FUNDAMENTALS OF THE FAITH
Module 6 presents the primary teachings of the Bible that reveal God. The module also reviews essential doctrine and observances to help us remember the teachings of Jesus.
Jesus shared the Passover meal with His disciples
Module Bible Reading Assignment
John - Chapters 7 & 8
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11: 1
The Greek word for faith is pisteuo (pronounced “Pis-tay-U-o”). It is best translated as three different but closely related words: “faith,” “believe,” and “trust.”
The Bible
How do we know who God is?
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN - CHAPTER 1 (versus 1 & 14)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The attributes of God ……
Knows everything
— OMNISCIENT
Is present everywhere
— OMNIPRESENT
Is all powerful
— OMNIPOTENT
Another reminder:
This website endeavors to provide the basics of a foundational Christian belief structure. Catholic or Protestant denominations are not mentioned in the Bible. Christian Ordinances are practiced in different ways. A Baptist approach / perspective is presented for these observances.
Theistic understandings of God.
“God is One.”
— Monotheistic
Agnostic - without a knowledge of God. A person who doesn’t know if God exists or not.
“There are many gods.”
— Pantheistic
“There is no God.”
— Atheistic
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”
Deuteronomy 6: 4-6
FOUR MAJOR NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT DEFINE THE PERSON OF JESUS
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JOHN 1: 1-18 & 8: 58
The spoken word of God became a human
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
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PHILLIPIANS 2: 5-11
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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COLOSSIANS 1: 13-20
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
COLOSSIANS 2: 9-10
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.
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HEBREWS 1: 1-3
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Salvation is by faith alone by grace alone and by Christ alone.
The essence of EPHESIANS 2: 8-9
God is TRIUNE
One in Essence, Three in Person: The Mystery of the Trinity
Lecture by R.C. Sproul
22 minutes
TRINITY
God exists eternally as one divine nature, substance, or essence, comprising three co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial persons:
Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Each person is fully God, but is also distinct.
The trinity is a difficult concept to grasp.
The following illustrations may help ……
“Is it One God or Three Gods?”
Consider the “Units” …..
One banana + one banana + one banana = 3 bananas
One apple + one banana + one pear = bowl of fruit
Water - can exist in three different and distinct states depending on environmental conditions …….
Solid (Frozen) - less than 0 degrees centigrade
Liquid - between 0 - 100 degrees centigrade
Gas (vapor)- more than 100 degrees centigrade
The Lord’s Supper
Partaking of the Lord's Supper is significant and full of meaning for the Christ follower.
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As our physical bodies need sustenance, our spiritual bodies require the same. Only Jesus Christ can provide this “nutrition” for our spirit. Routinely remembering this new covenant with the Lord is vitally important to the believer.
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I Corinthians 11: 24
“And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
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I Corinthians 11: 25
“After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”
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I Corinthians 11: 27-29
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
God is transcendent ……
Outside of time
—TIMELESS
Outside of space
— SPACELESS
Outside of matter
— IMMATERIAL
What is Prayer?
“Prayer is spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to Him. Prayer to God is like a child’s conversation with his father. It is natural for a child to ask his father for the things he needs.”
Source: https://billygraham.org
PRAY
Praise Repent Ask Yield
Jesus is fully God and Jesus is fully Man
Hebrews 1: 3 says Jesus is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.”
The author of Hebrews uses the word in reference to the oneness of God. Both the Father and the Son are of the same “nature.” Jesus is “the exact imprint of his nature.”
hy·po·stat·ic un·ion
/ˈˌhīpəˈˌstadik ˈyo͞onyən/
noun
THEOLOGY
1. the combination of divine and human natures in the single person of Christ.
Baptism
Jesus did not come to make “bad people” good, He came to make “dead people” live.
Baptism is a symbolic act that proclaims a new spiritual birth has taken place.
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Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s burial and resurrection.
Colossians 2: 12-14 (MSG)
Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive – right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant cancelled and nailed to Christ’s cross.”
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Baptism is an act of faith and obedience to the commands of Christ.
Matthew 28: 19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
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Baptism declares a new identity.
Just as the Disciples of Jesus were called publicly, the Christ follower must “go public” with this decision.
2 Corinthians 5: 17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
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It is quite striking to note the particulars of Jesus’ baptism. [1] First, he was baptized by John the Baptist. This is quite interesting in light of John’s lineage. Elizabeth, John’s mother, was a Levite (Luke 1:5). John’s father was also a Levite and priest (Luke 1:5), which made John a Levitical priest inheriting the office from his father (Exod 29:9; Num 25:13).[2] Jesus was baptized at age 30 and immediately after his baptism, he was called by his Father from heaven as he officially began his public ministry (Luke 3:21-3). Lastly, Jesus was sinless, thus without spot or blemish. And as the author of Hebrews records, he came from the line of Melchizedek (Psa 110:4; Heb 7:11). All of these details parallel the requirements for the Levitical priesthood. The Old Testament Scriptures state that a priest had to be male (Num 3:15), begin his public ministry at age 30 (Num 4:3), washed in water at his ordination by another priest (Exod 29:4, 9; Num 25:13), called by God (Exod 28:1), without deficiencies in special ways (Lev 21:16-23), begin his ministry immediately after his ordination ceremony (Exod 29:1) and descend from the line of Aaron (Exod 28:1). Each of these details line up exactly with the baptism of Jesus except the lineage from which Jesus descended. Jesus was from the order of Melchizedek and not Aaron. description
Baptism is meant to show the world that that you love, trust and have put your hope in Christ.
It’s like a wedding ring.
Let’s say I’m not married right now, but if I put a wedding ring on my finger, would that make me married? No, of course not. Similarly, I can be baptised in a church, but that doesn’t make me a true believer in Christ. Imagine that I really was married, though. My husband and I really did go through the marriage ceremony, but I just didn’t have my ring on my finger. Would that mean I wasn’t married? No, of course I would still be married. Similarly, I can be a believer in Christ, but not baptised, and my sins are still paid for and forgiven by God. But imagine that I truly was married and I really, really loved my husband. Would I wear my wedding ring? Of course! I would love my husband and want the whole world to know it! In the same way, if I have trusted Christ to save me from sin, and He is the lord and joy of my life, then I’ll want everyone to know about it. So baptism is a statement to everyone who sees it that I have trusted Christ for my salvation and I’m committed to living for Him.
Taken from Hillsong.com
John MacArthur - Believer's Baptism Message
55 minutes
The word worship comes from an Old English word weorþscipe. It means worthship or to ascribe worth to something. Our worship, therefore, has everything to do with God’s worth or value to us.
What is Worship?
“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose--all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”
William Temple
CHRISTIAN ETHICS
