Made Alive In Christ

Our Riches Through Redemption

2008-07-13T17:00:00.004-04:00

The opening verses of Ephesians have multiple references to God's Divine purpose for our lives. In verse 1, Paul says that he is an apostle "by the will of God." In verses 4 and 5, he says God has "chosen us in him before the foundation of the world", and "predestinated us unto the adoption of children." Then in verse 11 he says we are "predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."

Predestination is not a comfortable subject for many people in holiness churches. It is often hard to reconcile the doctrine of the free will of man with the foreknowledge of God. Many people do not realize, though, that the difficulty comes when they confuse God's foreknowledge with predestination. They are not the same. In this lesson, we discuss their differences and the correct definition of predestination.

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The Works of a Christian

2008-07-06T17:00:00.006-04:00

Paul spends the first five chapters of Galatians exploring different aspects of salvation by grace and systematically dismantling works righteousness. Then in chapter 6, he shows us that those who are saved by grace will have good works in their lives. They will love the brethren, they will avoid the lusts of the flesh, and they will suffer persecution for the sake of the Cross.

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Called Unto Liberty

2008-06-22T17:00:00.001-04:00

The only people who are truly free to obey God are those who have been regenerated. Being made new in Christ frees us from the tyranny of the law and allows us to be truly obedient to God. In Galatians 5, Paul admonishes us to cherish our liberty from sin and the law and not return to a life of righteousness by works.

On the other hand, we cannot use our liberty as an excuse to give way to the desires of the flesh. This will drag us back into the bondage of sin.

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Children And Heirs

2008-06-15T17:20:00.003-04:00

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . .

In Galatians 4, Paul teaches us one of the most astonishing truths about the plan of Salvation. God's plan for us goes well beyond simply reconciling us to him through Jesus Christ. In His complete plan for us, God has ordained that we who were once His enemy should become His very children. In Galatians and in Romans, Paul explains how God has chosen to adopt us into His family. From one time being an enemy to being a child through adoption - what greater demonstration of Grace could there be?

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The Life of Faith

2008-06-07T09:02:00.006-04:00

The Gospel of grace becomes active in our lives when we respond to God's promises with faith. In Galatians 3, Paul sets up a sharp contrast between this faith response and the works of the law. He asks the Glatians how they were saved, and then he asks them how they think they can be made perfect by the law. Next, he points out that Abraham was accounted righteous before God by faith, not the works of the law.

I taught this lesson at the Fountain Square church in Indianapolis where we were visiting. Our church was dismissed because of the flood emergency.

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The Gospel of Grace

2008-06-01T23:29:00.002-04:00

This is the first lesson in a 13-lesson series on the books of Galatians and Ephesians.

Have you ever thought about what it is that allows a Holy God to extend his favor to sinners? When you were in rebellion against God and headed toward destruction, what was it that brought conviction to your heart? What was it that allowed you to approach the God of the universe and ask for forgiveness? Was it your conscience that smote your heart and turned you to God? Was it your sorrow for sin and your repentance that prevailed for you before God?

If you think so, you have a shock coming in the book of Galatians.

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How to Share The Gospel

2008-05-26T07:45:00.002-04:00

As we learned in the first lesson, Christian Apologetics is presenting the evidence for the validity of Christianity. Apologetics allows us to answer those who doubt the claims of Jesus Christ and the Bible.

However, a Christian's main focus should not be argument. The main focus should be on presenting the Law to the proud, and the Gospel to the humble. Apologetic arguments are only a means to get a person to the place where they will accept the Gospel.

In this lesson, we learn how to present the Gospel in a one-on-one situation using the "chasm diagram" shown here:
Beginning with the sinful condition of man and the consequences of sin, we progress through God's plan of Salvation, and His ultimate goal of full reconciliation. The conclusion of this presentation calls on the sinner to repent of sin and receive the Savior.

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Closing Arguments

2008-05-18T17:30:00.001-04:00

In the past few lessons, we have been building the support for the following linear argument:

A: The New Testament is historically accurate.

B: On the basis of the New Testament, we have sufficient evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and fulfilled dozens of Messianic prophecies.

C: Jesus' Resurrection and fulfillment of prophecy show that He is the Messiah and Son of God.

D: As the Son of God, Jesus is infallible.

E: Jesus taught that the Bible is God's Word, and that He is the only way to God.

Conclusion: The claims of Christianity are true.

In this lesson, we wrap up the arguments about the historical Jesus, showing that He is either a legend, a guru, a liar, a lunatic, or He is Lord.

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Christ Fulfilled Prophecy & Claimed to be God

2008-05-14T21:40:00.001-04:00

Suppose someone predicted 50 things about you. They all came true except one. The last one was conditional: if you drive down a certain street on a certain day, you will die in a fiery car crash. Would you drive down that street? Jesus came as the fulfillment of more than 50 Biblical prophecies. Can you ignore the Biblical claim that He is the only way to God?

In this lesson we will review a few of the many prophecies of the Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. These prophecies prove that Jesus, as the Messiah, was divine, and therefore he was God. We then go on to examine Jesus' own claims to divinity.

Here is the audio.
Here are the notes for Chapter 10.
Here are the notes for Chapter 11.
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Testing the New Testament

2008-05-04T23:50:00.001-04:00

Last week we explored the bibliographical evidence for the reliability of the New Testament. We showed that the New Testament was written in the lifetime of the eyewitnesses, and that the oldest surviving copies are early enough to be reliable witnesses of the originals.

However, we have not yet proven that the content written by the authors is accurate. In this lesson we examine the internal and external evidences that testify to the truth of the content of the New Testament.

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Can We Rely On The New Testament?

2008-04-27T23:15:00.000-04:00

In recent years, books like Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code and the writings of Richard Dawkins and Bart Ehrman have brought a full-frontal attack on the reliability of the New Testament. This should not surprise us, because as we learned last week, the reliability of the New Testament is foundational to the proof for Christianity.

It would be convenient if we could claim that we have copies of every word of the New Testament preserved to this day exactly as written by the original authors. But we cannot say that, because it would not be the truth. What we have are thousands of copies, no two of which are exactly alike.

Because of this, we face the following objections:

The New Testament was written 100-200 years after Christ. Because of this gap, we have a distorted view of Christ's life.

We don't even know what was originally written in the New Testament because there is too much time between the originals and the oldest remaining copies.

There are too many differences between surviving copies of the New Testament to determine what was originally written.

Join us as we examine each of these objections and systematically dismantle them.

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Here are the notes.
Here are some more notes.
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The General Argument for Christianity

2008-04-20T23:30:00.002-04:00

You can be a good Christian without being a good debater. You can have high confidence in your beliefs without being able to communicate your reasons for that confidence. The purpose of this series is to help Christians prepare themselves to defend their faith so that when they find themselves in a debate, they can make good arguments.

An important part of defending the faith is knowing the correct and incorrect ways to defend the faith. It does little good to use flawed arguments to bring someone to the Gospel, because sooner or later they will learn that the arguments are flawed, and it could cause them to turn away from the truth. No matter how carefully you construct an argument, if it is flawed, it will fail under fire. And besides, it is dishonest to use arguments you know are flawed. Look at what Peter said:

2 Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

In this lesson we learn how to construct a good argument, and how the general argument for Christianity is put together like a stack of blocks. In the following lessons we will go into further detail on each of the blocks.

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More Creation Apologetics

2008-04-13T17:00:00.002-04:00

Evolutionists love to let on like they are the "smart guys" and the creationists are the dimwits. After all, evolutionists wear white lab coats and can pronounce really long words. They give interviews on news shows, and have lots of letters after their names.

In this lesson we learn how the theory of evolution is not an adequate explanation for reality. Evolution is not a theory for smart people; it is a theory for people who are willing to believe anything, regardless of how much it contradicts science. To prove this point, we will show how the theory of evolution contradicts the laws of thermodynamics, cannot explain the fossil record, defies the laws of genetics, and is just generally unscientific.

At the same time, we show how the Creation account adequately explains what we see around us.

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Did We Just Happen To Happen?

2008-04-06T23:00:00.000-04:00

Since neither Creation nor Evolution can be observed or repeated, neither Creation nor Evolution can be fully subjected to the scientific method. This means that both the claim for Evolution and the claim for Creation are propositions that have to be taken with and element of faith.

The question then becomes which proposition has the more reasonable truth claims? Given what we know from our study of science and mathematics, which of the two propositions takes a greater "leap of faith"?

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Is There a God?

2008-03-30T17:00:00.001-04:00

An atheist by definition is a person who claims to believe that there is no God. However, this position cannot be proven, because it would require a person to have all the possible knowledge available in the entire universe. Look at it this way – if a person does not have all knowledge, could it be possible that the knowledge he does not have may include knowledge of God? This proves that it is impossible to show that God does not exist.

Fortunately, proving that there is a God is much less difficult. All we have to show is that the things we see about us had to have come from somewhere, that they could not have created themselves, and that a marvelous order shows itself in all we are and all we see. Once we get agreement on this, the reasonable solution to what caused it all is God.

Taken one at a time, and atheist may be able to explain away the grandeur of the universe, the marvel of animal life, or the complexity of human consciousness, in much the same way that it is theoretically possible to escape an avalanche by dodging one rock at a time. However, facing the entirety of the evidence for God all at once becomes an insurmountable task, much like trying to dodge all the rocks in an avalanche at once.

In this lesson we will begin building an avalanche of evidence for the existence of God.

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Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead?

2008-03-23T17:00:00.001-04:00

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is either the greatest hoax of all time or the most glorious marvel of all time. Christianity stands or falls on the answer to one question: "Did the historical Jesus physically rise from the dead?" Paul said that if Jesus did not physically rise, our faith is vain, and we are "of all men most miserable."

We who are made alive in Christ have no doubt of His resurrection because we have experienced it in a very personal way. We have received the promise of resurrection by the transformation of our souls from the death of sin to life in Christ – Ephesians 2:1-5.

However, our personal experience means little to those who do not have faith. What do you say to a skeptic who doesn't know about your conversion, and does not believe that the Bible is God's inspired Word? Are there any objective evidences that Jesus was resurrected from death and the grave?

What if you were asked to defend the Resurrection, but you could not rely on personal testimony or assert that the Bible is without error? Could you make an argument?

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Did Jesus Really Die?

2008-03-16T17:00:00.004-04:00

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the foundational truths of Christianity. So it is not surprising that the Resurrection would be one of the focal points of those who doubt the claims of Christ and His followers. One way skeptics try to attack the Resurrection is to say that Jesus simply revived after He was taken down from the cross, or that He never actually was crucified to begin with.

On this Palm Sunday we will review why the bodily death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was necessary, and then examine the claims of those who assert that Jesus did not really die on the cross.

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Common Misconceptions About Christianity

2008-03-09T17:00:00.001-04:00

The second lesson in Christian Apologetics deals with four common misconceptions you will encounter when you invite people to believe in the claims of Christianity. The four misconceptions are:

1. Christianity must be proven scientifically; I’ll accept Christianity when you prove it with the scientific method.
2. I can’t accept Christianity, because there isn’t enough evidence for me to be 100% sure that it is true.
3. Truth is relative. If you believe something, that is truth for you.
4. It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere in your faith.

We will be reviewing these arguments and the proper logical responses to them.

Here is the audio.
Here are the notes for lesson 2.
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Introduction to Apologetics

2008-03-02T17:00:00.002-05:00

This is the first lesson in a thirteen week series on Christian apologetics. Apologetics is a branch of theology devoted to the defense of the divine origin and authority of Christianity. In this series, we will study subjects such as arguments for the existence of God, Creation vs. Evolution, the reliability of the New Testament, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The text we are using is Defending Your Faith by Dr. Mark Bird. There is also a workbook available in PDF format. I will be making each chapter available as we go through the lessons.

I am looking forward to this series on defending our faith, and I invite you to participate in class and to listen in and participate online by leaving comments.

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Here are the notes for lesson 1.
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Sin And The Gospel

2008-02-24T17:00:00.003-05:00

Today we departed from the lesson booklet and reviewed what the Bible says about how to be saved. Here is the outline:
1. In order to be saved, you must have a proper understanding of what you sin is.
a. Your sin separates you from God.
b. Your sin is an insult to a Holy God.
c. Your sin has made you the object of God's fierce wrath.
d. God's wrath makes you destined for judgment and hell.
2. In order to be saved, you must know the good news of the Gospel.
a. God Loves you in spite of your rebellion, and He provided a way for you to be reconciled.
b. God's plan to save you from wrath was to redirect that wrath to His own Son.
c. In order to be saved, you must be convicted of and repent of your sin and be cleansed by the blood of Christ.
d. God extends to you an invitation.

The scriptures used in this lesson are found in the teaching notes.

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Are You Master or Slave of Your Desires?

2008-02-17T17:00:00.005-05:00

The tenth commandment is "Thou shalt not covet." What would the world be like if there were no covetousness? Which sin was the root of all the other sins in David's life when he committed adultery? What does it mean to be contented? What is one of the most misquoted verses in the bible? You may also want to read John Wesley's sermon on the subject.

Key verse: Exodus 20:17
Text: 2 Samuel 12:1-8; 1 Timothy 6:6-10; Philippians 4:10-13

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The Truth About Lying

2008-02-10T17:00:00.003-05:00

The ninth commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor", forbids lying in a court proceeding. What other forms of lying are prohibited? How many different ways are there to lie? What is the oldest lie? Is it still being told? What is the most pathetic and dangerous lie?

Key verse: Exodus 20:16
Text: Genesis 3:1-8; Jeremiah 17:9-11; Revelation 21:6-8

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What's His Is His

2008-02-03T17:00:00.003-05:00

The eighth commandment is "Thou shalt not steal." What attitudes of a thief are incompatible with godliness? What does the Bible say about stealing from God? What restitution is required of a thief?

Key verse: Ephesians 4:28
Text: Malachi 3:8-12; Luke 19:1-10; Ezekiel 33:13-15

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Sanctity In A Sex-Saturated Society

2008-01-27T17:00:00.002-05:00

The seventh commandment forbids adultry. In this lesson we learn how God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman. Under what conditions can a mariage be dissolved? What does the Bible say about multiple marriages? What does Jesus say about adultry? Divorce?

Key verse: Matthew 5:28
Text: Genesis 2:18-24, Matthew 5:27-30, Ephesians 5:1-6

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Tampering With God's Most Sacred Gift

2008-01-20T17:00:00.004-05:00

The sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill", would be better translated, "Thou shalt do no murder." This may seem easy to keep, but what did the Apostle John tell us was the equivalent of murder? Does this commandment forbid the killing of animals? Does it forbid the killing of unborn humans?

Key verse: 1 John 3:15
Text: Genesis 9:1-6, Matthew 5:21-24, 1 John 3:11-18

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God's Plan For The Family

2008-01-13T17:00:00.002-05:00

The fifth commandment, "Honor thy father and thy mother", is the first commandment with promise. Is that promise unconditional? To whom is the commandment given? When are we no longer obligatged to obey it?

Key verse: Exodus 20:12
Text: Ephesians 6:1-4, Colossians 3:18-21, Luke 2:46-52

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