The Bible is exactly what it claims to be — the Word of God, the revelation of Gods grace and truth to man. The Holy Spirit guided the human authors of Scripture to ensure that it was recorded without error in the original manuscripts (1 Corinthians 2:10). The Need for Salvation The need for salvation is based on two issues — mans condition and Gods character. Mans Condition All men are sinners. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The penalty for sin is separation from God, making the unbeliever spiritually dead. Romans 6:23 states, For the wages of sin is death. The apostle Paul tells the Ephesians that they were dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Gods Character God is holy and must separate Himself from sin (Psalm 97:2). Gods perfect justice demands that sin must be punished (Romans 6:23). Gods Answer to Mans Need Motivated by His infinite love for us, God solved the sin problem. He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our substitute (I John 4:10). When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He paid the penalty for our sins past, present and future, and Gods justice was satisfied (Romans 3:21-26). Salvation is by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8). Man contributes nothing to, nor does anything to deserve salvation. Man is saved by believing the simple gospel message: ... that Christ died for our sins, according to scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; And that he was seen... (I Corinthians 15:3-5). The Christian Life The Christian life is a walk by faith, rather than by sight (Galations 3). Christians mature by allowing the Holy Spirit to transform their minds through regular intake, belief and application of Gods Word (Romans 12:1-2). God deals with man both in salvation and in the Christian Life on a grace basis. Grace is Gods boundless gifts to man motivated by His infinite love and total devoid of our merit. The Church Ephesians 1:22-23 describes the church as the body of Christ. The church is neither a building nor an organization. It is a living organism, an assembly of believers, with Christ as the head. The purpose of the church in eternity is to demonstrate the grace of God (Ephesians 2:7); the purpose of the church in time is to present every believer complete in Christ (Colossians 1:28). In other words, it is to promote the growth of individual believers. Growth is achieved by the intake of Bible doctrine (II Timothy 3:16-17) through the systematic teaching of Gods word. Each believer has a God-given place, a God-appointed gift, and a responsibility to the local church.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:50:18 +0000
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