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The Big Picture of the Gospel

Pattern of the Kingdom - Genesis 1-2


Perished Kingdom - Genesis 3
Promised Kingdom - Genesis 12
Partial Kingdom
 God’s people - Genesis 12-Exodus 18
 God’s rule - Exodus 19-Leviticus
 God’s place - Numbers-Joshua
 God’s king - Judges-2 Chronicles

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Prophesied Kingdom - Ezra-Malachi
 God’s people - the remnant
 God’s place - new temple and new creation
 God’s rule - the new covenant and new King
Present Kingdom - Matthew-John
Proclaimed Kingdom - Acts-Revelation
Perfected Kingdom - New Heavens and New Earth

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DEFINITION OF THE KINGDOM
Don’t start with present.
The kingdom of God proper:
The consummation of this age and the redemptive renovation of all
things.
The 4 events that define the kingdom of God proper:
• the second advent of Christ
• the resurrection of the dead 
• the final judgment 
• and the new heavens and new earth. 

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At this consummate event the triune God will assert his rightful
kingship for endless ages with no possible rebellion ever again.
Accordingly, any aspect of the kingdom of God which we
experience now through the first advent and accomplished
work of Christ is an anticipation of that consummation
kingdom and not something else.
Kingdom of God on that day will be in final consummation:
 God’s people
 God’s place
 God’s rule

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Sovereignty of God
This is a functional idea about God’s
Ruling
Reigning
Ownership
It brings together the attributes as these are the things that make Him sovereign.
God is good, wise, holy and these things come to bear as He rules and governs.
Definition: God plans and carries out His perfect will as He alone knows is best,
over all that is in heaven and earth, and He does so without failure or defeat.
Sovereignty is a statement about God’s control over all things in His plan and His
executing that plan.
How wide? - over all heaven and earth
How successful - without failure or defeat

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Scriptural support for the sovereignty of God
Deuteronomy 32:39:
See now that I myself am He!
There is no god besides me.
I put to death and I bring to life,
I have wounded and I will heal,
and no one can deliver out of my hand.
God commands that Moses give this song to the people so that they
remember that He is God.

Spectrum verses:
God is in control of both edges of the extremes and everything in
between.

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Deuteronomy 32:39
Look at the parallelism in the verses:
Puts to death
Gives life
Who wounds
And heals
We often like to think of God’s sovereignty in terms of One who
gives life and One who heals. However in these verses we also
learn that God is the One who puts to death and He is the One
who wounds.
This is often not taught in our evangelical churches today and
therefore there is a need to go slow and let this sink in.
It is imperative that we take people back to God’s word! 7
1 Samuel 2
This is the prayer of Hannah as she dedicates Samuel to the Lord.
1 Samuel 2:6-7:
The Lord gives both death and life;
he brings some down to the grave but raises others up.
The Lord makes some poor and others rich;
he brings some down and lifts others up.

The Lord brings both:


Death
Life

Down to the grave


Raises others up

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The Lord makes:
Poor
Rich
Brings down
Lifts up
Just think of this in terms of those who are poor. What poor person
out there could God not snap His fingers and provide for them?
Which must mean that God purposely chooses not to give what He
could give in order that they be poor.
Isn’t God in control of both poor and rich?
Well move that over to life and death. Every single death that
occurs is ordained by God.
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Anyone who is killed, could God not stop the bullet, the car or the
bomb.
Illustration: The Communist that tries to kill the Vietnamese man
who will not deny Christ
Doesn’t God govern over all things?
Every person that is conceived God does it and every person who
dies God ordains it.
Isn’t that what the sovereignty of God means based on these verses
in the Bible?
Do an internal check of your own heart right now and see if you are
pushing back against this truth!
Why is this so hard for us to accept about God?
 Discuss as a group 10
Isaiah 45:5-7
"I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;

That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other,


The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these.

Introduction: We can see that from these verses it is clear that God is
distinguishing Himself as the one and only God and there in no other
besides Himself. As a matter of fact this is what constitutes God
being God. 11
By the way as part of the historical background Isaiah is talking
about King Cyrus in these verses who is going to be used of God.
I am God and there is no other:
the One who forms light
and creates darkness
The verb for create is “bara” in the Hebrew and can only be
attributed throughout the Scriptures as something that God Himself
does and does alone.
The word for darkness is “raah” in the Hebrew and is the most
severe word in the OT for evil and destruction.
Here again we have a spectrum of light and darkness

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God is the subject of the verb “bara”
God causes:
Well being - this is the word “shallom” in the Hebrew and means to
make whole and everything is right.
Ironically the strongest verb bara (create) is matched up with the
strongest noun (calamity)
And the weaker verb “causes” is matched up with the noun, which is
well-being
Put this together in our study of the sovereignty of God.
God creates evil but He is in no way evil Himself. Let me even go
further in this thought process in the Bible, God ordains sin and yet
is in no does He sin in doing so. God is the primary cause of good
and evil. (Job 1-2)
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Daniel 4
The words of King Nebuchadnezzar who was a pagan king.
Daniel 4:29-30
‘Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace
of Babylon.
The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I
myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and
for the glory of my majesty?’
Daniel 4:32
and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place
will be with the beasts of the field You will be given grass to eat like
cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you
recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind
and bestows it on whomever He wishes.’
Conclusion:
God gives the kingdoms of the world to those He chooses 14
But then after seven years of eating grass, his beard growing and
fingernails not being cut, his reason returns.
Daniel 4:34-35
But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes
toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the
Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,


And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can ward off His hand
Or say to Him, 'What have You done?’

Discuss with the group - What does this mean?


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King N. talks about the dominion of God being everlasting as
compared with his which is temporal
The phrase “are nothing compared to Him”
Doesn’t this mean:
That they add nothing to God even will all their power and prowess
and might.
The nations do not add or take away from the all sufficiency of God.
In context it means that they are able to do nothing in terms of being
able to accomplish their own will.
Daniel 4:35 - No one can keep God from accomplishing His good a
pleasing will.
No one can question His wisdom, justice and authority!
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Psalm 135:5-6
For I know that the LORD is great
And that our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases, He does,
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
What in this verse distinguishes God?
Answer - God does whatever He pleases

How wide?
How deep?

There are no qualifications to these statements. Such as, God can


only do this as long as human beings are stubborn in their hearts.
Psalm 115:3
But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
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Proverbs 21:1
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

Remember the 10 plagues that God sent against the Egyptian people
via His servant Moses. Wouldn’t you think that after all these
hardships the people of Egypt would hate and want to kill the
Israelites? But look what happened.

Exodus 12:35-36
Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses,
for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and
articles of gold, and clothing;

and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they
plundered the Egyptians. 18
Proverbs 16:33 - The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision
is from the LORD.
Matthew 6:26 - Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And
not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
(NKJV)
Proverbs 19:21 - Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel
of the LORD will stand.
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';
Jeremiah 32:27 - Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is
anything too difficult for Me?”
Genesis 18:14 - “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?…” 19
What is sin?

Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act,


attitude or nature.

We all know that sin is harmful to our lives and that it brings pain
and destructive consequences to others and us.

However, it much more serious than what it does to others


because it is a direct contradiction, violation and rebellion to the
very holiness of God.

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Scriptural support for the definition of sin

1 John 3:4 - Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness;


and sin is lawlessness.

James 4:17 - Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and
does not do it, to him it is sin

Romans 14:23 - “…and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

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Biblical evidence for the doctrine of sin
 Genesis 6:5: "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.”
 Jeremiah 13:23 (NIV): "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to
doing evil.”
 Romans 3:10-11: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one
understands; no one seeks for God.”
 Romans 8:7-9: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those
who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the
flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to
him."
 Ephesians 2:3b: "[We] were by nature children of wrath, like the
rest of mankind." 22
 1 Corinthians 2:14: "The natural person does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not
able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
 Genesis 8:21 - The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the
LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on
account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth;
and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done
1 Kings 8:46 - “When they sin against You (for there is no man
who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to
an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the
enemy, far off or near
 Psalms 51:5 - Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin
my mother conceived me.
 Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is more deceitful than all else And is
desperately sick; Who can understand it? 23
 Romans 7:18 - For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that
is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the
good is not
1 John 1:8- If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving
ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Summary Point:
Man is not basically good - Man is bad, evil, wicked and corrupt
Even though we learn in Genesis 1:27 we were created in His
image something went terribly and tragically wrong in Genesis 3
when Adam sinned.
From that time until now - man is not a sinner because he sins,
rather man sins because he is a sinner! 24
Romans 5:12-21

The Scriptures teach that sin causes a two-fold problem in our lives.
By the way these two sin problems are what all people inherit from
Adam.

1. We have inherited condemnation – our original guilt and


condemnation is not rooted in our first individual sinning but in our
connection with Adam and his sin. Since we are regarded as having
sinned in Adam then we are subject to the same punishment as
Adam. This imputed sin is the ruin of our standing before God in
which we are reckoned as guilty in the courtroom of God.
Romans 5:12 - Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into
the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,
because all sinned

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The Scriptures teach that sin causes a two-fold problem in our
lives. By the way these two sin problems are what all people
inherit from Adam.

2. We have inherited corruption – Because of Adam’s sin then we


all enter the world with a sinful or fallen nature. This sin nature,
which we have inherited from Adam, manifests itself in our
thought, ways of speaking and behaving such that we violate the
moral commands of God. At birth inherent to every person
because of Adam’s sin there are sinful thoughts and feelings. We
are not sinners because we sin rather we sin because we are
sinners!

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The point of this Scripture is HUGE because in that my corrupted
condition and my sinful behavior I have a much deeper problem.
That problem is rooted in my union with Adam, my father in
whom I sinned, was condemned and died. We need to see where
in this paragraph Paul is writing to show us that it is our
connection to and with Adam that is our main problem.

Romans 5:15 – “…by the transgression of the one many died…”


The one here is Adam
Romans 5:16 – “…for on the one hand the judgment arose from
one transgression resulting in condemnation…”
Romans 5:17 – “For if by the transgression of the one, death
reigned through the one…”
Romans 5:18 – “…through one transgression there resulted
condemnation to all men”
Romans 5:19 – “For as through the one man’s disobedience the
many were made sinners…” 27
Now that we understand the two-fold problem what is the solution?

 The problem of our condemnation in Adam God remedies


through justification in Christ.
His reckoning to us the righteousness Christ solves the problem of
our legal guilt and condemnation before God.
In other words if we are to stand before God and be declared “not
guilty” then we must have the righteousness of Someone else.”
That someone else is Christ and His righteousness is imputed to us
by grace alone, through faith alone.

 This event is outside of me and is judicial - (declared righteous)


 This event happens in an instant

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Now that we understand the two-fold problem what is the solution?
The problem of our corruption God remedies through sanctification
by the Spirit.
And the problem of our moral defilement and habitual sinning is
solved by His purifying us by the work of Spirit. This process is
what we call sanctification.

 This event is inside of me and moral


 This event happens progressively over time

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The judicial consequences of Adam’s sin are experienced by all of
those who are in him which is everyone in the world. It is not on
the basis on the individual sins that they perform but on their
corporate identity with Adam and his sin, condemnation and death
that has been imputed to them.

Therefore the judicial consequences of Christ’s righteousness are


experienced by all of His people, not on their acts of individual
righteousness, but on the basis of their union with Christ
corporately so that His righteousness becomes their righteousness
and they live and have acceptance with God and life.

The way God set up the universe was to bring the whole human
race into condemnation through one man so that it might be crystal
clear that through one man salvation comes and it is through His
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righteousness alone.
Human Depravity Is Total in at Least Five Ways

1. Depravity affects every human.

Romans 3:23
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

1 Kings 8:46
There is no man who does not sin.

Psalm 143:2
And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight
no man living is righteous.

1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the
truth is not in us. 31
2. Our rebellion or hardness against God is total, that is, apart
from the grace of God there is no delight in the holiness of God,
and there is no glad submission to the sovereign authority of God.

Romans 3:9-11, 18
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already
charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,
“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS
NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS
FOR GOD . . . THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR
EYES.”

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John 3:19-21
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men
loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the
Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices
the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as
having been wrought in God.

Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness.

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3. In his total rebellion everything man does is sin.

Romans 14:23
Whatever is not from faith is sin.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes
to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those
who seek Him.

Romans 7:18
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for
the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

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4. Man’s inability to submit to God and do good is total.

Romans 8:5-9
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the
things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh [literally: “the mind
of the flesh”] is death, but the mind set on the Spirit [literally: “the
mind of the Spirit”] is life and peace, because the mind set on the
flesh [literally: “the mind of the flesh”] is hostile toward God; for it
does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do
so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you
are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
does not belong to Him.

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John 3:5-7
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of
water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be
born again.’”

Romans 6:17-18
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you
became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which
you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became
slaves of righteousness.

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Ephesians 2:1-5
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you
formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to
the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working
in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived
in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us
alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

Ephesians 4:17-18
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no
longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of
God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the
hardness of their heart. 37
John 6:44
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him;
and I will raise him up on the last day.

1 Corinthians 2:14
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually appraised.

Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately
[incurably] sick; who can understand it?

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5. Our rebellion is totally deserving of eternal punishment.

Ephesians 2:3
Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,
indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9
[God will] deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to
those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay
the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of His power.

Matthew 25:46
These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.
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In summary:

Total depravity or total inability means that apart from any enabling
grace from God, our hardness and rebellion against God is total,
everything we do in this rebellion is sin, our inability to submit to
God or reform ourselves is total, and we are therefore totally
deserving of eternal punishment.

It is hard to exaggerate the importance of admitting our condition to


be this bad. If we think of ourselves as basically good or even less
than totally at odds with God, our grasp of the work of God in
redemption will be defective.

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God’s Sovereignty in Election
Matthew 11:25-27
Matt. 11:25 ¶ At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have
revealed them to infants.
Matt. 11:26 "Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
Matt. 11:27 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one
knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son,
and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Matthew 13:10-17 also (Mark 4:10-13)


Matt. 13:10 ¶ And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to
them in parables?"
Matt. 13:11 Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
Matt. 13:12 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an
abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from
him.
Matt. 13:13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do
not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 41
Matt. 13:14 "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
Matt. 13:15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,
OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'
Matt. 13:16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because
they hear.
Matt. 13:17 "For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired
to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear

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John 6:37-40, 44, 65:

John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one
who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.
John 6:38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own
will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 6:39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He
has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who
beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I
Myself will raise him up on the last day."
John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:65 And He was saying, "For this reason I have said to you,
that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the
Father."
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John 15:16
"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that
you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so
that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to
you.

John 5:20-21
"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He
Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than
these, so that you will marvel.
John 5:21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son also gives life (eternal life) to whom He wishes.

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John 17:1-2, 6, 9, 24
John 17:1 ¶ Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to
heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that
the Son may glorify You,
John 17:2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all
whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
John 17:6 ¶ "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You
gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to
Me, and they have kept Your word.
John 17:9 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world,
but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
John 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given
Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which
You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the
world.

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John 10:14-16, 24-30
John 10:14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know
Me,
John 10:15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down
My life for the sheep.
John 10:16 "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them
also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one
shepherd.
John 10:24 The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How
long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
John 10:25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works
that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.
John 10:26 "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
John 10:27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
John 10:28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one
will snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no
one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
John 10:30 "I and the Father are one."

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Acts 13:44-48
Acts 13:44 ¶ The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to
hear the word of the Lord.
Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with
jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and
were blaspheming.
Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was
necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you
repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold,
we are turning to the Gentiles.
Acts 13:47 "For so the Lord has commanded us,
'I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES,
THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE
EARTH.'"
Acts 13:48 ¶ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and
glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed
(ordained) to eternal life believed. 47
Acts 18:9-11
Acts 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not
be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;
Acts 18:10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to
harm you, for I have many people in this city."
Acts 18:11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the
word of God among them.

Romans 8:29-30
Rom. 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the
firstborn among many brethren;
Rom. 8:30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and
these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He
justified, He also glorified.

48
Ephesians 1:3-6
Eph. 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ,
Eph. 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
Eph. 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Eph. 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely
bestowed on us in the Beloved.

49
1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside
as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia, who are chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His
blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

1 Timothy 2:9 - who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and
grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

Revelation 13:8 - All who dwell on the earth will worship him,
everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of
the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

50
Revelation 17:8 - "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is
about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those
who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the
book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when
they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

IN CONCLUSION:
Definition of Election - this is an act of God before creation in
which God chooses some people to be saved, not on account of any
foreseen merit in them, but only because of His sovereign good
pleasure.

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THE ORDER OF SALVATION
Election - God’s choice of people to be saved
The gospel call - Proclaiming the gospel message
Regeneration - being born again
Conversion - faith and repentance
Justification - a right legal standing before God
Adoption - membership into God’s family
Sanctification - right conduct of life
Perseverance - remaining a Christian
Death - going to be with the Lord
Glorification - receiving a resurrection body
52
ELECTION AND FOREKNOWLEDGE

The verb "foreknew" occurs 5 times in the New Testament;

Acts 26:5 - since they have known about me for a long time, if they
are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the
strictest sect of our religion.

Romans 8:29 – For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined


to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be
the firstborn among many brethren;

Romans 11:2 - God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.
Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about
Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

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1 Peter 1:20 - For He was foreknown before the foundation of the
world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

2 Peter 3:17 - You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be


on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of
unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,

The noun "foreknowledge" occurs two times in the New Testament;


Acts 2:23 - this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and
foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of
godless men and put Him to death.
1 Peter 1:2 – according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be
sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the
fullest measure.

54
Many New Testament Greek scholars defines foreknowledge as
follows:

In Scripture "know" has a pregnant meaning, which goes beyond that


of mere cognition. It is used in a sense practically synonymous with
"love," to set upon, to know with peculiar interest, delight, affection,
and action;

The word know can be imported for the word foreknow in not only
8:29 but in Romans 11:2 - God has not rejected His people whom He
foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage
about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

55
Genesis 18:19 - "For I have chosen him, so that he may command
his children and his household after him to keep the way of the
LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may
bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him."
Bert paraphrase - "For I have set my favor, delighted in him...

Exodus 2:25 - God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of
them.
Bert paraphrase - "...and God favored them."

Psalm 1:6 - For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the
way of the wicked will perish.
Bert paraphrase - "For the Lord delights in the way of the
righteous..."

56
Psalm 144:3 - O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of
him? Or the son of man, that You think of him?
Bert paraphrase - "O LORD, what is man that You set your
affection on him..."

Jeremiah 1:5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And
before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a
prophet to the nations."
Bert paraphrase - "Before I formed you in the womb I delighted in
you..."

Amos 3:2 - "You only have I chosen among all the families of the
earth; Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities."
Bert paraphrase - "You only have I set my favor upon among all the
families of the earth..."

57
Hoses 13:5 - I cared for you in the wilderness, In the land of drought.
Bert paraphrase - "I knew you in the wilderness..."

Matthew 7:23 - "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you;
DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Bert paraphrase - "And then I will declare to them, I never set my
affection upon you..."

1 Corinthians 8:3 - but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.


Bert paraphrase - "but if anyone loves God, he is favored by Him."

58
Galatians 4:9 - But now that you have come to know God, or rather
to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak
and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved
all over again?
Bert paraphrase - "But now that you have come to have God's love
or affection placed on you..."

2 Timothy 2:19 - Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands,


having this seal, "The Lord knows those who are His," and,
"Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from
wickedness."
Bert paraphrase - "...The Lord sets His favor on those who are
His...”
In summary:
Therefore the word foreknowledge in these verses mean what God
does and not just what God sees when He looks into the future.
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THE GOSPEL CALL
Effective calling is an act of God the Father, speaking through the
human proclamation of the gospel, in which He summons people to
Himself in such a way that they respond in saving faith.
Although it is true that effective calling awakens and brings forth a
response from the person, we must always insist that this response
still has to be voluntary, willing response in which the person puts
his or her trust in Christ.
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises
of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
(NIV)

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1 Corinthians 1:9 - God, who has called you into fellowship with
his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

Acts 2:39 - For the promise is for you and your children and for all
who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

1 Thess. 2:12 - so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the


God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

1 Peter 5:10 - After you have suffered for a little while, the God of
all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself
perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

2 Peter 1:3 - seeing that His divine power has granted to us


everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true
knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
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People who have been called belong to Jesus
Romans 1:6 - among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
These people are called to be “saints”
Romans 1:7 - “to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as
saints…”
And these who have been called have come into the realm of:
Peace - Colossians 3:15 - “Let the peace of Christ rule in your
hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body…”
Freedom - Galatians 5:13 - “For you were called to freedom,
brethren;…”
Hope - Ephesians 1:18 - “… so that you will know what is the
hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints”
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REGENERATION
Regeneration is a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual
life to us.
This is sometimes what we call “being born again.”
We did not choose to be made alive physically and we did not
choose to be born - it is something that happened to us.
Think for a minute about your physical birth experience. There was
someone else who had to go through the pain and all you did was to
receive the benefit of your physical birth.
This is the way it is with our spiritual re-birth so to speak.
Effective calling is God the Father speaking powerfully to us and
regeneration is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit working
powerfully in us, to make us alive.
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Also this is as instantaneous act of God.
Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:3;
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God.
Now STOP - LOOK - LISTEN
 unless - a necessary precondition
Nicodemus listen to Me very carefully about this Biblical truth.
I am not saying “might not” and I am not saying “will not” but I am
saying “can not” meaning it is absolutely impossible for you to see
the kingdom of God “unless-unless-unless”one is born again!!!
The Greek word for “see” used here means to know, understand or
perceive.

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Now may I turn our attention to the phrase
“is born again”
 If you have a study Bible look at John 3:3 and there should be a
number 1 to the right of the word “born.”
 In the study column of your Bible check and see if it doesn’t say
the words “from above.”
 This indicates that you could translate as follows “unless one is
born from above”
 Also “is born” in the Greek is gennao and is a verb which is in
the passive voice.
 The difference between the active and passive voice
 In this case born from above must happen to a person
65
Putting it all together…
If a man, woman, boy or girl is ever going to see the kingdom of
God it can not happen…UNLESS
 They are born from above OR
 Which means that which is done to them by the Spirit of God
Nicdoemus is having a brain cramp…
and Jesus follows with this statement in John 3:7
“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
The wind (pnuema in the Greek)
 blows where it wishes
 you hear the effect of where it is blowing
 but you don’t know where from or where going 66
The term born again is seen other places in the Bible:
1 Peter 1:3 (NIV) refers to the “new birth”
Titus 3:5 (NASB) refers to “regeneration”
Ephesians 2:5 (NIV and NASB) refers to “made alive”
Ezekiel 36:26 (NASB) refers to “heart of flesh”
1 Peter 2:9 (NASB) refers to “called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) refers to “new creation”
 Born again means the secret act of God in which He imparts new
spiritual life into us.
 We see the fruit but not the root
 Take one who is dead and makes them alive 67
Let’s continue by turning to Ephesians 2:1-10
 the biography of the believer

By virtue of being dead we were dominated by 3 forces:


• Dominated by the spirit of this age
• Dominated by the devil
• Dominated by our fallen nature (the flesh)

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“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins”
Illustration:
Murder trial I was on and the picture of the dead victim.
If you went up to the victim and pricked his toe with a pin what
would happen?
He would have been unresponsive to any physical stimulation
because he was dead.
If you prick a person’s heart with the gospel and they are dead how
do they respond?
He will be unresponsive to any spiritual stimulation because they
are in fact dead.
Ephesians 2:4 - “But God…”
69
Turn to Colossians 2:13
“When you were dead…He made you alive…”

Digging a little deeper…


1 Peter 1:3
 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
 Who according to His great mercy
 Has caused us to be born again
 To a living hope
 Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
 From the dead
70
1 Peter 1:23
For you have been born again
 Passive voice - something that has happened to you
Not of seed which is perishable
But
Imperishable
That is through the living and enduring word of God

71
Philippians 1:29
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to
believe on him, but also to suffer for him,
Chase the verbs
“Granted”
 aorist tense - at a point in time,
 passive voice - this is something that happened to you
“Believe”
 present tense - continuous or habitually
 active - something that you are to do (our responsibility)
It was grace that enabled me to believe and not believing that
enabled me to have grace 72
Theme for 1 John
1 John 5:13 - “These things I have written to you who believe in
the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
 Theme - the assurance of salvation

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1 John 2:29
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who
practices righteousness is born of Him.
Practices righteousness is the outworking of being born of Him or
could we say “born again.”
 “practices” - present tense
 “is born” perfect tense
According to the rules of Greek:
 The perfect tense happens prior to the present

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1 John 3:9
No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides
in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
 “is born”
 perfect tense
 passive voice
 Therefore when one is born from above which means to be
genuinely “born again” he can not continue to practice sin on a
regular and consistent basis.

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1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and
everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
 loves - present tense (continues and does habitually)
 is born - perfect tense and passive voice
Therefore the “is born” precedes the loving one another

76
1 John 5:1
Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and
whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.
 believes - present tense
 is born - perfect tense and passive voice
Therefore the “is born” preceeds the believing

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Putting it all together…
Theme of 1 John
 The assurance of salvation
 Therefore:
 If a person doesn’t continue to habitually and continuously sin
(1 John 3:9)
 If a person loves the people of God (1 John 4:7)
 If a person believes Jesus is the Messiah (1 John 5:1)
Then that is the manifestation for them to know that they have
been born of God or born again

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CONVERSION
Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we
sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.
Repentance means to turn from sin (see notes on Doctrine of Sin), it
is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere
commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.
Faith means to trust in Christ (See notes on Faith that follow)

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Turn to: John 7:37-38

 John 7:37 ¶ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him
come to Me and drink.
 John 7:38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From
his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

Do you see the connection between the words “come to Me” and
“believes in Me?”

In this context to come to Jesus is to believe in Jesus.

80
Here is the critical question from this text?
What does it mean, according to the Lord Jesus to come to Him or
to believe in Him?
Have you ever been really thirsty after a workout, or from eating
country ham as Dr. Poplin mentioned on Sunday?
Can you recall having a cold drink when you were very thirsty and
it quenching your thirst?
That is a pointer toward what it means to believe in Jesus and that
is for Him to satisfy the thirst of your soul.
Is that what your believing in Jesus looks like?
Or is it a mental assent to the facts that Jesus came to earth as a
human being, lived a life, died a death and was risen from the dead.

81
That kind of mental assent does and intellectual information does
Now compare this teaching of Jesus with the teaching of the apostle
Paul.
 2Tim. 3:1 ¶ But realize this, that in the last days difficult times
will come.
 2Tim. 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money,
boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful,
unholy,
 2Tim. 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without
self-control, brutal, haters of good,
 2Tim. 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,

Let’s be good Bible students, in the last days where will the
satisfaction of men be found?
 Self
 Money (Mark 10:23-27)
 Pleasure 82
Go back to what Jesus said:
 Matt. 24:11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead
many.
 Matt. 24:12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s
love will grow cold.
Let’s look at what Paul said:
 2Tim. 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will
accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own
desires

What did the prophet Hosea proclaim:


 Amos 8:11  “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 
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Are the following verses the “cry of your heart?”
Psalm 27:4 - One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall
seek:That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of
my life,To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His
temple.

Philippians 1:20-21 - “…but that with all boldness, Christ will


even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by
death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

Are you God centered in your learning and living?


Do you feel more loved because God makes much of you?
Or
Because at the cost of His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, He allows
you to make much of Him?
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Our hearts can so easily deceive us…
We can claim to be praising God because of His love for us.
But if we consider the definition of love as being made much of,
then who is really being praised?
We are happy to be God-centered in our theology as long as God
is man-centered

So what does the saving love of God look like?


It is God’s unswerving commitment to any and everything
necessary to enthrall us with the one thing, with the only thing that
can bring us ultimate satisfaction
And that one thing is God Himself!
85
Bible study class, isn’t that the gospel?
In Greek the word for gospel is euangelion and it means “good
news”
So what is the good news?
Good news is our full and final enjoyment of the “glory of God”
in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)
Here are three things that must be true regarding the gospel
• The gift must be purchased by the blood and righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Our sins are taken away and God’s wrath is
removed and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us.
• The gift must be free and not earned.
• The gift must be God Himself above all other gifts.
86
Does the following describe you as a person who has received the
saving love of God?
 You are abiding in God’s word on a regular basis?
 The Lord Jesus Christ satisfies you above everything else in your
life?
 You in an active pursuit of a life of righteousness and obedience
to God
 You love the brethren?
It could be that this class has shown you or someone that you know
that it is not discipleship they need but genuine evangelism.
I’m asking you the most important question I could ever ask:
Are you saved?
87
Do you want to know the answer to that question?
Then turn to Matthew 7 and hear this text:
First, consider the group that He is addressing here.
 Disciples (gospel-centered)
 Pharisees, teachers and scribes (religious centered)
What is Jesus teaching?
Ø Two gates
Ø Two trees
Ø Two houses
What does it mean?
Isn’t that the cardinal rule that we have learned from this study?
88
JUSTIFICATION
Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he:
• Thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as
belonging to us, and…
• Declares us to be righteous in His sight

89
Romans 3:21-26
21But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who
believe; for there is no distinction;

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus;

25whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith This
was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed
over the sins previously committed;

26for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He
would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

90
2 Corinthians 5:18-21

18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to


Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,

19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to


Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has
committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were


making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God.

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that


we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

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1 Corinthians 15:1-4

1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached


to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,

2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I
preached to you, unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,


that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day
according to the Scriptures,

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6 aspects of the gospel from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
• This is a planned gospel
• The gospel involves historical events
Christ lived
Christ died
Christ buried
Christ rose
Christ intercedes
• The gospel involves the accomplishment of something between
the Father and the Son before you were born
• The gospel involves an offer to all, namely to faith and not to
works 93
1. The gospel is an application to you of what was accomplished
2000 years ago. (Verse 2)
2. The gospel is an external infinitely happy future reality for those
who believe it.

Definition of the Gospel:


“The gospel is the good news of God’s saving activity in the person
and work of Christ.
This includes His incarnation in which he took to Himself full (yet
sinless) human nature; his sinless life which fulfilled the perfect
law of God; his substitutionary death which paid the penalty for
man’s sin and satisfied the righteous wrath of God; his
resurrection demonstrating God’s satisfaction with his sacrifice;
and his glorification and ascension to the right hand of the
Father where he now reigns and intercedes for the church.
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We need to remember regarding the gospel
Such news is specific: there is a defined ‘thatness’ to the gospel
which sets forth the content of both our saving faith and our
proclamation.
It is objective, and not to be confused with our response.
It is sufficient: we can add nothing to what Christ has accomplished
for us--it falls to us simply to believe this news, turning from our sins
and receiving by faith all that God has done for us in Christ.”

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