From the Darkness of Death to the Light of Life

The Doctrine of Salvation

Nicodemus did not realize he was a man in need of Jesus’s salvation. Nicodemus and all people enter the world as sinners deserving death. Jesus, our only hope, died in our place. As we are born again through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive God’s gift of salvation. The sins for which Jesus died will never rise to accuse or haunt believers again.1 Salvation in Christ brings freedom from sin’s penalty, power, and presence. Sin results in death:2 physical death and spiritual death—eternal condemnation by God and separation from Him. Through His death on the cross, Jesus bore sin’s death penalty for all who place their faith in Him. 

Salvation from sin’s power describes the present dimension of salvation. The Holy Spirit works within a believer to recognize and overcome sin in daily life.3 This gradual victory over sin’s power will not be complete until we are glorified. Although we still struggle on earth with sin’s pull and power, all Christians anticipate a future day when Jesus ushers in a new creation and they are forever delivered from sin’s presence.4

To ignore or reject Jesus’s gift of salvation means you must bear sin’s penalty and live under its present bondage without hope of eternal deliverance. If Jesus does not pay the price for your sin, you must bear that burden yourself. Purpose in life and assurance regarding eternity rest on Jesus Christ and His gift of love. Without faith in Jesus’s atoning sacrifice and resurrection life, the grave beckons without hope.

God did not ignore our perilous state as sinners but sent His own Son to die a death He did not deserve to give us life we could not earn. Because of Jesus, believers face the challenges of life and the certainty of physical death with unquenchable hope. Sin’s cost is paid. Sin’s tyranny is broken. Sin’s stranglehold will end. The glory of Christ and the wonder of His love bring a heart of humility and gratitude for such an indescribable gift. Jesus came to earth so we could walk in the light with Him. What a wonderful Savior!

1. Sin forgiven: Psalm 103:11-12; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 31:34
2. Sin’s wages: Romans 6:23
3. Overcoming sin’s power: Romans 6; 8:1-17; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 1:13-14.
4. Sin’s presence removed: Revelation 21:1-8

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 4, The Gospel of John

Transformed Into New Life - Part 1

The Doctrine of Regeneration

God created human beings for an eternal relationship with Him. However, beginning in the garden, sin fractured that sacred bond with our Father and Creator.1 Because God is completely holy and perfectly righteous,2 sin is incompatible with His presence.3 In our natural sinful state, we are like a heart that is not beating—dead to God. We can do nothing to revive ourselves and restore our relationship with Him. No noble act, payment, right thinking, or self-help program will do what only God can do.4

Only God regenerates. In mercy and love, God sent His Son to die on the cross and pay sin’s penalty for us.5 Through faith in who Jesus is and what He did, the Holy Spirit regenerates those dead in sin to life everlasting. God brings new, eternal life to those born again as only He can. Like the empty jars at a wedding in Cana or the cleansed temple court in Jerusalem, Jesus regenerates a dead heart and a meaningless, empty life into one filled with peace, joy, celebration, worship, and a renewed, eternal relationship with Him.

A dead heart cannot turn to Jesus for salvation. Without the Spirit’s regeneration and creation of spiritual life within, you will not seek God or recognize the depth of your sin.6 Your feeble attempts to clean up your life and be a better person can never satisfy God’s righteous standard.

Only God can spark spiritual life and regenerate a dead heart. The Holy Spirit awakens us to new hope and vitality. Jesus died so we do not remain dead in our sin. God raised Jesus from the dead so He could raise you from sin and death to live a vibrant new life in His power.7 Jesus’s life-giving power regenerates dead hearts with new life.8

1. Sin’s damage: Genesis 3; Ephesians 2:1-6
2. God’s holiness: Isaiah 6:1-6
3. Incompatibility with sin: Psalm 5:4
4. No human effort: Ephesians 2:8-9
5. Jesus died for us: John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 8:32
6. Dead in sin: Romans 3:10-18
7. New life: Romans 6:1-14
8. Jesus’s regenerating power: John 3:6-7; 4:10; 5:24

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 3, The Gospel of John

What is Speaking in Tongues?

 

Believing What God Has Declared as True

The Doctrine of Faith

John’s Gospel, from start to finish, calls people to faith in Christ. At its simplest, faith is believing God and acting upon that belief. Biblical faith involves more than optimism, blind hope, or only intellectual agreement with facts. Even demons recognize undeniable truth but refuse to surrender to what they know.1

Saving faith requires three important elements. First, specific content—actual truth God has revealed about the gospel of salvation—must be believed. John the Baptist and Jesus’s first disciples embraced specific truth about Jesus.2 Secondly, conviction leads to personal trust in Jesus.3 Thirdly, commitment to repent and follow Christ brings willingness to surrender to Jesus’s right to control and direct one’s thoughts and actions.4 If I trust someone then I respond to what they say.

True faith involves more than a casual acknowledgement of Jesus with no bearing on daily life. Failure to recognize Jesus for who He really is comes with great cost. Without personally receiving Jesus as Savior, sin’s deserved judgment must be carried yourself.

However, faith in Jesus offers more than escape from judgment. Without Jesus and God’s unchanging truth as the anchor for life, this world’s fleeting pleasures and ever-changing voices place your feet on constantly shifting sand.

Knowing and believing what is true about Jesus changes your life forever. Through the Holy Spirit’s power, genuine faith yields a deepening understanding of salvation’s wonder, a growing love for Jesus, and an ongoing surrender to Him in the moments of life. Faith in Christ is not a benign influence but a transforming force in an individual’s life. Like Jesus’s disciples, how has Jesus called you to believe in and follow Him? How has following Jesus transformed your life?

1. Demons: James 2:19
2. Gospel truth: Matthew 16:16; Acts 4:12; 16:31
3. Personal faith in Christ: John 1:12; 3:16; 6:37; Acts 16:14
4. Commitment to Christ: Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 9:23; 14:25-27; Acts 3:19; 20:21; Romans 12:1-2

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 2, The Gospel of John

Jesus Christ—Son of God and Son of Man

The Doctrine of God the Son

Jesus Christ is God’s Son—the second Person of the eternal, divine Trinity. As John’s prologue affirms, Jesus, the eternal Word, is fully God and has always existed. From eternity past, God the Son enjoyed complete union and communion with His Father. At the point in time God determined, He sent His Son into the world to redeem humanity from their sinful state. Jesus humbled Himself and came to earth as an obedient servant—dying on a cross to save sinners. Because Jesus is fully divine, He could offer the perfect sacrifice God required and bear sin’s penalty for an infinite number of people. God has given Jesus a name above every name and promises that every knee will one day bow before His Son.1

Jesus will return to earth to take His people to glory and bring final judgment to the world.2 To many people, Jesus Christ is a familiar name perceived to wield little impact on their daily lives. Some are comfortable with the idea of “God” but shrink away from the message and mission of His Son, Jesus. Failure to recognize Jesus as God means forfeiting the greatest gift offered to humanity. There is no true and lasting hope to be found without receiving the gift of salvation Jesus came to provide. The truth about Jesus cannot be avoided forever. One day every tongue will confess who Jesus is—even those who deny or ignore Him now.

Life changes forever when you understand who Jesus is and how deeply He loves you. Worship flows when you recognize that Jesus left heaven’s glories, not for a faceless humanity—He did this for you.3 John’s awestruck words about Jesus resonate deeply, not merely as lofty truth, but as a transforming reality rising from eternity past to change your present and future. Your response to Jesus matters. One day you will join every human ever born in offering Jesus the adoration He rightfully deserves. In humility and gratitude, you assume heaven’s posture now, adoring Christ and seeking to honor Him in this life. Jesus, God’s own Son, died for you. Human words cannot fully express that wonder. Serving and following Jesus becomes your greatest joy and privilege.

1. Jesus humbled and exalted: Philippians 2:5-11
2. Coming glory and judgment: Matthew 16:27; 26:64; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Titus 2:11-14
3. Jesus’s humble sacrifice: Philippians 2:5-11

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 1, The Gospel of John

God’s Written Revelation

The Doctrine of the Bible 

The Bible stands apart from all human literature. The accuracy, divine authority, and power of the Scriptures remain constant, despite opposition. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, more than 40 human authors recorded God’s revelation of Himself to humanity.1 The eternal God speaks to the people He created in words they can read, hear, and understand. The Bible reveals the heart and mind of God Himself. Because God cannot lie,2 the Bible, in its original manuscripts, speaks only truth. As flawed humans, any challenges we sense in reading God’s Word reveal our limited human understanding. The Bible has stood the test of time and can be trusted. 

The Bible tells one grand story of God’s redemption of humankind and His plan for eternity. Beyond recounting important facts and history, God’s Word offers truth about God, humanity, and the world. We can build our lives upon this steady foundation. The Bible contains two main sections—the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament records the creation of the world, humanity’s fall into sin, God’s work through His chosen nation of Israel, and His promise of redemption. The New Testament starts with the arrival of God’s promised Deliverer—His own Son, Jesus—who came to die as a substitute for human sin and restore what sin had damaged. John wrote his Gospel to clearly reveal Jesus as humanity’s Redeemer. We approach this great book with humility and expectancy that God will speak timeless yet timely truth into our hearts and lives. 

Without the Bible as our anchor, we live through the ups and downs of life without God’s eternal perspective. When we depend on the fluctuating tide of human opinion, our lives rest on shifting sand; our deepest yearnings and most earnest questions land on this world’s limited sources for answers. If we see the Bible as an ancient and outdated book, we miss God’s current work and eternal plan. By refusing to read the Bible or ignoring its truth, we overlook the gracious and loving lifeline God has extended. 

God’s words carry more weight than the flood of printed and pronounced words we hear and read every day. The Holy Spirit gives perspective on life to and through the words of the Bible. We read Scripture, but in many ways Scripture reads us. Through the Bible, the Holy Spirit reveals our sin and offers certain hope. The teaching of Scripture leads us to God and prepares us for eternity. As we study the Gospel of John this year, God intends much more than filling our heads with facts. Through every passage and glimpse of Jesus, God extends an opportunity for wonder and worship. Will you approach this study with anticipation that the God of eternity will personally reveal His great love for you? The profound truth in John’s Gospel awaits, whether this book is new or extremely familiar to you. What will God do this year through His Word? 

1. God’s very words: 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21 
2. God cannot lie: Numbers 23:19; 2 Samuel 22:31; Proverbs 30:5; John 17:17

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Introduction Lesson, The Gospel of John

Is It A Choice?

 Is being a homosexual a choice? I don’t think it’s about choice and I don’t think it’s about being born this way either. It’s more complex than that. There are multiple influences in one’s life that contribute to it. For instance, when one is exposed to sexuality at a young age. I don’t want to use this term, as it’s over used in society today, but I will have to say that I fell victim to pornography as a teen and was therefore exposed to something that shaped my understanding of sex. In other words, I was programming my mind with my first experience of sexual behaviour I had learned from pornography.

It’s true. There is more than just our gender. We are more than just men and women. We are our souls. Part of it is “I am a man”. I’m made in God’s image. God has given me personhood and identity. We believe not only that it’s intrinsic and deep down inside of ourselves but it’s extrinsic. To identify myself by my sexuality is reduction of my humanity. God is the one who gave us our identity and purpose. 

When we look at ourselves in the mirror and despise what we see we really reject ourselves and God’s design and purpose. I want to be careful with the word purpose. I don’t mean the purpose of your life but the purpose of your body.

The question of choice is do we concentrate our bodies to God? Do we give our purpose to the one who knows us? He not only made us but knows our purpose. It’s not about us. It’s about Him. Our bodies were made in His image and to reflect His glory.