"I m saved, Hallelujah - now I can just relax!"

Transcription

1 Basic Christianity 1 "I m saved, Hallelujah - now I can just relax!" Do you ever feel that way? Well, if you ever have, wherever you got this kind of notion you can forget it! You may have heard that all a person has to do is to accept Jesus as his Savior and all of his problems disappear, but, if you believe that, get ready for a shock, because it just isn't true! Receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior is the greatest, wisest, best decision you have ever made, however, this is just the beginning of a new life for you... and this new life calls for a number of changes that you will need help in understanding. These lessons will help explain God's purpose for your life... what happened to you when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior... how to understand God's Word... how you can become a strong, mature Christian... how you can know God's will and what God expects of you. You should be told, right from the beginning that the Christian life is not an easy life. There are fights to fight, battles to win and habits and lifestyles to change. The moment a Christian sets his heart on pleasing God, he finds that he can't do it alone because there is a powerful drive inside him that makes him WANT to do something else. Praying does not always come easily. When one attempts to concentrate on the Lord, often all sorts of scenes surface, and the mind begins to wander. When one desires to study God's Word, there's a compulsion to do others things. It seems no matter what one wants to do for the Lord, his old life keeps tugging at him, prodding him to do something else, and this pull is so powerful that, often, he winds up ding things that displease the Lord. Jesus tells us that... like a man who is building a tower, who must sit down and "count the cost" to see if he has enough money to complete it, or... like a king going to war, who must "first down and consider whether he is able to with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand"... we, too, must consider the cost of discipleship because Jesus says, "any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple... and anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple." - Luke 14:27-33 What has discouraged many a sincere Christian is that, even though he is a Christian, he finds himself doing things that displease the Lord. He hates doing these things, but, yet, he can't seem to help doing them at times. The questions that one then asks are, "How can a true believer, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, do those things which hurt the Lord even when he really doesn't want to do them? What is this power of the `old life' that keeps one from doing what he should do and makes him do that which he shouldn't do?" These lessons contain the basic truths needed for the Spirit-filled life. You will learn that, until one is saved, he has only one nature, but, after he is saved, every Christian has two natures. When one is unsaved, and has only one nature, there is no struggle because he simply does what he wants to do. However, once one receives Christ, he receives another nature which is at war with the old nature because the old nature loves the old life and the new nature loves the new life in Christ Jesus! It is because these two natures are opposed to one another becomes a

2 Basic Christianity 2 series of trials and tribulation... failures and frustrations. The old nature is powerful and one must learn how to develop strength in Christ. The purpose of these lessons is to explain God's wonderful program for bringing believers to maturity and this explanation will provide the insights necessary for one to understand this "war" between his two natures. A Christian CAN life the Spirit-filled life and win this way that rages within him, but he can't begin to fight until he knows how. The purpose of these lessons, then, is to show us God's ultimate intention in Salvation and to give us some basic principles in living the Spirit-filled, Christian life. There are three things essential to your success as a Christian, they are: Prayer, the reading of God's Word and faith. (1) Prayer is speaking to God and letting Him respond to you (2) Reading the Bible is your food to get spiritual strength and your way of learning God's will for your life (3) Faith is your having a simple trust in the promises of God's Word. It is suggested that you read the booklet, "A Word of Encouragement to Young Converts" by E. S. Williams, to help you to understand the importance of your devotional life... water baptism... the filling of the Holy Spirit... attendance at a home church... and other matters concerning your Christian walk. "Spiritual life and Man's Three Dimensions" It was because God's great desire was to have communion and fellowship with man that He created man and placed him in a "material" world and, in order for man to communicate and have a tangible relationship with this physical world in which God placed him, God created man with a "physical" body capable of such communication. However, because God is "Spirit," (John 4:24), man also had to be able to communicate with God in spirit, therefore, God also created him with a spirit dimension. Because man had contact with both worlds, [heaven and earth], he had to be able to communicate with both these worlds - with both the spiritual world and the temporal world in which he lived. And, so, to make communication with both these worlds possible, God created man with a physical body to communicate with the external world around him and God created him with a "spirit" to communicate with Himself. At creation, God placed the spirit of man within his body and the union of these two, spirit and body, produced a third dimension within man, his "soul." Scriptures says, "man became a living soul." Man, a "soul," stood between two worlds and belonged to both. Through his body, man was linked to the visible, material earthly world around him and through his spirit he was linked to the spiritual, eternal, and heavenly world of God Himself.

3 Basic Christianity 3 MAN'S BODY Because man needed a body in order to communicate with the external world in which he dwelt, God formed a body out of the earth and equipped it with five senses. This body was the home for man's spirit and became man's outlet to the world of his senses. MAN'S SPIRIT God first formed the human frame for man and then "breathed into it the breath of life." This "breath of life" was man's spirit and this spirit enabled man to be in relationship to the unseen, spiritual, world of God - to have fellowship with God and to apprehend, love and worship God. MAN'S SOUL With the union of man's body and spirit, he became "a living soul." The soul is that aspect of man's being that, like a photographer's dark room, develops the impressions of the external world around him, which have been gathered by his physical senses, into distinct expressions of thought, emotions, and desire. 1. Man's spirit is the seat of his God-consciousness - where God dwelt! 2. Man's soul is the seat of his self-consciousness - where self dwelt 3. Man's body is the eat of his world-consciousness - where his senses dwelt Genesis 2:7 is an important Scripture in understanding the makeup of man's nature, it reads, "And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Note: Man is not a body, he has a body, he dwells within a body, however, man is a "living soul." Man's body has life, but so does his soul have life, therefore, man has body-life and soullife! A term that has been used by psychologists, to describe the life of the soul, is psychiclife. The energy of this soul-life [psychic energy] activates a man's personality and, just as physical life animates his muscles and body functions, so does soul-life animate his thinking and feeling processes. And, despite the fact that thinking and feeling are intangible processes, that is, no one can physically "touch," or "see" man's thoughts or feelings, they are, nonetheless, no less real than the tangible processes of the body! The work of the soul - (the person dwelling in a body) - functions separately from the body, so, the soul exists apart from the body. Therefore, all that "physical death" means is that the body is no longer used by the person who lives inside it and, when death comes to the body, the person who lives inside this body must depart from it. Christian psychologists do not agree with today's secular psychologists, who hold that psychic energy comes from the transformed, vital, energy of one's body, because Scripture teaches the immortality of man, asserting that all men live somewhere after death.

4 Basic Christianity 4 God has made all men for eternity, therefore, all men are equipped with eternal, psychiclife. It is God's divine intention that all men should spend eternity with Him and, while it is true that not all will, God appeals to all men to come unto Him, showing no respect, or partiality, toward any. Man was made in God's image and the future fellowship in eternity will be one in which eternal beings enjoy the presence of God and one another for all of eternity. No man is created just to come into this world and to die here! Man is not created just for the experience of earth, but, rather, he is created for eternity. Every man is born with eternal, psychic-life and, therefore, he comes into the world as an eternal, immortal soul who has been made for eternity. What is "spiritual life"? God warned Adam in Genesis 2:17, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." God instructed Adam not to partake of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and then goes on to tell him that he would "die the day that he ate thereof." it? Adam's "death" was brought on by his sin and disobedience - but what kind of death was The day Adam disobeyed God, and "died" as a result of his disobedience, he did not die "physically," because he lived for 930 years beyond that day, and he did not die "psychologically" because he still possessed a personality, he still had the ability to think and to know. If Adam's death was neither physical-death nor psychic-death, then, obviously, it had to be another kind of death. HOW DID ADAM "DIE" THAT DAY HE DISOBEYED GOD? When Adam disobeyed God, he was driven out of the garden of Eden, from the presence of the Lord, so that the fellowship between him and God was broken. Therefore, the "death" that God warned Adam about, if he disobeyed Him, was Adam's separation from God, and the day that Adam did disobeyed God he was separated from God when the communication and fellowship that he had with God was broken as a result of his disobedience. Adam is said to have "died" that day. This "death" of man's spirit... spiritual separation from God... is real death as far as God is concerned. Therefore, when the Bible speaks of "spiritual death," it means "the separated state of living souls from God." A man possessed physical life, that is, his body functions so that he walks about the earth, breathing and performing all the things peculiar to physical existence. A man possesses psychic life, that is, he personally thinks, feels and gives vent to passion. He does all the things relative to soul life. However, even though man is physically and psychologically alive, he is regarded as spiritually dead, unless he is joined to God, through Jesus Christ.

5 Basic Christianity 5 In Ephesians 2:1, in referring to their former separated state from God, Paul speaks of those who were "dead in trespasses and sin." They had physical and psychic life and, yet, they were regarded as "dead." Paul's uses of the term "dead" has to do with the SEPARATION OF LIVING BEINGS from God. Paul referred to those who did not have fellowship, or union, with God as being "dead." Man, who is created for God, is regarded as lost unless he is united with God. (This is where the expressions "lost" and "saved" come from.) A man is lost until he is joined to God. A man is not lost to himself, but, rather, he is lost to God. Knowing what he wants, man is willing to spend a lifetime getting it and it never even occurs to him that he is lost, but he is lost, lost to God and to God's purpose for his life. God made man for Himself and, when God and man are separated from each other, man is spiritually dead. "Spiritual death" is a state of dis-union between man and God. Romans 6:23 states, "The wages of sin is death..(spiritual death, that is, separation from God)...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." This gift of God...this gift of Life...is the gift of Jesus Christ because it is Jesus Who restores man to God. It is because reunion between God and man is accomplished by Jesus Christ that He can say, "I am the Life." WHY DIDN'T GOD DESTROY ADAM AND SIMPLY START ALL OVER AGAIN WITH A NEW RACE OF PEOPLE? We saw in past lessons that God's ultimate intention for man is more than just to save him from sin and take him to heaven when he dies. God's original purpose for man was to conform him... through inner spiritual development... into the image of His son, Jesus Christ, and to bring him into full stature and maturity. God would not just abandon man, nor His plan for man, because, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." God would not destroy His creation, but, rather, He would redeem His creation. The Cross forever stands as a measure of God's consummate passion for man and His determination to fulfill His purpose within man, and it is only in the light of God's love and purpose that the Cross makes any sense. In order for God to save man, and to fulfill His purpose within man, more was required than His simple offer of forgiveness. The redemption goes far beyond the idea of God just forgiving man because God's forgiveness alone could not begin to accomplish the kind of reconciliation that God sought with man. Unfortunately, may are tempted to think of God's salvation for man in terms of His forgiveness alone. Man's separation from God is due, in the first place, to the depraved nature that man acquires as a result of being born in the line of Adam's race. Adam's fall in the Garden of Eden effected a change in Adam's nature, a change in Adam himself and, as "heirs," all men became the enemies of God by NATURE. In Ephesians 2:3, Paul, when speaking of being "dead in trespasses and sins," states, "ye were by nature the children of wrath." It is because man inherits Adam's depraved nature, and, therefore, needs to have his nature changed, that God's problem in saving man involves more than just His forgiving man,

6 Basic Christianity 6 because God's forgiveness alone does not change a person's nature. Man's depraved, sinful nature makes him an enemy of God... separated him from God...which is why man's nature must be changed if he is to be reconciled to God and, since man cannot change his nature, it is God who must change man's nature by doing something within man. It is because God had to deal with man's nature that Jesus came to earth as God in human form. Jesus came to do two important things on behalf of man: (1) Christ Jesus came to reveal to man just how much God loves man and how desperately He desires to forgive him of his sins. Jesus came to pay the penalty for man's sins, He came to die in man's place for man's sins in order than man could go free from the debt of his sins. (2) Christ Jesus came to provide man with a new and righteous nature so that man could be conformed into the image of Himself and be equipped for eternity with a Righteous God. Man is a sinner because of his nature, and it is because of his sinful nature that he is separated from God. Therefore, if a man is to be eligible for eternal fellowship with God, he must be redeemed by, personally, inviting the Lord, Jesus Christ, to come into his life and, upon this invitation, Jesus Christ brings about the needed changes that enable him to have fellowship and union with God. God will not impose Himself upon anyone. John 1:12 states, "To as many as will receive Him gives He power to become the sons of God." God is willing to come into anyone's heart... (whosoever)...and to create, within him, a whole new nature that will equip him for the heavenly state. Since the Christ that is invited, and comes, into our hearts, and lives, is God, it means, then, that, at the very moment of our invitation, we are united with God in a literal union. And if life - (real life) - means union with God, as we have seen that it does, then we can comprehend how the gift of spiritual life becomes ours by the receiving of Jesus Christ into our lives. "God's Ultimate Intention!" In order to understand salvation, one must be able to see God's purpose and realize His ultimate intention for mankind. 2 Timothy 1:9 states, "Who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, Who has destroyed death and has brought life and immorality to light through the gospel." It is important that one correctly understands what God is saying in these verses. They tell us that God saved us and called us to a life of holiness (to be like Him), not as a reward for anything that we have done, but, rather, in fulfillment of His own loving purpose, which was

7 Basic Christianity 7 shown to us through union with Christ Jesus, eternal ages ago. And, now, this purpose is brought fully into view by the appearance of Jesus Christ, Who has put a stop to the power of death... has revealed true life... and has given us immunity from eternal death. Let's look at this concept more closely! In the very beginning, when God created man, He had an ultimate purpose for him, but man sinned and fell from that original purpose. And, now, as a result, man must be "lifted from" that fallen condition and brought back to the place that Adam lost. Man's purpose then became two fold: (1) First, man, in his fallen condition, had to be brought back to his original holy calling which Adam had lost when he sinned. (2) Secondly, man had to fulfill God's original desire for a family, which was the "eternal purpose which He had for man before Adam sinned, yea the purpose He had for him before the world began! When God created man, and placed him in the Garden of Eden, he was not all that God intended him to become. He had not attained the full stature God desired for him. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT BIBLICAL CONCEPT because we will only be able to understand God's ultimate intention for each one of us to the degree that we understand this concept. If we think of Adam as the zenith of the full stature which God intended for man, then we will see God's program of salvation as only the "restoration of all things" to their Adamic perfection and we will fail to see God's ultimate intention! To see God's program of salvation in this way is, in fact, a very narrow view of God's purpose in our salvation because Scripture teaches us that Adam did not receive the Divine image by God "creative hand." It is so important for us to realize that there was much more to God's ultimate purpose for mankind than just what He "creative" touch could accomplish - because His ultimate purpose for mankind required that man be in a vital union and cooperate with the Source of God's life! It is true that Adam was created perfect, just as an innocent baby is born perfect, however, he was wholly untried and undeveloped in his moral nature. ONE MUST DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT ADAM WAS BY "CREATION" AND WHAT HE WAS TO BECOME BY UNION AND COOPERATION WITH GOD! Adam had received "created life. by an endowment from God and he was to be a container which could receive the Divine Life of God, if he would so choose to. God's ultimate purpose for man was for him to become... through inner spiritual development... a "son" in full stature. God designed Adam for development, like a flower bud grows and develops toward full blossom and, then, finally becomes the fruit it was intended to be.

8 Basic Christianity 8 God's original purpose for man was not just to save him from sin so that he could go to heaven when he died, or so that he might be delivered from his troubles and be granted an easier life, but, rather, God's original purpose for man was to conform him into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ! Interestingly, despite all his problems, when the apostle Paul wrote, he never once wrote out of self pit, nor did he desire to escape from his problems. He never once asked anyone to pray that God might make his way in life easier because he was gripped with one concept, "That all things that happened to him might be for the furtherance of the Gospel" (Philippians 1:12). Paul points out in his letter to the Ephesians that, because man sinned, he needed "redemption," and this provision is available to us in Christ Jesus, God's Son. "In whom we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). Paul begins Ephesians by saying, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints...and the faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ... [or, "has crowned us with every spiritual blessing that heaven itself enjoys."]... (Ephesians 1:1-3). Paul begins by stating God's eternal purpose for man, "God blessed us with all spiritual blessings IN CHRIST!" He then continues by saying, "According as He [God] hath chosen us in Him [in Christ Jesus] before the creation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will. - to the praise of His glorious grace...[or, "so that we might manifest the splendor of His grace]...wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 3:4-6). As the fellowship between the Father and the Son was in eternity past, so, also, was it in the Father's heart that many sons be confirmed to His Son's image, even before the creation of the world. With anticipation, God planned that His eternal Son would become the incarnate God, (God in flesh), and by so doing, God would be sharing His divine, vital, life with His human family, which was yet to be created. God planned to visit this planet by the incarnation of His Son, not because man sinned, but, rather, so that Jesus might become the very life of man! And this... God's life becoming man's life... was God's ultimate intention for man from the very beginning! If one could only understand what God's purpose is for his life, his outlook on life, and his commitment to God's service would take on a whole new dimension. Speaking of God's grace toward us, Ephesians 1 continues to state: "that He lavished on us... [or, "overflowed into our lives"]... with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His

9 Basic Christianity 9 good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ... [or, `that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.'] Ephesians 3:8-10. Note: God, the Father, determined that His son should become "incarnate" (robbed in human flesh) as His means of bringing a vast family of "sons" into the glorious measure of full stature! Here, in Paul's letter to the Ephesians, he is looking at God's purpose for man, while "seated with God in heavenly places." Things certainly look different when one is able to view the whole picture from the veranda of the universe. Paul sees the eternal Father yearning for a vast family of sons conformed to the image of His eternal Son - in whom He has found such delight! From the very beginning, before the creation of the world, our heavenly Father, planned to share His life with man and to express Himself throughout the universe during all ages to come! "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" verses WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES ALL THIS MAKE? God's Word tells us that Christ bore all of our sins in His own body on the tree. The sins of the world were placed upon Him by God, the Father. Christ was our sin bearer. He became sin, bearing our sin... however... we must not only see, and believe, that Christ died to save us from our sins, but, rather, we must also understand that continuous work of God's Holy Spirit in our lives to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ! Believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior, to same us from sin, and accepting Him as our personal Savior, is necessary because man sinned - ["All have sinned and come short of the glory of God'] - but this acceptance of Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior is only a crisis act. It is not God's eternal purpose for us because God's eternal purpose is a process of growth! When God created man, and placed him on earth, man was created in innocence, but, ultimately, God's purpose for man was to share His life with him and bring him to perfection, to maturity. It was not man's defection that determined God's purpose of sharing His divine life with man because it was already in His original plan. Before man ever sinned, even before he was created, God determined to share Himself with man through His Son, Jesus Christ. For God to accomplish this original determination, did

10 Basic Christianity 10 not necessitate that man sin! In the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, man was given two trees, which represented two ways he could choose to go. He could choose to go: (1) He could choose to go his own way and eat of the "tree of knowledge of good and evil," choosing the development of his soul powers, independent of God or (2) He could choose to go God's way and "eat of the tree of Life," choosing the development of his spiritual powers, and the fulfillment of God's purpose for his life, by being in "living union" with God. Adam chose the expansion, or development, of his soul powers and this choice of "self" is what became the animating power of man. Before man can develop spiritually, he must undergo a radical deliverance from sin, but this deliverance is only the "doorway" to his spiritual development unto full stature. One must not allow himself to be so interested in just "being free from sin," or, just "making it to heaven," that he is warped and blighted into spiritual lethargy, allowing escape from sin and its penalty to become his only goal in his Christian walk. True, man did sin and turned to his own way, but this did not cause God to change His plan because He would still share Himself through His Son, only now He would do it by providing "redemption" through the Cross. When God redeems man out of his lost predicament, it is by the crisis act of man believing in the finished work of the Cross and receiving the divine life of Jesus Christ, the reception of which is what God intended for man all along! One must not reckon the finished work of the Cross as a finality, but, rather, he must remember that God designed that there be a continuous work of the Holy Spirit in his life which only begins at the Cross, a beginning which makes possible a daily receiving, or sharing, of God's divine life. God could not ignore man's awful defection into sin, which is why there must be a crisis act of regeneration in man's life. Man must "believe unto righteousness, receive the divine life of Christ (indeed, be "born-again") but, having believed and received Jesus Christ, he is now ready to share the "Life of God's Son," is to be a continuous participation in, and with, Christ's life within, which means that one does not have to be wearied - defeated -r frustrated - by trying to life the Christian life on his own and in his own strength. One must make a determination that he will daily acknowledge the Lordship of Christ in his life, and that his strength and ability will come only from drawing on Christ's divine life within. If we were to look at a photograph of a tree against a background that had been blocked out, so that we would have nothing to relate the tree too, or nothing to compare its size with, we could

11 Basic Christianity 11 only make a wild guess as to how large that tree was. Without any background, we could not tell whether the tree was a seedling or a giant oak. On the other hand, with the background in the picture, enabling us to see the full landscape of woods and houses, we would be able to determine that the tree was 35 to 40 feet high. And so it is that, without the background of God's eternal purpose for our lives, we are unable to adequately know the meaning of any part of our lives. God deliver us from a limited view of His purpose for our lives, and help us to see that He desires to exalt and magnify Himself through us! Yes, God desires to live His life through us! The apostle Paul gives us the eternal vantage point of life which God gave to him and we must keep all the temporal parts of our lives related to the "background" of the Father's eternal purpose for our lives. The more one comprehends God's eternal purpose for man's life, and that, that eternal purpose began "before the creation of the world" in the heart of God, the more he is able to understand why Paul, in his writing to the Ephesians, makes this eternal purpose his starting place. And, as one begins to better comprehend God's eternal purpose for man's life, he will begin to more full appreciate how the Father originally purposed that everything is to be accomplished through, and centered in, His Son, Jesus Christ. JESUS CHRIST, GOD'S SON WAS TO BECOME MAN'S VERY LIFE (- even if man had never sinned!) Of course, God foreknew that man would sin and, therefore, He prepared for that emergency, but this did not determine, nor alter, God's original eternal purpose that "all things find their summation in Christ Jesus, His divine Son." The tragedy of focusing in on just the "redemption from sin" (as wonderful as that is) is that it makes sin and redemption a necessity in God's plan - as if God's primary purpose was just to redeem mankind. This viewpoint of God's purpose for man reaches only to man in his "fallen condition" and shows Christ's incarnation only in the light of God's redemptive plan. God's eternal purpose for man is much higher than just his redemption from sin. If redemption from sin is our narrow horizon and concept of God's work in our lives, then everything God has planned for us is seen from the perspective of man's fall into sin, rather than from the perspective of God's eternal purpose of conforming man into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, everything that happens to us takes its meaning from the fact that "man has sinned" and the danger of this concept... of just seeing "deliverance from sin" as God's purpose for us... is that it is perverse, and it gives a man-centered perspective of life that will blight one's maturity and spiritual growth.

12 Basic Christianity 12 One cannot minimize the importance of Christ's redemption, because it is God's "recovery" program, however, only as one sees redemption as it is rightly related to God's eternal purpose can one really fully appreciate the full meaning, and ultimate purpose, of God's plan of redemption. And, if one does see his salvation against the background of God's eternal purpose, then, one has taken the initial step in realizing God's ultimate intention for his life, and, upon this realization, how much more important, and imperative, does redemption become. We must not fall into the trap of a narrow perspective of believing that all God wants to do in our life is to enable us to "escape" from sin and hell, but, rather, we must realize that God desires to accomplish His original purpose for our life, which is to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. We must purpose to dedicate our self to this divine calling and purpose that God has for us! Praise God that Christ's life and death conquered sin, self, the world, and the devil so that we do not have to be in bondage to any of these monarchs, however, Christ's death and resurrection not only provides the way of escape from these enemies of our spiritual development, but it also provides the way of God's fulfillment of His eternal purpose in our lives! Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:8-9, "Accept, as I do, all the hardships that faithfulness to the Gospel entails in the strength that God gives you. For He has rescued us from all that is evil - and called us to a life of holiness, not because of any of our achievements, but for His own purpose." This life that God has called us to is the life that will render true joy and fulfillment! Verse 9 of 2 Timothy 1 states, "Before time began He planned to give us in Christ the grace to achieve this purpose"... and, verse 10 states, "But it is only since our Savior Jesus Christ has been revealed that the method has become apparent." [Phillips Translation]. It is possible for one to be "saved" from sin and destruction and, yet, to be "lost" to the ultimate intention God has for him. Don't let this happen to your life! "Christ Within" In order for God to accomplish His plan in man, He had to do something about man's nature because by virtue of Adam's sin, man inherited from Adam a nature that is opposed to God. From his first parents, man inherited a fallen, lower nature, the weaker element in his human nature. The Greek word for this weaker aspect of man's nature is "sarx" and the King James New Testament translates this word as "flesh." The "flesh" which is distinct and different from man's "body," is the unregenerate condition of man, who is controlled by the impulses of the carnal, or sensual, side of his nature. Note the follow Scriptures: Romans 7:5, "For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions

13 Basic Christianity 13 which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death." Romans 8:8-9, "So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His." Galatians 3:3, "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?" Galatians 6:8, "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." As one follows the Lord Jesus Christ, they should expect resistance from their lower nature because this "sarx" nature is opposed to God and cannot do the things of God. However, as the believer has received Jesus Christ as his Savior and has been joined to God, he is now a citizen of heaven who has been equipped with a "new nature." When people hear the varied claims of so many religions in the world today, it certainly is understandable how they can wonder which one is right. These people have a longing for God within their souls, yet they hesitate to select any religion because of the confused religious scene. If, however, one would only make the following simple observation, it should help clarify for him how Christianity differs from other so-called "religions." When one surveys the religions of the world, he will notice that all these religions have one thing in common in that they offer a similar philosophy of life, that is, all religions claim that there is some set of beliefs to which one must subscribe in order for him to obtain salvation. these various religions require that, in order to approach God, one must no only embrace their particular creed, but, one must also live a certain way and "do" certain things, and it is hoped that, eventually, in the process of "doing" all this one will find God. When we look at Jesus, we see that His claims are different from all other religions claims because Jesus claims to be God Himself. Jesus said, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Jesus claims that eternal life is in Him alone! Other religions claim to know the way to God, however, Jesus tells us the He, Himself, IS THE WAY to God! CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION - IT IS A PERSON CHRISTIANITY IS CHRIST! While other religions insist that one must believe something in order to be saved, the bible insists that one must receives Someone in order to be saved, in order to have eternal life. THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1. HAVING THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST AND 2. BELIEVING IN A RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE = One has to do with "knowledge", while the other is an "experience!"

14 Basic Christianity 14 In the account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead John 11 records that when Jesus made the journey to Bethany, four days after the death of Lazarus, and was met on the outskirts of the city by Mary and Martha, sister of Lazarus, Martha said to Him, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother would not have died" (verse 21). When Jesus assured her by saying, "Thy brother will live again," Martha responded, "I know that he shall rise in the resurrection," Then Jesus answered her by saying, in verse 25, "I am the resurrection and the life," it was as though He was saying to her, "Martha, get your eyes off the `doctrine' of the resurrection and get your eyes on Me!" The resurrection is a Person! Eternal life is a Person! There is no doctrine, or creed, that can bring life to anyone! There is no church, no philosophy, no religion of any kind, that can save because salvation is in none of these! The Savior is a Person, and one must do business with Him, not with doctrines! Even the Bible, with all its doctrines, can save no one, however, the Savior of the Bible can save whosoever cometh unto Him! Don't confuse the truths of Christ with Christ Himself! Christianity is actually about one having a personal experience with a living Person, Jesus Christ! Regardless of the claims of Mohammed, Confucius, Buddha or any other leader of a religion, if one were to go where these religious leaders are buried one would find that they are still in their tombs today! However, if one goes to where Christ was buried in Palestine, one would find an empty tomb - because Christ arose from the dead! That same Christ, Who rose from the dead 2000 years ago, today knocks at the door of men's hearts, everywhere, asking to be received within, asking to live within man's spirit to give him new life and a new nature. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? If eternal life is in one Man, Jesus Christ, how may other men come to have this life? If man is joined to God only by coming into possession of Christ, how is this "possession" made possible? If union with God is necessary for man's spiritual life, how is this union with God made possible by sharing Jesus' life with Him? When Jesus was on earth, He was confined to His earthly tabernacle (His body) just as we are confined to our earthly body, and He was subject to the same physical limitations that we are. Because Jesus could not be two places at the same time, the work of bringing salvation to men could not be accomplished as long as He was con fined to an earth-bound body, as long as He was here on earth.

15 Basic Christianity 15 JESUS IN BODY WHILE ON EARTH - JESUS UNAVAILABLE IN BODY AFTER LEAVING EARTH In His discussion of John 14, which takes place a few hours before the Cross, Jesus begins to teach His disciples about a very important truth, He tells them of the "Helper," (John 14:16), which is identified as the Holy Spirit in verse 26. In verse 17, Christ makes a very important observation relative to the "Spirit of Truth," when He says, "You know Him, for He lives WITH you, and will be IN you." In verse 18, when Jesus says, "I will come to you," He is referring to His life, by the power of the Holy Spirit, being within them. In verse 20, Jesus tells them that the day was soon coming when they would know that He was in the Father, that they were in Him, and that He was in them. Jesus was attempting to give His followers an understanding of His future indwelling in their hearts. Because Jesus could not fulfill His promise of inner, spiritual, life to every believer as long as He was within His own earthly body, He said, "Unless I go away, the Helper will not come unto you" John 16:7. Jesus was telling His disciples that as long as He remained in His earthly body thee was no way for them to have eternal, or "spiritual" life. Jesus said, "It is expedient for you that I go away," that is, "It is to your advantage for Me to leave you." Christ's going away was for the best interest of the whole world because, if He did not go, men could not have eternal life, therefore, it was absolutely necessary that He go away! JESUS AVAILABLE "IN" BODIES OF BELIEVERS AFTER PENTECOST Jesus was teaching His disciples that He was going to actually live within their individual lives, so that each one of them could possess Him fully and completely. How could His "bodily" presence begin to compare with His presence in their hearts? As long as He lived in a body, that is, as long as Jesus was physically present in the world, only a few could get close to Him, only a few could embrace Him lovingly, and obviously, the great host of Christians today would never be able to enjoy His immediate presence. Therefore, to limit Jesus to the "body-form," would be a terrible lose to believers everywhere, except to those who would be physically near Him. But Jesus "went away" so that He might come back, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to live within every true believer, and, the preciousness of the indwelling presence of Jesus is that He is closer to believers than their own hands, nearer to them then their own breath. Whenever we are in any trouble, we don't have to "spell out our troubles" with the detailed accuracy of an insurance report, to Jesus because He already knows our hearts, He lives there and He is our Helper! Jesus was not satisfied just to die for man, just to pay the penalty for his sin, because He desires that the benefits of His work go beyond just "saving" man, which is why, when He brings His redemptive work to each one of us personally, He remains within us to insure, and guarantee, that we will mature, and grow, into the full stature that God originally intended for man.

16 Basic Christianity 16 How can Jesus be in all of our hearts at the same time? To illustrate the answer to this question, let's liken the Holy Spirit to the transmitting waves of a television studio; a scene takes place in a television studio and, then, by means of a transmitter, it is sent out over air waves to the surrounding area. Anyone with a television receiver is able to pick up those waves and have a reproduced image on his own television screen. The very scene of the studio is now transferred to his home and, not only is the scene reproduced in just one home, but it is also reproduced in as many homes as well receive it. There is no limit to the number of sets that can receive the image from the studio, in fact, "whosoever will" may turn his television set to this channel and receive what is offered. If man can reproduce a scene, which takes place in a distant television studio, in a multitude of homes, surely Jesus can reproduce His presence in as many lives as will receive Him. In this way, in a peculiar sense, the Holy Spirit may be likened to a television studio because just as these waves transmit the scene, the image, from the studio into people's homes, the Holy Spirit "transmits," forms in us, the image of Jesus Christ. By becoming "receiving sets" for the divine Transmitter, we can receive the Lord completely, and there is no limit to the number who are invited to do so. What Jesus did for us, two thousand years ago when He died on the Cross and rose again, He does in us today! In Galatians 2:20, the apostle Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Remember that, when Adam sinned, the Bible says that "he died." Adam was alive physically, but he died spiritually and since then, since the time of Adam, all men are dead, dead as far as their relationship to God is concerned. The man without Christ is without life, real life, he is spiritually dead, entirely destitute of divine life and, when he accepts Jesus Christ, he is "born-again," he is born from above and made alive in his spirit. John 1:12 states, "As many as receive Him [Jesus Christ] to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." When one accepts Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, he becomes a possessor of "New Life," the very life of God. Christ's divine life is implanted within him! When an egg is laid, there floats in the midst of a sticky fluid the germ of the chicken to be. The whole chicken is there as an "embryo" but, in the beginning, it is only a little speck, floating in a great quantity of "viscous matter." The mother hen turns the egg twice every day for three weeks. Each day there is less and less of the sticky matter and more and more of the chicken formed within the egg. Then, one day, there is no more viscous matter because it has all become the chicken. The life within (the chicken) chips his way out of the shell and the chicken begins an entirely new life! 2 Corinthians 13:5 states, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?"

17 Basic Christianity 17 John 3:6 states, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." When one accepts Jesus Christ as his Savior, he is born-again, his "spirit" is born of the Holy Spirit, he has Christ's life as an "embryo" and this embryo needs care and nurturing. In Galatians 4:19, Paul says, "My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you." This "forming Christ within the believer" takes place as one submits to God's Word and as he lets Christ be Lord in the circumstances of his life, in the environment that he lives in, in the frustrations that he goes through, and in the disappointments that he must endure. Romans 6:1-14 state, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." One must identify with Christ's death and resurrection life and draw his strength from Jesus Christ, Who lives within his life. The believer must feed on Jesus Christ's life within, and this is the lesson that the Lord's supper teaches us, that one must "feed upon Christ's death and life" in his Christian walk. Jesus said in John 6:53-57, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me." Was Jesus referring to the "bread" and "wine" of the communion service in John 6? No! He was referring to what the bread and wine of the communion is symbolic of, His death and His life! Because His own disciples could not understand what He was speaking about, beginning with verse 61 Jesus explains, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." Jesus tells us that it is the Word of God that will give us spiritual strength, growth, and maturity, and it is through God's Word that we receive Christ's life!

18 Basic Christianity 18 2 Peter 1:4 says, "God has given to us His precious and splendid promises, that through them you might participate in Christ's divine nature." It is as one surrenders his life to God's Word and its principles, as he puts his trust in it and applies its teachings to his life, that the life of Jesus Christ develops, and grows, within him. "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" - Galatians 2:20 "The Two Natures of the Believer" There are some fine points which theologians and psychologists like to debate, however, a very simple explanation of man's make-up from a Scriptural view-point will be sufficiently accurate for this lesson. Remember, God "formed" man out of the dust of the ground, and "breathed" into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a "living soul" (Genesis 2:7. The forming (Hebrew: "molded" from the dust has reference to Adam's body. It is the part of man which is composed of earthly elements. Then, Scripture teaches that "God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." "Breath" and "spirit" are one and the same word in the Hebrew language. Scriptures here refers to the "spirit of man" being breathed into him (2 Corinthians 2:11). Note, there is a third dimension noted in this passage of Scripture, as well, "and man became a living soul." You will note, as we say in the last lesson, that man was not a body, he HAD a body (he also had a "spirit"), however, he himself was a "living soul." Paul makes this same distinction in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, when he mentions man's spirit, soul and body. The writer to the Hebrews adds his testimony to this truth when he tells us the Word of God is able to divide asunder man's "soul and spirit" (Hebrews 4:12). Man was a soul, who possessed a body and spirit. Adam was a soul, fresh from the hand of God. He was pure! He had no sin! However, he was NOT the finished product of maturity of God's ultimate intention! He was not perfect or righteousness, he was only "innocent" because he was not guilty of any transgression of God's revealed will. Moral perfection must be attained, it cannot be created! God can created a being capable of moral action, but He can not create a being will all of the "fruits of moral action" garnered within him. God made Adam capable of doing righteously, but, He did not make him incapable of doing wrong. Adam had to be made capable of both right and wrong. God did not want man to be an animal, who would obey out of instinct, nor did God want him to be a machine, or robot, who had no choice. God had a world of creatures who worshipped and praised Him. God desired man, created in His own image, with the ability of choice, to love and worship Him. God desired one with whom He could have fellowship and communion. There is no way to guarantee what any "free-will creature" will do. We do, however, know that Adam did, he disobeyed God's commandment to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:117). This test of obeying, or disobeying, God's commandment was more than just a simple question of whether or not to eat some fruit. It was, rather, a question of