Basic Christianity

In the Christian walk there are three choices that a Christian must make!

The first choice and foundational is that a person must come to a place in their life where they realize that they are guilty of violating God’s laws –called sin, and that the penalty for those violations must be paid.  The recipient must choose to accept the gift of God – forgiveness of their sin debt, or to reject it.  To gain a comprehensive understanding of “original sin” and our bent toward it, it is necessary to go to the beginning of God’s word, the creation of our earth and the fall of man.

Man is a sinner.  The Word of God starts by telling us how He created the world. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

• Who created the heavens and the earth? _____ Was it some accidental cosmic collision? ______, God _________ them.

The New Testament tells us the same story.

Hebrews 1:10 He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

• The Lord laid the foundations of the ____________ and the ________________ are the ______ of His hands.

The Word then goes on to tell us about the creation of man and how the creation got corrupted.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

• Man was created in the ______ of God, a spirit being, as well as a physical being.  He was given dominion over the whole ________ and every living ____________ on the earth.

It is at this early juncture that sin and death enter into the picture. According to Romans 5:12     When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

·        Sin entered into the __________ human race.  Adam’s sin brought ________ and so death spread to ___________ for everyone _____________.

There is a principle of God that is so profound that even God, himself, chooses to obey it.  It is found recorded in   Romans 6:23     For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

·        The penalty for sin, any sin is _____________. Since God through the gift of Christ gives you eternal life, than the death spoken of here must be __________ death.

Just to confirm that let me highlight a few more verses.  The context of this next passage deals with such issues at pride, arrogance, self –will and homosexuality found in Romans 1: 20-31.     

Romans 1:32     They are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

Romans 6:21     And what was the result? It was not good, since now you are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.

Romans 8:6     If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.

Romans 8:13     For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.

Galatians 6:8     Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.  

Man had only one law to keep in the garden: Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; [17] but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

• Man was created knowing only good, God created man for fellowship, and for the sake of that fellowship, the Lord did not want him to know ________. God knew that He would not allow man to live, in His presences, eternally, knowing evil; the spirit of companionship would be broken.

Genesis 3:12-13 And the man said, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." [13] Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

The deed done, God explains the ramifications.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."

• Because of Eve's complicity with Satan, the Lord issued two decrees, One: her _________ in ________________ will greatly increase, and second: the _________ is given the responsibility as head of the family.

Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. [18] "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; [19] By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

• Because of Adam's rebellion, the Lord decreed for all of Adam's descendants, the curse of physical, as well as spiritual death. For __________ you are and to _____________ you shall return.

Genesis 3:22-23 Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- [23] therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

• Because of Adam's sin, people were born spiritually dead, and until Christ came and gave Himself in our stead, bringing to us the possibility of re-birth, (to be made once again, spiritually alive) mankind was with out hope. ________ sent man _______ from His presence.

The whole rest of scripture is about God's efforts to regain fellowship with mankind and to restore man to the position that Adam forfeited to Satan, to restore man to resemble Adam in body, soul, and spirit, one who was made in the image of his Creator.

Because of God's love, God did not create man a puppet. Man was given a free will and could choose to love God in return. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God in disobedience. Because man chose to respond to Satan rather than God, Satan captured man's authority over planet earth. Earth and all of its inhabitants fell under the dominion of Satan, who is driven by his own vanity and pride. He is indeed a hard taskmaster.  Matthew 12:25-26 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. [26] If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

(1) According to this passage, does Satan have a Kingdom? ___.

Listen to the words of Jesus in John 12:31, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.

• Jesus calls Satan the ________ of this world.

So often God is blamed for the death and destruction that surrounds us because people don't know the Word.  Jesus said in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

• Jesus refers to Satan as a thief because he stole man's authority over planet earth. He reminds us that, as the ruler of this world, Satan's only mission is to _______, _____ and _____.

• Jesus, on the other hand, came to bring __________, Spiritual life.

The context surrounding this passage is that of Jesus speaking to the religious leaders of His day. John 8:43-44 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. [44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

·        Since this takes place prior to Pentecost, these men, as religious as they were, could not have been born again, nor could they yet be citizens of God’s kingdom.  Who does Jesus call their father? _________. 

·        What characteristics does Jesus apply to Satan?  He is a _____________ and a _____.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

·        The _________ world is under the control of the _______ _______ whom Scripture identifies as Satan.

The wages of sin demands a death penalty.  Made clear throughout the old covenant, the sacrifice needed to be perfect and without blemish.  Since all men are born “sin stained”, a men could never atone for his own sin debt.  Because of His love for mankind, God the judge chose to pay the penalty demanded by His justice, through Christ. The Messiah was born of a virgin, and therefore, without the rebellious spirit of natural man.  John 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  [NASB]

·        Who then can receive eternal life?   Whoever _____________ in Jesus.

Col. 1:19-22     For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, [20] and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. [21] This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, [22] yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.  [NLT]

·        It wasn’t like God sent someone else to pay our deserved punishment.  God incarnate, Our Judge, _______ ____ Christ and while we were still His ___________, paid the awful price and now calls us, who would receive his forgiveness, His _________.

 

2 Cor. 5:21     For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Cor. 5:19     For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others.  [NLT]

·        The only reason for Christ to pay our sin debt of death was so that we could be _______  __________ with God.  God did not send Buddha or Mohammad, or any other sin-laden person to die for us, only through _________.  This is why the apostle Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit could declare with confidence, even though it put his life in jeopardy,    "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved."  Acts 4:12 [NASB]

Romans 3:25     For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.    . . .[NLT]

1 John 4:10     This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  [NLT]

·        We are born owing a sin debt, but God sent _______ to take our ____________ and satisfy our sin debt. 

Consequently, we are like mass murders on death row, condemned to certain death.  Along comes the very Judge who sentenced us, and offers to submit to our death sentence Himself, allowing us to go free.  We can either choose to accept his pardon or choose to accept in ourselves, the penalty issued.

1 Cor. 15:20-21    But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.     [21] So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. 

·        __________ came into the world through Adam  ____________ from the dead come through ___________.

If our first choice then is that we must choose to accept the pardon for our sin debt through the death of Jesus then the second choice is as follows: Because of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross we have been given a choice. We can chose to live as citizens of God’s kingdom or we can remain under the domination of Satan, into whose dominion we were born.

Romans 6:16   Don't you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.

·        If we choose not to submit to Gods authority through Christ, and thereby gain His ______, then the only alternative is to continue under the domination of Satan, which will lead to eternal _______

Entrance into the kingdom of God is not for some ethereal future time after death, it is for now

Luke 12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

·        Jesus spoke of entrance into the Kingdom of heaven in His present tense. Since those to whom He was speaking were still under the Covenant of Law, He could not be speaking of a future event. Can you conclude, by the structure of His words, that Jesus made the Kingdom of God accessible to believers from His time on earth until now? ____

Luke 9:2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

·        Does the tense of this verse indicate that the kingdom of God is available immediately or sometime in the future? _____.

Matthew 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

·        When will Jesus give Peter the Keys to the Kingdom? __________________________________.

Ephes. 2:2     You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  [NLT]

·        Our Second Choice then is that we must choose to serve in God’s kingdom rather than remain under Satan’s authority, who is the _______________ of this world.

The second choice involves submitting yourself to the authority and lordship of the ruler of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus the Christ.  Unlike Satan who is a prideful arrogant despot, Christ is described in Scripture as a groom. One who loves the subjects of His kingdom.  This relationship of the believer and Christ as Lord is illustrated in Scripture by the portrayal of Christ as groom and the collective believers as the bride, and symbolically, in all passages concerning the bondservant. 

·        If the Judge saved your life by paying the death penalty for you with His own, what do you owe the Judge?   _____________________________

Your need to offer up your life for your redeemer is bluntly illustrated in the following passage, repeated in three gospels, to be sure that you don’t miss them.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.  [NLT]

·        Jesus demands a life dedicated to ___________ing_ Him.

Mark 8:34     Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. "If any of you wants to be my follower," he told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.  [NLT]

·        The penitent, who would receive God’s pardon, must put aside ________ ______ and follow Jesus.

Luke 9:23     Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.  [NLT]

·        A Cross is to die upon. If we are to be a ___________ of Jesus we must die to our old sinful, rebellious nature.

The first choice is to accept the pardon for our sin debt that God offers, and the second is to accept the Lordship of Jesus, submit ourselves as bondservants.  The bondservant is a term that identifies itself with the Old Testament bond-slave. Exodus 21:5-6   But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' [6] If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever.  [NLT]

·        The slave makes a choice. Because he _________s_ his master, he chooses to remain in his service, willingly.  The hole in his ear becomes a seal that identifies the servant with his master ___________. Ephes. 1:13   In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,  [NASB]

In today’s modern world, some may find this next passage offensive, regardless of whether or not we agree, it is God’s Word.  In God’s word, believers are called the bride of Christ! The essence of that relationship is one of submission to the headship of Christ. Ephes. 5:22-23     Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. [23] For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  [NASB]

The Christian is to submit to _____ as head of the Church, just as a wife is to be subject to the leadership of her ________ husband.

 

If you receive the pardon that Jesus offers, the “first choice”, and   you readily accept his headship (after all you owe him your life) then you are what scripture terms “born again.”  John 3:3     Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  To be born again means to be made Spiritually alive. Ephes. 2:4-5     But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, [5] that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's special favor that you have been saved!)  [NLT]  You become a child of God: John 1:12-13   But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, [13] who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

At this time you are baptized in the spirit.  The Holy Spirit of God indwells you and begins His Job of counseling and course correction.

Again, so that you will not miss the importance of this God’s Word repeats this passage in three Gospels. Matthew 3:11 . . . [Jesus] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  [NASB] Mark 1:8 He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit   Luke 3:16] He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

John, under the covenant of law baptized with water, but Jesus, he says, “ will baptize you with the ___________ and fire Compilers notes: throughout Scripture, fire is always a picture of purification

Jesus explains what this means in John 14:16-17. He is speaking to His disciples prior to Pentecost (before it was possible for anyone to be in dwelt by the Holy Spirit).   And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. [17] He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

·        Those who are not born again [the world] cannot ________ him. 

·        How long will the Holy Spirit of God be with the Child of God?

·        The job of the Counselor is to Guide the born again person into all _________.

 John 14:26    But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.  [NLT] Holy Scripture call Jesus the living Word [John 1:14 So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.]

·        What will the Holy Spirit teach and remind us of?   The ___________ of God.

At this juncture we come to the Third Choice and the one most often overlooked.  We must choose to allow the Holy Spirit course correction in our life.  A renewed mind won’t be forced upon us. We must become over-comers!  I don’t say this lightly; failure to make a proper choice here will cost you your right to eternal life.  Before I make the case of the third choice let me give you a few verses that are relevant to its importance.

Romans 6:22     But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.  [NLT]  Compilers note:  holiness means absolute purity.

·        The Romans passage tells us that we _______ do those things that lead to _____________ and ____________ in eternal life.

Hebrews 12:10     For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God's discipline is always right and good for us because it means we will share in his holiness.  [NLT]

When God the Holy Spirit ______________s_ us it is always for our own good, that we will __________ in his holiness. 

Hebrews 12:14     Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

·        Without ____________________ no man shall see the Lord.

If sanctification is that important perhaps we should be sure that we understand it. 

Why do I need to enter the process of Sanctification?

Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, a triune being, and knowing good only. A holy (purity) individual.  Because man chose to obey Satan instead of God, and now knows evil, he is unlike God in nature.  God through the death of Christ and the course-correction of the Holy Spirit has made it possible for humans to once again achieve a god-like nature.  We must understand, as it says in Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.  [NASB]

An essential truth that we must grasp is that the natural born person does not think like God. Isaiah 55:8   "My __________are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "And my _____ are far beyond anything you could imagine.”  [NLT]

Ephes. 4:22-24 Throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. [23] Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. [24] You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness righteous, Holy, and true. [NLT]

·         If you are born again spiritually (___________ _________) then your ____________, that is your mind, will begin to respond to your new spirit (Godly ______________) because you are once again born into the image of Gods likeness-righteous, Holy and true-a three part being, body, soul and spirit.

Romans 12:1-2       And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? [2] Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.  [NLT]

·        We must chose not to copy the _______________ and _______________ of this world, but allow God – the Holy Spirit, to _____________ us into a  _______ person. He does this by changing the way that we ____________.  He will “renew” our minds so that our thoughts become like His thoughts and our ways become like His ways.  This is the process of sanctification.

The preparation of the individuals that make up the "bride of Christ" are the life long process that Scripture calls sanctification.  The person choosing to serve in God’s Kingdom must be willing to submit to the process of sanctification, that the fruit of one's labors can be presented to the Lord as a thank you offering.  Romans 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

·        As we have just read in Romans 12:1, we are “to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice” Verse 6:19 repeats this saying that We must surrender the flesh as _________ to _________________, which results in __________________.

I love to sail: One day when s I was out on my boat, the Lord showed me an illustration of what a person is like that does not submit to sanctification, He is like a sailboat in irons. No matter how hard the wind is blowing if you set your headsail to, starboard, and your tiller hard to port, your boat will head into the wind and sit still; you have just put the boat into irons (irons or shackles render a person unmovable). The person who is born again, spiritually alive, with one foot in the kingdom of this world and another in the kingdom of God, who keeps the focus of his mind turned hard against the things of the spirit, will be like a sail boat cast in irons, unmovable, unusable. Jesus illustrated this precept in scripture in Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. John reiterates it in Rev. 3:16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."

The sanctified person lives a life of obedience to the Word of God, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, and overcomes the world.

• Our minds, which are trained by our flesh, are in the process of being renewed. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

·         This ____________ is a lifelong process that is on going, in every believer, who will "pursue" it. It is the process called sanctification.

Col. 3:9b-10 . . . you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, [10] and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.

• Knowledge is stored in our minds. Our minds are being ____________ to a _______ _______________. The knowledge that is now stored there, from the old nature, is limited knowledge. The limitation is cause by the lack of spiritual input. The only spiritual insight that the old self can have is that which comes by demonic influence perpetrated by the father of lies himself, Satan.

Romans 6:22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

• The benefit of being totally submitted (enslaved-a bond servant) to God results in ______________. Those who are sanctified receive ______________.

2 Thes. 2:13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

• What is the process that God uses for bringing about ______________ for those who have faith in the truth? It is _________________.

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

• The writer to Hebrews warns us that we must __________ peace with all men and _________________ without which no one will ______ the Lord.

Sanctification doesn't just happen, just as we are not effortlessly at peace will all men, neither does sanctification just transpire, we must pursue it, chase after it, make an effort.

Sanctification is a path to holiness. Some translations translate “sanctification” as Holiness. Hebrews 12:14     Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. [NIV]  The word means purity. Sanctification is the path to become pure.  You may be troubled by an uncertainty of the finish line, which would allow you into the presence of God because you are now holy.  Please find comfort in the fact that sanctification is an ongoing process, and we will not attain the perfection that God desires until we have our new eternal bodies. The holiness that God expects from us on this earth is found in Isaiah 66:2     My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken!    "I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.  [NLT]

·        We have already discussed Jesus as the living Word of God.  This passage declares that the Lord will bless those who __________ at his Word, and approach Him with a __________ and a _____________ heart (the one who knows that his old nature is bent on evil and that he can’t save himself.)

Understanding that a person needs to be sanctified you might be curious about how the Holy Spirit brings this about.    James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, [3] knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. [4] And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

The Holy Spirit of God allows various ___________ to come about in our lives.  This ___________ of our faith produces ______________ (a knowledge that we can trust God in all things concerning our well being) transforming us into over-comers,  ___________ and _____________, lacking nothing.

We are being restored to the state of the original created man Adam, made in the very image of God.

Romans 8:29     For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren;  [NASB]

·         The people, who have chosen to offer themselves completely, will be transformed to ____________ to the image of Jesus.

Paul in 1 Cor. 15:49 corroborates that: And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.  [NASB]

·         Just as we once resembled Adam’s fallen nature, as we are being sanctified we shall bear the image of  ______________.  Col. 3:10     and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him  [NASB]

The character of Christ, into whose image we are being transformed is clearly portrayed in Galatians 5:22-24     But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.    [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.  [NLT]

Compilers note:  to find out how you are coming along in your sanctification try putting your name in this sentence, in front of each attribute of a Christ like nature.  I, _________ am full of __________, at consistent ____________, always ___________, full of ______________, _______________, _________________, _____________, and in complete ______ ___________.

So that you don’t despair, keep in mind that we live in a corrupt body, which will never go to heaven. 1 Cor. 15:50     What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These perishable bodies of ours are not able to live forever.  [NLT] 

·        We often stumble because we live in bodies that have been trained by our five senses, and which wars with our spirit for control of our mind.  The body that I now reside in will not be part of our _________ance_ in God’s kingdom. Listen to Paul in Romans 7:25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.   [NLT]

The process of sanctification is to retrain our minds, that we may begin to think like God, which will lead to action, and our ways will become more like his ways.  Paul tells us that when Christ comes again our physical bodies will be changed. Philip. 3:20-21     But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. [21] He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere.  [NLT]

·        Will you notice that this passage begins in the present tense? We are now __________ of Heaven, if we have made that choice.  We are waiting for His return to planet earth, where He will ____________ our weak mortal bodies, into imperishable ones.  At that point we will be completely restored to the image of our creator.

Having made the three choices:

1.     To accept His pardon, His life as a payment for our sin debt.

2.      To submit ourselves to Jesus as bondservants, acknowledging His authority over us.

3.      To allow His indwelling Holy Spirit to renew our minds through the process of sanctification.

      Our Lord has planed a wonderful future for us.

When we choose to allow God to transform us into the image of Christ the outcome is eternal life with Him.

 I am convinced that unless a person submits to the process of sanctification, resulting in obedience to the Word of God through a renewed mind, they will not inherit the kingdom of God. The word clearly defines the over-comer as, the one who is able to live above or apart from this worlds evil influences, this can only be accomplished in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The person who lives in submission to the authority of that Spirit, through the process of sanctification, is an over-comer. They are the one's who will eat from the tree of life. Rev. 2:7 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’ and will not be cast into the "lake of fire." Rev. 2:11 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.'

• Who will not be hurt by the second death and will be allowed to eat at the tree of life? The one who __________________.

.1 John 5:5 And who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

• The one who _______________ is the one who loves Christ, a born again person, but be careful not to read something into the passage that is not there. If I said to you that the building you are now sitting in is on fire and you just nodded your head and sat there, can you really say that you believe me? Belief, faith, requires action. Jesus said, "if you love me you will obey me."

God defines true love for Him in 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome

• If we love God, we will disclose this by ________ing_ His commandments (bond servants to righteousness).

It is the born from above person, who demonstrates his love for God by keeping His commandments, found in His Word; that is the over-comer according to 1 John 5:4, For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.

• For whoever is born of God is an ______________, through faith. As the Spirit of God teaches us and in _________ we submit ourselves to the "washing of regeneration" we are being sanctified and will overcome the world that we may partake of eternal life, by eating at the tree of life some day in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Rev. 2:17   "Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Everyone who is victorious will eat of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.  [NLT]

As we have seen, the victorious person is the one who has correctly chosen.

·        The manna is for ___________ who is _____________. 

Rev. 2:26    "To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, I will give authority over all the nations.  [NLT]

·        Those who are victorious will rule with Him and be given ________________ over all of the nations.

Rev. 3:5   All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.  [NLT]

·        The ones whose names remain in the Lamb’s book of life are the ones who are ___________ in this life.

Rev. 3:12     All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write my God's name on them, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And they will have my new name inscribed upon them.  [NLT]

·        The victorious person will be ________________ in the city of God.

Rev. 3:21   I will invite everyone who is victorious to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.  [NLT]

·        Christ is the essence of obedience and to those who are being transformed into His image, they will also be invited to sit with Him on His _____________.

Rev. 21:7    All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.  [NLT]

·        Have you ever found yourself yearning for the time in your childhood when all of the hard decisions, and all of the responsibility, rested on the shoulders of your parents?  God promises to all who are victorious that we can again become like little _______________. Remember how God’s word tells about life for Adam & Eve, before the rebellion.

Matthew 7:13-14  "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. [14] But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.  [NLT]

·        Would people stay on the easy highway if it were marked “Hell this way”? _______

·        Therefore Satan, the liar, has marked the _____ ______  “Heaven – this way”.

·        Will you notice that the road to _______ is ______ and only a ______ find it?

If you have done this Bible Study and realize that you have not made those three correct choices, if you have been traveling on the broad way, then “today is the day of salvation.” God has created mankind with a free will.  Use your free will to chose to accept God’s pardon though Jesus. Make Him, the living Word, Lord of your life, and spend time reading the Word so that the Holy Spirit of God can bring about a “renewed mind” in your person.  Romans 12:1-2     And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? [2] Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.  [NLT]

If you have questions or would like someone to pray with you, please contact me.

Email:   [email protected]

Mail:  Greg Deans, 204 Sir Chandler dr.  Kill Devil Hills, NC  27948

Or you may phone 252-441-3158