Author and Teacher, James Fire
Co-Founder: The Truth Under Fire Ministry
SESSION TWO: The ESSENTIALS of the FAITH – What We Believe
These are doctrines* that are non-negotiable – in other words, without faith and understanding of these central doctrines as found in the Bible, one cannot have a proper understanding of God, His purposes and cannot have salvation or spiritual life as a Christian.
The essential tenets of the Christian faith are:
*D-eity of Christ
O-riginal sin
C-anon
T-rinity
R-esurrection
I-ncarnation
N-ew creation
E-schatology **
S-alvation by Grace alone, by Faith alone in Christ
** For more on eschatology see the following articles on the TTUF web site:
The RAPTURE of the CHURCH
The MILLENNIUM: REIGN of the MESSIAH
TWENTY FOUR SIGNS of The LORD’s RETURN - A ‘Snap Shot’ of The Last Days
1) SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE – undeserved favor by God – through faith alone in Christ Alone.
EPHESIANS 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Justice is getting exactly what you deserve to get and is completely fair; that shows favor to the innocent and condemns the guilty (but we are all guilty sinners).
Mercy is NOT getting what you deserve and shows favor towards the one who is guilty, but justice is not carried out upon them.
Grace is getting something that you don’t deserve and shows favor towards the one on whom mercy is shown. Sinners who remain in a rebellious state against God, and reject the Gospel, deserve justice and so they are condemned to hell.
Sinners who seek for God’s mercy are granted mercy based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ Who died for our sins, and they are spared from going to hell. Christ took God's judgment for our sin upon Himself so that we would not suffer judgment ourselves.
Sinners upon whom God shows mercy are further granted His grace based upon Jesus Christ Who not only died for our sins, but rose from the dead and imparts eternal life to all who receive Him as LORD and Savior.
True faith will lead to true action (remember the acrobat over Niagara Falls): which is true repentance and true salvation to Jesus Christ Who then becomes one’s own LORD and Savior.
HOMEWORK:
ROMANS 3:10-12, 23, 28; 1 CORINTHIANS 1:26; EPHESIANS 1:7; TITUS 2:11-15; JAMES 4:6
2) The HOLY TRINITY – One God revealed in three distinct Persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
1 JOHN 5:7
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word*, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
* “The Word” is Jesus Christ: See REV. 19:11-16.
At the Crucifixion, when Jesus bore all of our sin, there had to be another Who is perfectly holy and just to carry out judgment upon the Sin-bearer (1 PETER 2:23-25), the Lamb of God (JOHN 1:29, 36) Jesus Christ, our LORD.
If God was only ‘one’ and not ‘three in one’, then there would be no one else to judge Jesus Christ as our sin bearer. Yet as Jesus bore our sins, the Father Who was untouched by our sin as Jesus was, could rightly judge Him as He took our place and received God’s wrath and punishment for us.
If God was only ‘one’ and not ‘three in one’ then Jesus would have no one to send to us and grant us power to live a life of godly conduct.
Yet the Holy Spirit was sent to all repentant sinners who receive Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior and can enable us to live as Jesus did, because He is God and Holy and able to work in us the character of godliness and Christ-likeness.
The word for “God” in many verses is “Eloheim” where in other places it’s “El”. In the Hebrew language, by adding the suffix of “im” you turn a singular noun into a plural noun.
For example, the word for a single super-angel, is ‘cherub’; two or more cherub is “cherubim”. So “El” in Hebrew is a word meaning “God”, and by adding the “im” El becomes Eloheim, meaning “Gods” – a Trinity.
Another point regarding the Trinity of God: throughout the OT Scriptures, where ever God is mentioned as "one" (such as in DEUT 6:4), the Hebrew word is echad - which means a "unified one" - or you could say ‘a team’.
In any football game, there are a number of players on the field, but all these members represent just two teams. God is a singular 'Team of Three': the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Hebrew word for a numerical "one" is yachid and this always means one, that is 'one less than two' and never used to express the truth that God is (a numerical) one.
For more about this, see the following article (link provided on the TTUF website).
HOMEWORK:
GENESIS 1:1,26; 3:22; 11:7; ISAIAH 6:8; 48:16; JOHN 14:9-11
3) The PERSON of JESUS – Fully God and Fully Man.
JOHN 1:1-3, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
There is a fancy theological term called ‘the hypostatic union’ and it simply means that Jesus is fully God, 100% and fully man, 100%. He isn’t 50% God and 50% man, but completely both. Why is this important?
Because sin is against the Eternal God and against the Eternal Law of God, and so punishment must also be eternal punishment, and no one but an Eternal and Holy Being could take that kind of punishment from God: so Jesus must be 100% God.
In order to stand in our place and take our sin, Jesus must also be a Human being just like us – but one without sin of His own.
Jesus must be the perfect representative of God for us and thus He is the PROPHET of all prophets (who speaks for and represents God (the Father) to the people; see JOHN 6:14; DEUT 18:15; ACTS 3:22). He also is the perfect representative of mankind for God and thus He is the HIGH PRIEST of a New Priesthood which is the church, (who speaks for and represents the people to God; see HEB 3:1; 4:14; 6:20) which He is!
Jesus is the Holy and Almighty Bridge that brings the Holy LORD God and repentant sinners together for the salvation of their souls, the satisfaction of God, and fellowship among them all!
HOMEWORK:
ISAIAH 9:6; MATTHEW 1:23; JOHN 20:12; PHILIPPIANS 2:5-11; COLOSSIANS 2:8-10;REVELATION 22:13
4) The INSPIRATION and AUTHORITY Of SCRIPTURE – We Believe the Bible is GOD’S WORD.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Doctrine is that which is right; reproof is for that which is not right; correction is how to get it right and instruction in righteousness is how to stay right.
When someone dies, we sometimes say that they ‘expired’, that is, they breathed their last breath. To inspire means to breathe life into – and in regards to the saints that wrote the Scriptures, God inspired His Word by His Spirit, into them. He imparted His truth, using the many saints like Moses and David, Peter and Paul to write His words.
I often hear people say that “the Bible was just written by men.” And I tell them, “You’re half right!”
When they ask what I mean by that, I get out a piece of paper and a pen, and ask them to write their name on the paper. Then I ask them, How did your name get on that paper? They tell me that they wrote it.
“Are you sure?” I ask. And they reply, “Yes.”
“Did you really write your name on that paper, or did the pen do it?”
“Well” they say, “I wrote my name, using the pen as an instrument.”
That’s how the Bible was written! God wrote His Word, using men as His ‘Holy Pens’ to write the words, guided by His Spirit, just as we guide a pen to write as we intend.
2 PETER 1:20-21
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
There are all kinds of evidence to prove that the Bible is really the Word of God – this is known as the study of apologetics, and many good books are available that can help us:
EVIDENCE THAT DEMANDS A VERDICT: VOL 1 & 2
The BIG BOOK Of CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS
IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH
CARM - CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS RESEARCH MINISTRY is an excellent example of a website dedicated to apologetics.
Here is a link (available on the TTUF web site) that has a list of many other apologetic sites!
And a couple of articles (hyper-linked on TTUF website page DISCIPLESHIP 101) that help us understand the evidence that the Bible is indeed the Word of God:
How Do We Know that the Bible Is True?
Evidence of biblical inspiration
HOMEWORK:
MATTHEW 4:4; 24:35; 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13; HEBREWS 4:12; REVELATION 22:19.
5) ORIGINAL SIN – Our Fall At The First.
GENESIS 3:17-18
17 And unto Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field;
We inherit all kinds of things from our parents: we may inherit their looks, their intellect, or humor, their talents. We possess these things because they are our parents and we are their children.
Our First Parents were Adam and Eve, and from them we all received the same nature that they acquired after they rebelled against God and fell: the sinful nature.
We are all rebels against God. We have a nature in us that desires things that God has forbidden us, but it all started back then, in the Garden of Eden.
When you hear it said, “people are basically good” that is basically a lie!
The Scripture states that there is NONE good (ROMANS 3:12) and so there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Anything we might try to do in order to prove our own virtue and goodness will be stained with our own sinful Human nature.
HOMEWORK:
GENESIS 3; ROMANS 5:12-15, 19.
6) ONE WAY TO HEAVEN – No Detours Allowed!
JOHN 10:1,9
Verily, verily, I say to you, He that enter not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
JOHN 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, except by me.
Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed earnestly to the Father; the LORD always prayed according to the Father’s will, and He always received His requests – except for one.
He prayed that if there is ANY OTHER WAY, that He might avoid the road ahead to Calvary (MATTHEW 26:39) but He never received a ‘Plan B’ from the Father – He had to go to the cross, because there was (and IS) no other way for us to be saved!
There is no other who lived a sinless life that could be a sacrifice lamb for us, one who is unspotted by the sin nature (1 PETER 1:18-20)! ONLY Jesus is the 'propitiation' (the only acceptable sacrifice that satisfies our Holy Father) for our sins! The price of our redemption was the shed blood of JESUS!
ACTS 4:12
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
HOMEWORK:
MATTHEW 5:17; ROMANS 10:9-10, 13; HEBREWS 2:14-15; 4:15;
7) A LITERAL HEAVEN And HELL – Eternal Destinations: Where will you go?
JOHN 14:2-4
2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.
REVELATION 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
REVELATION 21:8
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
We can take it on the word of Jesus Christ that heaven is real, because that’s where He came from, and that is where He returned. Since He has proven to be true in everything else that He ever told us, we can believe Him about what He says about heaven. We can also believe what He said about hell – and He said a lot about both!
HOMEWORK:
MATTHEW 7:13; 10:12; JOHN 3:13; REVELATION 7:13-17; 20:10,15
8) GOD is SOVEREIGN – The One Who is on the steering wheel of the universe!
PSALM 115:3
3 But our God is in the heavens: he has done whatever he has pleased.
PSALM 135:6
Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
ISAIAH 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure';
We as Christians need never be afraid of the future or of imminent danger because whatever may happen in our lives, God is in control – for His own reasons and purposes He allows even bad things to happen to us, but they serve a greater purpose that will ultimately be good for us as well as glorifying to Him!
Even Satan is allowed to do his evil work under the sovereignty of God (read JOB Chapters One and Two to demonstrate this)! God has a design in the devil’s own determination to rebel against Him and will use this for His greater glory! If you think that this is hard to understand, I agree!
It is also difficult to understand how God can be entirely sovereign, and yet we as people have free will; how can both be true? We know that both are true because the Bible teaches both - God is indeed LORD and Sovereign over all His creation (ROMANS 9) and we have a God-given free will so that whosoever will, let him come to salvation (ROMANS 10).
God's sovereignty and man's free will and responsibility (This link is available on the TTUF website page DISCIPLESHIP 101).
HOMEWORK:
GENESIS 50:20; PROVERBS 16:9; DANIEL 4:35; MATTHEW 19:26; ROMANS 8:28.
9) GOD is CREATOR – The Maker of All Things.
GENESIS 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
ISAIAH 66:2
For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being, declares the LORD. But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.
The LORD God Who has revealed Himself through the Holy Bible as the only Creator*. He can make things out of nothing. We don’t really have the power to create; we only take what already exists, and mold, shape, condition and build whatever we intend. We take iron ore, melt it down, refine it, mold it and create scalpels or cars.
As Creator, He is the Owner of all things, and so He has the right of rule, as King.
* The FOUR PRIMARY OFFICES of GOD as portrayed in SCRIPTURE are: CREATOR, LORD, JUDGE and SAVIOR. All of God's other roles and offices derive from these four primary ones (These four offices are studied on the TTUF website, under the title you see above; also available on the page DISCIPLESHIP 101).
The CREATOR CLEARLY SEEN (this web link is accessible on the TTUF page DISCIIPLESHIP 101) from ANSWERS in GENESIS.
HOMEWORK:
10) GOD IS HOLY – PURE and SINLESS
1 PETER 1:15-16
15 But as he which had called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy.
We have never lived in a world that is holy; the only way we can even experience a measure of holiness is by God’s power, and even then, though we are growing in holiness, we will never know complete and total holiness until we are with the LORD in heaven. Holiness is absolute purity (being completely absent of sin), goodness, righteousness, truth, justice, and so much more!
If you look at Jesus, you see what holiness is about. When we grow in Christ-likeness by His Spirit, we are growing in holiness. God is so completely holy that the smallest sin is horribly offensive to Him, and He cannot tolerate it.
Since we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us as born again believers in Christ, God expects us to grow in holiness:
1 PETER 1:15-17
15 But as he which has called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be holy; for I am holy. 17 And if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
HOMEWORK:
LEVITICUS 11:44; NUMBERS 23:19; PSALM 46:4-5; ISAIAH 6:3; EPHESIANS 4:24.
11) The SINLESS CHRIST – The Spotless Lamb of God
2 CORINTHIANS 5:21
21 For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Though He is God, He lived His life of purity and power (JOHN 8:46; 14:30) by the Holy Spirit, not His own power, because He needs to be a proper example for us to follow.
We can’t live our lives for God by our own power – Jesus could! – but we can’t! So by living His life by the power of the Spirit during His time here on Earth, He provides us an example to follow. Because we are born again, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we also can live our lives by the power of the Spirit.
1 COR 6:19
What? Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?
While on Earth, we will not ever reach a point of sinlessness like Jesus, but we can live an overcoming life over sin (2 PET 3:18; ROM 6:13-14).
It is because Jesus is sinless, that He is a proper and acceptable Judge over all the world; while all the world is guilty before Him, He is totally innocent (JOHN 5:22; 2 TIM 4:1).
If the LORD was ever guilty of just one sin, that would have disqualified Him as a proper sacrifice; but as the sinless, pure, perfect and holy Lamb - He is the sufficient and glorious sacrifice well able to take away the sin of the world!
JOHN 1:29
The next day John saw Jesus coming to him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
HOMEWORK:
HEBREWS 4:15; 1 PETER 1:19; 2:22; 1 JOHN 3:5.
12) The SECOND COMING of JESUS CHRIST – The REAL Return of the King!
REVELATION 19:11-16
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.
The Second Coming of Christ is called in Scripture, “the blessed hope” (TITUS 2:13) and it’s the very focus of the church, because we know that once Christ returns, it will mean the end of Satan’s rule, the beginning of our eternal experience in the glories of His presence, and a conclusion to all the ages of suffering, injustice, sin, sickness and misery!
Sadly, the Second Coming of Christ isn’t taught in many churches today - that there will be no tribulation period or a millennium (These are the false doctrines of preterism and amillennialism)!
Yet the Second Coming of Christ* is something that keeps us expectant, and is a purifying influence in our lives (1 JOHN 3:3)! We know that once Christ returns, He will establish His kingdom over all the world, with His realm in Israel, where He shall sit upon the throne of His father, David during the Millennium (LUKE 1:32)!
* For an examination of the prophetic signs we see today which indicate the LORD's return, have a look at this article (available on the TTUF website): The LAST DAYS of LAWLESSNESS – TIME of the SIGNS
For a video documentary of THE RAPTURE of the CHURCH which happens before the Great Tribulation period, watch this program.
HOMEWORK:
MATTHEW 16:27; 25:31-46; 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-56; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-17; HEBREWS 9:28.
13) FALLEN ANGELS – Satan, the Real Enemy
JUDE :6-7
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
LUKE 10:18
18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Yes, but they don’t fly in UFO spaceships!
There are two intelligent species in God’s creation: Human beings and angels. Where Human beings have bodies, souls and spirits, angels are purely spirits – they can appear visibly and even take on physical form, but they are never to be worshiped or be the focus for us Christians.
They are holy servants of God as well as the church – and Israel, doing the LORD’s bidding, protecting His saints, and on occasion, delivering messages.
There are some angels (about a third of the entire race: REV 12:4, 9) that followed Lucifer in the rebellion, and these are the great enemies of the Human race and of the church specifically. They are powerful, lying, deceiving, extremely intelligent beings that we cannot battle, apart from the Spirit of the LORD through Whom we have already been granted the victory. We engage in spiritual warfare against these evil beings (See EPHESIANS 6:10-19).
For an excellent resource on spiritual warfare, I recommend Greg Reid's book WAR of the AGES (A TTUF Book Report on this soon!).
HOMEWORK:
GENESIS 6:1-2; 2 CORINTHIANS 11:14-15; EPHESIANS 6:10-18; 1 PETER 5:8.
14) The CHURCH – The Body and Bride of Christ
ACTS 2:41-42
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
The church of Jesus Christ is not an organization, or social club, or a religious entity. It is the body of Christ; and just as a body has many parts, is alive and performs certain functions, so too do we as His own people. We are united together as one in Spirit, just as our LORD prayed for us (JOHN 17:22) and we are only to keep – not create – this unity by the same Spirit that has given us eternal life (EPHESIANS 4:3).
As members of the church we are called to serve the LORD, and also one another.
In our own physical bodies, it’s the same – each part serves to help the rest of the body.
The only time a part of our body serves itself, even taking away from all the other parts of our bodies is when we are sick with what is known as cancer.
Selfishness, jealousy, bitterness and all other sins are, in a sense, 'spiritual cancer' in the body of Christ, from which we must repent and seek healing.
For a four-part study on ACTS 2:42 called The FOUR FACETS In The FUNCTION Of The CHURCH (you can access these on the TTUF web site): PART One, Two, Three and Four, for your blessing and study!
HOMEWORK:
MATTHEW 16:18; 1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-14; EPHESIANS 2:19-22; 5:25-27; COLOSSIANS 1:17-20;1 TIMOTHY 3:15; 1 PETER 2:9-10.
~ ~ BE BLESSED CHURCH, SAINTS OF THE LIVING GOD, IN THE NAME OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! The second half of DISCIPLESHIP 101 will contain SESSIONS 3 and 4. May the LORD bless and keep you as you continue in your study of God's Holy Word! ~ ~
