Foundations in Faith Part 1

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

                WHAT IS GOD’S PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE?

WHAT is the definition of SIN?

                            WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE SAVED?

CAN YOU EARN YOUR WAY TO HEAVEN?

1.  GOD LOVES YOU…and He has a purpose for your life.

·      John 3:16 ~ For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

·      John 10:10 ~ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

·      God’s plan for me is abundant life and eternal life.

2.  The BAD NEWS: People are sinners and separated from God by sin.

·      Romans 3:23 ~ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

·      Romans 6:23 ~ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

·      It does not say that a few have sinned or some have sinned, but that ALL have sinned and fall short.  [ALL MEANS ALL] The penalty [or wages] for that sin is death.

  We cannot appreciate a cure unless we first know that we are ill:

·      Mark 2:16-17 ~ But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”  When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

3.  What is sin?

•              James 4:17 ~ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

·      1 John 3:4 ~ Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.

·      Galatians 3:10 ~ But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”

·      Galatians 2:20-21 ~ My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

·      The law condemns it cannot justify and save.

4.  No amount of good works can earn your way to heaven and a relationship with God. 

·      Romans 3:10 ~ As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.

·      Ephesians 2:8-9 ~  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

True or False:

Baptism will save you.                  T       or      F

Having Christian parents will save you.         T       or      F

Going to church will save you.      T       or      F

·      Good deeds are a verification of our faith.  They will not earn our salvation. Our actions confirm our faith.

·      John 15:16 ~ You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name.

SO...What is the Gospel? 

·      1 Cor 15:1-4 ~ Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.  It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
      I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.  He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

He came, He died, He rose...

Romans 1:16 ~ For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.

o  Trust in Christ’s finished work on the Cross, not our endless efforts.

o  We are brought back by mercy, not because we deserve it, but to reveal the holiness of God through the Holy Spirit that is within us.  He offers us a fresh start, no matter what our sins are.  

o  Romans 3:22 ~ We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

    Why clean up an old life when you can have a new one? 

  2 Corinthians 5:17 ~ This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

The Gospel is the great news of God providing salvation for man through Jesus Christ.

=     I was lost but now I am found.

=     I was guilty but now I am not guilty.

=     I was unforgiven but now I am forgiven.

=     I was an enemy of God but now I am in peace with Him.

=     I had eternal death but now I have eternal life!!!