Depravity

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Every single day we are going to make a moral decision in our life. Whether we like or not there are some view in life we make that flow within the system of this world, which is not parallel with the word of God. If we are really honest with ourselves we realize that often time we falter. We begin to understand that in our nature we are not naturally sweet, gentle, and pure all the times. Little by little bits destroy us. The doctrine of Sin will help us to know what will happen to us and why we need Jesus in our life.

a. God is good – Psalm 119:68 you are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. Psalm 25:8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

b. The image of God (Goodness) - The moral attribute of God is embedded to us. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

c. Presence of Good and Possibility of Evil – the presence of good was made by God. Gen 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. The possibility of evil is also in the bible. God gives warning in Gen 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
- Sinless nature with freewill (Gen 2:25)
- Adam and Eve has the capability to choose (Gen 2:16)

d. 3fold nature of Man
d.1) Body - the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Man and Dust both contains 96 elements (Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.) Body

Body gives man “world –consciousness” – the ability through the senses to understand. (5 senses)

d.2) Soul – gives man “self-consciousness” – The ability to be a person, personality. The bible speaks of a hungry soul, a weary soul, Jeremiah 31:25; a thirsty soul, Psalm 42:2; a grieved soul, job 30:25; a loving soul, Song of Solomon 1:7.

Soul is in the midway. Soul joins two worlds the physical and the spiritual. The work of the soul is to coordinate the activities of the two diverse parts. The soul is the keep of the body, as lowest and subjective to the spirit of the highest.

d.3) Spirit – gives man “God-consciousness” – the ability to communicate with God.

Eccl. 12:7 he dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Eccl. 3:21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?"

e. Sin Entered – the old good in now contaminated… When Adam and Eve eat the fruits, both of them introduced some toxic substance which disturbed its operation and ultimately brought him/her to the grave. (reason why people die)

f. Sin causes physical death and spiritual death (sin and sins)

d.1) Physical death
Gen. 3:22 we are not live forever
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin...and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned

d.2) Spiritual death
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that he will not hear.

g. because of the toxic sin manifest

- transgression – the overstepping of the law. Psalm 51:1 “.. blot out my transgression”
- Inquity and error – the departure from right. Psalm 51:9… blot out all my inquity.”
- Missing the mark – The failure to meet the divine standard. 1 John 5:17, Roman 3:23
- Lawlessness – this is spiritual anarchy. 1 tim. 1:9 “… for the lawless and disobedient.”
- Unbelief – an insult to the divine truth of God. Heb 3:12 “…evil heart of unbelief”

Psalm 58:3 Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. – Because of Adam and Eve we are now contagious by sin.

h. Division (wall)

1. Result affecting the relationship with God
- Before Adam and Eve was very close and have a friendly relationship with God. After the fall all was changed (Gen3:8)
- They had place themselves on the wrong side of God, and had in become his enemies. Remember it was not God, who had changed, but Adam and Eve.
- God hates sins…(Psalm 5:5, 11:5, 7:11)
- God will not acquit the guilty (Exodus 23:7)
- God will not leave the guilty unpunished (Nahum 1:3)

2. Result of Sin
- Death (Roman 6:23) - separation
- Lost (Luke 15:24)
- Condemnation (John 3:18)
- Guilt (Genesis 26:10)
- Perdition (1 Tim 6:9)
- Punishment (Matt. 25:46)
- Eternal fire (Jude 7)
- Hell (Matt 25:41)
- Lake of fire (Rev. 20:14)

3. Effect on the sinner
- Fight from reality (consequence of sin) (Romans 6:23)
- Denial of sin (Gen 3:11) (shifting the blame)
- Self-deceit (Jer. 17:9)
- Insensitivity
- Self – centeredness
- Restlessness (satisfaction never occurs)

4. Effect on the relationship to others
- Competition (James 4:1-2)
- Inability to empathize (personal desire) (Phil 2:3-5)
- Rejection of authority ( own accomplishement)
- Inability to Love

Sound Doctrine

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A. All people have at least one religious belief
B. There at least 7 major religions in the World

1. Christianity
2. Islam
3. RCC
4. Judaism
5. Hinduism
6. Buddhism
7. Atheism

C. Worldview - What we believe and why we believe it.

Worldview – is a philosophical system that attempts to explain how the facts of reality relate and fit together.

Worldview is important because our thoughts influence our emotions, reactions, and behaviors. It is important for us because what we know is what we believe.

There are seven worldviews:

1. Theism – is a worldview that holds to the belief that the world is more than just the physical universe (atheism). They believe in the existence of God.
2. Atheism – believes that no God exist either beyond the universe or in it. For them the universe is self-sustaining. They held the basic belief that God doesn’t exist.
3. Pantheism – belief that God is the universe. For them there is no creator beyond the universe. They believe that God is the world and the world is God. (Embrace by new age movement, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism).
4. Panentheism - the doctrine that God includes the world as a part though not the whole of his being
5. Deism - the belief in the existence of God, on purely rational grounds, without any reliance on revealed religion or religious authority.
6. Polytheism - is the belief in and worship of many gods
7. finite Godism - is a world view that accepts the existence of a god. However, it believes He is limited. Adherents differ as to how God is limited. Some believe He is limited in His power. Others consider Him limited in His knowledge or His goodness

D. Christianity is the kind of world view we Christians embrace.

What does the Christian faith believe?
- Summary answer – 2 tim 2:16 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting, and training in righteousness.
1. Doctrine (how we view things in life)
2. Correction (how we change our wrong world view of life)
3. Reproof (how we weigh evidence that affects our decisions in life)

E. Under Christianity we have 14 crucial word sound doctrines.

1. Depravity
2. Grace
3. Regeneration
4. Imputation
5. Substitution
6. Repentance
7. Redemption
8. Reconciliation
9. Propitiation
10. Justification
11. Sanctification
12. Security
13. Predestination
14. Resurrection