Credits Righteousness to Believers

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”

In the great exchange, Christ voluntarily took the punishment for our sins upon himself, and in return, gave us his righteousness. 

*When God looks upon us, he sees us clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

*Though we are still not yet what we will be, he already regards us as righteous in Jesus.  

*Therefore, we can boldly walk with God in the abundance of his grace. 

*Because of God’s gift of righteousness, we need no longer live under any sense of divine condemnation. 

God is not against us; he is for us. 

***We must reject every word, thought, and feeling that contradicts God’s declaration that we are righteous in Christ.  

*We can always go to him for help and grace even when we feel unworthy because Jesus’ perfect obedience to the Father is the basis of our relationship with him. 

So we end with these questions today:

1. Why is it significant that God planned a believer’s salvation before he even created the universe?

2. How do you think God views you? Why?

“Tell rebellious men that God is reconciled, justice is satisfied, sin is paid for, the judgment of the guilty is revoked, the condemnation of the sinner canceled, the curse of the Law blotted out, the gates of heaven opened wide, the power of sin conquered, the guilty conscience healed, the broken heart comforted, and the sorrow and misery of the Fall undone.”

-A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance church

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We Believe: The Doctrine of the Gospel

We Believe: The Doctrine of the Gospel

Whereas last week we focused on the person of Jesus, this week we are narrowing in on his message. 

Jesus’ message was that of the gospel of his Kingdom.  

Focus: We believe the gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus Christ to reconcile lost people to himself. He lived a perfect, sinless life on our behalf and died on the cross for our sins. He was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead, securing our redemption forever.  Having triumphed over Satan and the forces of darkness, he ascended into heaven as Lord of all.  Everyone who repents and believes in him receives forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

• The gospel is good news.

• Repentance is a change of heart and mind in response to God. 

• Faith is believing and trusting in Jesus. 

• Everyone who repents and believes receives forgiveness. 

• Everyone who repents and believes receives eternal life. 

The Gospel is Good News

We believe the gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus Christ to reconcile lost people to himself.

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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

The Greek word for gospel is euangelion.  

It consists of the prefix eu meaning good and the root angelos meaning message or messenger.

So, the gospel is “good news.”

First-century Greeks commonly used the word to refer to the news of historical events. 

It could be news of a military victory, a significant political change, or the joyous birth of a king’s son.

Any good news was euangelion.

The term appears 130 times in the New Testament and is mentioned by eight of the nine New Testament authors.

*It was a summary word to represent the complete work Jesus did to redeem us. 

*They chose euangelion because their message was good news; it was not good advice. 

*Other religions offered good advice; Christianity offered good news.  

*Advice is what you must do, and news is what has already been done.

Moralism is an approach to Christianity that focuses on our external behavior. 

***It requires obedience to the commands of God without connecting those commands to what God has done for us in Christ. 

It is the opposite of the gospel. 

Dr. Rice Brocks summarized the gospel this way, 

“The gospel is the good news that God became man in Jesus Christ.  He lived the life we should have lived and died the death we should have died - in our place.  Three days later, he rose from the dead, proving that he is the Son of God and offering the gift of salvation to those who repent and believe in him.”

*We must continually battle to ensure that we do not follow the path of the Galatians.

Repentance is a Change of Heart and Mind in Response to God

‭‭Mark‬ ‭1‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

Salvation is like a two-sided coin. 

On one side is repentance and on the other side is faith.

*Repentance is turning from sin; faith is turning to God.  

*Neither can occur without the other, and they must occur together for true conversion.

***It is contrary to the New Testament to speak about saving faith without repentance from sin.

Jesus captures the essence of our response to the kingdom of God with the simple phrase, “repent and believe in the gospel.””

But what does it mean to repent?

To answer that question, we must first explain what it’s not.  

***Repentance is not an emotion.  

The author of Hebrews tells us that Esau was emotionally wrought over his sinful decision to sell his birthright, but “he found no chance to repent” (Hebrews 12:16-17). 

*Emotions might accompany repentance (see David’s penitential Psalms 6, 32, 38,51, 102, 130, 143), but they are not repentance.

*Repentance is a change of mind.  

New Testament authors used the Greek word metanoia to describe repentance.

*The term denotes a fundamental transformation of thought and attitude.

It is a complete change of orientation that leads to action and new behavior. 

It is absolute surrender to the will of God that produces a sincere commitment to walk in obedience to Christ and to direct the course of our future according to his plans. 

It is turning away from anything seeking to usurp Christ’s Lordship in our lives. 

God gives us the gift of repentance by revealing his holiness and our sinfulness. 

‭‭

Acts‬ ‭11‬:‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life."”

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭26‬ ‭ESV

“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."”

*But it is also a decision that we make.  

We make the decision at the point of conversion and every day after that.  

Repentance is one of the gospel’s load-bearing walls.  

*If we remove it from the gospel, our entire message collapses. 

Let us diligently hold onto the doctrine of repentance. 

Faith is Believing and Trusting in Jesus

‭‭John‬ ‭20‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but 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.”

Saving faith requires that we believe in Jesus and trust in him. 

To believe in Jesus, we must know the essential facts about his life, death, and resurrection. 

Belief requires knowledge - we must know God’s word before we can believe it - but it is not enough. 

Knowledge is a function of the head; believing is a function of the heart.  

“For with the heart one believes and. Is justified” (Romans 10:10). 

*Although knowledge is the starting point of faith, by itself it may just be mental assent - agreeing with the truth of the Bible without personally appropriating it. 

Mental assent is agreeing with the Word of God in the mind without believing it in the heart.  

I

n his sermon, “The Way of the Kingdom,” John Wesley said, 

“Christian faith is not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ - a resting upon him as our atonement and our life.  It is not mental assent to propositions but sure trust and confidence in Christ.”

*To trust in Jesus, we must be convinced he will do what he said he would. 

This requires us to surrender our lives to him. 

*We can believe in a set of doctrines, but we must trust in a person. 

The apostle John said, “We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.” (I John 4:16)

*A right definition of faith must include the idea that it is a firm and certain confidence in God’s benevolence toward us. 

This sure knowledge of God’s loving character is founded upon the truth of the freely given promise in Christ, both revealed to our minds and sealed upon our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

*Let us ensure that our faith in God includes a commitment to the truth and the person of Jesus.
 

Everyone Who Repents and Believes Receives Forgiveness

‭‭

Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, 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.”

We need forgiveness because God is just, and sin makes us guilty and condemned under his righteous judgement. 

*God could not pass over our sins and remain just; we must pay for them.

But we cannot pay the debt ourselves because, as Martin Luther said, 

“Sin is not canceled by man-invented works, for the more a person seeks credit for himself by his own efforts, the deeper he goes into debt.”

We are desperate for someone to pay our debt, but who could pay a debt like that?

*It must be someone who had never sinned and did not owe the debt.

*This person must be like us so he could take our place but unlike us so that he could pay the infinite price. 

*And so, God the judge became the one who was judged.

Our guilt was laid on him.

Our death sentence was lifted when the Son of God took our place. 

*His substitutionary death upholds God’s justice and allows for our forgiveness.

Now we can receive mercy instead of punishment.  

Other religions discuss forgiveness but never on the basis of a divine Savior who pays our debt to a holy God.

We cannot receive this forgiveness through our labor, zeal or tears (to paraphrase the hymn “Rock of Ages”).

It only comes when we confess Christ as our Lord (repentance) and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead (faith).

Everyone Who Repents and Believes Receives Eternal Life

‭‭

1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Eternal life is a future reward. 

It is a perpetual and unending life that God gives freely to those who repent and believe.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

*Eternal life is not just a future reward but also a current status.

It is a quality of life we experience when we repent and believe. 

*The New Testament word for eternal contains both ideas of duration and quality. 

*The term does not just refer to the future but also to the superior experience of the present age. 

This is why Jesus made it clear when he said,

‭‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

We do not have to wait for eternal life; it is our current possession.

Jesus used the present tense when he said in John 3:36,

”Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”

Thus, we live in eternal life right now, experiencing this quality of God’s life as a present possession. 

The quality of eternal life is best expressed in Jesus’ words to his disciples in the upper room:

John 17:3

”And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

This is the heart of eternal life: an authentic and personal relationship with Jesus. 

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We Believe: The Doctrine of Jesus

We Believe: The Doctrine of Jesus

 We Believe: The Doctrine of Jesus

Focus: We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, incarnated for our redemption, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures.  As our substitute, he lived a sinless life and willingly gave himself as a propitiatory and reconciling sacrifice for our sins on the cross.  He died, was buried, rose bodily on the third day, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as the only mediator between God and humanity. One day he will return again to judge the living and the dead.  

• Jesus is fully God.

• Jesus is fully human.

• Jesus is sinless.

• Jesus died for our sins.

• Jesus rose from the dead.

Jesus is fully God

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, incarnated for our redemption, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures.  

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬, ‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

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.”

Jesus is fully human

We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, incarnated for our redemption, born of the Virgin Mary, fully God and fully man, one person in two natures.  

‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭5-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Jesus is sinless

As our substitute, he lived a sinless life and willingly gave himself as a propitiatory and reconciling sacrifice for our sins on the cross.  

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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.”

Jesus died for our sins

He died, was buried, rose bodily on the third day, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father as the only mediator between God and humanity. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Jesus rose from the dead

One day he will return again to judge the living and the dead.  

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”

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We Believe: The Doctrine of Creation and Fall

We Believe: The Doctrine of Creation and Fall

God’s story begins with creation.  

It is the first fact recorded in the Bible and the theological foundation for all that follows.  

It establishes the sovereign-personal Triune God at the center of the universe and reveals that everything and everyone is dependent upon and responsible to him. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”

It reveals who man is and what eventually goes wrong in the story of redemption. 

The fall is introduced in Genesis 3 and is expanded through Genesis 11. 

Moses goes to great lengths to highlight just how sinful sin is.  

There are hints of redemption in these chapters, but the primary role of this section is to detail the depth of evil in the human heart.  

“Genesis lays the groundwork for all human ills in a fallen world; we are dislocated within ourselves, dislocated from each other; dislocated from God.  Personal fragmentation, social tension, and spiritual alienation are now the parameters of life on earth.”

-Alec Moyer 

This is essential if we are to understand redemption.

We can only know the greatness of God’s provision when we know the magnitude of our debt.  

Focus: We believe God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing, and all very good. He sovereignly sustains and governs creation for his glory and the benefit of his creatures.  God created humans in his image, male and female, to know, love, and glorify him in covenant relationship and to serve as stewards of the earth. The first man, Adam, sinned against God, resulting in alienation, death, guilt, shame, and a curse upon the earth. Separated from God and subject to his judgement, all humans have inherited a sinful nature from which they cannot save themselves. 

• God made all things good. 

• God governs everything he made. 

• God made humans in his image. 

• Humans rebelled against God. 

• All humans are sinful. 

God made all things good

We believe God created all things, visible and invisible, out of nothing, and all very good. 

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬, ‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

The idea of one all-powerful God who created everything was not understood or believed in ancient cultures.

They assumed there was a pantheon of gods who carried different levels of responsibility for creation and sustaining the cosmos and the creatures in it.  

The world, they believed, was the result of some cosmic conflict between warring deities.

The created world was a result of violence.

Therefore, the material world was evil - or, at best, neutral.

The biblical story proclaims something radically different and new: one all-powerful God created everything with intentionality and delight. 

Rather than wrestling with other deities for supremacy, the God of the Bible is supreme.

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭44‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.””

Rather than creating the world and its creatures through killing competitors, God creates through speaking and breathing life.

To embrace this claim today is to push back against the idea that the created world and its creatures were a cosmic accident - the chance result of chemical and physical processes.

To embrace this claim today is to affirm that creaturely existence is neither meaningless nor accidental but rather full of purpose, goodness, and beauty. 

“There’s not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is Lord of all, does not exclaim, ‘ Mine!’”

-Abraham Kuyper  

God governs everything he made. 

He sovereignly sustains and governs creation for his glory and the benefit of his creatures. 

‭‭

Nehemiah‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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.”

It is not enough to simply claim that God created all things.

God could have created everything and then left creation to manage itself, which is the fundamental idea behind Deism, assuming that we merely operate by the laws of nature.

The Bible clearly gives a different picture of God intimately involved with his creation, governing all things according to his will and sustaining his creatures - great and small.

Most ancient societies believed that the gods governed the earth and, as a result, acknowledged their dependence on the gods (or God) for rain, good crops, and material benefits.

In our modern scientific age, we are often insulated from the creaturely vulnerability and utter reliance on God’s sustaining world in creation.

It is usually in natural (or man-made) disasters that we modern humans are reminded that we are not lords of creation. 

God is.

And that is fortunate because humanity does not have a good track record of governing itself and the earth.

In the midst of life’s flights and storms, I enjoy reminding people why we should not worry - because if we have been reconciled to God in Christ, we know who is in control and all things work for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8). 

God made humans in his image. 

God created humans in his image, male and female, to know, love, and glorify him in covenant relationship and to serve as stewards of the earth. 

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭27‬-‭28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

What does it mean that God made humans in his image?

Clearly, the Genesis author is not referring to physical resemblance - like children resembling their parents.

The image of God (often referred to by its Latin name “Imago Dei”) is first mentioned in Genesis and then expanded on by the other biblical authors. 

Man possesses characteristics that separate him from the rest of creation:

• Intellectual: Man is aware of self and can think, reason and learn.  He can communicate verbally using complex, abstract language. He has an innate creativity that manifests in art, music, literature, science, and technology. He can calculate and perform logical and analytical functions.  He can design, create, and invent.  

• Ethical: Man can distinguish between right and wrong. He can make real moral choices. 

• Emotional: Man can feel anger, love, compassion, grief, and the entire range of human emotions. 

• Teleological: Teleological derives from the Greek word telos meaning end or purpose and logos meaning the study of something. Teleology is the study of ends and purposes. It assumes that life is heading somewhere rather than in meaningless circles.  Man has a longing for purpose and responsibility. He has immortality; he will not cease to exist but will live forever. He has not only a physical body but also an immaterial spirit and can act in eternally significant ways. 

• Relational: Man can have a relationship with God. This means he can relate to God, pray and praise him, and hear him speaking his words. He can develop relationships with other humans and experience community.  

God created us to reflect his glory, to see the latent potentiality within creation, and “be fruitful and multiply.”

This means that each of your days you are meant to be a joyful adventure as you walk with God and cultivate your corner of the world, as a vice-regent, just as God would!

Humans rebelled against God. 

The first man, Adam, sinned against God, resulting in alienation, death, guilt, shame, and a curse upon the earth. 

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?””

What transpired at this moment of rebellion, and what does it mean?

First, Adam and Eve doubted God’s goodness.

In trying to usurp God’s authority, they felt shame, vulnerability and disorientation, ultimately separating themselves from and trying to hide from God.

Second, humanity’s rebellion had widespread consequences.

For Adam and Eve, the results of disobedience manifested in their relationship with God, one another, and creation.

This is how sin affects all humans.

It separates us from God and people.

It harms us and those around us.

*It infects our souls, institutions, our communities, and ecosystems.

It is like a deadly virus spreading in a densely populated city.

It is like a toxic chemical poured into a river that spreads without limit and kills whatever it touches.

Have you seen this in your own family, life and community?

What started with such promise in Genesis 1 and 2 plunged into a hopeless abyss.

Only a new Adam can save it.

All humans are sinful. 

Separated from God and subject to his judgement, all humans have inherited a sinful nature from which they cannot save themselves. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬-‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.””

What is clear from the earliest pages of the Bible and any era of human history is that all humans are sinful.

This is an empirical fact.

Think of the wars, the murders, the lies, the adulteries, the rape, the greed, the tyranny, the selfishness, the thievery, the slander, the hatred, the factions, the lack of forgiveness and the like.

Throughout Scripture, we are awakened to the reality that we are not only sinful because we find ourselves in a hostile environment filled with sinful people and sinful systems.

We are sinful because we have inherited that nature from our ancestors. 

*Sin affects us not only from the outside in, but also from the inside out.

We call this “original sin.”

What this means is that:

Because the one triune God is the creator of us all, his  commands and law of God apply to all of us, no matter where we are born, how we were raised, what we were taught to believe or presently think of God.

It also means that it is not everyone else’s sin that matters while yours does not.

Sin is a big deal, even it is not seen as such in our culture because its results separate us fro God and one another.  

God wants to help us, wants to save our families, communities and nations, but the prerequisite is that we turn from our sin to Jesus at the cross.  

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.”

As King Solomon finished dedicating the temple in Jerusalem, the Lord gave him this exhortation as an encouragement for us all:

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.”

The very things for which we judge others, we often do ourselves, or commit some manner of other sin for which we try to excuse ourselves but for which we are still guilty.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But 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. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.”

There is no discrimination. 

God does not play favorites. 

*No one and no sin gets a pass.  

*We are all in need of a Savior. 

This search for a righteous one is the fundamental narrative thread of the Old Testament.

When will he come, and from where?

And how will we know him?

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 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.”

We are all called to repentance and faith at the cross of Jesus Christ. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We must be born again.

John 3

So, in light of this:

1. Why is it essential to have a worldview shaped by the biblical account of creation and what are the results of denying the biblical account of creation?

2. What is the image of God, and why does it matter that we believe and embrace it?

3. What are the consequences of human rebellion in our relationship to God, others, and the creation?

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We Believe: The Doctrine of Scripture

We Believe: The Doctrine of Scripture

Focus: We believe that God has spoken through human authors in the Scriptures, the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the only written, verbally inspired Word of God and is self-attesting, unchanging, and without error in all it affirms. As God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, the Bible is to be trusted and obeyed.

• Because we believe this, we can view the Bible as trustworthy, relevant, and trustworthy.

If you want to go deeper than the tip of the iceberg (what we will look at today):

• Wes Huff’s YouTube channel

• Voddie Baucham’s presentation, “Why You Can Believe the Bible”

• James White’s library of debates

Let’s break down the three sub-statements that our focus statement makes.

Sub-statement #1: God has spoken through human authors in the Scriptures, the 66 canonical books of the Old and New Testaments.

• What do we mean by “The Bible”?

  • 66 books

  • Written over 1,600 years

  • Across 3 continents

  • By 40+ authors

  • In 3 different languages

• The Bible is simultaneously 66 books and 1 book. 66 collected books, but 1 story about God’s plan, His will, and His heart’s desire for His creation.

• Many of these authors were contemporaries, writing their book at the same time as another author without much knowledge of that particular author or what they were writing. I’ll give you two examples of what I mean:

  • See: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah all wrote prophecies during the 8th century to either the Northern Kingdom of Israel or Southern Kingdom of Judah.

  • See: Paul, James, Peter, John, Jude who all wrote Epistles laying out new revelations concerning Christian doctrine.

• There were no Google Docs shared amongst these authors to compare and contrast notes! Yet each grouping wrote new revelation that confirmed and harmonized with each other that all referenced the same, consistent God (Jesus) in one, continuous and overarching story.

• This is remarkable and fascinating! Only God could accomplish such a feat. By this we can confirm what 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Sub-statement #2: The Bible is the only written, verbally inspired Word of God and is self-attesting, unchanging, and without error in all it affirms.

• Many religions claim this statement e.g. Mormonism (The Book of Mormon), Islam (The Quran), Jehovah’s Witnesses (The New World Translation). However, only one book (The Bible) is self-attesting in its accuracy

• How we know a religious text is true:

  • The author is who they claim to be.

  • They wrote about events that they either witnessed or gathered from other eyewitnesses.

  • The events written down are honest and accurate to what transpired

• Consider just 3 verses in Luke 3:1-3

  • In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

• Luke names 22 historical references to places and people, verified by archaeology and ancient literary sources outside of the Bible. This places Luke’s writing in a historical framework that is consistent with the time period he claims to be writing in and about.

  • Contrast this with other texts like the Gnostic Gospels of Mary, Judas, and Peter. Most places, people, and names used are inconsistent with the archaeological and historical context they claim to be writing in. This places these writings centuries after the supposed authors (Mary, Judas, and Peter) lived.

  • Conclusion: The claimed author is incorrect = untrustworthy document.

  • Even trustworthy historians get these types of “minor” facts wrong.

    • See: the historian Tacitus incorrectly labels Pilate as the procurator of Rome, but Pilate was actually the governor.

    • We confirm this through an archeological find called the “Pilate Stone”.

    • Luke gets this right, a historian from this time period gets it wrong.

    • Conclusion: If the author of Luke was not Luke, they might have referenced trustworthy historians like Tacitus! But they would have been inaccurate in the small details. Luke simply referenced his lived experience and got it right. Therefore, it is most likely that Luke is who he says he is.

  • Why is this important? Every Gospel writer gets these “minor” facts correct even when ancient writers do not.

  • Furthermore, Luke’s gospel is saturated with Old and New Testament references, some of which he was unaware of when writing. Thus we can conclude that his writings are most likely accurate and inspired by God

• Consider the Quran and The Book of Mormon.

  • These books claim to be written each by one person, an infallible “prophet of God”.

  • Yet, if it can be deduced that either Joseph Smith (The Book of Mormon) or Muhammad (The Quran) didn’t write the book OR are in fact fallible OR their writings are inconsistent with other accurate texts, the house of cards collapses.

    • For at least these two books, it is historically confirmed that these individuals were flawed and their writings were inconsistent within themselves and when compared to other reliable texts.

  • The Gospel of Luke, in contrast, does not to claim an infallible author, but it does claim infallible and consistent content. All of which can be confirmed through dozens of other biblical texts and a library of historical data.

• The kicker:

  • This standard is passed for every single book of the 66 books of Scripture.

  • Within these 66 books, 40+ authors cross-reference each other an estimated 66,779 times even when some of the authors were not aware of the texts they were ultimately confirming or being confirmed by.

  • This is what we mean when we say the Bible is self-attesting

• It is also unchanging and without error.

  • The Bible has been transcribed and copied for over 2000 years. Every difference found in the various copies never add or change the doctrinal text but are merely grammatical or spelling errors.

  • The Bible predicted this:

    • Isaiah 40:8, The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

    • Psalm 12:6-7, The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever.

• Conclusion: The Bible is miraculously inspired by God and is thus trustworthy in all it affirms.

Sub-statement #3: As God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, the Bible is to be trusted and obeyed.

• Now we must ask the question: so what?

• First, since the Bible is God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, we must use this book as a filter for our every belief and action.

  • Even – or especially – our religious experiences should be tested through Scripture.

    • Don’t just attend a religious gathering and assume everything is true. Scripture has the final say.

    • We at Second City Church welcome scripturally-based pushback to anything we do or teach!

    • In Acts 17:10-11 we meet a group of Jews from Berea. It says in verse 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.”

    • It is noble to hold the word of God in such high regard that we do not let even our most trusted religious leaders become exempt from its scrutiny.

  • The values we are taught in this world should be tested through Scripture.

    • We live in a world that is obsessed with self-expression, self-identity, living your truth. But the Bible says in Luke 9:23, “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  Our true identity comes from who we are in Christ, it comes from the Bible. Do not let the world convince you otherwise.

• Second, because the Bible is God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, we should never add to or subtract from it.

  • Consider these common phrases:

    • God only helps those who help themselves.

    • God will never give you something that you cannot handle.

    • Don’t judge, only God can judge.

    • Money is the root of all evil.

  • None of these are true, none of them are found in scripture. All of them add or subtract from God’s Word.

  • What was the first lie ever told?

    • Genesis 3:1-3, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

    • Eve added to God’s Word (“…neither shall you touch it” – God never said that) and it led to the fall of man.

• Third, because the Bible is God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, we should read it. We should study it.

  • 2 Timothy 2:15, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

  • Joshua 1:8, This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

  • Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

• Fourth, among many other things I could mention but don’t have all day, because the Bible is God’s authoritative, infallible, and sufficient revelation for life, doctrine, and practice, you should know this:

  • Jesus loves you, this you know… why? For the Bible tells you so.

  • There is no greater truth that this trustworthy and reliable book teaches than the fact that Jesus loves you (John 3:16). That He loves you so much that He came to rescue you (Ephesians 2:4-7, Ezekiel 34:11-12). We were meant to live a perfect life (Leviticus 19:2), but we did not (Romans 3:23). We sinned and rebelled against a perfect God (Isaiah 30:1). This book tells us that God Himself, Jesus, came to earth and lived that perfect life we should have lived (Hebrews 4:15). But He died a sinners death, the death you and I deserved (2 Corinthians 5:21). That He rose again on the third day and defeated sin (Hebrews 2:14-15). That what Romans 10:9 says is true, “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.” Saved from a life of bondage to sin, saved from a death eternally separated from the one who loves you that much, and saved into eternal life with Jesus.

Know that Jesus loves you, that He wants a relationship with you, that He died for you and defeated death for you

. Because the Bible tells us so.

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We Believe: God

We Believe: God

Focus: our view of God forms the framework for how we relate to Him, and informs both our theology and our practical Christian living, which should be inseparable

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

—A.W. Tozer, "The Knowledge of the Holy"

How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except in so far as it is related to how He thinks of us.

—C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”

How “belief” works.

I’ve worked in the technology industry for over 20 years, and it still fascinates me how the most brilliant, driven, and influential people stake their entire lives on bold credal statements about what advances in science can do.

Even as consumers, we’ve all benefited from these advances so there is a level of truth in some of these statements. We’ve all seen and experienced these “beliefs” about technology continuously prove themselves true in the comforts of our homes. 

Likewise, we also know how harmful and dangerous technology can be. We don’t even need to peel back the layers of industrialization to see its dark side. That this is just one slice of reality, where propositions about something have determined and continue to determine the course of humanity, reveals a lot about the power of belief.

These statements of faith unify our mission and ground our relationships

According to the Oxford dictionary, to “believe” is to have confidence or faith in or on something that you consequently act on it even without the burden of proof. It’s to hold on to something as true, regardless of the degree, that we step into it as our lived reality. 

Every person lives by faith: it’s inherent to human existence to hold beliefs and make choices based on things beyond complete proof. Faith can be religious, such as belief in God or religious principles, but it also extends to secular areas, including faith in one's own intellect, the reliability of the scientific method, or the existence of an objective reality. 

Collectively, this means our underlying beliefs sustain and drive our mission as a church. Within Every Nation and even within our home church, we come from many theological, and denominational backgrounds. Nonetheless, we can agree on a set of statements that allow us to grow together in our mission. Because Christianity is not meant to be an isolated journey, getting on the same page about these statements is important to the longevity of our unity.

Sounds theology helps us form healthy spirituality 

More so, as much as our common hope for the city of Chicago and the cities we are reaching out to like Madison, unites us, sound theology also grounds our own individual walks of faith. It’s the framework through which we live out our faith, starting with our statement about what we believe about God.

As Paul metaphorically says, the collective “we” are the aroma of Christ that spreads the knowledge of God:

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing

2 Corinthians 2:14-15 ESV

Without projecting a unified “scent”, any fragrance loses its potency. Likewise, as one body, our shared belief about God will allow us to carry out our mission with efficacy. So here’s the first statement: 

Statement:

“We believe in one God, creator and sustainer of all things. He is perfect and unchanging; completely loving, good, and holy; limitless in knowledge, power, and presence. God eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; one in essence, having the same divine attributes and perfections, with each person fulfilling distinct roles. Gracious in his eternal purpose to redeem a people for himself, God is worthy of wholehearted love and worship.”

Let’s break it down into 3 components:

1 - God is great and good.

The most common way theologians categorize God’s characteristics are distinguishing between what he shares with humans and those he does not 

We group the first set of attributes under the heading “the goodness of God.” We group the second set under the heading “the greatness of God.” 

The greatness of God sets Him apart not only from us humans, but even more so, from any form of knowing we can operate under. These attributes of God’s being are his essential nature and therefore fully incomprehensible to us because of our limited capacities:

• Omnipresence: God is present everywhere, fully and completely.

• Omniscience: God knows everything, without limitation.

• Omnipotence: God is all-powerful, capable of doing anything that is logically possible.

• Self-existence (Aseity): God's existence is not dependent on anything else; He is the source of all being.

• Immutability: God does not change in His being, perfections, purposes, or promises.

• Infinity: God's attributes have no boundaries or limitations.

These incommunicable attributes highlight the vast difference between God and His creation, emphasizing His transcendence and unique nature, according to religious scholars.  

Because God’s greatness is above and beyond what we can fathom, he is greatly to be praised and we should declare his mighty works from generation to generation.

“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭145‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God’s goodness, on other hand, are His “communicable attributes”. When we say God is good, we refer to the many attributes of His character that have been revealed to us personally, those we share with him because he made us in his image. These are His moral attributes that are in and of themselves, the perfect measure of our “human versions”. Some of which we see in this passage:

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:6-7 ESV

We can never add, nor take away from God’s perfect expression of these because our versions are but a dim reflection marred and deformed by sin. How do we respond to His unqualified goodness as we experience its many aspects in our lives? 

• Humbly receive

• Grow and increase

• Seek and ask for revelation

Holding these two beliefs together - that God is both great and good - is a life-long process. It’s not about simply knowing them, but stepping into these as reality.

When we go through tough times, knowing that God can save us comes knowing He is great. Knowing that He is willing to deliver us into safety and even prosper us, even if we had some fault in the challenge we’re in, comes knowing He is also good.

2 - God is one and triune.

It’s hard to imagine a culture wherein monotheism wasn’t prevalent because of how widespread Judaism, Christianity and Islam are today. Even if Hinduism, the most common polytheist religion today, has made its way to the States, we in the modern West are more likely to associate religion to monotheism. We don’t realize that monotheism created an ethical revolution that changed the world.

In Romans, Paul argues that our first parents in the Faith worshipped one indivisible, all-powerful God. Polytheism only developed as the result of their rebellion. Monotheism is different from Polytheism, the belief in many gods; Pantheism, the belief that everything is god; and Atheism, the belief that there is no god. 

That we believe in one God isn’t hard to fathom today. That this one God eternally exists as three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and that each person is fully God, is one of the most challenging doctrines to comprehend because it transcends reason.

The challenge with the doctrine of the Trinity, as much as we Christians have embraced it, is that when it comes to the mission we are to carry out, it is still very mysterious as to how it works:

"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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20 ESV

But that’s also the beauty of Faith when it comes to this doctrine. Human nature is all about seeking knowledge to control it. We want to describe and relate to God on our own manageable terms. We even meditate on His goodness more than his greatness because as Tozer says, “We want to get Him where we can use Him, or at least know where He is when we need Him. We want a God we can in some measure control.”

To simplify, let’s focus on what this core tenet means for us: God exists in three persons and that each person is equally, fully God:

• God is a relational, communal being within himself. And because he created us in his image, we were created for community. Nothing works right in our lives without it. A loving relationship with God and others is the ultimate meaning of life.

• God is unity with diversity. Therefore, we should strive for unity while embracing diversity. This is a model for us and a witness to the world.

3 - God is worthy.

That the Trinity is a mystery we will never fully understand, yet its bearings on humanity as relational beings fully indispensable, should only humble us.

For why would a great God who’s already happy, content, and absolutely perfect in His own being, sacrifice a part of Himself to bring us into fellowship with Him? What indeed is man that God would care for us this much?

The passage in Philippians 2:6-8 describes Jesus's attitude of humility, stating that while he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God something to be exploited or grasped, but instead humbled himself by becoming a servant and ultimately dying on the cross. This passage emphasizes Jesus's willingness to forgo his divine privileges and take on human form, ultimately leading to his exaltation by God. 

This grounds his worthiness in ways that we can respond to personally.

So we close with the final line in this first statement of our beliefs:

Gracious in his eternal purpose to redeem a people for himself, God is worthy of wholehearted love and worship. 

In one of John’s visions on Patmos, he sees and hears the heavenly choir shout seven things God is worthy to receive: power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. The first six are intrinsic qualities of God, and the seventh is the creation’s response to his worthiness.

And we place ourselves in John’s experience:

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Revelation 5:11-13 ESV

Conclusion and application:

• God’s greatness and goodness are inseparable in worship. His greatness stands apart, independent of our response to it, yet his goodness reveals to us His careful attention to each of us in ways that are both universal and personal. 

• Which one of God’s attributes of greatness resonate the most and which one is the most remote and unfamiliar? Be intentional with how we reserve awe and honor God’s greatness.

• Which one of God’s attributes of goodness are you most deficient in? What practical steps can you take to be more like him in that area? Let’s stay in the habit of meditating and resting on His goodness.

The Trinity teaches us community, diversity, and mystery. 

Which of these three is most applicable to your life? Why?

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