Seeking God and Finding Him

An Investigative Journey into the Claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Written by Chris Norman Pastor of Preaching and Vision Grace Fellowship Church, New Haven, IN www.gfcfortwayne.org

TABLE of CONTENTS
LESSON ONE: How Can I Understand God in the Midst of Chaos?....3 LESSON TWO: One Human Race One Common Problem...............8 LESSON THREE: Coming to Grips with the Destiny of my Soul...13 LESSON FOUR: He would do that for Me?...............18 LESSON FIVE: Experiencing a Beautiful and Perfect Love22 LESSON SIX: How do I Begin a Relationship with God?.....27 LESSON SEVEN: How can I Know where My Relationship with God Stands?..................32 LESSON EIGHT: How Free and Forgiven am I in Christ?............37 SUMMARY: What is the Gospel of Christ?.......42 APPENDIX: How do I Know if I Should be Baptized?............43
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Lesson One How Can I Understand God in the Midst of Chaos?

Most people in the world are on some type of spiritual journey. Perhaps your journey has been intentional or maybe it has been more sporadic. You have heard stories of adults, adopted at a young age, who have pursued their natural parents. We all have yearnings to know more about our upbringing and origins. This is also true when it comes to the origin of the human race. Philosophers, scientists, and theologians have debated for centuries the origin of man and the ultimate creator of the universe. Every person has a unique desire to investigate, speculate, and think about why he or she was placed on this earth. Have you been placed on this earth by a creator, or are you here by chance? Answering this question will affect the way you view life and probably the way you live it. This study assumes no previous Bible knowledge. In fact, you may wonder if the Bible or the Christian faith is even true. This will be an opportunity for you to study the foundational and original document of the Christian faith, the Holy Bible, and come to your own conclusion. The study will not try to convince you the Bible is true, nor will it try to convince you that God even exists. It will simply reveal what the Bible states about God, his creation, and how you fit into Gods plan. As we will see, the Bible states that a personal and loving God uniquely creates every person in this world. God created you and knows you far better than you even know yourself. He wants nothing more than for you to genuinely know and love him. God says he will reveal himself to anyone who truly seeks him. Look up the following verses and record the portion of the verse that pertains to the subject of seeking God. (If you are not familiar with where these books of the Bible are located, go to your table of contents. (OT) will mean Old Testament and (NT) will mean New Testament.) 1. Jeremiah 29:13 (OT) 2. Matthew 7:7-8 (NT)

3. Deuteronomy 4:29 (OT) 4. Acts 17:27 (NT) God delights and gives promises to those who seek him. Many times God allows both good and bad circumstances to happen in our lives so that we will seek him. From our perspective it may seem that we are doing all the seeking, but in reality God is the one who is seeking us. 5. Luke 19:10 (NT)

As we will see in the upcoming lessons, every person is born lost and without God. Many times we get confused about life and all the struggles we face, and we have many questions left unanswered. We can allow the good or bad times in our lives to either draw us closer to God or farther away from him. Often we look for God in the wrong places (e.g. through relationships, money, careers, religious experiences, etc.), but in his mercy and love he seeks us. As this Luke passage says, He desires to save that which is lost. We never come to understand this, however, until we come to the point of seeking him and looking into the Bible. It is amazing that when we finally do seek after God and read what the Bible says, we come in contact with our loving and intimate creator. 6. Is there anything in your life either positive or negative that has caused you to pause and realize that you need to seek God in your life, or has caused you to realize that God has been seeking you?

Remember Gods promise: Those who seek me, find me. Perhaps God has allowed you to experience something in your life that has made you realize you cannot do it alone. We all need God, our creator. Confusion in the Midst of Relativism Maybe you have never analyzed the way most people in our society think today. We live in what is called a relativistic or postmodern society. As you seek God it is important for you to understand your cultural context. There are four basic sources of authority when it comes to knowledge and beliefs. Everything you believe about the world is derived from one of these four sources of authority: 1) reason, 2) tradition, 3) experience, and 4) the Bible. We believe that two plus two equals four because it is reasonable and logical (reason). We believe the North Pole has extremely cold weather because we learned that in geography and sociology class (tradition). We believe drinking extra hot coffee will burn our tongue because we have felt it (experience). We believe Jesus Christ walked this earth 2000 years ago because that is what the Bible teaches (Bible). Therefore, we use all four sources of authority to develop our belief system. What happens, however, is that many times two or more sources of authority contradict each other on a subject or issue, and a person is forced to choose one source as the final source of authority. For example, the Bible says Jesus walked on water, and yet my experience and reason tell me it is impossible to walk on water (two opposing conclusions based on different sources of authority). Whether you know it or not, you have one source of authority that you respect and rely upon the most when this happens. 7. What source of authority do you depend on the most at this stage of your life? Why do you think this is so?

8. From the four sources of authority that were just given evaluate these four statements and write down the final source of authority used: a) My parents taught me that as long as you love people and are a good person you will go to heaven, and that is what I believe. b) The Bible says that God has no beginning and no ending, therefore, that is what I believe. c) It does not make good sense to me that a God would create people and then send many of them to hell, therefore, I cannot believe this is true.
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d) I will not believe in the God of the Bible unless he personally appears to me or performs a miracle before my eyes. The way I live right now feels right to me. In our day experience has become the dominating source of authority. In a relativistic society no one has a right to tell anyone else he is wrong. There are no absolutes, and everything is relative. What is right and wrong for me is relative to my experience. Nothing outside of mans own thoughts and opinions has authority. Man and his experience now is the final judge. Nothing or no one can judge me or tell me I am wrong but me. This is the difference between a man-centered world and a God-centered world. People today generally do what is right in their own eyes. 8. How would you explain or give examples of relativism in your own words (This may difficult to answer as some people have an easier time grasping this concept than others. If it is too difficult be assured that the rest of the study will have very few questions as challenging as this one.) ?

If there are no absolutes, and no one can make universal statements about right and wrong, think about the result: morality is based solely on the opinion of each persons own feelings. If I want to have an affair on my spouse, who are you to say I am wrong? I decide what is right and wrong for me. This reasoning can be given to verify any action. Man becomes his own final judge. In a sense, everyone is his or her own god. The very first verse in the Bible challenges this thinking, and reveals that we are not our own gods. God as Creator 10. Record Genesis 1:1 (OT) 11. What does this one verse say about all of life?

12. What does this one verse say about your life?

13. According to Gen. 1:31 what did God say about all of his creation after the six days? As you read through Genesis chapter one, God often states that what he has created is good. This is the very first moral judgment made in the Bible. Not only is God known as the Creator, he is also known from the beginning as a God who creates morality. He created the universe (and everything within the universe) and also established a moral basis of right and wrong. Because this world is his creation, he is the one who sets all standards and creates all plans. There is a clear distinction between the Creator and the creation, and the creation is always subject to the Creator. Creator God as a Communicator The God of all creation is not one who is silent but one who communicates and is interactive with his creation. God also did not create everything the same. He created man and woman with the special ability to
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relate and interact with him in a unique way. While animals, trees, insects, vegetation, etc. are all created with inherent goodness from God, they do not have this ability to communicate with God like people. This is part of what it means for God to create man in his own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). God is revealed as a communicator with man and woman within the very first chapter of the Bible. 14. To whom did God communicate in Genesis 1:28? 15. If 2 Timothy 3:16 (NT) is true, how reliable and dependable is the Bible as it relates to Gods communication to man? Explain in your own words.

God has not left us on our own to understand and know him. God is a talking and communicating God. He has communicated to us through the Bible. There are many external evidences supporting the reliability and authenticity of the Bible. The scope of this study, however, does not allow a thorough investigation into these areas at this time. Some of these external evidences are the following: 1) many fulfilled prophecies made by the Bible hundreds of years before they were predicted, 2) archeological evidence and new discoveries confirming biblical accounts that were previously thought to be false, 3) other historical documents confirming the empty tomb as well as other biblical accounts of people, places, and events, and 4) the massive amount of ancient manuscript copies of the Bible (far more than any other ancient document, religious or secular, in the world). These are simply a few of the external evidences for the reliability of the Bible that go well beyond a blind faith. If you are interested in studying these issues further at a later time ask your facilitator to find out what resources are available on these topics. God has been a communicator since the beginning of time, and he is still a communicator today. As you study the Bible through these lessons he will most certainly communicate with you. Who is this Creator God? Many people have different views of God. Some think he is always mad and always disappointed in us. Some think he is more like a grandfather in the sky and never gets angry. Some believe God is nature, others believe he is simply the good in people, and yet others believe God is simply on the sidelines cheering us on with the hope that we will make the right choices. Because God existed before he created the universe, he is totally independent of our thoughts or perceptions of him. He is completely self-sufficient within himself. What we believe about God may or may not be true; therefore, what we believe about God is not nearly as important as what God has communicated about himself. This we know is true. Our goal, then, should be to develop an understanding about God based on what HE says, not on what WE think. An understanding of Gods character and nature will be developed throughout this study. However, lets note one of Gods predominant attributes: His holiness. There are many attributes and characteristics that describe God such as: eternal, infinite, Spirit, loving, compassionate, judging, wrathful, patient, kind, forgiving, right, pure, all-knowing, all-powerful, present everywhere, just, fair, faithful, above us, with us, and the list could continue. One attribute of God that encompasses many of these is his holiness. The God we seek, and who seeks us, is a holy God. As we seek God, it is crucial that we are willing to shed our preconceived ideas about God, as many of them may be wrong. We must begin building an understanding of God based on the foundation that he is a holy God. The word holy has two predominant meanings. One meaning pertains to Gods uniqueness. The Creator is different than anything else in all of creation. He does not think the way we think, he does not live the way we live, and he is beyond the full grasp and understanding of our finite minds. We sometimes wonder why God does this, or says that, or allows certain things to happen, and we quickly forget that God is
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not like us. God is completely different. Secondly, the word holy pertains to moral purity. God is morally pure, right, and perfect 100% of the time. He never makes a mistake, never thinks an unwholesome thought, and never commits an indecent act. He is morally perfect. Copy the verses revealing God is holy. 16. Exodus 15:11 (OT)

17. Habakkuk 1:13 (OT) (first half of verse) 18. Numbers 23:19 (OT)

19. Psalm 99:9 (OT)

Gods holiness (his uniqueness and purity) reveals that God is the most amazing being anyone could ever imagine. Yet, this unique, different, and morally perfect God is the one who created us and desires to have a relationship with us. Who can fathom this astonishing truth? It is one of the most humbling realizations we can ever grasp. This is the God who is revealing himself to you. The First Building Blocks of Understanding God The truths shared in this lesson are the first building blocks to our understanding of God. God is the creator of all things, he is a communicating God, and he is holy. While you may at times question the existence of God, question the reliability of the Bible, or simply refuse to become a follower of Christ, this study will give you the opportunity to investigate the claims of the biblical gospel on your own. Perhaps you already are a follower of Christ. Whatever your situation, this study will be an exciting journey for you! 20. Write out at least one question (or more) about one of the truths or principles taught in this lesson.

Lesson Two One Human Race One Common Problem

1. Review the previous lesson. Write down one of the principles taught that you appreciated the most and explain why.

2. At this time allow your facilitator to verbally share one of the principles of Lesson One that he/she most appreciated and why. Lesson one brought together the foundational building blocks of understanding and seeking God. God is the creator of all things in life, and because of this he has ultimate authority in all things. He stands independently and is superior to his creation. God is also a communicating God. He communicates to man and woman in many ways. He desires to communicate and have a relationship with all people. While Gods nature and character are multi-faceted and eternal, one of his predominant traits is his holiness. God is different and unlike anything else in all of creation. He does not think, act, or live as we do. He is also morally pure and without fault. He is the only standard of absolute perfection. Since God is the creator of all things, and the ultimate authority of all things, he is also the creator of morality. He creates and communicates what is right and wrong. He did this at the very beginning of time with the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. 1. Read Genesis 2:9-17 (OT). Here God gives many liberties and one prohibition. What was the one prohibition?

From the beginning of time God created certain moral guidelines for men and women as a way of blessing and protecting them. At the same time he also gave man the freedom and the ability to follow these guidelines or to rebel and disregard them. When people follow his moral laws, he calls this obedience. When people depart and go against his moral laws, he calls this sin. We sin anytime we do anything that is not in line with Gods perfect, moral standard. 2. According to Genesis 3:1-6 what was Adam and Eves response to Gods moral standards?

Sadly, all of us are too much like Adam and Eve. We get enticed by power, we desire things we shouldnt, and we fall prey to the lies of society and the lies of others. Living selfishly comes more naturally than living rightly for God. We are all sinful before God. Every Person in the World is Sinful 3. I Kings 8:46 (OT) (First half of verse)
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4. Ecclesiastes 7:20 (OT)

5. Romans 3:23 (NT)

We could turn to many verses in the Bible that teach us everyone sins. All of us can look at our own life experience and realize we are far from morally perfect. There is not one human on the face of the earth who is without sin. Sin is part of our very being. Sin comes so natural to us we often do not even realize it when we do sin. 5. Read Matthew 5:17-7:5 (NT) and notice the things many of us do naturally that Jesus calls sinful. Which of these actions did you not know were sinful?

A Personal Reflection from the Author Prior to becoming a follower of Christ in my early twenties, I lived sinfully and selfishly. I was a nice and respectful person, good student in school, loving at times, helpful, and even one people respected. By human standards I was a good person. While it was selfreassuring for me at the time to think of myself as a good guy, I can now look back and see how self-deceived I really was. Drinking excessively, drug use, and sexual immorality was a way of life. Not being completely honest to an employer, working under the table, and lying on tax returns were always an acceptable standard of living. Desiring to get rich, being consumed with peoples approval, and judging people were natural for me. The good things I did do in life were not because I loved God and wanted to obey him; rather, they almost always were based on my own opinions on morality. Many times they were done for the approval of others. My motives for most of my actions were based on the question, How will this benefit me, and how will I look to others. My convenience, my pleasures, my comforts, and my personal advancement were my motivating factors in life. My life was totally centered on what was best for me. I was the center of my world. In many respects I was my own god. Nothing or no one had ultimate authority over my life besides me. Even though others thought of me as a good person, I was in absolute spiritual rebellion toward God. I always believed in God and occasionally would pray .I certainly would not have considered myself a sinful person. Not only was I living a sinful lifestyle (and yet did not even know it or acknowledge it), I also approved of those who lived the same way I did. Because everyone is sinful and more naturally lives for self rather than God, I did not live much differently than others. Therefore, I was never alarmed by my sin. Like most people in the world, sin came easily for me. 6. Because all people are sinful, we live in a sinful society. Write down some things about our society that reveals people are sinful.

7. Because sin comes naturally for all people, it comes natural for you as well. Write down some sins or some areas in your life that are not in line with Gods perfect standards (recognizing that we are sinful and being able to admit sins are crucial to the process of seeking God).

8. Allow your facilitator to share some of his/her sins particularly before becoming a follower of Christ. One Human Race There are many things in this world that divide people: racism, hatred, countries going to war against other countries, divorces, murder, stealing, etc. People are in conflict with each other all over the world. The Bible teaches us, however, that every single person on the earth is related to one another. We all come from the same family. Despite all the diversity in this world among people, there is only one race the human race. We all come from the same original parents Adam and Eve. Most people think there are significant differences among people in various countries and cultures of the world. This gives rise to various types of racial tensions. There are far more similarities, however, among all people in the world than there are differences. These similarities are why all people in every nation and culture sin. Everyone descended from the same original father and mother. The first two parents of the human race sinned; therefore, they produced a human family of sinners as well. This is the reason why every person on the face of the earth sins. We are all in this world together because we are all related. 9. Copy Genesis 3:20 (OT) 10. What does Acts 17:24-26 (NT) teach about the origin of the entire human race? Please explain.

The one man mentioned at the beginning of verse 26 is the first man created by God. This is Adam. As we saw at the beginning of this lesson (Genesis 3), the first two humans exercised their liberty and freedom to disobey God, and they sinned. Thus, they became sinful. Sinful humans cannot give birth to sinless children. When Adam and Eve sinned, they affected the entire human race. 11. Copy Romans 5:12 (NT)

This verse again reiterates that all men and women are descendants of Adam and Eve and have inherited a sinful nature. Because sin is universal, and every person is a descendant of the same first family, there is nowhere we can go in all the earth and find an absence of sin. We can go to the far east, we can go to the far west, we can

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go to the far north, and we can go to the far south and yet we will never find one society, one tribe, one community, one family, or one human being who does not sin. Sin is universal in all places, for all people, at all times. We all have one common problem in this life, and it is called sin. How many of the Ten Commandments have you kept? Many people in our society today could not name even one or two of the Ten Commandments, much less all ten. In the Old Testament God gave his people Ten Commandments or laws that were reflective of his holy and pure character. Because God is a communicating God he wanted his people to know his moral standards. This is the purpose of the Ten Commandments. These commandments were moral standards that God wanted his people to follow. Many people today would assume they have upheld most of Gods Ten Commandments. However, the truth is that not many have kept any of the ten. How many have you kept (Exodus 20)? Commandment #1: Worship no gods but the true Creator God Anytime our supreme focus or supreme pleasure in life is anything other than serving and worshiping God, we have worshiped a false god. Examples of things we all too often worship or become exclusively focused on are: cars, houses, money, food, careers, girl/boyfriend, spouse, children, parents, approval of others, sports, hobbies, sex, power, etc. God is to be number one in our lives at all times and over all these things. Commandment #2: Do not worship a man-made idol God is spirit and cannot be contained within any physical object. We break this command anytime we bow down to a statue, pray to a picture, or worship an object. Because we cannot see God or understand his eternality, we have a tendency to want to portray him in some object or finite entity. Commandment #3: Do not misuse Gods name God takes his name very seriously. His name represents God himself. We are to never use his name in vain, improperly in jokes, or in any inappropriate ways. We are to always use his name with honor and reverence. Commandment #4: Remember the Sabbath In the OT God wanted his people to work six days and to not work on Saturday. Today God wants his people to spend one day in seven to worship him in a local church. Commandment #5: Honor Your Father and Mother Parents are always to be respected and honored because of the position God has given them in the family. Commandment #6: Do not murder This is pre-meditated murder. However Jesus says you have broken this commandment if you have rage and anger in your heart against another person (Matt. 5:21-22). Commandment #7: Do not commit adultery This is sexual immorality outside the bounds of marriage. However, Jesus says that if you have sexual or lustful thoughts in your mind for someone else you have broken this commandment (Matt. 5:27-28). Commandment #8: Do not steal We are to never take something that does not belong to us. Commandment #9: Do not lie We are to tell the truth and be honest.
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Commandment #10: Do not covet We are not to secretly desire our neighbors car, spouse, clothes, body, income, or anything someone else has that we do not. 12. Write down the number of commandments you have broken at some point in your life:

The bottom line is that sin comes natural for all people. There is one human race, coming from one original family, and we have one common problem: it is called sin. 13. How would you summarize this lesson in a few short sentences?

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Lesson Three Coming to Grips with the Destiny of my Soul

You and your friend are driving to the store. As you are driving, the driver in front of you doesnt use his turn signal but moves into your lane and nearly crashes into you. You immediately feel a sense of rage, and you desire to yell out an obscenity to the careless driver. However, you are trying to look good in front of your friend, and so you use self-control and do not say anything. As you pass the car you realize it is a little old lady who is hunched over just like your own grandmother. You get to the store, and you are looking for a parking spot. You see a car pulling out of a close spot, and so you back off to let him out. Just as the car pulls out and leaves, another car comes right in and takes the spot. You are boiling mad inside, and you almost lose control of your anger. Yet again you withhold your comments. As you pass by you notice that the driver is handicapped, in a wheel chair, and all the handicap spots were full. The driver struggles to get out of his car and into the store. As you and your friend are walking into the store he is telling you this long story about something that happened to him last week. You are getting tired of listening to him and in your mind you are thinking, I wish this guy would stop talking for at least five minutes. I should have gone to the store by myself and had some peace and quiet. As he nears the end of his story he tells you that his wife just told him that she is leaving him for another man. He breaks down in tears right in the store. Can you imagine what life would be like if everyone around us could read our mind? Would we be proud of our thoughts or would we be ashamed? Thoughts of jealously, rage, lust, anger, indifference, pride, arrogance, judgment, etc. come to our minds more times than we like to admit. We can hide our thoughts from other people, but our thought-lives truly reflect our hearts and character more than anything else. We can fake people out with our external words and actions, but we can never fake our thoughts. No one knows our thoughts except God and us. 1. Jesus addresses this issue of connecting our thought lives to the moral state of our heart. Explain in your own words what Jesus is teaching us in Mark 7:21-23 (NT).

2. Would you be ashamed and embarrassed if everyone around you could read your mind? Does your thought life represent a heart of purity and innocence or depravity and sinfulness? What do your thoughts say about the state of your mind and heart before God? Explain.

Jesus teaches us that our evil actions and our evil thoughts come from an evil and sinful heart. It is a heart problem. We learned from lesson two that our sinful disposition has been passed down from generation to generation since Adam and Eve, and that we pass our sinful nature down to our children as well. We are all born with a sinful heart and nature, and that is what gives rise to our sinful thoughts, our sinful words, and our sinful actions. Do you ever get frustrated with yourself because of something you wished you would not have said? Do you ever regret doing something that you knew was wrong? Have you ever not done something you knew you should have?
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3. Give an example of something recently you did or said that you knew was wrong.

4. Did you have a sinful thought before you sinned in word or deed? What were your thoughts before you sinned?

5. Allow the facilitator to share a time when a sinful action that was preceded by a sinful thought. 6. Based one lesson two and what we have learned thus far in this lesson, can anyone claim that some people or even one person on this earth is without sin? What is the answer to the question raised in Proverbs 20:9 (OT)? Lets go back to one of the three building blocks of understanding God taught in Lesson One. The God of this world is a holy God. He is different than anything else in all creation, and he is absolute moral perfection. Moral perfection, however, cannot tolerate moral imperfection. Habakkuk 1:13 says this about God, Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. God cannot tolerate or accept sin. Gods holiness and purity requires Gods justice. Justice says that sin demands punishment and judgment. Most people do not like laws when they get caught breaking them (e.g. speed limits, government regulations, paying taxes, etc.). On the other hand people recognize the need for laws and do enjoy the benefits of living in a nation of laws. How would you feel if a drunk driver was double the legal alcohol limit, was driving 30 miles over the speed limit, hit one of your children in your front lawn, and yet was not punished for his sinful and law-breaking actions? Everyone recognizes we need laws in society to govern our sinful nature. Laws are given for our protection and give us parameters in life. The same is true in the spiritual realm. God has established moral guidelines based upon his pure and sinless character, and he has prescribed judgment to lawbreakers. One of the things God taught Adam and Eve as he communicated moral boundaries and guidelines is that choices have consequences. Obedient choices lead to blessings, and sinful choices lead to punishment. 7. What was the penalty God established in Genesis 2:16-17 as the consequence of disobedience and sin? The more we come to understand the character of God and how perfect, pure, and awesome he is, the more we realize how much he despises sin. God takes sin so seriously he communicated to Adam that sin must be punished with the ultimate price death. There are three types of death addressed in the Bible: spiritual, physical, and eternal. Spiritual death is the natural condition of mans spiritual heart. Everyone born in the world is born with a sinful nature and is spiritually dead. Physical death is when the soul separates from the body. Eternal death is when the soul is judged to an everlasting place of judgment and punishment. Gods holiness and justice requires all three deaths as the consequence of sin.

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8. Summarize how the above explanation of the three types of death contradicts the common misconception that people are born with a right relationship with God and only spiritually die if they reject God or do something very wicked in life.

Because we are born with a sinful nature and already have a heart that is naturally selfish, small children do not need to be taught how to lie, how to steal, how to throw temper tantrums, how to be selfish, or how to disobey their parents. Children sin at a very early age because they are born with a sinful nature and a heart that is spiritually dead. The only thing that changes as they grow older is the degree of sin and amount of premeditation to sin. Adults are simply more sophisticated about sin than are children. 5. Copy what David said about the sinful nature in Psalm 51:5 (OT). If everyone on the earth sins, and if the consequence and punishment of sin is ultimately eternal death in hell, does everyone deserve hell? Does hell even really exist? What is hell? How could a loving God send people to an eternal hell? Does sin really deserve that much punishment? 6. What is your opinion about hell? Do you think it exists? Whom do you think God sends there?

7. According to 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (NT) whom will God send to hell? How long will the punishment last? From what will these people be shut out? 8. Although many may not acknowledge the reality of hell or may not fear hell, Jesus challenges these thoughts with his own words. Copy Matthew 10:28 (NT).

9. Do you feel you fear God or man more? Explain your answer.

10. Do you acknowledge that based on your own sins of thoughts, words, and deeds you deserve the punishment of hell? Do you have a healthy fear of hell?
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11. Read Luke 16:19-31 and write down several observations you come to about the passage.

Perspective from the Author I have to admit that for a very long time I did not believe in hell, nor would I have ever considered that God could send me to hell. My beliefs about God and about this world were more based on my own opinions and experience rather than what some book said. Therefore, in my view of God, I could not accept a perfect being sending people to a place of judgment and pain forever and ever. To me this seemed to contradict a God of love and forgiveness. I remember having many arguments with other people about this. When people tried to convince me that the Bible teaches the reality of hell, they usually would not succeed. Because my opinion was more authoritative to me than the Bible, hell was not a part of my belief system. What I did not understand then is that our sin nature rebels against what God says is true. Again, I wanted to play the role of God (even though that is not the way I viewed it). God has ultimate authority in all of life, but if my opinion and beliefs override Gods, I have taken over his rightful place and have placed him beneath me. This is what I did in many areas of my life including my perspective on hell. God, send me to hell? Yeah, right. I may not be perfect, but I am sure not that bad. I was the authority, not God. My sin deceived me, and I had no true fear of God and certainly no fear of hell. I was spiritually dead and without a true relationship with God, and yet I did not even know it. I walked around thinking that I knew it all, and yet had I physically died prior to my new birth in Christ, I would have suffered eternal death. I did not believe in hell, and I had self-assurance that I had done nothing bad enough to deserve hell. In the end, however, Gods truth would have been a shocking and eternally devastating surprise to me. 12. How does Jesus say that some people will be tragically surprised on the Day of Judgment according to Matthew 7:21-23 (NT)?

It is interesting that many people talk about the glories of heaven but few ever contemplate the despair of hell. We often do not like to think about or meditate on that which is uncomfortable or negative. Who wants to think about people going to hell, or what hell will be like? While it is the natural inclination of man to not want to think about hell, it may be surprising to know that God talks more about hell in the Bible than he does about heaven. He also says that more people in this world will go to hell than they will heaven (Matt. 7:13-14 NT). Hell will be a place of pain, grief, sorrow, loneliness, and there will be no relief. The worst truth about hell is that it will never end. 13. What does Jesus say about hell in Mark 9:47-48 (NT)?

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Conclusion We sin any time we do or think something that does not reflect Gods perfect, moral character. We sin so much more often than we ever realize. God is holy; therefore, he has established a moral standard in this world that reflects him. God is a communicating God; therefore, he has communicated in the Bible his standards as well as the consequences for breaking his most holy standards. The ultimate punishment for rebelling against God is an eternity in hell. God takes sin far more seriously than any of us do. In the end it doesnt matter if we think we have done nothing worthy of hell. The truth is that we all sin, rebel against God, and based on justice will be sentenced to hell. Only self-deceived people question the seriousness and utter depravity of their sinful nature. Your sin violates the law and character of a holy God and there is a high price to pay. You will pay with your life! You cannot escape the responsibility of your past sin, nor can you turn over a new leaf today and never sin again. Our sin places us in a desperate situation. However, God does have an answer to this massive problem. His answer will be communicated in the following two lessons. If you do not want to wait and are overburdened with your sin, or if you desire spiritual freedom today, go to the Summary page at the end of the study. There you can read about the way God has given you an opportunity to be forgiven, thus, changing the very destiny of your soul. We will never be able to fix something unless we know it has been broken. This lesson has taught you that something is very broken, and your sin is the reason it got that way. Please write down at least two questions or comments:

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Lesson Four He would do that for Me?

1. Review the previous two lessons on the issue of sin and write down at least one of the principles taught that impacted you the most and explain why.

2. At this time allow your facilitator to verbally share one of the principles from the previous two lessons that most impacted him/her and why. 3. When we study the nature of sin and we come to realize how often we sin in thought, word, or deed in everyday life, it usually brings a deeper sensitivity to our own sin. Name some ways you sinned this past week in thought, word, or deed.

We learned in lesson three that due to Gods holiness and purity he judges sin with the ultimate price death. This death is ultimately expressed in eternal death. Sin costs us both our life and our soul. We cannot live with God forever in eternity as sinners who rebel against God in thought, word, and deed. Gods justice requires death as the punishment of sin. Addressing Sin in the Old Testament Sin has been prevalent in society ever since the first man and woman sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3 OT). Murder, rape, lying, stealing, prostitution, adultery, immorality, deception, rage, jealousy, greed, lust, hate, materialism, and a love for everything but God has been around for as long as man has been on the earth. We cannot go to one community, tribe, or people group in the history of civilization and find an absence of these sins. God dealt with sinful and rebellious people thousands of years ago during the OT time period just as he deals with sinful and rebellious people like us in the 21st century. Although Gods holiness and purity lead to his justice and judgment, they also lead to his perfect love, mercy, and willingness to forgive. However, how could a morally perfect being like God forgive wicked and rebellious people and allow them to escape his justice? Wouldnt this contradict his absolute holiness? The answer is found in one of the most amazing concepts communicated in the OT substitution. Substitution Substitution is the act of replacing someone or something with something else. Substitutions are common in sports. Coaches may take out a player and substitute that player with someone else. Substitutions are common in cooking. Maybe a recipe calls for butter, but you substitute margarine for it. Almost everyone grew up in school with an occasional substitute teacher. The substitute would teach on behalf of the permanent teacher. Substitutions are also common in the medical field as people donate their organs to others to help replace organs that are not functioning properly. Everyone in society experiences the concept of substitution in various forms.
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In the OT God spiritually used the concept of substitution in the realm of punishing sin. Because God is holy and because people sin, Gods justice requires death for sin. However, God allowed his judgment of death to fall upon innocent substitutes in the place of guilty men and women. God allowed innocent animals to act as these substitutes. 4. Record Leviticus 4:28-29 (OT).

God punished peoples sins by death through an act of substitution. In the OT a person would come to Gods altar with a lamb or some other type of acceptable animal, and he would first lay his hands on the head of the animal. This symbolized a transferring of sin from the guilty to the innocent. God spiritually and symbolically allowed a persons sin to transfer onto the animal. The innocent animal became a substitute for the guilty sinner, and the animal would then be put to death. If this was done with true faith in God, God would forgive the sinner, and he would escape the punishment of sin. Because there was death, Gods holiness and justice were not compromised. Sin had been rightly punished. All throughout the OT animal sacrifices were made to account for sin, and thus through faith, people could escape Gods judgment for sin and receive the forgiveness of God. This act of substitution gave people hope that a relationship with God, both temporarily on earth and eternally in heaven, was possible. 5. Record some of your observations about this idea of putting animals to death as a substitutionary means of judging peoples sins.

While it may seem unfair that innocent animals were put to death, God was communicating the seriousness of sin. God allowed animals to take the place of humans in an act of substitution. However, he never intended this to be the permanent solution for judging and addressing sin. The sacrificial system in the OT was a preview to Gods ultimate way of handling the problem of sin. Animals are inadequate substitutes because they are inferior to humans. An equal sacrifice would be human for human, not animal for human. 5. According to Hebrews 10:1-4 (NT) why was the OT sacrificial system inadequate?

While it is true that animals for humans are an unequal substitution, finding an equal substitution has many problems. According to Gods character of holiness and justice sin will be punished with death and ultimately eternal death. However, because every human sins and deserves punishment, there are no innocent humans who could act as a substitute for someone else. Substituting an innocent man for a guilty man is impossible for there are no innocent men. For example, you could not be judged in the place of a family member or friend and pay for their sins. You could not become a substitute for someone else and take on their sin because you have your own sin that must be judged. It was not difficult to find animals that were
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innocent, but where can innocent humans be found? Finding innocent humans who could be put to death as substitutes for guilty humans is impossible for innocent humans do not exist. God did allow the transfer of sin from people to lambs and other animals as a temporary means of substitution and forgiveness in the OT. However, this was simply a foreshadowing of the ultimate lamb that would take away the sins of the world. God had a plan and an answer to a more permanent sacrifice and substitution for sin. 6. Record John the Baptists words when Jesus first began his ministry on earth in John 1:29 (NT).

Countless innocent lambs were put to death in the OT as a means of judging sin. Sin requires death, and the ultimate death is the punishment of eternal hell. Many worshippers of God in the OT were spared Gods punishment because in faith their sin was transferred to innocent animals. When these innocent animals were put to death, peoples sins were forgiven. All of these innocent animals pointed to the one and only perfect sacrifice the Lamb of God. When Jesus was put to death on the cross it was a substitutionary death. On the cross God punished Jesus, his one and only son, for the sins of others. Because there were no innocent humans on the earth who could become a substitute for sin, Jesus came to fulfill this purpose. Jesus left Heaven, became a man, lived a perfect and sinless life, and became the only candidate in the history of the world who could become that human for human substitution. If Jesus was willing, and he was, he could allow guilty sinners to transfer their sin onto him. Jesus died on the cross as the punishment for the sins of others. The entire OT sacrificial system was based on substitutionary death through innocent animals. It was Gods plan, however, from the beginning of time that Jesus would be put to death as Gods ultimate lamb. 7. Read I Peter 3:18 (NT) and notice the substitutionary language. According to the verse, for whom did Christ die and for what purpose?

Was the death of Christ really necessary? Couldnt God forgive peoples sins without sacrificing his only son on the cross? Is sin really that bad? Cant we have a relationship with God our own way? Cant we just believe in God and try to be a good person? Will God really send people to hell apart from a substitutionary death? Wont his love and goodness cover over our failures? What if I believe in another religion apart from Jesus? Will God really judge me? Isnt it arrogant to suggest that Jesus is the only way to God? What about all the religions of the world that do not adhere to the substitutionary death of Christ? Are you going to tell me they are all wrong, and God will judge all of them to hell? Cant I simply try to follow Gods universal law in life by treating others the way I want to be treated? Is there another way apart from the death of Christ? Jesus was a good example for all people, but did his death really accomplish something eternally significant? Is all this really that necessary? 8. To answer the above questions record Galatians 2:21 (NT).

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This passage teaches us a very important truth about the crucifixion of Christ: if there is another way to God or another way to be forgiven and escape hell apart from this substitutionary death, Jesus died for nothing. If Jesus is not the only way to God, and if his death was not required for people to be restored back to God, his blood was wasted. In Matthew 16:21-28 (NT) Jesus began to prepare his disciples with the truth that it was necessary for him to go to the cross and be crucified to save people from their sins. There was no other way. One of the most outspoken apostles, Peter, challenged this notion that this was necessary and told Jesus he would not allow him to be murdered on a cross. 9. Read this passage and record Jesus response to Peter.

The death of Christ on the cross was the most horrific event in human history. Jesus, the Son of God, the only perfect and sinless person to ever walk this earth was crucified on a cross and put to shame the guilty punishing the innocent. If there were another way to restore sinners to God, Jesus certainly would have chosen a different way. The night Jesus was betrayed he spent time in prayer to the Father regarding the anguish over his eventual crucifixion. He was dreading the cross as he would take on the sins of the world and suffer the wrath of God against sin. In his turmoil he communicated his deep struggle with facing the cross but then said, Not my will, but yours be done. 10. Read Luke 22:41-44 (NT) and describe the anguish of Christ regarding the cross.

Jesus death on the cross wasnt by accident. Jesus did not go through the agony of crucifixion so that he could become one of many different roads to heaven. If there were other roads to Heaven, Jesus would have pointed you to those roads. Jesus took on the sins of the world and died a substitutionary death in your place. Gods holiness and justice will not allow your sin to go unpunished. Either you will pay for your sins, or God will punish someone else for your sin. The only substitute in the history of the world who is qualified to take on that punishment in your place is a man named Jesus the Lamb of God. 11. Write down some thoughts or questions about the truth that Jesus went to the cross to do what no one else could do become a substitute and take on Gods wrath and judgment against your sin.

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Lesson Five Experiencing a Beautiful and Perfect Love

Love is a very strange word in our society. People get married because they love each other. People get divorced because they no longer love each other. Many times people hurt the very people they love. People love their children, love their families, love their dogs, love pizza, love basketball, love TV shows, and love to be loved. We even talk about love being in the air. Love, love, love everyone is looking for love. God is said to be a God of love. How can we understand Gods love when we have so many different versions of love here on earth? What does pure love, untainted by sin, look like? Have you ever experienced love without even a hint of self-interest? The love of God is unique to anything we have ever experienced on earth. Gods love is the only pure and genuine love this world has ever seen. Gods love is the deepest and most amazing love known to man. When men, women, and children understand and experience the love of God, they are never the same. It is a love that is life changing. Biblical Worldview As we start the second half of this eight-week study we are beginning to form a biblical worldview regarding all of life. Some truths taken from a biblical worldview are the following: God is the creator and authority over the entire universe God is holy (pure and different than anything else in creation) God has created morality and has determined some things to be right and some things to be wrong Gods holiness and purity give rise to his justice and punishment of everything that is sinful or impure God is a communicating God and has spoken to his creation of men and women through his written word (the Bible) Every person is born with a sinful nature, and this is why we commit wrongful acts in thought, word, and deed The punishment of sin is death (spiritually, physically, and eventually eternally in hell) 1. Which of these biblical truths would you like to grasp in a deeper way? Explain why.

2. Allow your facilitator to express which truth he or she would like to grasp in a deeper way and why. A biblical worldview is not simply an acknowledgment of the above facts. A biblical worldview is when a person lives out what he knows is biblically true. A biblical worldview is when we look at life the way God looks at it. The above list is not exhaustive but simply representative of the beginning stages of developing a biblical worldview. We come now to another important piece in developing this worldview, and that is the love and mercy of God. While Gods holy character certainly leads to judging and punishing all sin, Gods character of love, mercy, and grace gives genuine hope to each person in the world. The reality of hell is a
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scary thought to all. The hope of heaven and an eternal relationship with God is everyones desire. It is only by Gods love and grace that anyone will escape hell and enter an eternal relationship with God in heaven. We learned in the last lesson that God the Father was willing to punish his only Son, Jesus, in our place as a substitute, so that we can escape Gods eternal judgment. We can have a right relationship with God both on this earth and forever in eternity through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Why was Jesus willing to go through the torture of a crucifixion when he committed no sins? Why was he willing to leave the perfect environment of heaven and accept the judgment of God? Why would he come here to be abused, mistreated, beaten, tortured, and eventually murdered? Why would he take the punishment that you and I deserve? He did this because he loves. He loves like no other. Jesus loves you like no one else has ever loved you because Jesus is not only Gods son, he is God himself. Jesus is both God and Man While there are many passages of Scripture that teach Jesus is God, lets look at two: 3. Colossians 1:15-20 is a brief description of Jesus. Write down all the characteristics of Christ in this passage that could only be true of God.

4. According to Revelation 1:8 how does God describe himself? The Alpha and Omega are the beginning and ending letters of the Greek alphabet. God is saying that he is both the beginning and the end in all of life. According to Revelation 22:13 how does Jesus describe himself? Jesus was not only Gods son; he was literally God in the flesh. There is one God in the universe, but he is revealed in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is three in one. It is important to remember that God is holy and different than anything else in creation. God is infinite and beyond complete human understanding. Understanding God as three in one is impossible for finite minds to grasp. Many people think God created Jesus or that God and Jesus are different. God the Father and God the Son are different, but they are both God. When Jesus left heaven, became a man, and walked this earth, people interacted with God himself. When Jesus talked with his fellow Jews and made statements to them revealing himself as God, they often picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy (e.g. John 5:16-18, 8:54-50 NT). This is also why Colossians chapter one says that Jesus was the creator of all things. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in the creation because they are God in one. Finite minds cannot reconcile and understand three in one, but finite minds cannot understand many things in the universe that are true (e.g. infinity in mathematics, the boundaries of the universe in physics, the complexity of the human brain in biology, etc.) If we could understand everything about God or completely grasp him, he would no longer be infinite, and he would no longer be God. God reveals himself as both three in one. Jesus is God. The amazing thing about God the Son, which is not true about God the Father or God the Spirit, is that Jesus became man. When the Virgin Mary conceived supernaturally by the Holy Spirit, the eternal creator took on
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the finite body of flesh. Jesus became the God-man. For the first time in history Jesus the Son experienced bodily growth, aging, hunger, physical pain, thirst, tiredness, and even physical death. 5. Read Philippians 2:5-11 (NT) and summarize what this passage of Scripture is teaching about Jesus willingness to become man.

Jesus did what no one else could do. Jesus died in the place of others and suffered the punishment for their sins. As we said before, everyone else in the world has his or her own sin that requires punishment. No other human could die in your place. Either Gods holiness and justice would punish every person in the world to hell due to sin, or God himself would come to earth and take on this judgment himself in the place of sinful man. The Father asked the Son to accomplish this task, and the Son willingly came. All throughout Jesus time on earth, he stated that he came to do the will of his Father. His entire purpose as the God-man was to live the perfect and sinless life as a man, and then willingly place himself on the altar to be slaughtered as Gods own sacrificial lamb. Jesus became the perfect and only mediator between God and man. 6. Record I Timothy 2:5-6 (NT).

Why would God the Father send God the Son to die in our place? If every person is impure and tainted by evil and sin, why doesnt God simply judge everyone to hell? We certainly do not deserve to be forgiven. If we receive what we deserve, we would receive judgment. Gods grace, however, paves the way for the possibility that we could receive what we do not deserve eternal life in heaven with God. God owes heaven to no one, but his mercy and grace creates this possibility and reality. God sent Jesus, and Jesus was willing to come because of love. Gods motive was based on a love we have never experienced from other men and women on this earth. Gods motive was based on a love that is pure and eternal. 7. How does John 3:16 (NT), one of the most well known verses in the Bible, verify that Gods motive was based on love?

8. Read and meditate on Romans 5:6-10 (NT). Which aspect of this passage strikes you the most and explain why?

9. Allow your facilitator to share what aspect of this verse strikes him/her the most and why. Gods character is compassionate, merciful, patient, kind, good, gentle, caring, understanding, forgiving, and based on a love that is deeper than the seas and higher than the heavens. God is more loving and forgiving than any finite mind can grasp. It is this loving character coupled with his holy justice and punishment that
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lead Jesus to the cross. The event of Christs crucifixion highlights in no greater way both Gods justice and his love as God poured out his wrath on Jesus for sin, and as Jesus willingly accepted that wrath in love. 10. How does the cross of Christ represent both Gods wrath and hatred of sin, as well as Gods amazing love?

Why is God so interested in me? If I sin so often in my thoughts, in my words, and in my deeds, and if I have a nature that rebels against God and his authority in my life, why would Jesus love me enough to die in my place? Why would he suffer and take on my punishment? Why does God love me so much? Why would he be willing to forgive me through Christ? God has a genuine interest in every person in this world because he is intimately involved in the creation of every individual. God creates no two people the same. We are all different, and yet we are all created by the same God. Whether we are Asian, African, Caucasian, Hispanic, Native American, male, female, tall, short, heavy, rich, or poor we all come from the same Creator God, and we are all related. Because God created each of us uniquely, he knows us better than we even know ourselves. 11. Copy the first half of Psalm 119:73 (OT). 12. Copy the second half of Deuteronomy 32:6 (OT). One of the reasons that God knows us so well is that everything in life is within his presence. There is no place we can go where we can hide from God. God is always with us and knows everything we do, even before we do it. 13. Read Psalm 139:1-18 (OT). This is a powerful passage on Gods intimacy and presence with us. What does verse 13 teach about the involvement of God during our time on earth from the very beginning in the womb?

God is interested in us, even though we sin against him, because he created us and he loves us. Fathers and mothers love their children even though their children do not always obey them. Parents will punish their children for wrong behavior, but they never stop loving them. A parent spends years and years raising their children. There is a bond there that is not easily broken. Of course sin can easily damage that bond and cause division and pain between parent and child. While it is true that God creates each person personally, one does not become a true son or daughter of God until our sin is removed at spiritual birth. Sin separates us from God, but God is always initiating a relationship with us. God has created every individual for the purpose of worshipping him and glorifying him. God created us to love him back. Gods Purpose for Men and Women Many people struggle in life with purpose. Why am I here? What am I to be doing in life? What is my purpose or mission in life? When we begin to develop a biblical worldview we start to look at life the way God looks at it. When we do this, we see that God has created all of us to love, worship, and glorify him. Everything in life is for the purpose of Gods glory. God loves us because this brings him praise and glory.
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14. Copy the following verses: Psalm 34:3 (OT)

Psalm 63:3

Psalm 69:30

Psalm 86:12

God the Father loves you and desires to have a relationship with you. He loves you so much he was willing to punish his son in your place. His willingness to do that should tell you the seriousness of your sin and the depth of his love. He created you to worship him, to love him, and to glorify him in everything you do. This is Gods world, and he wants everything in life focused on him. We fall very short of fulfilling our purpose on this earth, but God can change that. God can change us through the power of his Holy Spirit. In the next lesson we will see what we must do to be forgiven of God, to transfer our sin to Jesus on the cross, and to begin giving him the glory he deserves in our lives. God has been involved in our lives before we even had our first thought, and he has been there ever since. His desire is that we will worship him in spirit and truth (John 4:23 NT). Are you a true worshipper of Christ? Have you responded to his love? Are you fulfilling Gods purpose for your life? Where would we be without the love of God? Gods love is truly amazing!

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Lesson Six How do I Begin a Relationship with God?

1. Go over Lesson Five and write down a question or make some comments about at least one principle taught in that lesson.

2. Allow your facilitator to make some comments about at least one principle taught in lesson five. In the last five lessons we have learned a great deal about God, ourselves, and about why Jesus died on the cross 2000 years ago. We come now to the personal application of what this biblical worldview means to sinful people like us. If every person is sinful, and yet Gods character of justice punishes sin, is everyone in the world going to hell? If Jesus was put to death as a substitute for the entire world, does God forgive everyone? Is everyone going to heaven? If some people are going to hell, and some are going to heaven, what will be the deciding factor? Furthermore, is there anything that I can do that will assure me that when I die I will not be eternally punished for my sin but will go to heaven? I know I have sin, and I know that I deserve hell, but what must I do to be saved? This question, What must I do to be saved, is the most penetrating question of this study. It is the most penetrating question in all of life. It is Gods desire that every person in the world raise this question at some point in his/her life. Jesus came to the earth to reveal and fulfill the answer to this most crucial question in life. 3. Record Acts 16:30 (NT). The gospel of Christ is the message of how to be saved and forgiven. Jesus death on the cross was not the completion of his payment for peoples sins, however. It was the resurrection of Christ three days after he was buried that completed his substitution on the cross. The foundation of the gospel message is Jesus death, burial, and resurrection. 4. According to I Corinthians 15:3-4 (NT) what are the three components of the gospel?

5. According to I Corinthians 15:17 (NT) could Jesus save us from our sins apart from his resurrection? Jesus came to this earth to save us from our sins. There are many things people do to attempt to get right with God or go to heaven when they die. They try to clean up their life, they try to love people more, they try to read and obey the Bible, they try to get back in church, they try to get more religious, etc. Some of these things are good, but none of them will remove any of our sin. Removing all sin is the only way you can have a true relationship with God and go to heaven when you die. Jesus has done all the work for us, but he does command us to do two things. God will transfer our sins onto Jesus, just like OT people transferred their sin to innocent animals, if we repent of our sin and place our faith in Jesus. Repentance and faith become the two essential keys to the forgiveness of God. There is nothing we can do to transfer our sin to Christ except
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repent of our sin and believe in Christ. God forgives us of all sin at our conversion to Christ. Conversion takes place when you repent and place faith in Christ. A Personal Reflection from the Author I was not converted to Christ until I was 21 years old. I was living in London, England as a foreign exchange student in college. One of my good friends had recently been converted to Christ, but I thought he was just on a religious kick. We were former party buddies, and he certainly lived as sinfully as I did. All of a sudden he supposedly found Jesus. I was very skeptical and considered it a phase. At the same time I began to sense a stirring in my own mind and heart about the things of God. I began asking questions like: Is the Bible really from God or from man? Does heaven and hell really exist? Are there many religions that are true, or is Christ really the only truth? Do I really want to become a Christian? The word Christian conjured up many negative thoughts to me. Did I really want to make major changes in my life and become a follower of Christ? While I asked myself these questions I knew that if I became convinced that the Bible was true, I would devote my entire life to Christ. I became almost an investigator as I contemplated these questions. As a philosophy major I engaged my fellow students and professors in these questions. I had never been a church attender so I started to visit various churches on my quest for finding the truth. I even talked to various pastors about my questions. I remember sitting in the home of one pastor in London. I had a list of questions for him and told him that I desperately wanted to find the truth. I wanted to either follow Christ as my God or cast him aside as simply another man-made religion. I will never forget his response as we sat in his office. He told me that as a 21 year old I was very young and had my whole life to search for these answers. He told me to not be so persistent in finding answers right away and encouraged me to take my time. That satisfied me for about a day, but then my urgency returned the next day. One day after a series of interesting incidences, I asked my host family in England if they had a Bible. They dusted one off their shelf and gave it to me. I began reading the book of Matthew that night. For the first time my eyes were open, and I truly repented of my sin and believed in Christ. Tears began to roll down my cheek as I read about Jesus. I had read the Bible a few times before and had heard the stories, but it never impacted me. God had touched my heart. Although many changes did not take place overnight, I began the journey of becoming a follower of Christ. I was converted to Christ. Although I did not understand this at the time, at that moment when I repented and believed in Christ, all my sin left me and was spiritually placed on the cross. God removed all my rebellion, all my past wicked behavior, and all my sins of thought, word and deed. He removed all my past sins and all my future sins. For the first time in my life, I was cleansed, and I began a true relationship with my creator. I was now a convert and follower of Christ. 6. Allow your facilitator to share his/her story of conversion. Because people are born spiritually dead with a sinful nature, one must experience a conversion to Christ to be saved from sin. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world. His substitutionary death is sufficient to pay for the sins of every person in the world, but it is only efficient for those who are converted to him. Conversion to Christ takes place when you repent of sin and place faith in Christ. 7. Read Acts 20:21 (NT) and Hebrews 6:1 (NT) and write down the two ingredients to conversion to Christ.
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Repentance Repentance is a heart change toward sin. Repentance is a true sorrow for wrong and a desire to turn away from that wrong. Lets take an example. Suppose you have to fill out a time card at work everyday. Suppose you are required to be at work from 8:00 to 5:00. However, lately you have been arriving about 8:15 and leaving about 4:45. Yet on your time card you continue to mark down that you are arriving at 8:00 and leaving at 5:00. Obviously this is lying, stealing from your employer, and your deception is sin against God. You dont really worry about it because your supervisor is rarely around at those times and many other people in the company do it as well. However, a fellow co-worker tells you that someone just got caught lying on their time card and was immediately fired. You get scared, and so you start reporting accurately. You changed your behavior, but repentance never took place in the heart. Fear of getting caught changed your behavior. Over time your concern over getting caught fades, therefore, you begin lying on your time card again. Then one day out of the blue you become very ashamed of your behavior, and you recognize this is not only sin against your employer but also more importantly sin against God. You sense a deep sorrow in your heart for committing this sin, and you are sickened by your own deception. You think to yourself, How could I do this and have a clear conscience? Your deep sorrow over what you have done not only leads you to change your behavior immediately and commit to honesty from this point forward on your time card, but you also desire to confess your sin to your supervisor (realizing it may cost you your job). This inner change of heart regarding sin is the nature of repentance. Repentance is a deep sorrow for sin and a desire to turn away from that sin. When it comes to conversion to Christ this repentance in heart is over your entire life of sin. It is an acknowledgment that you have not followed Christ and that you have repeatedly sinned against God in thought, word, and deed. You also desire to turn from that sinful and selfish lifestyle and begin following God. Repentance is an inner change in the heart, and it is necessary to receive Gods forgiveness in Christ. 8. Record Jesus command for people to repent in Matthew 4:17 (NT).

9. Read Matthew 21:31-32. What is Jesus teaching here about repentance?

10. Whom does God call to repentance according to Acts 17:30 (NT)? Repentance is a heart issue. Repentance is not an action; it is a state of the heart and state of the will. Genuine repentance from the heart then leads to changed behavior. Once I become repentant in my heart, that repentance leads to changes in my life. The change in behavior is the verification or the outward sign that true repentance has taken place in the mind and heart. You can have a change in behavior but not have repentance (see the above illustration of the worker who stopped lying because of fear of getting caught), but you cannot have true repentance without it expressing itself in changed behavior. 11. Record the second half of Acts 26:20 (NT) on the nature and fruit of repentance.

If you want to transfer all your sin to Christ and accept his substitutionary death on your behalf, and if you want to be forgiven of all your sin by God, you must repent of your sinful lifestyle. There must be a change in your heart regarding your way of life and a desire to walk a different life with Christ as your leader. You
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dont have to change your behavior (that will come later) but your heart must change. This repentance, along with faith in Christ, is the means of your conversion and forgiveness. Faith in Christ While repentance is a heart and mind issue, faith in Christ is a heart and mind issue as well. You have never seen Jesus, you were not there when he was crucified, you never saw him walk on water, and no one can prove to you beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Bible is true. No one can prove that Jesus is God, that his substitutionary death and resurrection really has the ability to take away all your sin, and no one can prove that if you believe in him and follow him you will go to heaven when you die. You have to believe in Christ and believe these things based on faith, not logical proofs. God the Father forgives us and pours out his grace and mercy on us when we place our life-changing faith in his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus did it all for us, but we must place our faith in him if we are to receive the benefit from his crucifixion on the cross. Faith is being convinced of what cannot be proven, but God does not call us to blind faith. There is a difference between reasonable faith and blind faith. Faith is only as dependable as its object. Although reason and experience can never save us, faith is almost always preceded by reason and experience. Lets take a couple of examples. When you go home tonight and sit at the kitchen table, you have faith that the kitchen chair will hold you. It is possible your chair could break as you sit down on it, but you exercise faith. Is that faith based on reason and experience? Yes it is. The chair is made from quality wood and is in good shape. Therefore, it makes good sense that it will not break anytime soon. Reason says the chair is reliable. Every time you have sat in that chair in the past you have been supported, and you have never noticed any problems with any of the legs. Your faith in the chair is based on good reason and experience. Nonetheless, it is still faith. It could break. However, if you had recently noticed a separation in one of the legs or if the chair was very old and began to feel wobbly, your faith in the chair might not be as strong. Maybe you would doubt the reliability of the chair. Faith is only as dependable as its object. God has given us good common sense, and we are to use good sense in determining the dependability in the object of our faith. When we drive home at night on a two-lane road we also have faith that the oncoming car will not cross the centerline and cause a collision. Again, the dependability of this faith is dependent on many factors that reason and experience help us evaluate. Is it late at night? Is the driver a neighbor who often drinks and drives? How are the weather conditions? Is it foggy? What is the speed of the oncoming car? Faith in Christ is not a blind faith. It is based on reason and experience. Is the Bible reliable? Did Jesus even exist? Does believing in God make sense, or does atheism make better sense? Are people really changed by Christ, are other religions more convincing? These kinds of questions are not opposed to faith; they are simply precursors to faith. At the end of the day one must realize that no amount of logic, reason, experience, or proofs will remove all possibility of doubt. Can we prove that God created this world and that it was not just a cosmic fluke? No, this requires faith. However, this makes far more sense than the notion that everything in the world is simply here coincidently by a cosmic explosion. Faith that Christ is true must take place in the heart. It is faith based on good reason, but nonetheless, it is still faith. 12. Record Hebrews 11:1(NT). 13. Record Ephesians 2:8-9(NT).

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Here we are told that we are saved from our sins by Gods grace. He is not obligated to save us, and his holy justice requires the punishment of our sin. However, his mercy and grace allows us to be free from our sin because Jesus paid for it on the cross. He took the punishment. The only way we access Gods grace in Christ is through faith. This is not just faith in anything, but this is faith in Jesus Christ and what he has done for us. Once we place our faith in Jesus and commit in our hearts to follow him, at that moment we are converted (even before we do one godly act). We are then cleansed from all sin. Our faith in Christ removes our sins, places them on the cross, and we are forever cleansed from guilt. We cannot boast and talk about all the godly things we have done or all the changes we have made in our lives. God does not take away our sin because of what we try to do. It is only by faith in Christ that God forgives us. This repentance in the heart and turning to Christ in faith is the only means to our conversion. It is the only way we can be saved from hell and the consequences of our sin. The fruit of our conversion will be a changed lifestyle, but our conversion takes place in the heart before any life changes. Now that you understand God, the seriousness of your sin, and the gospel of repentance and faith in Christ, God calls you today to repent and turn to Christ in faith. He loves you and desires a relationship with you both on this earth and in heaven for eternity. He has provided a way for you. Jesus did what no one else could ever do die in your place. However, you must repent of your sin and place your life changing faith in Christ to receive this eternal forgiveness. If you sense this change and repentance in your heart confess Jesus today as your Savior. Accept this grace while the offer is still there. You do not know what tomorrow brings. Will you repent today and turn to Christ, or will you reject him and put him off? Simply pray, telling God how sorry you are for your sins and your desire to follow Jesus. Make today your day of forgiveness!

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Lesson Seven How can I Know where My Relationship with God Stands?
1. Explain the concept of repentance from Lesson Six.

2. Explain the concept of faith in Christ from Lesson Six.

The Bible says that many people in this world think they are Christians, think they are followers of Christ, or think they are going to heaven when they die but will be tragically surprised on the Day of Judgment. 3. What will Jesus say to many on that Day according to Matthew 7:21-23 (NT)?

Just because someone claims to be a follower of Christ, or believes he has been converted, does not mean true conversion has taken place. There is no greater tragedy than for someone to think they have been forgiven when indeed they have not. Churches in this country are full of professing believers in Christ who are deceived and are no more converted than the atheist off the street. Church people can often be more self-deceived than non-church people. The reality is that most people in the world, whether churched or not, believe in some sort of deity or god. Most people believe they are going to a better place when they die. This is a universal truth seen in most religions and most people groups throughout the world. Therefore, each of us must do whatever we can to protect ourselves from this deadly, spiritual self-deception. If I am selfdeceived about my eternal destiny I want to be the first to find out, and I want to make sure I find out before it is too late. There are many passages of Scripture that communicate how we can know if we have come to Christ. There are many passages that reveal the external evidences of true conversion to Christ. As we learned last lesson true conversion to Christ is a matter of the heart and mind. Salvation in Christ comes through repentance and faith. These are two things that are inward experiences and cannot be outwardly seen. However, there are external evidences that reveal whether or not an inward conversion has taken place. The Bible teaches genuine repentance of sin and true faith in Christ always leads to changed behavior and a changed lifestyle. It does not lead to a sinless life, but it does lead to a life of obedience to Christ. One of the first outward evidences of genuine conversion is a profession or confession of Christ. 4. Copy Romans 10:10 (NT).

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Here God makes a connection between the inward and the outward. A change or belief takes place in the heart, and the mouth confesses that change or belief. Therefore, when someone is converted to Christ in the heart, he/she will then confess Jesus Christ as Savior. The challenge, however, is that many people in this world do confess Jesus Christ as Savior but have never experienced a true conversion to Christ in the heart. Repentance and genuine faith have not occurred. As we will see in this lesson a major distinction between a self-deceived, professing Christian and a true follower of Christ is lifestyle. A true believer will live for Christ and grow spiritually, and a false believer will profess but live like the rest of the world. Here are several reasons why many people may think they are Christians, but because their lifestyle does not reflect it are still unconverted: They grew up going to church and have a biblical foundation They go to church on a regular basis now They believe in the Bible They believe in Jesus They responded to an invitation to become a Christian at a church service They said they were sorry for their sins and asked Jesus to be their Savior They try to treat others the way they want to be treated They try to do the right thing in life They believe in God They believe they have done nothing bad enough to prevent them from going to heaven There are many more reasons people believe they are Christians and believe they will go to heaven when they die. Many of the above beliefs or practices are good and even biblical; however, none of them on their own guarantee true conversion to Christ has taken place. Repentance of sin and faith in Christ are the necessary ingredients to a true conversion in the heart. Many people in our society grew up believing in Jesus or had an experience where they prayed, asking Jesus to be their Savior. Even these are not assurances that genuine conversion has taken place in the heart. Churches today are filled with professing Christians who are as spiritually lost as anyone else in the world. What criteria does the Bible use to show us the difference between a professing Christian and a possessing Christian? How can I be protected against my own selfdeception? The following passages will communicate one of the major distinguishing factors. 5. Read Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (NT). Jesus teaches his disciples a parable about what happens when people hear the gospel and the message of Gods forgiveness in Christ. Some people just do not understand the gospel. Others understand it but are not interested. Some people receive it, and make a profession of faith, but later fall away and revert back to their old lifestyle. However, some people receive the gospel, truly repent and place faith in Christ, and experience a changed life over time. Read this passage and summarize the teaching of this parable in your own words.

6. Read James 2:14-26 (NT). What message is God communicating in this passage about the relationship between faith and deeds?

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One of the examples given in the passage is that some people believe in God, and therefore, think this is sufficient for God to forgive them. Is belief in facts about God enough? Copy the answer given in verse 19. What we see in these passages is that the difference between a true follower of Christ and one who professes Christ but is self-deceived is lifestyle. Deeds, fruit, a changed life, works, etc. all refer to the outward lifestyle of a professing believer. Can a person be genuinely converted and yet not worship him consistently in church, never seek him through personal reading of the Bible, not talk about him to others, not pray to him regularly, not be continually convicted of sin and repenting of it, not love others selflessly, not desire others to become Christians, and not desire to obey him in life? Can a person be genuinely converted to Christ and morally blend in with the rest of the world? Can a person repent of sin and yet never change? The answer according to the Bible is no. Looking at the outward life helps indicate whether or not an inward conversion has taken place. Followers of Christ do in fact follow Christ in life. This is what follower means. True converts of Christ still sin and are certainly not perfect, but there is a lifestyle difference between the authentic and the deceived. True conversion to Christ leads to an overall lifestyle change of obedience. 7. Read I John 2:3-6 (NT). This passage is addressing the question, how do I know if I have come to know Christ (how do I know if I have been genuinely converted). What is the answer according to verse 3?

Obedience to Christ is the evaluating marker. The Bible teaches us that genuine conversion to Christ through repentance and faith is an inward transformation of the heart. God changes your heart when you are converted to him. This is something we cannot see, but the moment God transforms our heart, that is the moment we are forgiven, cleansed, and assured heaven when we die. Even though we cannot see this inward transformation what we do see over time is a lifestyle change that reflects a new love for God. While new believers in Christ do not change overnight they will in time reflect a changed life as the outward fruit of an inward change. If this lifestyle change does not eventually happen over time, or if it only lasts for a certain time frame, the probable conclusion is that genuine conversion has not taken place. With spiritual birth always comes spiritual growth. People spiritually grow at different paces in life, but if birth has taken place, growth is inevitable. A Personal Reflection from the Author At the age of twelve I attended a vacation Bible school. At the end of that week an invitation to believe in Jesus was given to all the children. Not wanting to go to hell and agreeing that a belief in Jesus is a good thing, I responded to the invitation. I repeated a prayer where I said that I was sorry for my sins and asked Jesus into my life. Everyone who did that was given a Bible, was told that God loved them, and we were assured that whenever we die we would go to heaven. We were also told to never question our salvation from that day forward. Our assurance was our profession of faith that day. After that experience I always believed in Jesus and figured I would go to heaven when I died. However, I never experienced any kind of changes in my life afterwards. I never went to church, never read the Bible, never desired spiritual growth, and as I grew up lived out more and more sinful practices. While I had gone through the outward motions of accepting Christ, it became obvious over time that nothing had taken place inwardly in my heart and mind. I had not been changed. I went through the ritual, but it had no power in my life. True conversion had not taken place. What is interesting is that as I was living a typical sinful lifestyle in high school and the early years of college, I still considered myself a Christian because I still believed in Jesus
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in my own way. I didnt necessarily believe all of the Bible, I lived for myself, I had little to no guilt over most of my sin, I had no genuine respect for the teachings of Jesus, and yet I still in a distant sort of way believed in him. I was the typical self-deceived professing Christian intellectually believing in Jesus but living for self. It was not until I truly was converted to Christ and my life radically changed that I understood the difference and realized I never was a follower of Christ. If I had died prior to my true conversion to Christ, I would have been punished for my sin forever in hell. I would have been one of those who said to Jesus, But didnt I believe in you, and he would have said, Away from me you evildoer, I never knew you. My sins were transferred to Jesus at my conversion and he nailed them to the cross as my substitute. I owe the rest of my life to serving him. He is now number one in my life, and I love to serve him. I am not perfect and I have a long way to go, but God is still changing me. Jesus is my Savior both now and forevermore. 8. Read 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NT). Explain in your own words what everyone has a responsibility to do.

9. Take the time to examine yourself. Would you say that you are in the faith (truly converted)? Explain the reasons for your answer.

Everyone in life is on some type of faith journey. You were on a faith journey when you started this Bible study, and now you have a biblical and much better understanding of your journey. Maybe you were a true follower of Christ when you started this study or maybe you simply thought you were. Everyone fits somewhere on the following chart. What line are you at today? Place a T where you believe you are spiritually today. Place a B on the line where you were just before starting this study.

Your Faith Journey

Obedient Servant in Gods Kingdom (loving God and loving others) Comprehensive and Consistent Growth (begin to surrender all of life under Christ) Spiritual Growth Lifestyle Change (patterns of godly living begin to form) Baby Christian (new to the faith learning how to live for Christ) Conversion to Christ Genuine Repentance and Personal Faith in Jesus Christ Crisis (ready to repent and turn to Christ) Recognition of need for Conversion to Christ (realization of spiritual lostness) Unconverted Intellectual Belief in Christ (but no life commitment) Universal God (everyone knows God personally in their own way) Atheist or Agnostic (God does not exist or does exist but we cannot know him) 35

10. If your answer is no to question nine (or if you placed a T under the Conversion to Christ line), are you
willing to repent today and place life saving faith in Jesus Christ? If you are not, what is holding you back?

Evaluating your spiritual condition before God is the most important thing you will ever do. Now that you have studied the gospel you can evaluate yourself biblically in truth. If you have not experienced genuine conversion to Christ, make today that day. Through repentance and personal faith in Jesus you can be forgiven of your sins and experience genuine conversion. Simply communicate to God your repentance and faith in Christ in a prayer, and allow him to take control of your life. Do not let another day go by lost and on youre way to hell. Jesus is calling you to come to him today. No decision is a rejection-decision. Jesus paid for your sins, if you are willing to come to him in biblical faith. Make today the day of your salvation!

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Lesson Eight How Free and Forgiven am I in Christ?

This is the concluding lesson of this eight-week Bible study. What an exciting journey it has been! Maybe you already were a follower of Christ before you started this study, or maybe you were a new believer. Perhaps you thought you were a Christian but were self-deceived when you started this study, or maybe you were an investigator of the gospel. We are all on a journey of faith. You have studied the gospel account directly from its foundational source, the Bible. You have not studied this second-hand, but you have opened and studied the Bible yourself. You now have a first-hand understanding of what God communicates about himself, about you, about your sin, about the eternal consequences of sin, about the need for a substitute, about Jesus, about his holiness and his love, and about what you need to do to receive complete forgiveness from God. You have also learned some of the beginning pillars of developing a biblical worldview. A few of these are: God is the creator of all things, God is a communicator to his people, and God is holy. These truths as well as many more have helped shape an overall understanding of life from a God-centered point of view. This foundation, however, is just the beginning for you. 1. Write out the three most significant things you learned from this study that impacted you the most.

2. Allow your facilitator to share a couple things he/she appreciated the most while studying these lessons. Go back to Lesson Seven and reread the answer you gave to questions 9 and 10. If you answered no, have you thought more about what is holding you back from repenting of your sins? Would you be willing to repent and place faith in Jesus today? Explain your answer.

The hope is that this study either confirmed your conversion to Christ and helped ground your faith in a deeper foundation, or was the instrument God used to bring you to Christ. This lesson will now focus on the magnificent truth of what the forgiveness of God really means. It is only when we understand the depth and magnitude of our sin that we really come to appreciate and understand the true beauty of Gods forgiveness. When we are converted to Christ through repentance and faith, God does something to us before we even commit our first obedient deed. At our conversion God removes our sin and replaces it with the righteousness and perfect life of Christ. It is as if God takes our sinful life and places it on Jesus, and then he takes Jesus perfect and sinless life and places it on us. This spiritual transaction is incomprehensible. Could you imagine God the Father dealing with you as if all your thoughts, words, and deeds were without sin? In Gods eyes you now have the perfect life of Christ. 3. Record 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NT).

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4. What do you think this verse is teaching?

At our conversion to Christ, God does so many amazing things that affect us for eternity it is hard to condense them all into a few pages. Let us look at a few passages that tell us what God does to those who come to Christ. (The questions in this lesson will be asked assuming the one answering has come to Christ through repentance and faith. If this is not the case, adjust the answers accordingly.) 5. Romans 8:1-2 (NT). What is the result of those who are in Christ Jesus? What are you set free from according to verse 2? What do you think it means to be set free from the law of sin? 6. Romans 5:1 (NT). What is the result of being justified through faith? Peace is something everyone in the world is seeking. Life is full of so many struggles, difficulties, and problems. People rarely find peace. Just when we begin to feel content about something life takes a bad turn, and we lose any confidence and stability we thought we were establishing. What many people do not realize, however, is that our peace in life is closely tied to our relationship or lack of relationship with God. The Bible says that sin separates us from God and destroys our relationship with God. In fact, prior to conversion to Christ every person in the world is considered Gods enemy. We are Gods enemy because of our rebellion against God through sin. The peace referenced in Romans 5:1 is not simply contentment with life. Even unbelievers can be deceived enough by their sin that they think they have peace. This peace is a spiritual peace that penetrates to the soul of a man. When God removes our sin at our conversion to Christ, we no longer are Gods enemy but his son or daughter. At that moment God says we have peace with him for the first time in life. Our relationship together begins at that point. 7. How does our peace with God affect the way we view and handle difficulties in life according to Romans 5:1-10?

8. The OT required animal sacrifices; the NT reveals that Jesus paid our sins once and for all. When Jesus came, he instituted a new covenant (testament). What does God say He will do to those who accept Jesus in this new covenant according to Hebrews 8:12 (NT)? God says that he will remember their sins no more. God knows all things and never forgets anything, but what God is saying is that when it comes to Judgment Day, he will not judge us for our sins. Regarding judgment, God will remember those sins no more. This is an awesome thought! If you are in Christ it will be as if he has forgotten your sins. Considering all the sins we have committed, this is truly amazing. When truly comprehended, this should send us to our knees in complete humility and honor.
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9. What are your thoughts about God remembering your sins no more?

10. Read Colossians 2:13 (NT). According to this verse, how much of our sin is forgiven if we are in Christ? Are there any sins, no matter how bad or how many times committed, God will not forgive? The amazing thing about Gods forgiveness to the born-again believer is that he forgives all sins, not just half or most. There is nothing more freeing than to know that God has taken all our sin away. 11. Go back to lesson two and look at your answer to question 7. Spend a couple minutes looking at those sins and thinking about how God has completely taken those sins away. Write down your thoughts regarding the truth that Jesus paid for every one of those sins on the cross. Consider that God has exhaustively forgiven you of every one of them, knowing that on Judgment Day it will be like he has no memory of them.

12. Take time to read Psalm 103 (OT). Write down two references regarding Gods forgiveness.

According to verse 3 how many of your sins are forgiven? Explain in your own words what is meant in verse 12.

The love and forgiveness of God has no limit or bounds. It is infinite. It is hard to fathom that God has completely removed our transgressions. A transgression is another word for sin or violation of the law. God has removed every one of your violations of his moral law. He has even removed the transgressions that you do not even remember making. To recall all of our sins would be impossible, for the list would be too great for us to create. His forgiveness is based on his unending love. He deserves our worship. 13. Read Isaiah 1:18 (OT). This passage regards sin as red as scarlet. Imagine taking a white dress shirt, soaking it in red paint, and letting it dry for a week. The shirt would be completely ruined. The red paint would be throughout every fiber in the shirt, staining it forever. This is characteristic of your life before conversion. Sin has affected every fiber of your being. You were completely stained with no hope of ever being clean. Now imagine God touching the shirt, and the shirt automatically turning a crisp, snow white. Nothing short of a miracle could do that because paint stains forever. That is what God has done to your life. He has made your sin and youre whole being as white as snow completely clean. God sees you without one stitch of red. He has wiped you clean. What does this verse motivate you to do with the rest of your life?

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14. Read Psalm 32 (OT). List two phrases that mention the forgiveness of God.

According to verse 11, what is the response of the psalmist to the notion of Gods forgiveness? The greatest gift that God could ever grant a person is the gift of forgiveness. If you have been saved through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, you will not pay for your sins with eternal punishment. Jesus paid the price for you. Your sins were transferred to him, and he nailed them to the cross. They are never to be remembered again. This realization of what Jesus has done for you is what motivates you to show your love for him by living out His teachings. Your obedience to him is a response, fruit, or result of your complete forgiveness, not a means to attain forgiveness. We will still struggle with sin, and we will still fail. Although we are forgiven, we still have a sinful nature that causes intense battles within us. That will be one of the topics to the follow-up Bible study, Growing in Godliness A Journey into the Challenge of Living for Christ in Every Area of Life. 15. Would you like to continue meeting with your facilitator and go through this next Bible study? Spend a few minutes at the close of this lesson thanking, adoring, and worshipping God for the wonderful gift of forgiveness. This forgiveness is not something you earned; it is given to you because of the infinite love of the Creator. This gift will personally affect you not only in this life but also in the billions of years to come. If you have come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ through this study your next important step is baptism. All throughout the NT when men and women repented and believed in Christ, they demonstrated that spiritual cleansing through baptism. Baptism was always immediate. Take a few moments at the end of this study and go through the appendix on baptism. If you are still outside of salvation; if you have not undergone a true conversion through repentance and faith, do not remain in this hardness of heart. You now have an understanding of your sin, the consequences of it, the love Jesus Christ has shown you, and the means to receive this eternal life and forgiveness. Do not allow this knowledge of the truth to escape you. Apply it to your heart today. Ignorance will never be your excuse from this day forward. May God never let your conscience rest until you turn your life over to him. Your salvation in Christ is Gods desire for your life (2 Peter 3:9). 16. If you have come to Christ, this will be the most exciting and could be the most challenging time in your life. The Bible says that you are a new creation. For the final passage of this study Copy 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NT).

Although you will have the same personality, in time your thinking and desires will change. You will begin to develop a godly character. When you first experience spiritual birth, you are a babe in Christ. It is as if your eyes have just been opened. You will learn new ways of living, and the Bible will become your road map to life. You will learn how to make the Bible your final source of authority for what is right and wrong. 17. What do you think it now means to have the Bible as your final source authority for what you believe and how you live (instead of reason, tradition, or experience)?

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Jesus knew you were his from the beginning of time (John 10:14-16 NT). He has always loved you. Spend time getting to know your new Savior, Jesus Christ, by reading the Bible on a consistent basis (start now with the NT). Reading the Bible, praying, and involvement in a solid Bible-teaching church will be the foundation to your growth in Christ. You are forgiven! You are free! Jesus says in John 8:36, So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jesus has set you free. Amen! Let us spend the rest of our earthly lives loving him, for he certainly deserves our love. To God be the glory! 18. Now that the gospel has been shared with you through this Bible study, God calls you to share the gospel with others. Are you willing to pursue and ask others just as someone asked you? You are now equipped to be a facilitator. Write down the names of some people you would like to take through this study and make a commitment to asking them.

19. Write down any questions you have about anything taught in this study or anything about your spiritual journey.

20. Go to the appendix and answer the questions on baptism. Go over these answers with your facilitator.

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Summary What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Life is often difficult, confusing, and meaningless. Answers to lifes deepest questions must start with God, not man. Many people have their own view of God, and their own set of beliefs. It is more important, however, to know what God says about life, than about what man says about God. Since God is the creator of the entire universe, he is the one who has all the answers. He has communicated the answers to lifes most relevant questions through the Bible. The Bible tells us that God has established perfect moral standards for all of life. These standards tell us what is right and wrong. We are born with this basic understanding, and we all recognize that no one is perfect. However, as we look into the Bible, we come to understand that our moral errors are much more serious than we realize. We begin to see how many of our thoughts, words, and actions go against what God desires in our lives. We also come to understand that because God is just and morally pure, our sinful ways do bring out Gods judgment. God says our sin is so serious, it will cost us our eternal souls in hell. While Gods justice and hatred of sin cannot be changed, God is also loving, merciful, and forgiving. Therefore, he sent Jesus to be judged as a substitute in our place. Jesus was willing to take the punishment we deserve, so that we could be forgiven. Through his death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus communicated his eternal love for people. Jesus also said that many people try to live life on their own terms and never fully become his follower. In fact, he said this is true of most people in the world. However, for those who are willing to follow him, he will grant them eternal life in heaven. How do you receive the complete forgiveness of God? How are you saved from Gods judgment, even though you sin? How do you become Jesus follower? Many people try things that seem like the answer but are not. Some try turning over a new leaf. Others try getting back in church. Some simply try to obey Gods commands more. Yet, others try to treat their neighbors the way they want to be treated. Many people think this is the way to make God happy, and they hope these things will allow them to go to heaven when they die. The problem is that these things are all works or deeds, and they are the result of becoming Jesus follower, not the foundation. The only way to be forgiven, the only way to be saved from the punishment of sin, the only way to become a follower of Christ is through repentance and faith in Jesus. You repent of your sins and your sinful life. This means you are truly sorry for your sins and you desire to live a different way. Along with your repentance, you place your faith in Jesus Christ as your personal savior. He becomes the most important relationship in your life as you place your faith in him. This repentance and faith in Jesus Christ becomes the key to living out the reason God created you on this earth. It is the foundation of your complete forgiveness and eternal life with Jesus. Where are you at right now? Have you experienced a genuine conversion through repentance and faith? If you have, you know it because your life has never been the same. If you have not, the Scriptures say that today should be the day of your salvation. Do not spend another day spiritually lost and confused. Seek repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and you will experience freedom for the first time in your life as a new follower of Jesus Christ.

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Appendix How do I Know if I Should be Baptized?

Because various church denominations handle baptism differently, many people are left with more questions than answers when it comes to the issue of baptism. Instead of teaching what a specific denomination believes about baptism, lets let the Bible speak for itself as we look at several passages recorded in the early church on this subject. As you read these verses, see if you can glean some general truths about the practice of baptism.
Mark 16:15-16

He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Matthew 28:19

(Jesus said) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Acts 2:38-41

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call." Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 8:12

But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
Acts 16:33-34

At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God--he and his whole family.
Acts 18:8

Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptize .
Acts 22:16

And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on his

name.' 1. Record some of your first impressions on the practice of baptism as you read these verses.

2. Does anyone ever get baptized apart from believing in Jesus? 3. When does baptism take place? Is it before or after someone believes? 4. How much time elapses between belief in Jesus and baptism?
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5. What biblical counsel would you give to someone who has believed in Jesus but says he or she is not ready to get baptized yet?

6. If a believer does not get baptized, will he or she be eternally condemned to hell? According to Mark 16:15-16 what is the only thing that will eternally condemn a person? 7. According to Acts 22:16, what does baptism symbolize? 8. According to Matthew 28:19, is baptism an option or a command by God? Here are other passages of Scripture on the subject of baptism for further study: Luke 3:21, Acts 8:38, 9:18, 16:15, Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27, Colossians 2:12. If you would like an even deeper study of baptism ask your facilitator for more resources. Baptism is extremely important. As we learned in lesson eight, God completely washes us clean when we repent and place faith in Jesus. God gives us a physical symbol to represent this spiritual cleansing. This symbol is the water of baptism. If you are a new follower of Christ, or even if you have been a follower of Christ for some time (and have not been baptized or understood baptism), God commands you to get baptized. God never made baptism an option. It is to be the first act of obedience for the follower of Christ, and God will certainly bless your obedience. Pursue the first opportunity you have to get baptized. Baptism is a beautiful gift from God, and it will be a tremendous blessing in your life. Go and symbolize the washing away of your sins. It will certainly be one of the most meaningful experiences in your life. 8. Have you been baptized since your conversion to Christ? 9. If you havent, are you ready to get baptized now?

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