Christian Beliefs Explained & Defended

We believe the Bible is the Word of God. It was written by human authors that were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The original manuscripts, inspired by the Holy Spirit, are free from errors and contradictions. It is the only authoritative and trustworthy rule for faith and life. (2 Pe 1:20-21, 2 Tim 3:16, 1 Cor 2:13, Lk 21:33, 1 Th 2:13) The Bible is to be taken as literally as possible except where obviously figurative. While there are questions of meaning and application over which we may agree to disagree, there is nothing for which we are responsible to God in terms of our salvation and sanctification that is not expressed in Scripture, either in precept or principle. (2 Tim 3:14-15, Ps 119:9, 2 Pet 1:19, 1 Jn 5:13, Jn 15:5-8, Eph 6:10-17, Ps 1:1-3, Jos 1:8, Mt 4:4, 1 Pet 3:15, Jn 8:32)

The Bible canon, i.e. table of contents, in its present form, consists of the earliest, reliable, and church-approved documents. Because of the diverse opinions among Christians regarding the inspiration of scripture, we recognize the commonly-accepted 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament to be ecumenical (universally-accepted) scripture. We accept the 7 deuterocanonical books and 3 apocryphal books within the scope of Christian orthodoxy, and we make no claims neither for nor against their status as inspired scripture. Furthermore, we believe all other non-canonical writings outside of these listed (outlined in footnotes *1) to be uninspired and not of historically-reliable Christian origins.

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• The original manuscript authors and subsequent copiers, as well as the oral tradition, believed it to be sacred scripture, the commands and Word of Almighty God, given to specifically-chosen people called prophets, who were given visions and spoken through by the Holy Spirit, and thus were diligent to maintain its accuracy and preserve the integrity of the message. (Deut 4:14, Deut 6:6-9, Deut 17:18-20, 2 Sam 23:1-2, Ez 2:2, Josh 23:6, 1:8, 2 Kings 22:11, Ezra 10:1-4, Neh 13:1-3, Is 40:8, 2 Kings 17:13-14, Lk 16:17, Jn 10:34-36, Mt 5:17-19, 1 Thes 2:13, Heb 1:1-2, 1 Pet 1:10-11, Deut 29:29, Ps 119:50-51, Lk 24:44, Ps 1:1-3, Ex 18:20, Lev 10:11, 2 Tim 3:14-17, Ps 119:33, Ps 119:9, 1 Cor 10:11, Ro 15:4, 1 Pet 1:23, 2 Pet 1:20)
• Biblical authors valued truth, and were diligent to teach and record in writing with accuracy the truth. (Luke 1:1-4, Jn 21:24, Acts 20:24, Mt 13:37 – Lk 8:11, Jn 17:17, Ecc 7:25, Deut 13:14, 17:4, 19:18, Job 5:27, 2 Cor 10:5, Col 2:8, Ro 1:18, 2 Pet 1:16, 1:17-18, 1 Pet 3:15, Jn 8:32)
• God warned about adding or taking away from His Word. (Rev 22:18-19, Deut 4:2, Deut 12:32, Pro 30:5-6)
• Jesus taught that many ignored the scriptures of God and followed the traditions of men, rather than meditating on God’s Word through the Holy Spirit. As opposed to changing the Holy scriptures, people are described all throughout the Bible having deviated from or disobeying the scripture, having disagreements about the interpretation and thus forming sects within the religion, or adding their own traditions and rituals on top of it. A study of the history of religion, and the reliability of the Bible, since the first century, shows that religion has continued to do the exact same thing over the last two millennia. Apparently, God has kept His Word intact, knowing full well that mankind will still find plenty of other ways to disagree, distort the truth, and cause divisions. (Mt 22:29, Mk 7:13, Ps 119:169, 2 Pet 3:15-16, Jn 17:17, Acts 17:11, 2 Tim 2:15, 1 Cor 2:9-12, Lk 24:45, Jn 14:26, Jn 16:13, 1 Jn 2:27, 1 Tim 4:11-16, 2 Tim 4:1-5, Col 2:8, 1 Pet 3:15)

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Other Resources

• Video – The Reliability of the Bible New Testament Text (Dr. James White)
• Video – Is the Bible Reliable and Accurate? (Josh McDowell)

There is only one God. (Deut 6:4, 32:39, 4:35, Jn 5:44, Is 45:21-22, 1 Chr 17:20, Mk 12:29) He is the only Supreme Being with no gods created before or after Him in all of existence, in all places, in all time. (Is 43:10, 44:6, 45:18, 44:8, Eph 4:6, 1 Tim 1:17, Ps 86:10, Acts 17:29, Ex 33:20, 2 Sam 7:22, 1 Cor 8:4) He has always been God and was never anything else. (Ps 90:2) We are to worship the LORD God and serve Him only. (Lk 4:8, 1 Cor 8:6)

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He is:

• Eternal – existing forever (Is 41:4, 57:15, Ps 90:2, 4, 102:12, 26-27; Mal 3:6, 1 Tim 1:17, 2 Peter 3:8, Rev 1:8, 22:13, Jn 17:5, Mk 13:31, 1 Pet 1:24-25, Ex 15:18)
• Omnipresent – present everywhere at once (Jer 23:24, Ps 139:7, 1 Ki 8:27, Acts 7:48-50, 17:24, 17:29, 40:22, Ex 33:20, Deut 4:15-19, 1 Tim 1:17, 1 Tim 6:16)
• Omnipotent – having unlimited power (Jer 32:17, 27, Is 40:26-28, Matt 19:26, Acts 26:8)
• Omniscient – all knowing (1 Jn 3:20, Mt 19:26, Is 40:13-14, Is 40:28, Ro 11:33-34, Ps 147:5)
• Creator – of everything that is (Is 40:12, 22, 26; Deut 32:18, Neh 9:6, John 1:3-4, Romans 1:20)
• Holy – set apart (Rev 4:8, Acts 17:24, Jn 17:11, Ex 33:20, Ps 113:4-6, 83:18, 148:13)
• Sovereign – greater/beyond creation (Ps 148:13, Job 38:33-37, Acts 17:25, Col 1:17, 1 Tim 6:15-16)

• Love (1 John 4:8, 16, Isaiah 49:15-16, Psalms 103:8, Luke 7:47)
• Light (1 John 1:5, Psalms 36:9, Habakkuk 3:4, Isaiah 60:19-20)
• Life Itself – Creator & Sustainer of (John 1:3-4, 6:63, 10:28, Gen 2:7, Acts 17:25, Is 42:5, Job 33:4, 2 Pet 1:11, Ps 146:2-4)
• Spirit (Jn 4:24, Heb 11:3, Ps 143:10, Gal 5:22, 2 Cor 3:17-18, Is 31:3, 28:5-6, Ps 51:11, Is 34:16)
• Truth (Psalms 117:2, John 7:38, John 17:17, Psalms 32:10, John 8:32)
• Righteous (Ez 33:10-11, 1 Pe 3:12, Ps 145:16-17, 2 Pe 2:9, Ps 34:15, Mt 6:4, 6, 18)
• Judge (Gen 18:25, Ps 94:2, 9:13, 98:9, Is 33:22, 1 Sam 16:7, Pro 3:12, Jer 17:10)
• Savior (Is 45:21-22, Is 43:11, Is 49:6, Ezek 16:63, Ezek 34:12, Hos 13:4, Ps 18:2, Ps 50:15, Lk 3:4-6)

• To be Loved (Deut 6:5, Mark 12:29-30, Matt 10:37, John 14:15, James 1:12, James 2:5, 1 Peter 1:8)
• To be Connected With (Jn 14:21, 14:23, 17:26, Deut 13:3, Ex 34:14, 1 Cor 8:3, Eph 3:17-19, Jn 14:16, Rev 3:20)
• To be Obeyed (Phil 2:12, 2 Cor 10:3-6, Rom 1:5, 6:15-23, 1 Pet 1:14, 2, Deut 11:13-28, Jer 7:23, 1 Sam 15:22-23)
• To be Worshiped (Lk 4:8, Gen 24:26; Ex 4:31, 2 Chron 29:28, 1 Cor 14:25, Rev 7:11, Ps 148:5-13)
• To be Served (Matt 4:10, 1 Cor 6:19, Phil 3:7, 1 Thes 1:9, Heb 9:14, Romans 8:28, Mt 4:10)
• To be Proclaimed (Matt 28:19, Jn 14:15, Acts 1:8, Mark 16:15-16, Romans 10:12-15)

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Other Resources

• Video – The Reason For God (Tim Keller)
• Video – Scientific Evidence That Points To A Creator (Lee Strobel)
• Video – Why Isn’t There Proof Of God? (Inspiring Philosophy)

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force or energy, but rather, is the third Person of the triune God. He is coeternal and coequal with the Father and the Son. He is sent to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He fully indwells every true believer as a guarantee of his inheritance, guides and empowers them, providing them gifts for ministry, interceding in accordance with the will of God, witnessing to Jesus.

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• The Holy Spirit is God – (Acts 5:3-4, Luke 1:35, Eph 4:30, 1 Cor 3:16, Ex 34:34, 31:1-5, 35:1-5, 2 Cor 3:3, 2 Cor 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:21, 1 Cor 6:11, Psalms 139:7-10, Isaiah 11:2, 40:13, 61:1, 1 Cor 2:10-11, Zec 4:6, 2 Peter 1:21, Hag 2:5, 1 Pet 4:14, Is 32:14-17, Ez 39:27-29, Acts 10:38)The Holy Spirit possesses traits unique to only God:
  • Eternal (Heb 9:14)
  • Creator of Everything (Ps 104:30, Job 33:4)
  • Omnipresent (Ps 139:7-10)
  • Omniscient (1 Cor 2:10, Isa 40:13-14, 1 Cor 2:11)
  • Wills and Acts Supernaturally (1 Cor 12:11)
  • Gives Life (Rom 8:10-11, Jn 3:8, Gen 2:7, Job 12:10, 33:4, 34:14-15, Ez 37:9)
  • Strengthens Believers (Eph 3:16)
  • Gathers God’s people (Isa 34:16)

  He goes by many names other than God:

  • Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19, Lk 11:13, Ps 51:11, Eph 1:13, 4:30, Lk 1:35, Isa 63:10, Acts 5:32)
  • The Spirit of the Lord [Adonai] GOD [YHWH] (Isa 61:1)
  • Counselor/Comforter (John 14:16, 26, 15:26, Romans 8:26)
  • Advocate/Helper (Jn 14:16, 26)
  • Breath of the Almighty (Job 33:4, Ezekiel 37:9)
  • Good Spirit (Neh 9:20, Psalm 143:10)
  • Most High (Lk 1:35, 24:49)
  • Spirit of God (Gen 1:2, Ex 31:1-5, Mt 3:16, 1 Jn 4:2-3, Rom 8:9)
  • Spirit of Might (Isaiah 11:2)
  • Spirit of Truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13)
  • Spirit of Wisdom/Understanding (Is 11:2, Eph 1:17, Job 32:8)
  • Spirit of the LORD [YHWH] (Isa 11:2)
  • Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9)
  • Spirit of The Father (Mt 10:20)
  • Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9, 1 Peter 1:11)
  • Spirit of The Son (Gal 4:6)
  • Spirit of Adoption (Romans 8:15)
  • Spirit of Life (Romans 8:2, John 6:63)
  • Spirit of Grace/Glory (Heb 10:29, 1 Pet 4:14)

  He is personal:

  • To receive Him you must also believe in Him — in addition to just believing in “God”. Believing in Him identifies you as believing in the Son, by obeying the Son’s command (Acts 19:1-6, 8:14-17)
  • He has a name (Matthew 28:19)
  • God sends Him (Is 59:21, Acts 5:32, 11:17, 15:8, 2 Cor 5:5, Gal 3:5)
  • The Father sends Him (Jn 14:16-17, 14:26, Gal 4:6, Lk 11:13, Eph 1:17, Acts 2:33)
  • The Son sends Him (Jn 15:26, 16:7, 20:22, Acts 2:32-33, Mt 3:11, Mk 1:8, Lk 3:16, Jn 1:33, 3:34, 1 Jn 3:24, 4:13)
  • He speaks, not on his own, but whatever He hears from Jesus He will share (Jn 16:13-15)
  • He glories the Son (John 16:14, 1 Jn 4:2-3, 1 Cor 12:3)
  • He was sent, to be our Advocate (John 14:16, 14:26)
  • He can be lied to and tested (Acts 5:1-10)
  • He can convict and judge (Jn 16:8-11, Jn 15:26, Acts 5:1-10)
  • He can execute punishment (Acts 5:1-10)
  • He can be blasphemed (Mt 12:31-32, Mk 3:28-29, Lk 12:10, Heb 10:29)
  • He can be grieved (Eph 4:30, Isa 63:10)
  • He can lead you (Acts 10:19-20, Mt 4:1, Mk 1:12, Lk 4:1)
  • He can be resisted and ignored (Acts 7:51, Isa 63:10, 1 Thes 5:19)
  • He counts as a witness, one who can testify (Acts 5:32, 1 Jn 5:6-10, Heb 10:14-17, Rom 8:15-16)
  • We can have fellowship with him (2 Cor 13:14)
  • He can intercede on your behalf (Rom 8:26-27, Acts 13:1-2)
  • He can remind you and explicity teach you (1 Tim 4:1, Jn 16:12, Acts 15:28, Jn 14:26)
  • He can actively regenerate and renew you (Titus 3:5, Gal 5:22)
  • He distributes personalized gifts as He determines (1 Cor 12:4-11, Rom 12:6-8)

  For those He indwells, He distributes spiritual gifts, regeneration, and confirmation of salvation:

  The gifts are particular spiritual functions for the benefit of the Body of Christ, the Church. The gifts help us as individuals, and as a body, and complement each other and work together for a common good, just as the parts of a body do. Gifting, reception of the Spirit, and membership in the Body of Christ are all connected in the life of believers for the good of the whole Church. (1 Cor 12:1-31, Romans 12:1-21, Eph 4:1-32, Neh 9:20)

  These gifts include: Prophecy, Teaching, Knowledge, Wisdom, Inspiration, Discernment, Administration, Service, Faith, Miracles, Exorcism, Healing, Communication, Exhortation, Leadership, Mercy, Giving, Evangelism, Craftsmanship, Artistry, and Pastoring (1 Cor 12:4-11, Rom 12:6-8, Eph 4:7-8, Eph 4:11-13, Ex 31:1-5). Furthermore, He will wash and regenerate your spirit from the inside, bearing the fruits of His Spirit (Titus 3:5, Gal 5:22). This is a seal, given to us by God, as proof that our faith saves us (2 Cor 1:21-22, Eph 1:13-14, 2 Cor 5:5, Eph 4:30, Jn 6:27, 1 Pet 1:5, 1 Jn 3:24, 4:13, Rev 9:4).

Man. Man is the special creation of God, in His own image, in His likeness. (Gen 1:26, 5:1, 9:6, Jam 3:9) He created them male and female, blessed them, and established them in friendship. In the unique nature of man, God unites the spiritual and material worlds. (Gen 2:7, Isa 42:5, 64:8, Ps 139:14, Job 10:8-12, 33:4, 27:3, Zech 12:1, 1 Cor 15:48-49, Prov 20:27, Ecc 3:21, 12:7, 1 Cor 2:11, 2 Cor 4:16, Jam 2:26, Ez 37:5-6) Every person of every race is equal under God and possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. Man was created in the beginning good, upright, and innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice.

The Fall. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race, falling from his original innocence. This “fall” would bring about other consequences that have now trickled down to all future generations. Called original sin, inherited at birth, this is inborn to all. Man thus inherited a nature of flesh, that is pre-corrupted by, and naturally inclined toward, sin. Man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. (Rom 5:12)

Human Depravity. Man is unable through efforts of his own or by the aid of “culture, science, technology, divination, secret knowledge, or spiritual enlightenment” to reconcile themselves to God and thus conquer death and damnation. It is impossible to earn God’s approval, through the effort of good works, because this is essentially an attempt to force God to forgive you, or make Him to think that you are good. Any effort to prove your righteousness must come from humility and repentance. (Lk 18:9-14) When we actually do good—and not what is good for our own sake, but rather desire to do good because we actually recognize and also love what is considered good in God’s eyes—we connect with that faint echo of our spirit nature from God’s breath in us. (Rom 2:14-15) However, we must realize that even the “good” things man does are tainted by sin because they are often not done for the glory of God and out of faith in Him. (Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6) While man looks upon the outward acts and judges them to be good, God looks upon not only the outward acts but also the inward motives that lie behind them. Because they proceed from a heart that is in rebellion against Him, and they are not done for His glory, even these good deeds are like “filthy rags” in His sight. (Isaiah 64:6) We all inherited original sin at birth, (Ps 51:5) and even since then have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23, Ecc 7:20, Eph 2:1-5) Even when we fully submit and obey all the law and righteousness of God we are unable to fully stand blameless before God, for there is none that is perfectly righteous, not even one, besides Jesus. (Rom 3:9-23, Jn 3:6-7)

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Man

Man is the special creation of God, in His own image, in His likeness. (Gen 1:26, 5:1, 9:6, Jam 3:9) In the nature of man, God unites the spiritual and material worlds. Mankind was created as a physical being, made of physical material of the earth, and also in His image, a spiritual being, with God’s breath of life in Him. (Gen 2:7, Is 42:5, Ps 139:14, Job 10:8-12, Job 33:4, Job 27:3, Is 64:8, Zech 12:1, 1 Cor 15:48-49, Prov 20:27, Ecc 3:21, Ecc 12:7, 1 Cor 2:11, 2 Cor 4:16, Jam 2:26, Ez 37:5-6) Man had knowledge and intelligence (Gen 2:19-20, 23) and emotions, desiring companionship (Gen 2:18). Man was created in the beginning good, upright, and innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. He created them male and female and blessed them. (Gen 5:2, Mk 10:6, Mt 19:4) This freedom was given so that man is able to love and serve God willingly and have a relationship with Him. (Ecc 7:29, Job 32:8) God’s presence was with man, and He walked with man, and man knew God. (Gen 3:8-9) Life was freely given to all creation, water flowed abundantly, and there was no evil, sickness, or death. Man and animals both ate plants/fruit for food, but not for sustenance-rather, for enjoyment. Food, sex, work, etc. was all for man’s pleasure, rather than for necessity. (Gen 2:6, 9, 16, 24) The physical nature of man brought enjoyment to the spirit of man; the spirit of man, brought enjoyment to God.

Since God is a personal being, he wants personal relationships with human beings. Man is the only creature on earth able to know and love his creator. As God is one in being and perfect unity, He also desires man to be in unity with Him, and also with each other in spirit. He wants to share with man His divine nature and life, and for man to choose to share in His righteous, loving, moral, and just character and to love what is right. (Is 43:7, 1 Cor 6:20) Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love. The gift of gender is also part of the goodness of God’s creation. Just as we’re able to love and unite with God in our spirit and serve Him with our body, we’re also given the gift of uniting with a spouse in one spirit and also as two in one flesh. Just as unity of spirit creates and multiplies love, unity of the flesh allows us to create life. (Gen 2:18, 22-24, 1 Cor 11:7) Having made man in His likeness, He ordained man to care for and rule over the earth and everything in it. (Gen 1:26-27, 2:16, Is 45:12, Ps 8:3-5, 5-8) Man, in response, was to serve and love God and to offer himself and all creation back to Him. God shares His creation and life with man—but not His glory and worship—wanting man to walk humbly before their God, to hear His voice, and to obey Him. (Job 4:17, Ps 100:3, 119:73, Is 17:7, Jer 27:5)

The Fall of Man

The Cause — God, whom Adam and Eve had a personal, intimate relationship with, gave them free reign to enjoy and rule over everything on the earth, and placed them in a specific place where God himself was, called the Garden of Eden. He gave them only one, single command—and that was not to eat from or even touch one specific tree, and that if they did they would surely die. Believing the lie that they would receive hidden knowledge and wisdom, and would become like God and him, without consequence, Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation of Satan and disobeyed God’s specific instruction not to eat the forbidden fruit from that tree. They could have chosen instead, to rely on their relationship with God and to trust Him. (Gen 2:16-17, 3:3) They could’ve asked why they should trust him over God. They could have just earnestly asked God first if Satan’s proposal was even true about this knowledge, if it would be good for or benefit them to gain this knowledge, or if God would be willing to just give them this knowledge Himself. Rather than these alternative options, or others, they accepted the word of this stranger, and all the implications thereof, and gave birth to the very first sins of mankind: choosing freely to stray away from God; mistrusting Him and distrusting His promise; envy, greed, and covetedness for wanting what was not theirs to have and then desiring it enough to directly disobey Him and steal it from Him; and defamation of God’s character by accepting the insinuation that God was greedy for keeping this “knowledge” to himself, that He did not love them enough to share it with them, and that He had lied to them about the reason why. (Genesis 3:1-13) Faith, (belief and trust) in God, we see here from the very beginning of mankind playing a pivotal role in the way that man was to relate with God.

The Consequence — God—who is infinitely holy, righteous, and just—cannot allow evil and sin to remain in His presence, to allow it to happen without demanding justice for it, or to allow evil to continue corrupting His otherwise good creation. Mankind was then removed from God’s eternal presence, punished, and given a finite term to their life. Adam and Eve were greedy and took for granted all that God had given them by coveting the one thing He did not. They wanted to gain without asking for it or earning it but by taking what was not theirs. They would be forever reminded of this lesson by having to work for everything they have in the future. Mankind would now have to work the ground, forever, in physical labor, which is now burdensome and painful, for survival, rather than just pleasure, and would eventually still die. Woman would now have an increased desire for family but she would depend on a man, for both his seed and for provisions from his labor, and would now endure severe labor pains. Both man and woman would have a desire to remain alive through their “name” through their descendants but childrearing will be burdensome and cause an increased necessity for physical labor. Man and animal would now have hostility towards each other. Physical life, that was once a free gift given to man and animal was now both burdensome and temporary. Physical life, and all physical matter, will now ultimately die. This would be a gradual process called decay. The physical world itself, the earth, animals, plants, atmosphere, and everything else physical in the universe, that we’re born into, has also been negatively affected by this sin and will now also experience decay. The physical world would begin to provide a harsher environment that would be conducive to burden the survival of living inhabitants. The physical environment would become harsher to be conducive to the death and decay of living inhabitants including severe weather, climate changes, drought, famine, pestilence, disease, human defects, and animal fear and hostility towards man and each other. (Gen 3:15-19)

Original Sin — By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race, falling from his original innocence. This “fall” would bring about other consequences that would now trickle down to all future generations. Given the term original sin because it is now inborn to everything physical, that is born, including humans. All of mankind has thus inherited a nature of a physical body, often referred to in the Bible as “the flesh”, that will decay and eventually die. Because God loves justice, all sin has a consequence, and God demands an accounting for it. So, while mankind is free to live life as he chooses, the more that humans continue to sin, the more that consequence inevitably continues to multiply. (Gen 4:8, 14-15, 23-24) These consequences will be experienced both physically, by everything in the physical creation, in this life, as well as spiritually, by human beings because they also have a spiritual part of themselves, in the next life. An unfortunate, additional consequence of this is that our flesh is pre-corrupted by, and naturally-inclined toward, doing sin. Since the the spiritual side of man comes from God’s breath, and cannot live within sin, the human spiritual side weakens, and grows ever more faint—along with the knowledge of God, true righteousness and holiness.

Divine Guidance — God’s moral law (the ability to recognize good and evil) has been written on the hearts of all mankind (spirit/soul/conscience) and infused into every human being, capable of freely choosing either. Man has never been without this aptitude and is thus accountable for any wrongdoing. It is important to recognize that just because man fell from his original innocence and God withdrew Himself from man, does not mean that God stopped loving man or gave up on him leaving him to find his way on his own. Even immediately after the fall, God taught Adam and Eve, their children, and all immediately preceding generations how to get into a right standing with God. God even went as far as teaching them the specific guidelines of what we now know as the Law of Moses (which were delivered to Moses much, much later) so that they could use these rituals and practices to repent and worship God, and use these laws and ordinances to design moral society, and to get into a right relationship with God. God taught them to honor their sexual purity by covering themselves with clothing (Gen 3:21); to meditate on Him with a spirit of thankfulness for the gifts He has given them (Gen 4:1); to repent and atone for sin and offer only your best offerings in atonement or worship to God (Gen 4:3-5, 8:20); and to reject evil and do what is right. (Gen 4:7)

Progression of Sin — Despite giving man this personlized care, God saw that man still chose evil and became increasingly wicked and corrupt. Because of this, He continued to increasingly remove Himself—that is His personal closeness, as well as His life-giving breath—from man at an increasing pace. (Gen 5:5-31, 6:5-6, 11-12, Ps 90:10, 2 Sam 19:34-35, Job 34:14-15, 14:5) He eventually decided just to end all life on earth in order to purge the evil from His creation. (Gen 6:7, 13) However, because a few people had proved righteous and not abandoned God’s ways, He did not give up on mankind or creation entirely. (Gen 5:23-24, 6:8-9, 7:1, 2 Pe 5) He allowed these righteous, Noah and his family, and selected animals, to repopulate the earth, and made a covenant (binding agreement) with Noah, all the living creatures, and with the earth itself, never to again destroy all living creatures as He had done. Additionally, as part of his covenant, God put all living creatures under man’s authority and gave all creatures to man for food. However, the lifesource of every animal, its blood, was to be returned to God. God then reaffirmed the sacredness of human life and affirmed that He will execute judgment on any who take a human life. (Gen 8:21-22, 9:1, 9:2-17) Unfortunately, before long, the wickedness had begun all over again and became widespread. When the wicked united to build the Tower of Babylon in an effort to makes themselves to be their own gods, God scrambled the peoples languages and scattered them all over the earth. (Gen 11:6-9) For the benefit of the many, God made an example out of specific extremely morally-corrupt cities. (2 Pe 6)

Individual Sufferings — As noted above, the earth and the entire physical world itself, including humans, animals, plants, atmosphere, natural resources, etc. has all been negatively affected by sin and now experiences decay. An unfortunate consequence of this is that the physical world provides a harsher environment conducive to the burden of life and the death and decay of its inhabitants. This includes severe weather, climate changes, drought, famine, pestilence, disease, health defects, and animal fear and hostility towards man and each other. (Gen 3:15-19) While God has intervened within this natural ecosystem multiple times within history, in order to affect particular outcomes of specific events to accomplish His end goals for His creation, the vast majority of natural disasters, health defects, famines, etc. are all natural consequences of being part of a broken, fallen world. It is the continuous sin of the many causing the ecosystem itself to continue to rapidly decline. And it is the greed of the sinners that cause the abundance that God has provided for all that leaves the rest without. These unfortunate circumstances are random events that occur naturally as a part of a now-sin-corrupted ecosystem. They are not directly caused by God, nor are they caused out of anger or vengeance by God, to individual people because of sins they have made. God does not make “broken” or bad things…He tolerates the brokenness of His good creation, for a limited time, so that more would come to repentance before the final judgment, where He will destroy sin and death forever and everlasting peace and life will be given freely to all that are His children. “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.” (Lamentations 3:31-33, 25) God IS Good: (Mt 19:17, Lk 18:19, 11:13, Acts 10:38, Rom 2:4, 7:12, 8:28, 12:2, 1 Tim 4:4, Phil 1:6, Ps 25:7-8, 31:19-20, 34:8, 84:11, 86:5, 69:16, 119:68, 135:3, 143:10, 145:9, Neh 9:20, Job 42:10-12) HE will be your comforter if you call upon Him: (1 Pe 5:6-7, Jer 29:11, John 14:16-18, 26-27, Ps 9:9, 22:24, 27:4-5, 46:1, 55:22, 56:8, 116:1-2, 119:48-52, Nah 1:7) Your hurting is only temporary: (2 Cor 5:17-19, Lam 3:22-23, Jn 16:22, Heb 12:10, Gen 50:20, Ps 30:5, 71:20-21, ) ALL hurting is only temporary: (2 Cor 4:17, Ezekiel 36:1-37:28, Revelation 21:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8, 22-27, 22:3-5, 12, 14, 17)

Human Depravity

Man by voluntary transgression fell and thereby incurred not only physical death but also spiritual death, which is separation from God. (Rom 5:12) Man is now spiritually appraised, for without the spirit, the things of the Spirit of God are now foolishness to him. (1 Cor 2:14, 1:18) Every part of man’s flesh—his mind, heart, body, emotions—has been corrupted by sin. Sin affects all areas of our being including who we are and what we do, penetrating to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin. The flesh, once good, is now sinful, and so the flesh and the Spirit are now against each other; so that what we want to do we should not do, and yet we do the very things that we hate. (Gal 5:16-23, 2 Pe 10, 18-19, Rom 7:15) A mind governed by the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it. (Rom 8:5, 7-8, Mk 7:21, Eph 5:8, Jer 17:9, Col 3:5)

We now sin because we are sinners by nature, and held in bondage to our flesh by our love for sin. (Deut 32:5, Jn 3:19, 8:34) Man doesn’t understand, doesn’t seek God, doesn’t know the way of peace, for “there is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom 3:11-12, 17-18) Left to our own devices man will always continue to move away from God’s ways. (Jud 2:19) Furthermore, “to the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” (Titus 1:15-16) They suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness (Rom 1:18) and this sinful lifestyle seems right to them. (Prov 14:9, 12) “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 Jn 1:8)

Man is unable through efforts of his own or by the aid of “culture, science, technology, divination, secret knowledge, or spiritual enlightenment” to reconcile themselves to God and thus conquer death and damnation. It is impossible to earn God’s approval, through the effort of good works, because this is essentially an attempt to force God to forgive you, or make Him to think that you are good. Any effort to prove your righteousness must come from humility and repentance. (Lk 18:9-14)

When we actually do good—and not what is good for our own sake, but rather desire to do good because we actually recognize and also love what is considered good in God’s eyes—we connect with that faint echo of our spirit nature from God’s breath in us. (Rom 2:14-15) However, we must realize that even the “good” things man does are tainted by sin because they are often not done for the glory of God and out of faith in Him. (Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6) While man looks upon the outward acts and judges them to be good, God looks upon not only the outward acts but also the inward motives that lie behind them. Because they proceed from a heart that is in rebellion against Him, and they are not done for His glory, even these good deeds are like “filthy rags” in His sight. (Isaiah 64:6) We all inherited original sin at birth, (Ps 51:5) and even since then have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom 3:23, Ecc 7:20, Eph 2:1-5) Even when we fully submit and obey all the law and righteousness of God we are unable to fully stand blameless before God, for there is none that is perfectly righteous, not even one, besides Jesus. (Rom 3:9-23, Jn 3:6-7)

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Other Resources

• Video – How Can A Good God Allow Evil? (Ravi Zacharias)

Jesus Christ rose from the dead in the same body He died in after being in the grave for three days. He was raised in a glorified, physical body (still retaining his crucifixion wounds). They saw his scars, touched his body, ate and drank with Him. (Jn 19:28-42, Mt 28:9, Lk 24:39-40, Jn 4:6-7) He ascended bodily into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and rules heaven and earth. (Jn 2:19, Lk 24:39, 1 Cor 15:1-8, 12-17, Ps 16:10) Likewise, we Christians will be raised bodily from the dead and spend eternity with the Lord. (1 Cor 15:51-57)

Salvation is obtained by grace alone, through faith, in the atoning substitutionary death of Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, Rom 5:15, 6:23)

God the Father so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for us and restore us to Him. This was foretold and was fulfillment of prophecy. (Mt 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19, Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34, Lk 9:22, 9:44, 18:31-33, Jn 2:19-21, 12:32-33, Jer 11:19, Isa 53:6, 44:22) Jesus, the Word, became man, bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and died in our place, suffering the consequences of breaking the Law (1 Jn 3:4), which is physical death (Romans 6:23) and spiritual death (Is 59:2), that was due us (Is 53:4-6). He became sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). His sacrifice was a legal substitution for us (1 Jn 2:2, Jn 19:30, 1 Pet 2:24) that paid our debt. It was legal since sin is breaking God’s Law (1 Jn 3:4) and substitutionary since Christ took our punishment (Isaiah 53:4-6) as the sacrificial lamb (Gen 22:7-8, Num 6:14, Jn 1:29, Mt 26:2, 1 Pet 1:18-19, Heb 9:14) and tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9). As a result, God’s justice was satisfied and the debt that our sin brings against us has been canceled (Col 2:14). Christian believers who repent and turn from their sin, (Is 55:7, Lk 3:3, 5:32, Mt 3:2) fully put their faith in Jesus’s atonement for their sin, (Lk 24:47, Acts 3:19) and faithfully “remain in Him” are released from eternal punishment. (1 Pet 3:18, Matt 1:21, 25:46, Rom 5:8-11, 1 Jn 2:2, Eph 1:7) He who believes in and obeys the Son has forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28, Acts 10:43, 13:38, Isa 44:22) and eternal life. (Jn 3:36, 6:35, Acts 4:12, Heb 7:23-25, John 11:25)

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• Salvation is being saved from the righteous judgment of God upon the sinner.Salvation is necessary:
  • To be near to God — (Eph 2:13-17, 4:18, Heb 7:25, Hosea 5:4, Rom 5:1, 8:38-39, Phil 3:8-9)
  • To become a child of God — (Rev 21:7, Gal 4:4-7, Eph 2:19, Rom 8:17, 8:22-24, Col 1:12, 1 Jn 4:4, Jn 1:12)
  • To end the suffering of the soul — (Rom 8:22-24, John 16:33, Col 3:15, Isa 61:10, Eph 2:6-7, 2:15, Heb 5:9, 9:12, Mk 8:37-38)
  • To avoid temporary death — (Prov 15:24, 23:14, 5:5, 9:18, Ps 9:17)
  • To inherit everlasting joy and peace — (Rom 8:38-39, Isaiah 45:17, 51:11, Jn 16:33, Jer 31:31-34)
  • To inherit the kingdom of God — (Matthew 6:19-21, 13:44, 19:21, 25:34, Luke 12:32-33, 22:28-29, Acts 20:32, Eph 1:18, 2:19, Phil 3:20-21, Col 3:24, Heb 6:17, 12:22-24, Jam 2:5, 1 Pet 3:7, 2 Tim 4:8)
  • To inherit eternal life — (Mt 7:14, 25:46, John 3:16, 3:36, 5:24, 5:29, 5:39-40, 6:40, 10:28, 11:25-26, 12:25-26, 14:6, 20:31, Acts 11:18, Romans 2:7, 5:21, 6:8-11, 6:23, 7:24, 8:1-2, Col 1:12, 3:1-2, Tit 3:7, Heb 5:9, 1 Tim 1:16, 6:18-19, 2 Tim 1:1, 2:10, 1 Pet 1:3-5, 2 Cor 4:18, Dan 12:2, 1 Jn 5:11-12, 5:20)
  • To avoid the place of eternal death and separation — (Mt 5:29, 10:28, 13:40-42, 25:41, 25:46, Mark 9:42-48, John 5:29, Isaiah 33:14, 51:6-8, 53:5, 64:6, 2 Thes 1:9, Dan 12:2, Rev 19:20, 20:10, 20:15)

  God’s Infinite Grace — It is by God’s grace alone that salvation is even possible. God is right to call humankind to account for sin. The penalty for sin is death—not only physical death (separation of the soul from the body)—but also spiritual death (separation of ourselves from God). God isn’t required to forgive us, to allow us to continue live on in rebellion with Him, or to continue to give us ways to help us come back into relationship with Him. It is through His good grace and mercy alone that these are even options available to us. (Exodus 33:19, 2 Tim 1:9) It is through the witness of God’s persistence to forgive us and give humanity more and more chances to return to Him that we really understand the depths of His love for us. Because of human depravity, we have all fallen short and we cannot save ourselves. God—and God alone—is able to rescue us. (Isa 45:21-22, 43:11, Hos 13:4, Gal 1:3-4) However, by His grace, God has allowed mankind to demonstrate an effort on their part—by showing humility and submission to God and through righteous living and loving our neighbors we can show our desire to become more resembling God’s virtue. (Romans 11:5-6, Luke 18:9-14, Titus 3:4-7) By further grace, unrighteous people can come to God, repent and atone for their sins, and receive forgiveness. Furthermore, in an even more astounding demonstration of grace, God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to rescue us so that undeserving people could more easily be forgiven of their sin and united to fellowship with Him in eternal life. (Romans 5:6-8, 5:15-17, 9:14-16, Eph 1:7, 1 Tim 1:15-16, Acts 4:12, 5:30-31, 20:24, Col 1:13-14, 2 Thes 2:16, Titus 2:11) Additionally, by His grace again, God has provided His Spirit to seal each Christian in faith, in order to guide us towards righteous living and an ongoing rejection and repentance of future sin. (Rom 6:14, Ez 18:30-32, Titus 2:11, Acts 2:38-39, 2 Cor 6:2) Without God’s grace, no one could come into relationship with God. Relationship with God is peace, joy, and eternal life itself. (John 15:5, 17:3, Acts 15:7-11, Eph 2:4-9, Heb 4:16)

  The Importance of Faith — Faith is a combination of knowledge, belief, and trust. Spiritual faith however, as God has revealed to us in Scripture, is a divine institution that God esteems highly. Spiritual faith, as a discipline one can take, is a personal adherence of the whole man to God who reveals Himself. Man, is given divine revelation from God internally and is called to respond. Man chooses whether or not he will agree and approve with his intellect and will to the self-revelation God has made through His deeds and words. Faith itself is a gift of grace from God; a supernatural virtue infused into humans by His Spirit. (Rom 12:3, 6) In order to believe, man needs the interior helps of the Holy Spirit, who moves the heart and converts it to God, who opens the eyes of the mind and makes it easy to accept and believe the truth of God. Additionally, believing is also a human act, conscious and free, corresponding to the dignity of the human person. For example, a deceitful or manipulative person is unlikely to believe in anyone, whether people or God, because they lack the dignity in their own character to extend that dignity and trust to others. Man is free to choose to remain in a state of ignorance or in dissent from the truths that God has revealed to his heart, or he is free to choose to trust in God and share in interior communion with Him. (1 John 4:2) Believing, is an act of the intellect agreeing and approving to the divine truth, by command of the will, that has been moved by God through grace. When man completely submits himself, his intellect and will to God the revealer, this human response to God is called “the obedience of faith.” Faith and trust in God and the submission of your spirit to Him is credited as righteousness. Submission of the spirit preceeds submission of the body. (Romans 4:1-5, Heb 11:6, Gal 2:20)

  Chist’s Atoning Death — God the Father so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to die for us and restore us to Him. This was foretold and was fulfillment of prophecy. (Mt 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19, Mk 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34, Lk 9:22, 9:44, 18:31-33, Jn 2:19-21, 12:32-33, Jer 11:19, Isa 53:6, 44:22) Jesus, the Word, became man, bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24), and died in our place, suffering the consequences of breaking the Law (1 Jn 3:4), which is physical death (Romans 6:23) and spiritual death (Is 59:2), that was due us (Is 53:4-6). He became sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). His sacrifice was a legal substitution for us (1 Jn 2:2, Jn 19:30, 1 Pet 2:24) that paid our debt. It was legal since sin is breaking God’s Law (1 Jn 3:4) and substitutionary since Christ took our punishment (Isaiah 53:4-6) as the sacrificial lamb (Gen 22:7-8, Num 6:14, Jn 1:29, Mt 26:2, 1 Pet 1:18-19, Heb 9:14) and tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9). As a result, God’s justice was satisfied and the debt that our sin brings against us has been canceled (Col 2:14). Christian believers who repent and turn from their sin, (Is 55:7, Lk 3:3, 5:32, Mt 3:2) fully put their faith in Jesus’s atonement for their sin, (Lk 24:47, Acts 3:19) and faithfully “remain in Him” are released from eternal punishment. (1 Pet 3:18, Matt 1:21, 25:46, Rom 5:8-11, 1 Jn 2:2, Eph 1:7) He who believes in and obeys the Son has forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28, Acts 10:43, 13:38, Isa 44:22) and eternal life. (Jn 3:36, 6:35, Acts 4:12, Heb 7:23-25, John 11:25)

  Salvation:

  • Is a gift from God — (Mt 1:21, Jn 3:16-17, 4:10, Rom 5:15, 6:23, 8:32, 9:15-16, Eph 2:8, Gal 1:4, 2 Cor 9:15)
  • Occurs at a specific time — (Lk 4:19, Rom 13:11, 2 Cor 6:2, Isaiah 49:8, 61:2, 63:4, Daniel 7:22, Titus 1:3)
  • Is a pre-determined adoption — (Lk 24:26-27, Jn 5:46, Acts 2:23, 3:18, Rom 8:29, Eph 1:4-5,2:10, Gal 4:4, 1 Cor 2:7, 2 Tim 1:9, 1 Pet 1:2, Tit 1:2, Rev 13:8)
  • Is for God’s chosen elect — (Gen 18:19, Mt 1:21, Jn 15:16, 17:6, Rom 8:29-30, 11:1-6, Eph 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, 2 Tim 1:9, Jam 2:5, Ex 33:19, Isa 65:1)
  • Is available to everyone through Jesus — (Gal 3:29, Lk 3:6, 20:36, Jn 6:37-40, Acts 2:21, 15:9-11, Rom 3:29-30, 5:18, 10:13, 1 Cor 1:26-31, 1 Tim 2:4, Tit 2:11, 2 Pet 3:9)
  • Will not be received by everyone — (Mt 22:1-14, 7:13, Lk 13:24, 14:15-24, 19:22, Jer 18:1-12, Jn 16:8, Nah 1:3, Mt 13:40-42)
  • Comes through the Trinity — (Eph 1:3-14, 1 Pe 1:2, 2 Cor 1:21-22, Gal 4:4-6, Eph 2:18, 2 Thes 2:13-14, Jn 20:21-22, Tit 3:4-6, Lk 1:35, Mt 3:16-17, Mk 1:10-11, Lk 3:21-22, 10:21, Jn 3:34, Acts 1:7-8, 2:22, 2:38-39, 7:55, 5:31-32, 10:38, 1 Cor 12:4-6)
  • Begins with faith — (Lk 21:28, Eph 2:8-10, Heb 3:6-9, Phil 1:6, 1 Jn 2:24)
  • Can be assured — (John 5:24, 6:47, 10:29, Rom 8:16, 8:38-39, Eph 4:30, 1 Jn 5:12-13, Heb 7:25, Jude 1:24-25)

  Salvation Received Through:

  • Obeying God’s Law — (Deut 27:26, Ps 40:7-9)
  • FAITH (Belief & Trust) IN GOD — (Gen 15:6, Ps 146:2-10, Jer 17:5-10, Rom 4:14-16)
  • FAITH (Belief & Trust) IN JESUS — (Lk 7:48-50, Jn 1:12, 5:24, 6:40,45-47, 11:25-27, Acts 2:21, 16:30-31, Rom 10:13)
  • FAITH (Belief & Trust) IN THE HOLY SPIRIT — (1 Cor 12:3, 2:9-16)
  • FAITH (Demonstrated by) ACTION — (Mt 25:34-46, Lk 14:26-27, Jn 6:48-58, Hab 2:4, Rom 1:16-17, 4:9-16, Heb 11:4-7, Jam 2:14, Acts 26:20)
  • FAITH (Demonstrated By) VIRTUE — (Mt 5:20, 22:1-14, Luke 18:9-14, Gal 5:6, 1 Cor 13:1-3, 1 Jn 1:7, Jer 18:1-12)
  • FAITH (Remaining “IN”) CHRIST — (Acts 13:39, Rom 5:20-21, 8:1-4, Gal 5:4, Eph 3:12, 3:16-17, 1 Pet 1:5, Heb 7:23-25, Ps 127:1-2)
  • FAITH (Specifically) In Christ’s Atoning Death — (John 3:14-16, 7:38-39, 8:24, Acts 4:12, 8:37, 10:43, 13:38-39, 15:7-9, 26:17-18, Romans 3:21-26, 3:27-28, 3:29-30, 4:1-8, 4:24, 5:1-2, 9:30-32, 10:4, 10:9-10, 11:5-6, 1 Cor 1:21, 1:30, 2 Cor 4:13-14, Galatians 2:15-16, 2:20-21, 3:2, 3:10-14, 3:21-22, 3:23-25, 3:26-27, 5:5, Ephesians 1:13, 2:4-5, 2:6-7, 2:8-9, Phil 3:8-9, Colossians 1:21-23, Hebrews 3:14, 6:11-12, 10:22, 1 Tim 1:15-16)

While God is our Creator and Sustainer, and is our father in this way, we are not necessarily His children by default. “God created mankind in His own image, male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:26-27) However, this is not referring to our physical appearance because God is Spirit and has no body (Jn 4:24, 2 Cor 3:17-18, Ex 3:20). Arguably, man may be trichotomous, existing in three divisions: body, spirit, and soul. (1 Thes 5:23, Mt 26:38-41, Lk 1:46-47, Heb 4:12, 2 Cor 7:1) The BODY has been corrupted by sin, is already dead, and we live on only because of the spirit (Rom 8:10, Jam 2:26). Because the body continues to desire sin, all who live according to the desires of the body, are slaves of the body instead of being a slave to God’s Spirit. So, physically-speaking, we are children of God’s wrath deserving judgment. (2 Cor 5:1-5, Gal 4:5-7, Rom 9:8, 8:21, 23) The SPIRIT is the part of our being that communes with God, the deepest part of our identity that the Holy Spirit of God speaks to us. All righteousness comes from the Spirit of God, sent out into all the earth (Rev 5:6), including the Spirit of Truth (Jn 15:26), Life (Rom 8:10-11), Glory (1 Pet 4:14), Good (Neh 9:20), Wisdom (Is 11:2), Counsel (Jn 14:26), Comfort (Eph 3:16), Peace (Rom 16:20), Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness (Gal 5:22). However, it is also the spirit part of us that can commune with the fallen angels on earth, Satan’s ungodly and unclean spirits. These include Terror (1 Sam 16:14), Self-Destruction (Mk 5:5), Affliction (Acts 5:16), Anxiety (Lk 6:18), Lying (Ez 13:1-9), Deceiving (1 Ki 22:21-23, 1 Tim 4:1-2, Rev 12:9), False Worship (Rev 9:20) and Temptation to Sin (Gen 3:1-5, Eph 4:26-27, 1 Thes 3:5). The SOUL is the immaterial essence of the individual self. It is “us”, the part with free will, a metaphorical house with many rooms, the part that chooses or receives either godly or ungodly spirits, and the part of us that gets affected by our spirititual and physical decisions (Mt 10:28, 12:43-45, Lk 12:20, 11:14-26, 1 Cor 15:54, Mk 3:25-29). Thus, if we desire to be God’s children we must be so in Spirit. We must then also submit our body to the full obedience of the Holy Spirit and let Him into every room of our soul.

Spiritual Adoption — Jesus claiming to be a son of God is not the same thing as us doing it. Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God was considered blasphemy (claiming himself to be divine) and He was almost stoned to death for it on several occasions. (Jn 10:27-38, Mt 26:65-66, Mk 2:6-7, Lk 5:21) Jesus was one-of-a-kind. Jesus was not just a son of God—He was the only-begotten Son of God, born of a Virgin and the Holy Spirit of God. (Lk 3:22, Rom 1:4, Mt 3:17, 17:5, Mk 1:11, 5:7, Heb 1:8, Jn 5:26) He lived a sinless life. Jesus makes our sonship possible through Him. It is through faith in Christ’s redemption on our behalf on the cross that we are purified of our sin—can be born again as a new creation where the Holy Spirit indwells the person—and adopted as a son or daughter of God. (Gal 4:4-5, Jn 1:12-13, Eph 1:5, Heb 2:13, Eph 5:1-11) It is through Christ only that we become spiritually adopted as God’s children. (Rom 8:12-17, 1 Pet 1:3-4, 1 Jn 3:1) Children of God must hold fast to His Spirit, His righteousness, and seek His kingdom. (1 Cor 10:13, Job 1:1-2:10, 42:1-17, Rom 16:20, Mt 13:36-43, 1 Jn 3:10)

Conversion — The apostle John tells already-born again Christians to test every spirit to see if they are from God (1 Jn 4:1-6). The spirit of man is the lamp of God, searching all the innermost parts of his soul (Prov 20:27). With the Holy Spirit baptized into us, man has faith that the spirit of man is gone, replaced with the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:16). The Holy Spirit is now accessible at all times, and the soul that gives permission to the Holy Spirit into every part of his being will renew and restore all the brokenness of the soul (2 Cor 4:16). “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves [our soul] from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes 5:23)

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God: Creator, Father, and Judge? God is in the unique position of being both the creator and sustainer of life, as well as the righteous judge, jury, and executioner of His creation. It would be an unjust thing for Him to assign the responsibility of determing the fate of any created being’s life to any other created being. This is a difficult circumstance because He does see His created beings like that of a father, and loves them as such, but He is also responsible for allowing and permitting them to be able to choose their actions freely—even though those actions may hurt His other creations. So while He has permitted ungodly behavior to happen, He will not allow it to go on indefinitely, nor will He allow it go unpunished. While everything exists because He allows it to, He is ultimately also responsible for what happens to both those completely-corrupted creations that inflicted extreme harm on the rest of His creation, as well as all the partially-corrupted creations that bring Him some disdain instead of the full glory He had intended.

The Loving Judge. God’s moral law (the ability to recognize good and evil) has been written on the hearts of all mankind (spirit/soul/conscience) and no human being is without this aptitude and is thus accountable for all wrongdoing. (1 Tim 4:2, Rom 2:14-15) The fact that mankind was unaware that we would be eventually judged by how we lived our life is really a weak excuse. If we were really God’s children, good and loving creatures that loved Him and each other, we would be that way whether or not there would be a judgment on how we lived our lives. God has not abandoned us to our determine own fate though, even though it would not have been unjust for Him not to forewarn us. Fortunately for us, He still did, while also providing a means for our salvation, that is based on His grace, rather than our merit. He has been working within His creation as a whole and in each of us individually. God has also been working throughout the world for all of time, since the beginning, to lead people towards the True Most High God. (Is 34:16, 55:6-7, 66:2, Jn 4:24, Gen 12:1-3, 14:18-20, Acts 17:23, Ps 95:7-8, Heb 4:7) God has also worked through His chosen, Noah, Abraham, Israel, to teach us His plan of redemption. He is faithful to forgive us from wrongdoing if we repent, turning from evil, and call on Him for forgiveness. (Tit 2:12) When the fullness of time came, God sent His Son Jesus, to reveal His glory to us and to provide the way to permaneantly restore ourselves to Him. (Mk 1:15, Gal 4:4, Rom 5:18) This for those alive and those dead (1 Pet 3:19, 4:6, Acts 10:42). Additionally, He sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin and righteousness and Jesus’ lordship since the first Pentecost after the resurrection (Jn 16:8-11). Through Jesus we learn just how merciful and loving the Father really is. In addition, the position of final judge and jury has been given to the Son, who knows firsthand what it is like to live as a man tempted in a sin-corrupted world. (Acts 10:42, 17:31, Jam 5:9, 2 Cor 5:10, Jn 5:22, 27, 12:47-48) God’s creation prior to the birth of evil and sin was originally only good (Gen 1:-31) and it will be that way again after the final judgment (Rev 21:1-22:17).

Is God Everyone’s Father? Often in our culture people will call themselves a child of God, or will call God their father just because they believe that 1) God exists, and that 2) He created them. While this is technically true, it is also a very simplistic, harmful way of thinking because, like most deceptive teachings, it is a half-truth that gives a false sense of security. It basically works like this.. “I’ve heard Christians talk about a final judgment and people going to Hell. Well, I believe in God. I’m a child of God, and God is good so he wouldn’t send his own child to Hell.” Regardless of a person’s theological or religious perspective of God it is inconceivable to have it that He BOTH: is righteous and good and loves you and wants to have you know Him back, and yet, has also not contacted mankind in history or provided any other knowable or reliable way for you to know Him back. This is a vaguely simplistic and deceptive new age teaching that allows a person to create their own interpretation of who God is and pick and choose whatever they want Him to be like, rejecting what definitive sacred texts like the Bible reveal about Him, and then call this version of God, their father. This method is seriously flawed because then every person can have a different opinion about who God is, and we certainly can’t all be correct. The truth is that God has contacted mankind and provided several ways for us to know Him. We need to trust we know about God as revealed in the Bible, which is the most reliable compilation of ancient, historical, comprehensive, cohesive, revealing, and evidence-supported sacred texts on the planet. This being the case, we must look to the Bible to determine if we are, in fact, God’s children.

Does The Bible Say God’s Our Father? It’s interesting to note, the Bible, the New Testament in particular, was where the dominant idea came from that God is a father at all—much less THE Father of all of us. Pagan and eastern religions both had large pantheons of deities. Eastern mystical religions sometimes used the father-mother-child family structure but this featured actual sexual unions between the gods resulting in offspring. This is likely one reason why the Bible’s Old Testament portrayal of God as a Father is very rare. He is specifically called the Father of the Nation of Israel 8 times, and the Father of certain key individuals only 15 times. By contrast, in the New Testament, God is called the Father 165+ times in the four Gospels alone, and an additional 40+ times in Paul’s letters. This was a new, radical and intimate concept to view God Almighty, the omnipresent, omnipotent, creator of the universe as ones father. In fact, it was so unprecented that Jesus’s claim to be the Son of God was considered blasphemy (claiming himself to be divine) and the Jewish leaders tried to stone Him to death for it on several occasions! (Jn 10:27-38, Mt 26:65-66, Mk 2:6-7, Lk 5:21) Jesus was not just a son of God—He was the only-begotten Son of God, born of a virgin and the Holy Spirit of God. (Lk 3:22, Rom 1:4, Mt 3:17, 17:5, Mk 1:11, 5:7, Heb 1:8, Jn 5:26) Jesus made our sonship possible through Him. It is through Christ’s redemption that we are purified of our sin, born again of the Holy Spirit, and adopted as sons of God. (Gal 4:4-5, Jn 1:12-13, Eph 1:5, Heb 2:13, Eph 5:1-11) It is through Christ only that we become drafted in, spiritually adopted into the family as God’s children. (Rom 8:12-17, 1 Pet 1:3-4, 1 Jn 3:1)

Who Are We? Influences On The Self. While God is our Creator and Sustainer, and is our father in this way, we are not necessarily His children by default. “God created mankind in His own image, male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:26-27) However, this is not referring to our physical appearance because God is Spirit and has no body (Jn 4:24, 2 Cor 3:17-18, Ex 3:20). Arguably, God distinguishes the human being as trichotomous, meaning that we exist in three divisions: body, spirit, and soul. (1 Thes 5:23, Mt 26:38-41, Lk 1:46-47, Heb 4:12, 2 Cor 7:1) Each of these is influenced by the things in the world, and from each other, and therefor has the potential to help us become either godly or ungodly.

The soul is the seat of feelings, emotions, desires, affections, aversions. It is the sentient (aware of sensation) part of each person, the “personality”, the actuating cause that motivates life and action. It is the immaterial essence of the individual self. This is the part of our being that is “us”, the part that has free will, the part that chooses, and also the part that gets affected by what happens to us. (Mt 10:28, Lk 12:20, 1 Cor 15:54) The soul also contains the conscience, which is God’s Law, an internal knowledge of good and evil, imprinted in us by God. (1 Tim 4:2, Rom 2:14-15) The soul contains the collective essence of the self.

The spirit used interchangeably with the soul, but also often separately and distinct from the soul, is the part of our being that is spirit, like God, and also like that of the angels. (Jn 4:24, Heb 1:14) The spirit of man is the part of our being which communes with God. It is through our spirit, in the deepest part of our identity that the Holy Spirit of God speaks to us. All righteousness comes from the Spirit of God, which was sent out into all the earth (Rev 5:6), including the Spirit of Truth (Jn 15:26), Life (Rom 8:10-11), Glory (1 Pet 4:14), Good (Neh 9:20), Wisdom (Is 11:2), Counsel (Jn 14:26), Comfort (Eph 3:16), Peace (Rom 16:20), Love, Joy, Patience, Kindness (Gal 5:22). Angels, are ministering spirits (i.e. they teach us). (Heb 1:14) They can be sent by God to teach us the things of God (Mt 4:11), but much more likely, in the case of the fallen angels, who are in the world, teach us Satan’s ways of wickedness. It is also the spirit part of us that can commune with these wicked and unclean spirits. These include Terror (1 Sam 16:14), Self-Destruction (Mk 5:5), Affliction (Acts 5:16), Anxiety (Lk 6:18), Lying (Ez 13:1-9), Deceiving (1 Ki 22:21-23, 1 Tim 4:1-2, Rev 12:9), False Worship (Rev 9:20) and Tempting to Sin (Gen 3:1-5, Eph 4:26-27, 1 Thes 3:5). The soul always has a choice. All spirits that are received, acted upon, or embraced act out on the body and impress themselves upon the soul. If the will of the soul surrenders itself to a spirit in a particular area of ones life the spirit can develop strongholds in the soul, establishing itself a firm foundation, even taking on a significant position in the person’s personality, physical and emotional life.

The body, having inherited original sin, both corrupted in itself and also corrupted in the world in which it exists in, is often the weakest of the three (Mt 26:41). Because of sin, the body is already dead, and we live because of the spirit (Rom 8:10, Jam 2:26). The conscience testifies to the reality of this struggle between our spirit and body, as the body “this earthly tent” often desires sinful things we know we should not do. (2 Cor 5:1-5, Rom 8:23) Because the flesh is corrupted and continues to desire sin, all who live according to the desires of the flesh, are slaves to the flesh instead of a slaves to God’s Spirit, so by nature we are children of God’s wrath deserving judgment. (Gal 4:5-7, Rom 9:8, 8:21) Every experience, sin, trauma, the body goes through affects both the spirit and the soul. The three parts are distinct yet interconnected. Each heavily influences the others, either leading one towards or away from God.

The “father” Of This World. It’s important to understand that WHO WE ARE, or who we are a child of, is determined by who we give our spirit and body, and thus our soul to. The natural material world, the flesh, the air, and everything in it is the current kingdom of Satan, his fallen angels, the unclean spirits and demons. (1 Jn 5:19, Jn 7:7, 14:17, 15:18-19, 16:20, 17:14, 1 Jn 2:15-16, Rev 2:13) If we are a part of this world, living only in the flesh, then we are by nature children of God’s wrath deserving judgment. If we are a part of this world spiritually-speaking, living a sinful lifestyle, conveining with unclean spirits, and/or following in the footsteps of the same way that Satan rebelled against God, then we are a part of Satan’s kindgom, and he is our father, not God. Unfortunately, this means the majority of us start with our lives aligned with Satan’s kingdom. (Jn 8:44, Acts 26:18, 2 Cor 4:4, Eph 2:2, Col 1:13, 1 Jn 4:4-5, Mt 4:8-9, 12:26, Lk 4:6, 11:15, 18) Satan is called the ruler of this world, and the god of this age. (Jn 12:31, 14:30, 16:11, Mt 12:24, Mk 3:22) He, and his demons, have the same free will that we have until the final judgment. They have used this freedom to torment and oppress people, cause much of the pain and destruction in the world, and tempt people to disobey God. (Rev 12:12, Lk 13:16, Job 2:7, Acts 10:38, 2 Cor 12:7, Heb 2:14, Rev 20:3, 1 Thes 3:5, 1 Tim 3:7, 2 Tim 2:26, Acts 5:3-9) If we are not actively seeking God and His righteousness, and resisting temptation and evil, then we are, by default, whether we realize it or not, children of Satan, and thus children of God’s wrath. (Num 32:14, Is 57:4, Acts 13:10, Mt 23:31) God permits this temptation, a process of refinement, and edification, by fire and the Holy Spirit, to see if we will seek Him or not, and find out if we ARE His children. We are His Children if we hold fast to His Spirit, His righteousness, and seek His kingdom. (1 Cor 10:13, Job 1:1-2:10, 42:1-17, Rom 16:20, Mt 13:36-43, 1 Jn 3:10)

Choosing Who You Want To Be Your Father. We have a variety of influences affecting every part of us to the deepest parts of our soul, spirit, and body. God is our Creator, but we can choose to reject His Holy Spirit and listen to ungodly and unclean spirits and even allow them access to the innermost parts of our soul. The soul collectively stores up in it all of your experiences—both positive and negative. Our soul can harbor internal brokenness from past trauma or abuse, memories of sin or evil you have committed against God or others, and negative memories of the times you felt insecure, anxious, guilty, let down, etc. by God or anyone or anything else. When we don’t know how or can’t cope with the reality of the traumatic experience it’s common to compartmentalize it and put it away, deep in the back of mind. This is a self-preservation method that’s helpful in the short-term but its harmful in the long-run, because it doesn’t really go away. In fact, this is where Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) often stems from, causing issues later on in life when the location of the trauma has taken on a life of its own. These kind of current, or former, debilitating emotional traumas are the perfect opportunity for unclean spirits to attack your spirit and deceive and tempt you towards self-injurious thoughts and behavior. We learn that the primary objective of the devil is to steal, kill, and destroy. This is exactly what unclean spirits do, and they do this by trying to sabotage the psychological systems and weaken our emotional resistance (Jn 10:10). God’s Word teaches us that His Spirit bears the fruit of love, joy, peace, wisdom, kindness, truth, forgiveness, inner healing, and life. (Gal 5:22)

In God We Wholly Trust. It is in God whom we must trust and put our entire being into. Especially during temptation, tests, and trials, God consistently reminds us to hold fast to His commands and rely on Him for strength against the evil one. This is the true power of the Blood of Christ in action! Through faith in Christ we can stand firm that we bear no guilt, shame, anxiety, etc. for our past sins for they are cleansed and forgiven. In the present, the world may hurt us physically and traumatic experiences will come but these are only temporary, we must keep our eyes on Heaven. If we give God all of our spirit, body, and soul, and let His supernatural grace cleanse, heal, and restore us in the midst of our pain, we will rest in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. (Mt 22:37) The enemy will still occasionally try, for a period of time, to attack and tempt you, but if you put to death the fears/pain of this worldly kingdom, having already defeated them on the cross, then he will have no emotional strongholds available—for all strongholds will have already been surrendered to God—and Satan will flee. (Jam 4:7) Likewise, we can choose to use let our fleshly body submit to the will of the Holy Spirit to glorify God, or we can listen to unclean spirits and use our body in sinful ways that glorify evil and dishonor God. This is why the apostle John tells already-born again Christians to test every spirit to see if they are from God (1 Jn 4:1-6). The spirit of man is the lamp of God, searching all the innermost parts of his soul (Prov 20:27). With the Holy Spirit baptized into us, man has faith that the spirit of man is gone, replaced with the Holy Spirit. (Rom 8:16) The Holy Spirit is now accessible at all times, and the soul that gives permission to the Holy Spirit into every part of his being will renew and restore all the brokenness of the soul (2 Cor 4:16). With the soul full of the Holy Spirit and the body and the soul in full obedience to the Holy Spirit one faces the adversary with the full boldness of the Lord! “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves [our soul] from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor 7:1) “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thes 5:23)

Conversion first begins with repentance. Repentance means to acknowledge and deeply grieve over your sins, realizing that sin is evil, is a personal offense against God, and has caused separation between you and God. Repentance is a conversion that first takes place in the heart prompting the individual to then turn away from those sins, that you once loved, and towards God, whom you love more. Knowledge of God’s Law and grievance over sin leads to repentance, and repentance to atonement. (Lk 15:7,10,17-21, 1:76-79, 13:3,5, Mt 4:17, Acts 3:19, 26:18-20, Rom 2:4, 2 Cor 7:8-11, Jam 4:1-10, Heb 10:22, Isa 1:15-20, 2 Pet 3:9, 1 Jn 1:8-10)

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Repentance means an acknowledgment of your sin and a turning away from the sin, that you once loved, and towards God, whom you love more. Repentance involves coming to a realization of the reality that your love of sin has hurt others and yourself, and it has caused separation between you and God. Repentance involves a deep, internal and emotional grieving over your sin and all the sins of mankind. In essence, you grieve what God grieves. A realization and an awakening that the anger or bitterness you once had towards God, or religion, or humanity, or certain individuals or groups of people, because of the evil in the world, has been misplaced and directed at the wrong person. Realizing that sin is the cause of all the pain and suffering in your own life—and all the evil and the pain and the suffering throughout the world. Because of this you begin to have a sincere hatred of sin, for the wickedness that it breeds and the death that it causes. Seeking to know God—beyond just either believing in Him or not—but to know Him and to have a deep spiritual connection with Him, and the divine order, you seek to cleanse yourself of sin and devotion to the flesh and become holy, just, right, innocent, blemish-free, and perfect.

Despite your best intentions to be humble, righteous, selfless, to love everyone perfectly and be perfect before God, you eventually come to the unsettling realization of your own inability to: 1) rid yourself completely of sin,— 2) rid yourself the persistent desire to sin,— or 3) rid yourself of the internal struggle that comes from living righteously within a sinful world. Godly sorrow, shame, and remorse of your own sins’ contribution to the suffering in the world, and a grievance of the sufferings of others, and a grievance of your own faults and imperfections humbles the heart. An awareness of this causes your ego to become humbled at our dependence on God and on our own fragileness and vulnerability. If then, there is the sincere and willing desire to fully experience and know God, we must then come to God, humbled by our own failures and weakness, seeking God’s understanding and mercy and love. Relying then, not on our own efforts—despite continuing to give our best—but on His mercy for understanding and forgiveness, His wisdom for discernment and truth, His love for comfort and healing, His companionship for strength and resolve, and His power and majesty to conquer the power sin has over us and help our brothers and sisters in Christ and those in the world to do the same. Thus, in repentance, we not only forsake and turn away from sin, but we recognize our truest selves and our truest need for God.

Repentance is Absolutely Essential:

• REPENTANCE IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS GOD — (Mt 13:15, Mk 4:12, Luke 3:8, 5:32, 15:7,10,17-21,24,32, Isa 59:20, Jn 1:23, Lk 1:76-79, 19:8-10, 23:42-43, Matthew 3:1-3, 6, 8, 10-12, 4:17, Acts 2:38-39, 3:19, 20:21, 26:18-20, Rom 2:4, 11:23, 2 Cor 7:8-9,10-11, James 4:1-10, Ezek 14:5-6, Joel 2:12-13, Heb 6:1, 10:22, Ps 51:16-17,19, 78:34-37, Jer 3:13,14,17,19,22,25, Jonah 3:1-10, Isa 1:15-20, 55:7, 57:15, 66:2, Hos 14:1-2, Jer 18:7-8, 24:1-10, 26:3, Ex 22:3-17, 32:14, 2 Chr 7:13-14)
• IS NECESSARY FOR EVERYONE — (Lev 5:5, Num 5:6-7, Acts 2:38-39, 3:19, 5:31, 11:18, 20:21, 26:20, 1 Jn 1:8-10, Isa 59:2, Rom 3:9-23, 8:6-8, Ps 4:4-5, 36:1-4, 1 Kings 8:46-50, 2 Chr 6:36-39, 2 Pet 3:9)
• NECESSARY TO RECEIVE GOD’S MERCY — (Isa 55:7, Jer 26:12-13, Ps 51:17, Joel 2:13)
• NECESSARY TO RECEIVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS — (1 Jn 1:9, 2 Chr 6:36-39, Prov 28:13, Ps 32:5, Jam 5:19-20)
• NECESSARY TO RECEIVE GOD’S FAVOR — (Dan 4:24-27, 5:18-31, 1 Ki 8:38-40, Ps 32:1, Heb 10:38-39, Isa 30:15)
• NECESSARY TO RECEIVE SALVATION & LIFE — (2 Cor 7:10, 2 Pet 3:9, Ezek 18:21-23,27-28,30-32, Jer 4:14, Mt 3:10)

• IS ONGOING, FOREVER.. EVEN THOSE IN CHRIST, TO OVERCOME UNTIL THE END — (Heb 10:26-31, Jam 4:7-10, 5:19-20, Lk 3:8-9, Rom 2:4-24,24, 6:1-2,17-18,22, 2 Tim 2:24-26, 1 Jn 1:9, Rev 2:2-5,10-11,13-17,19-26, 3:1-5,7-12,15-21, 21:7-8)
• REPENT EVERY SINGLE TIME YOU FALL AND STRIVE FOR GODLINESS — (Acts 20:21, 26:20, Romans 2:4-24,24, 3:31, 6:1-2,12,20,17-18,22, 8:13, 1 Cor 5:7, 10:1-13, Gal 5:19-21, Eph 5:5-6, 1 Tim 5:22,24, 6:9-12, 1 Pet 2:1-2,10-11,12, 2 Pet 3:14, Col 3:5-8,9-10, Heb 10:26-31, Ps 34:14, 2 Kings 17:13, Acts 14:15, Hos 14:9, Mal 3:7-10, 1 Jn 1:9, Rev 2:2-5,10-11,13-17,19-26, 3:1-5,7-12,15-21, 21:7-8)
• NO TEMPTATION OF SIN IS TOO GREAT TO OVERCOME WITH GOD’S HELP — (1 Cor 10:13, Rom 8:5-6,14-17, Mt 7:7, 11:28-30, 1 Pet 5:6-9, Isa 30:18-21, Ps 107:28-30, Jn 4:10, 14:13-14, 15:16, Lk 11:13, Jam 1:5, Phil 4:6-7, Ps 55:22)

Biblical Examples of the Importance of Repentance:

• Asaph’s poetic narrative of Israel’s ongoing history of repentance from Moses to David (Psalm 78:1-72)
• Under Samuel’s lead, Israel repents to God and gets rescued from the Philistines (1 Sam 7:1-16)
• David’s adultery and murder forgiven after repentance (2 Sam 12:1-25, Ps 51:1-19)
• Solomon’s plea for Israel, and all nations, after building the Temple, and God’s acceptance (1 Kings 8:26-61, 9:1-7)
• Despite once being a Godly man of wisdom, Solomon’s later unrepentant sins led his fall: The Law (Duet 7:1-11,25, 17:16-20) Solomon’s Judgment (1 Ki 10:25-29, 11:1-13) And Example For Us (Ezek 33:18, Neh 13:23-27, 1 Cor 10:19-21)
• Ezekiel’s visions calling Israel to repent (Ezek 7:1-3, 26-27, 8:1-18, 9:1,4-10, 11:19-21, 12:21-28, 14:5-6, 18:21-23,27-28,30-32)
• Through the prophet Jeremiah, God calls Israel to repent of their wickedness and return to Him (Jer 3:4-5,1-25, 4:1-2,14)
• Daniel’s redemptive petition for Israel, and God’s response about the promisary Messiah (Dan 9:1-27)
• Peter’s denial of Jesus forgiven after his repentance (Lk 22:31-34, 61-62, Jn 21:14-17)
• Jesus’s “Parable of the Lost Sheep and Lost Coin” — repentance is the beginning of a return to God (Luke 15:1-10)
• Jesus’s “Parable of the Prodigal Son” — confess your sin to God, humble and deny yourself (Luke 15:11-32)
• Jesus’s “Parable of The Pharisee and Tax Collector” — only humble, repentant sinners will be exalted (Luke 18:9-14)
• Examples of repentant heart prayers — (Psalm 38:8,1-22, 51:16-17,1-19, 119:59,1-176, 139:23-24,1-24, 24:1-4, Jer 3:23-25)

Atonement (pronounced at-tone-ment) is becoming “at-one” with God. “Atone” means to make amends or reparation for a wrongdoing. Atonement is the process of publicly acknowledging your sins before God—with a humble, repentant, and sorrowful heart, and then making amends or penance for your sins with your personal sacrifice. In doing this, a person relies on receiving God’s grace, through faith, that God saw that their repenting was sincere, that He accepted the sacrifice on behalf of the sinner, and that it was sufficient to have their sins covered, canceled, or otherwise forgiven.

Justification (becoming justified) occurs when the person’s atonement has been accepted, their debt has been satisfied, or they have been forgiven for the offense, and they are declared legally righteous by God. Atonement with God can occur only after true repentance and providing restitution to any injured parties harmed or negatively affected by the sin. In the Old Covenant with Israel, atonement for sin was made through ritual sacrifice of animals, performed on behalf of a sinner, by the Levitical priest, in God’s Temple. In the New Covenant, all peoples are justified perfectly—through faith alone—in Jesus Christ, God’s Anointed One—as our eternal High Priest, of the order of Melchizedek, and Himself as our Temple, and faith in that His voluntary substitutionary sacrifice on the cross, has paid the penalty and debt of our sins for us on our behalf. Christians submit themselves as bond-servants to Jesus as their LORD and SAVIOR. This complete submission means they willingly die unto themselves (their present life, former sins, and sinful nature enslaved to sin included) so that they may live eternally in Him, and for Him. This lifelong dedication of continuous repentance, self-sacrifice, and submission to Jesus keeps them “in” Christ, allowing for regeneration, and guarantees one’s justification, salvation, and eternal life. Atonement begins with faith, and faith confirmation begins with baptism. (Mt 26:28, 1 Cor 15:46-58, John 3:34-36, 1:29, Rom 3:25, Eph 1:7, Lk 24:47, 1 Jn 1:7,9, Heb 9:22, 10:18, Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, Rev 1:5)

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Atonement (pronounced at-tone-ment) is becoming “at-one” with God. “Atone” means to make amends or reparation for a wrongdoing. Atonement, then, is God’s way to bring reconciliation and restoration to the problem of human sin and its effects. Atonement is the process of publicly acknowledging your sins before God—with a humble, repentant, and sorrowful heart, and then making amends or penance for your sins with your personal sacrifice. In doing this, a person relies on receiving God’s grace, through faith, that God saw that their repenting was sincere, that He accepted the sacrifice on behalf of the sinner, and that it was sufficient to have their sins covered, canceled, or otherwise forgiven. Justification (becoming justified) occurs when the person’s atonement has been accepted, their debt has been satisfied, they have been forgiven for offenses, and they are declared legally righteous by God.

• Atonement with God for sins against God is acceptable only after true repentance. This is because God wants us to be righteous. (Isa 1:10-20; 29:13-24, Mt 23:25-28, Lk 11:39-40, 1 Sam 16:7, Jer 7:22-28, 17:10, 12:1-3, Acts 8:21-22, 1 Chr 28:9, Prov 15:8, 16:2, 24:12, 20:9, 21:3, 24:12, 28:13, Ps 44:21, 50:1-23, 51:1-19, Jam 4:8, 2 Chr 12:14, Deut 30:1-20, Jn 5:42, Amos 5:21-24, Hos 6:6, Mic 6:6-8, Mal 1:6-3:18, Rev 2:23)
• Atonement with God for sins against others can occur only after providing restitution for damages to injured parties harmed or negatively affected by the sin (Mt 5:23-24, Lev 6:1-7, 5:14-16, Num 5:6-8, Ez 33:14-15, Lk 19:1-10, Rom 13:8-10)

Atonement in the Old Covenant with Israel — God gives the people the Torah, meaning “Instruction” or “Law”, which were specific instructions on how to live moral and righteous lives and eliminate sin altogether or at least dramatically reduce their sins. The Torah also included instructions on how to be “ceremonially clean” and live differently and separately from the pagan civilizations surrounding Judea, so that they would not be tarnished by them, and rather become a light for those nations. (Lev 20:25-26) However, the ultimate purpose of the Torah was to describe how to go about living out the Ten Commandments—which were principally centered on 1) Having a right understanding of and relationship with God, and 2) How to live as a covenant of people, under God, and have a right relationship with each other (Ex 20:1-17, Deut 5:6-21). He gave the people specific instructions on how to sacrifice, teaching them the process with which they can atone and be forgiven for their sins, and thus reconciled to Him both as individuals and as a people. Atonement for sin was made through ritual sacrifice of worthy animals, performed on behalf of a sinner, by the Levitical priest, in the presence of God in God’s Temple. Understanding the atonement process given by God in the Old Covenant helps us to better understand the nature, meaning, and importance of the New Covenant through Jesus.

God gave specific instructions to Moses on how to build His Tabernacle and everything in it. God dwelt in a sanctuary in the center of the Israelite camp called the Tent of Meeting, later rebuilt as a larger, more permenent foundation called the Temple. Inside the Temple courtyard was a Bronze Altar for sacrifices to God, and a Bronze Laver for priests to cleanse their hands and feet prior to entering another more sacred area, that only priests could enter, called the Tabernacle. Inside the Tabernacle were three pieces of furniture: the Golden Lampstand, the Altar of Incense, and the Table of the Bread of the Presence. Inside the Tabernacle, separated by a thick veil, was another room called the Most Holy Place—also known as the Holy of Holies. Inside this room, was the Ark of the Covenant—which contained The Law (two stone tablets with the 10 commandments written on them by God), Aaron’s rod (representing him and his descendants as God’s choice for the priesthood), and a jar of manna (life-giving food from heaven). On the top of Ark was the Mercy Seat, a kind of portable throne, where the physical presence of God dwelt. (Ex 25:8-9,16,17-22, 31:1-11)

1. SIN PRODUCES DEATH (Gen 2:17, Rom 5:12,14, 6:16,21,23, 7:5,11, Prov 14:12, 1:10-19)
2. BLOOD, AS BASIS OF LIFE (Gen 9:4-6, Lev 17:10-14, Deut 12:23)
3. BLOOD WAS GIVEN THEN to make atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11, Heb 9:22, Rom 6:23, Deut 12:23)
4. SIN OFFERINGS AND GUILT OFFERINGS — The method God gave to atone for the unintentional sins of individuals or the community against God or each other. (Leviticus 4:1-6:7, 5:17, 6:24-30, 7:1-7, 9:7, 19:20-22, Num 15:22-27)
5. SACRIFICIAL ANIMALS — Must be worthy (a person’s best and most valuable offering; an animal without imperfection) thus demonstrating reverance for God’s holiness, and a sincere repentance and a significant loss/sacrifice on behalf of the individual. (Lev 5:6, 6:30, 22:24-25, Deut 15:21, Mal 1:8,13-14)
6. SUBSTITIONARY ATONEMENT — In addition to financial loss, individuals were instructed to lay their hand on the head of the innocent animal, associating themselves with it, it making atonement for them as their substitution their behalf, reflecting on the seriousness of sin and its consequences on life. (Lev 4:4,15)
7. LEVITICAL PRIESTS — chosen by God, from the Tribe of Levi, specifically the descendants of Aaron, were specially-appointed individuals responsible for performing all duties in the Tabernacle, including all sacrificial offerings. (Num 3:12, 18:1-7, Deut 10:8-9, Jer 33:18-22)
8. ANNUAL ATONEMENT — The Most Holy Place, where God dwelt, was to be entered only by the high priest, after personal atonement and ritual purification, and only one day per year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, to atone for himself, his family, and those sins that the community has committed in ignorance. (Ex 30:10, Lev 16:34,1-34, 10:1-3, Heb 9:7,25, 10:3)
9. DEFIANT/UNFORGIVABLE SINS — OLD TESTAMENT (Num 15:30-31, 1 Sam 3:13-14, Isa 63:8-10) NEW TESTAMENT (Mt 12:24-32, Mk 3:22-30, Lk 12:10, Heb 6:4-8, 10:26-29, 1 Jn 5:16, Acts 7:51, 5:1-10)

Atonement in the New Covenant In Christ — Christians are called to follow God’s Moral Laws while given the liberty not to have to follow the Ceremonial Laws. Christians, born again into Jesus (who was sinless and perfectly met the requirements of both the moral and the ceremonial law) each become a member of the spiritual Body of Christ. In the New Covenant, all Christians are justified perfectly—through faith alone—in Jesus Christ, God’s Anointed One—as our eternal High Priest, of the order of Melchizedek, and Himself, His spiritual Body as our Temple. It is faith in His voluntary substitionary sacrifice on the cross, that has paid the penalty and debt of our sins for us on our behalf. Our sincere repentance of our sin in personal or public confession and our submission to Christ that applies His sacrifice to cleanse ourselves. Christians submit themselves as bond-servants to Jesus as their LORD and their SAVIOR. This complete submission means they willingly die unto themselves (their present life, all former sins, their sinful nature enslaved to sin, and their self-serving lifestyle included) so that they may live eternally in Him, and for Him. This lifelong dedication of continuous repentance, self-sacrifice, and submission to Jesus keeps them “in” Christ, allowing for regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and guarantees one’s justification, salvation, and eternal life. Atonement begins with faith, and faith confirmed publicly begins with baptism and continues with lifestyle. (Mt 26:28, 1 Cor 15:46-58, John 3:34-36, 1:29, Rom 3:25, 1 Pet 2:24, Eph 1:7, Lk 24:47, 1 Jn 1:7,9, Heb 2:9, 5:1-10, 9:22, 10:18, Acts 2:38, 4:10-12, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38-39, 1 Thes 1:10, 1 Tim 2:5-6, Rev 1:5)

• Christ is the Eternal High Priest, of the order of Melchizedek — (Gen 14:14-18, Ps 110:1-4, Mal 2:8, 4:1-6, Acts 1:9, 2:33-34, Heb 4:14-16, 5:1-10, 6:17-20, 7:1-28, Rev 5:1-10)
• Christ’s Authority Over Sin, His Atonement Cleansing our Sin — (1 Jn 1:7-9, 2 Pet 1:9, Mt 9:6, Mk 2:5, Lk 5:18-26, Jn 15:3, 1 Cor 6:11, Eph 5:25-32, Titus 2:11-15, 3:3-8, Heb 1:3, 9:14, 10:22)
• Reconciliation To God and Redemption Through Christ’s Atonement — (Rom 5:10, 2 Cor 5:18-20, Eph 2:13-16, 5:1-2, Col 1:20-22, Heb 2:17, 9:12, 1 Pet 3:18, 1 Tim 2:6, Mt 20:28, Acts 20:28, Rev 5:9)
• Believers Body as the New Temple — (Mt 26:61, Mk 14:58, Jn 2:19-21, Mt 27:40, Acts 15:16, 1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:15-20, 2 Cor 6:14-18, Eph 2:19-22, 1 Pet 2:5, Col 3:15)
• God Desires Righteousness. Through His Grace and Mercy He Allowed Animal Sacrifice to Atone for Unrighteousness — (Prov 21:3, Ps 40:6-8, 51:16-17, 1 Sam 15:22, Isa 1:11-17, Jer 7:21-23, Hos 6:6, Mic 6:6-8, 2 Kin 17:13, Jer 4:1-4)
• Self-Denial, Sacrifice For Jesus — (Rom 6:19, 12:1, 15:1-9, 1 Cor 6:19-20, 8:13, 10:33, 15:58, 16:15-16, Mt 10:39, 16:24, 19:27-29, Mk 8:34, 10:28-30,45, Lk 14:25-35, 17:33, 18:28-30, Jn 15:13, Acts 6:4, 20:24, 21:13, Phil 2:5-8, 3:8, 1 Tim 4:15, 6:17, Tit 2:14, Heb 12:28, 1 Jn 3:16, Ps 40:7-8, 50:23, Rev 12:11)

Baptism is a Christian ceremony where a church representative initiates the person into the Body of Christ, through a public expression of faith, either by an individual or their legal representative, through ritual water purification. They are identified as having received and accepted the correct and true faith upon initiation by confirming their repentance of sin, Jesus as Lord and Savior, and being baptized “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matt 28:18-20) Baptism is central to the Christian faith, it is not optional but rather is a commandment by Jesus, and it unifies Christians as members of the same body in Christ (John 3:3-7).

For believers, baptism is: 1) a corporate act of initiation into the community of God, 2) an individual act of faith and personal identification with Christ that expresses a persons repentance and conversion, 3) a transformative spiritual rebirth into a new spiritual creation in whom God infuses the individual with His Holy Spirit. All three occur only through the faith of a believer. The first is an initiation into the new covenant into Christ. This can also be called dedication or consecration to God and is similar to the old covenant circumcision, or how elders could atone for the community, or head of households could atone for their household, or grace given an unbeliever through united in marriage with a believer. (Gen 17:7,10-14, Ex 13:2, Jer 9:25-26, Lk 2:22, Acts 2:38-41, 7:8,51, Mk 10:13-16, Lk 18:15-17, 1 Cor 7:12-14, Eph 2:11-22, Lev 10:17,34, Heb 9:7) The second is an individual’s profession of faith. This is an important action of obedience for a Christian and signifies a person’s identification with Christ. It is an outward manifestation of an inward reality of trust in the sacrifice of Christ, of conversion, and of identification with Christ. (Rom 6:3-4) The third comes from God and occurs according to God’s will alone. This is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. (1 Jn 5:6-8) It may occur during an individual’s water baptism or even without the presence of water, but never without faith in Christ and never without the knowledge of the Holy Spirit as distinct Himself and in unity with the Father and the Son. (Acts 8:14-17, 10:44-48, 18:24-19:7)

The mere physical act of water immersion by or for a non-believer doesn’t save or change anyone. (Mt 3:11,13-17, Mk 1:8-11, Lk 3:16,21-22, Jn 1:32-33, Romans 3:28-30, 4:3, 5, 5:1, 6:3-4, 1 Cor 7:14, 12:13, 15:29, Gal 2:16, 21, 3:26-29, Phil 3:9, Col 2:11-12, Acts 1:5, 2:38-41, 8:12-13,36-38, 9:17-18, 11:16, 16:14-15,31-33, 18:8, 19:5, 1 Jn 5:6-8, Heb 10:22, 10:13-16, Isa 44:3, Ez 36:25-27)

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Baptism is a Christian ceremony where a church representative initiates the person into the Body of Christ, through a public expression of faith, either by an individual or their legal representative, through ritual water purification. They are identified as having received and accepted the correct and true faith upon initiation by confirming their repentance of sin, Jesus as Lord and Savior, and being baptized “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (Matt 28:18-20) Baptism is central to the Christian faith, it is not optional but rather is a commandment by Jesus, and it unifies Christians as members of the same body in Christ (John 3:3-7). Baptism in the appropriate names (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) identifies the individual as having received and accepting of the correct and true faith upon initiation by confirming:

• BELIEF in the Reality of Sin, realization of their sins, and sincere REPENTANCE of their sins.
• BELIEF in One True God, and that the Father, Logos (Word), and Holy Spirit are God-Almighty as revealed in ancient Scripture (YHWH).
• THE FATHER sent the Son, born of a virgin, rose Him from the dead, and gave Him all authority in heaven and earth.
• JESUS IS LORD (affirming His divinity, ascension, sovereignty, permanence, accessibility, companionship).
• JESUS IS SAVIOR (affirming His incarnation, atonement, resurrection, authority, metaphysicality, transcendance).
• THE HOLY SPIRIT is God’s presence on earth; indwelling, helping, and leading believers on behalf of Jesus; convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment; glorifying and testifying to the sovereignty of Jesus.

For believers, baptism is:

1. A corporate act of initiation into the community of God. This is an initiation into the new covenant into Christ’s Body. For spiritual adults, anyone thirteen or older, they must profess their own repentance and faith (#2), as is God’s eyes they are legally responsible for their own sin and decisions. For younger children or infants, as dependents they were protected under their household and covered by their legal guardian’s household atonements. This baptism is also called an infant or child dedication or consecration to God and is considered to be a Christian (gentile/worldwide) replacement to the Abrahamic covenant initiation into the community of God, which was circumcision. Formerly, this would be accomplished by presenting the circumsized infant on the 8th day to the High Priest in the Temple to have the parents dedicate the child to God. Since the Body of Christ has replaced the Temple, and Christ has taken on His role as High Priest, baptism/dedication has become the new initiation method. In many ways this method may even be superior, because while God alone knows for sure if the child has actually been spiritually reborn (#3) as a result or not, nonetheless, the child, through the faith of their parents, is given the opportunity to have Christ’s atonement cover them, as well as God’s grace, blessing, and Spirit poured onto them. Other benefits are possible as a result—namely, cleansing of original sin, the breaking of generational curses, and sanctification of the Spirit with them through childhood working in cooperation with their parents to lead them towards their profession of faith in God later in life. While personal faith and responsibility is encouraged as soon as possible, this is a way for faithful Christians to do everything they can for their child. This “legal representation” isn’t foreign to Scripture. Similar examples include how elders were permitted to atone for sins on behalf of their community, head of households were permitted to atone for sins for their household, or how grace is afforded an unbeliever while they’re united in marriage to a believer. In addition, requests made to God, and prayers made to God for others are also heard by God and often granted. This shows that as Christ’s faithfulness can cover us—our faithfulness can also help cover others. (Gen 17:7,10-14, Ex 13:2, Jer 9:25-26, Lk 2:22, Acts 2:38-41, 7:8,51, Mk 10:13-16, Lk 18:15-17, 1 Cor 7:12-14, Eph 2:11-22, Lev 10:17,34, Heb 9:7)
2. An individual act of faith and personal identification with Christ that expresses their repentance and conversion. Baptism is an important action of obedience for a Christian and signifies a person’s identification with Christ. It is an outward manifestation of an inward reality of trust in the sacrifice of Christ, of conversion, and of identification with Christ. (Rom 6:3-4)
3. A transformative spiritual rebirth into a new spiritual creation which in whom God infuses the individual with His Holy Spirit. This is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. (1 Jn 5:6-8) It may occur during an individual’s water baptism or even without the presence of water, but never without faith in Christ and never without the knowledge of the Holy Spirit as distinct Himself and in unity with the Father and the Son. (Acts 8:14-17, 10:44-48, 18:24-19:7)

All three occur only through the faith of a believer and are still completely dependent on unworthy people receiving God’s grace because he is loving and merciful. The mere physical act of water immersion by or for a non-believer doesn’t save or change anyone. (Mt 3:11,13-17, Mk 1:8-11, Lk 3:16,21-22, Jn 1:32-33, Romans 3:28-30, 4:3, 5, 5:1, 6:3-4, 1 Cor 7:14, 12:13, 15:29, Gal 2:16, 21, 3:26-29, Phil 3:9, Col 2:11-12, Acts 1:5, 2:38-41, 8:12-13,36-38, 9:17-18, 11:16, 16:14-15,31-33, 18:8, 19:5, 1 Jn 5:6-8, Heb 10:22, 10:13-16, Isa 44:3, Ez 36:25-27)

Sanctification & Regeneration — Restoration of human righteousness. To sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use and to be conformed to the image of Christ. God has set us apart for the purpose of sanctification not impurity; and being such, we are called to do good works. This happens after justification, by faith, where we are declared righteous when our sins are forgiven through Christ’s atonement. It also happens after one’s spiritual rebirth in the Holy Spirit, and is born again as a new creation in Christ. The Christian then begins a lifelong process of sanctification where the Holy Spirit indwells them and works in them to make them more like Christ in all that they do, think, and desire.

Sanctification is an ongoing lifelong process involving both the believer and God. God works in the believer to regenerate them into a godly character living a Christ-centered life. The believer is responsible for their response and must be actively involved in submitting to God’s will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly. The temptation to sin never fully goes away, calling for perseverance of the saints, but the Christian who submits learns to depend on God for strength, to live in and be led by His spirit rather than the flesh, will overcome and eventually develop strong muscles of faith and endurance for godly living. The flesh nature, as well as the spiritual enemy who is the temptor and deceiver, are always near trying to snare the believer to falling victim to sin again, which calls for an ongoing perseverance of the saints to resist sin and live godly lives. (Phil 2:13, Rom 6:11, 16-18, 7:4, 8:2, 4-9, 13, 12:1-2, 14:17, 15:16, 1 Cor 1:2, 30, 6:9-11, 18-20, 2 Cor 3:18, 5:15, 6:4-10, Gal 5:5, 16-17, 22-23, Col 1:10, Jn 8:34-36, 2 Thes 2:13, 2 Tim 1:7, 9, Tit 2:14, 3:5, Heb 2:11, 9:14, 10:22, 12:10, 13:12, Jn 15:3, 1 Pet 1:2, 15-16, 2:5, 9-12, 2 Pet 1:1-11, 3:18, Eph 1:4-11, 2:3, 10, 4:17-24, 5:25-27, Jam 5:19-20, 1 Jn 1:7, 1 Thes 4:3-6, Acts 6:3-5, 11:24, Ps 51:7, 10, Lk 1:73-75, Lev 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7-8, 22:32, Num 27:18, Deut 34:9, Ez 36:25, 29, 33, 37:23, Zech 13:1)

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Good deeds alone do not make us acceptable to God. High moral standards, giving money to the poor, loving our neighbors, even going to a Christian church does not mean that we are saved. It does not necessarily mean one is even a “Christian.” Salvation (being saved from God’s judgment) is a gift from God. Nothing we do can earn us salvation. (Tit 3:3-6, Eph 2:8-9) The Christian is one who has accepted God’s gift of salvation and puts their saving faith in Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 10:31) The Christian is one “belongs to Christ” and one “who follows Christ”. In order to be a Christian then it is necessary to first learn the truth about who Christ is and why He came. Then to be a “follower of Christ” a person must align their life in obedience to Him, follow His teachings, and do the things that He commanded be done by His disciples. To “belong to Christ” a person must be born again spiritually into Him, to become His, to be joined spiritually with Him. Then happens after repentance and saving faith that Jesus has died for your sins, and confirmed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in you.

The ultimate purpose of all life is to glorify God. For Christians—who believe in the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and eternal life—the purpose of this life is to prepare us for our eternal life with Christ. The Father and the Son have existed for all eternity glorifying each other in a loving dance. In Christ, we have been given a way to enter into this eternal dance with them. Christian conversion is the beginning of our entering into this dance with them. (Jn 17:1-26) We do this by first developing a personal, intimate relationship with God and putting Him first in our lives. Then we live for Jesus and use Him as our model and try to be like Him in everything that we do. We embrace the Holy Spirit and surrender our will and our lives to Him and let Him improve us to make us more like Jesus. We let the fruits of the Spirit flow through us into loving our neighbors as ourselves, and strive to live a pure and righteous life untainted and uncorrupted by the sinful world around us. (Mt 22:37-40, Rom 12:2, Phil 4:8-9, Gal 5:22-23) We become Christ’s ambassadors, spreading the gospel and building His Church.

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The Purpose of Life. Why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Answer: The purpose of life is to glorify God. (1 Cor 10:31) In other words, everything God created He did it because it brought Him glory. It made Him happy to do it. It isn’t much different than how and why we create things, for example a beautiful painting or building something with our hands. Our “glory” in this regard might better be understood with words such as admiration or pride over our creation. However with God’s creation of angels or man, self-aware beings with their own identity and soul, there is much more potential to glorify God and thus potential to be much more gratifying for Him. This is because we can recognize Him apart from us, and can willingly choose to love Him, serve Him, and glorify Him intentionally. This is possible because we are separate beings able to recognize that we exist because He gave us life and we can recognize how much more magnificent He is than us. But an additional way beings like us can bring Him glory is because we’re capable of creating things of our own. We’re able to create our paintings, buildings, etc. not just for ourselves, but for Him, and for His glory. In this way we bring glory to each other. God gives us life, love, fulfillment, purpose, and even pleasure, and we love and praise Him for it, we dedicate all of these right back to Him. (Acts 17:24-27, Isa 55:11, 46:10)

The Purpose of Relationships. In addition to created things, all other institutions, such as marriage (complete unity of flesh and soul between two persons), procreation, child-rearing, as well as all other family, friend, and business relationships, are also for God’s glory. Compared to our own creations, we can gain an even greater joy from these interactive experiences. God designed this harmonious patchwork of diversity so that His creation, mankind in-particular, can experience for themselves first-hand in a way similarly to how He experiences us. (Gen 1:28; 9:1, 7; 10:5, 20, 31-32) We can not only receive greater joy from these relationships ourselves, but when we do these things, while maintaining and preserving our close relationship with God, we can use these relationships and experiences to increase God’s glory. In living our lives to glorify God, and living in ways that please Him, such as righteous, loving, humble, thankful, worshipping, adoring, unselfish, etc. we not only bring Him glory, but we also avoid the pitfalls of becoming a worthless, all-consuming, parasitic creation. Not dissimilar to raising and investing in our own children and then getting either innumerable joy and pride and a life of closeness with them, or shame and disappointment and a life of angst and separation from them, from what they then decide to do with their lives afterwards. We learn from the Bible that God’s very trinitarian nature is the epitomy of an eternal, co-glorifying dance within His being. The Father and the Son glorify each other for all eternity in this loving dance. We are invited to join in this dance with them! (Jn 17:1-26)

What is the Purpose of YOUR Life? God created all things to live forever. He did not create anything to die, suffer, feel pain, etc. (Gen 2:7, 9, 16-17) These things came about as a consequence of doing evil, for both 1/3 of the angels in Heaven, as well as all of mankind. (Ezek 28:12-17, Gen 3:1-24, Isa 14:12-15, Rev 12:1-13:10) God has promised one day to destroy death itself along with all creation that love what is evil. He will restore His original creation to everlasting life to be enjoyed by those who love God and love what is good. (Rev 21:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8, 22-27, 22:3-5, 12, 14, 17) The purpose of our reasonably short time on earth is for us to have free will and become who or what we want to become. All of mankind knows that our life span is very short, perhaps a hundred years give or take, and even with this the case, we know we’re not even guaranteed to have that long. Essentially, we are aware that every day, every hour, may be our last. We are free to choose whom we love, what we love, what we live for, what we do with our time, how we treat others, etc. With such a finite amount of time, we have already decided what has been most important to us. Through knowledge, we know that we die. Through faith, we believe that there is more beyond this life. God is going to judge each person regardless if that person has heard what the Judeo-Christian God desires or not, or if they have heard the Gospel of Christ or not. We’re judged by whatever knowledge we possess, or had access to, as well as our response to it and our faith in it. God is going to judge a person by their life whether they are aware that the Holy Spirit of God, as well as evil spirits, have been speaking to their hearts and minds and trying to influence them their entire lives. (Isa 29:13, Mt 15:8, Mk 7:6, Jer 12:2, Ezek 33:31, Hos 7:14, 2 Tim 2:16, Prov 23:7) It is the choices we make, what we do with our time, that demonstrates who and what we love. By what is in our hearts, until our very last breathe, God judges who we are, and thus where we will go. Note: to love God’s moral standards but to not love Him nor desire to glorify Him is equally as evil in its rebellion. These are essential parts of entering the unselfish, loving dance with the Father and Son. (Jer 23:20, Josh 24:15, Mt 6:33, Phil 3:13-14, Eph 1:4-5, 11, 3:4-5, Rom 12:2, 8:27-30)

What is a Christian? The word “Christian” is used in the New Testament 3 times. (Acts 11:26, 26:28, 1 Pet 4:16). The meaning of “-ian” is a suffix (word ending) showing that something belongs to a group, place, etc. An electrician belongs to a group who works on electrical devices. A vegetarian is someone who belongs to a group with a primarily vegetable-based diet. And an Indian belongs to India either culturally or genetically. The Christian then, is those identified, literally, as “those who follow Christ” or as those “belonging to Christ.” In order to be a Christian then it is necessary to learn the truth about who Christ is and why He came. To be a “follower of Christ” a person must align their life in obedience to Him, to follow His teachings, and do the things that He commanded be done by His disciples. To “belong to Christ” a person must be born again spiritually into Him, to become His, to be joined spiritually with Him.

Despite the common misconception, the Bible says that good works (good deeds) do not make us acceptable to God. In other words, a person can live to a high moral standard, give money to feed the poor, serve their neighbors, even go to a Christian church, and yet still not be a Christ follower or a “Christian.” As you can see from (Tit 3:3-6, Eph 2:8-9), salvation (being saved from God’s judgment) is a gift from God. Nothing we do can earn us salvation. A true Christian is a person who has faith. This includes believing in His virgin birth, incarnation, and divinity. It includes believing in, and accepting on your behalf, Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sins. It includes believing in His resurrection as proof of His power over death, and believing in His ascension into Heaven as proof of His lordship. A true Christian is one who has accepted God’s gift of salvation and put their saving faith in Jesus Christ. A saving faith is one that will show evidence in your life. At first in a persons conversion, there may only be the seeds planted, but as you surrender your will to the Holy Spirit there will be evidence of His work in you. The fruits of the Holy Spirit will begin to bloom and your own heart will be sealed with confidence in your salvation.

Life in Christ.

For Christians, who believe in the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Christ, and eternal life, the purpose of this life is to prepare you for your eternal life with Christ.

Life of Righteousness. Christians are called to follow the spirit of God’s moral and civil laws for righteous living, with the liberty of being sanctified by the Holy Spirit without following the ceremonial laws. (Acts 13:38-39). Christians, born again into Jesus (who perfectly met the requirements of the moral, civil, and ceremonial laws) are each a member of the Body of Christ. Collectively, they are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and are to live in a moral and righteous way that glorifies Christ and builds up the Body. Naturally, living morally and righteously are a necessity. Sins committed either in the name of God, or by individuals themselves who profess to be Christians, dramatically hurt the Body tainting the image of God in the eyes of unbelievers. Christians are to live moral and righteous lives and eliminate sin altogether or at the very least dramatically reduce their sins to occasional, accidental, venial sins and to continue to improve in our areas of weakness. We are to be a people of God who live moral and righteous lives, loving our neighbors, even those who do us harm. We are not to “blend in” with sinners around us. We are to be a light among the nations and to be an example for them. Jesus ate and drank with sinners. He didn’t become a sinner, rather he taught them righteousness. He spent time with the sick, hurting, and the broken…and he shared their pain and healed them. We are to be Jesus to everyone around us. We are to be righteous, innocent, gentle, humble, forgiving, generous, loving, just, and loving of mercy. (Eph 5:1-21, Titus 2:9-15)

Develop a Personal, Intimate Relationship With God:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Mt 22:37-38)

• Put your relationship with God first (Lk 18:22-23, Mt 6:33, 1 Jn 5:2-3, Ex 20:3, Rom 8:38-39)
• Pray in the Holy Spirit for regeneration (Ps 51:10, Jam 5:13, 2 Cor 4:16)
• Sing and praise the Lord in worship (Eph 5:19)
• Be thankful for what God has done for you; give back cheerfully (2 Cor 9:6-15, Eph 5:20, Ps 37:4)
• Rely on God to meet your daily needs (Mt 6:11, Lk 11:3, 12:29-31, Phil 4:6-7, Mt 11:28)
• Trust the Holy Spirit to guide you (Gal 5:22-23)
• Dedicate time every week for rest in God (Ex 20:8-11)
• Live according to God’s purpose for you (Rom 8:28)

Live a Christian Life in the World:

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Mt 22:39-40)

• Love your neighbor (1 Cor 13:1-13)
• Love your enemy; overcome evil with good (Rom 12:20-21)
• Don’t lie or give false testimony (Ex 20:16)
• Don’t take what is not yours (Ex 20:15)
• Don’t desire to take what someone else has (Ex 20:17)
• Care for the weak and helpless
• Help support ministers, missionaries, and evangelists (Tit 3:13-14)
• Provide justice for the innocent (Ps 41:1, Mt 25:31-46)
• Influencing society in positive ways (Mt 5:13-16, 6:9-13)
• Be submissive to rulers and authorities (Tit 3:1-2)
• Avoid foolish, endless debates with people (Tit 3:9-10)
• Forgive others (Mt 6:12, 18:21-35, Lk 11:4, 15:11-32)
• Teach your children to prioritize God (Ecc 12:1)
• Live with godly wisdom (Ps 90:12)
• Honor your parents (Ex 20:12)

Keep Yourself Unblemished By The World:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)

• Consider your old sinful self dead (Gal 2:20)
• If you love Jesus, you will keep His commandments (Jn 14:15, 1 Jn 5:2-3)
• Avoid Idolatry (Eph 5:5, Ex 20:4-5)
• Don’t make idols out of earthly pleasures (Ex 20:3)
• Seek God’s kingdom rather than your own (Mt 6:24, 6:33, Rom 12:2, Lk 12:34)
• Live in the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23, Ps 37:4)
• Avoid Sexual Immorality (Eph 5:3-5)
• Stay Pure (Eph 5:3, 2 Tim 2:22, Mt 5:48)
• Don’t use God’s name in vain (Ex 20:7)
• Be content and generous, not greedy (Eph 5:5)
• Guard your heart and minds in Jesus (Phil 4:6-8)
• Dwell on what is good all times (Phil 4:8-9)