If a rocket going to the moon is off by just 1 degree when it takes off from earth, it will miss the moon by a long shot and the cost of that will be immense. The same is true with our Christian lives. If we want to be true disciples of Christ and live as he commands, there are certain things we must know, or we will miss the mark and the cost will be great.
If we are to be a disciple making church we all need to know the very basic things that are non-negotiable in the Word of God. So I’m not going to assume that we all know these things, and so even those who have been in the church for a very long time are going to have to sit and listen for the next couple of weeks as I bring to you the basic necessities of the faith, what we need to know and what we need to do. There are many things in Scripture and practice that are open to interpretation and many ways to skin some cats, but not the things we will talk about the next two weeks.
Today’s message is motivated by a couple of New Testament passages. The first is from Ephesians and is part of the passage that I used last week to base my role as a pastor on. Ephesians 4:12-16 (READ, emphasis on13-15). And the other passage is Paul’s warning to Timothy in 1 Ti 6:3-5(READ). Whether we like it or not, doctrine (truth) is important.
Those verses are simply saying, there is truth, and we need to know and be grounded in that truth if we are to grow in maturity and become like Christ.
So let’s all start at the beginning. A couple weeks before Christmas I asked you to come up with a one minute presentation of the gospel that would be so much a part of you that you could rattle it off any time you needed to. Knowledge naturally breeds boldness, because we can answer arguments, we feel confident in what we know. The more we know the word of God, the more confident we feel in sharing our faith. Wouldn’t it be nice to have people say, “Well, I don’t necessarily believe what those Calvary Baptist folks do, but they sure know their Bible”. Well, today I want to expand that gospel message and of course we can then condense it again as needed, but we need to know the full plan of salvation if we are to be saved and if we are going to bring others to Christ.
The entire Bible is the plan of Salvation from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. It begins with the simple fact that God created us and the creation is never higher than its creator. Now right here is already where many people get hung up and even Christians disagree about this whole creation vs evolution thing.
Now pastor don’t get into that one. Let the scientists worry about that. I would if they made any sense in this area. And if it didn’t take so much faith to believe what they tell me. Think about a giraffe for a minute. Do you know how a giraffe gets blood from its heart all the way up to that brain several feet away. Well they have a 25 pound heart that’s 2 feet long. Now evolutionists will say that they adapted to have a long neck so they could reach food and of course their heart grew to accommodate this.
But there has never been a fossil found that shows a giraffe with a shorter neck. In fact there has never been a fossil found that shows any species has changed throughout its history, only different species. Even Charles Darwin said this was the major flaw in his theory of evolution, and it’s a pretty big one.
How about the bumble bee that science says can’t fly, or the fascinating bombardier beetle who has the ability to blow out of its backside, at just the right time, the perfect percentage of toxic gas that will repel predators, but at the same time not blow up its bottom. It takes less faith and there is more scientific evidence to believe there is a creator than to believe in evolution.
How about the eyeball? There is one serious scientific theory that says the eyeball evolved when these blind lizards were out in the sun for so many thousands of years that they developed a little spot on their head like a freckle, and over many billions of years this spot became an eye. Do you know how sophisticated the eye system is? Now I spent too much time unprotected in the sun when I was young and have a couple moles on my back. Now never mind skin cancer, I’m worried about these suddenly popping out as eyeballs one day. Of course it might come in handy seeing out of my back but then I’d have to go around without a shirt, and we don’t want that.
Anyway, as the trees and plants and oceans and animals were content to submit to what they were created to be, Adam and Eve, with the help of Satan, decided maybe there was another way. The decision they made to try things on their own caused them to lose the harmony they had with God.
The garden of Eden was heaven on earth, and it included the physical presence of God. The bible says a river flowed through Eden out into the world, likely this was the river of life, and the tree of life was also there. These things will again be there in the future new earth or heaven on earth as we read in Revelation.
God himself also walked in this place and talked to them very personally. No reason to believe that this wasn’t Jesus, as we know that God kept saying “we” in the creation story. Jesus was there in the beginning and he has always been the physical incarnation of God. Now God said its all yours but don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, one simple command. God thought it best that people did not really think for themselves, that we be completely motivated by God and his Word. So why did he put this tree there and tempt them with it by even mentioning it?
Yes, it was a test. There is no such thing as obedience or love, unless there is an option not to obey or love. God provided the option right at the beginning, and he even showed them the consequences of the option. Life or death. My way as your creator, or your way as the created. Satan who is real by the way, came to Eve really as self-talk. He got Eve thinking about the idea that I can be equal to God, and it would be a good thing to know both evil and good wouldn’t it? Her intentions weren’t evil, just disobedient.
So did Adam and Eve become the first people to commit suicide? They were told that eating from this tree would lead to death, so didn’t they in essence consciously commit suicide when they disobeyed. Did they decide death was worth the risk, if they could be like their creator?
I don’t think so. What really happened is what the first sin was, and what all sin flows from - not believing God, we must believe Him. They believed in God, there he was with them, they knew he Created them. The sin was not that they didn’t believe in God, that he existed, but that they didn’t believe what he said, they didn’t trust him. We are going to trust this snake and our own desires over God.
And the fact is, they were right in a sense, they didn’t die right away when they disobeyed, just like now when we disobey, often it doesn’t seem to have any immediate negative consequences. But death here was equated with being out of harmony, out of fellowship with God. Being in the paradise with God was eternal life, just as we already have eternal life now while we are still alive if we believe. It has to do with the afterlife, yes, but just as much to do with now. You don’t get eternal life when you die, you get it the moment you believe.
So they failed the test and because of God’s integrity, he kept his promise that they would die eventually, and certainly be kicked out of heaven on earth, but all along he had a plan. He knew that now that this seed of self-thought and choice was in man, he would eventually have to do something to bring his creation back into fellowship with Him. Of course this is where Christ comes in again. God would come again in the form of man, and this time he would die for them rather than them dying from doing their own thing.
The goal of this sacrifice was to get things back to the way they were. But God still has to give people a choice to love and follow Him. So he breathed eternal life back into us who believe through the Holy Spirit and said again, here are my commands, my instructions. You have both the old nature and the new (which was really the original Spirit) within you, so you again have the ability and opportunity to start over with me.
I’m going to make everything like it was some day, but I can only have people in that place that believe me and are willing to follow me. So here’s your second chance. Believe me and you may return to that place forever, with the knowledge that you have now, I can’t take that away once you have it. But now that you know, are you going to choose to believe me and live on earth as if you believe me, and return to that perfect place with me dwelling physically with you again?
Or are you going to continue to believe yourself and Satan, and take the chance that when I say you will be in Hell forever, it doesn’t really mean that? After all Adam and Eve didn’t die right away, so maybe Hell is really an exaggeration too. Honestly folks, I think Hell was just outside the gates of Eden. Eden was heaven, and Hell was the world outside of Eden. Hell is living without God with us, with hard work, greed, pain, and destruction. Do you want to stay in this world as it continues to head for destruction? That could be what hell is.
Or do you want to be with God in a perfect place that may not be as exciting all the time, but is perfect? Have we been so deceived again, are we such emotion junkies that we believe this world we live in now is better than what God had in mind?
The point is, I think we need to get out of the idea of believing in God. That has never been the problem even for Satan. And start understanding that it is really about believing God. So in the context of the plan of salvation, do we believe God when he says what he says? Many people on earth, including non-Christians believe in a higher power and are usually willing to call it God. So when we ask someone if they believe in God and they say yes, that should bring us very little comfort. But what happens when we present the truth of God’s Word and ask them if they believe that? Especially this whole Jesus death and resurrection thing. Much different response isn’t it?
And the question becomes, do we believe all that God says? And if we do, are we living as if we do. Belief is demonstrated by our actions. Because for someone to believe what are really difficult things to believe in this world that teaches the exact opposite, they are going to need some proof, or at least heavy evidence that its true, and this is going to come not just by reading and hearing God’s Word, which to most people is just a book (sure the Holy Spirit can do it through those means), but usually it will be by seeing the truth in action through God’s people really following His Word.
The plan of salvation in a nutshell then and what I believe we have to know is that: God created everything including humans, most people didn’t and don’t believe Him. There was and is a consequence for not believing Him – which is, permanent separation from him and the perfect paradise he created for us. He loves us so much that he doesn’t want us to receive that consequence, so he sent Jesus to take the penalty and powerfully demonstrate the truth. But we still have to believe Him if we want to be included under this insurance plan. He is going to return those who do believe, to a place like he created in the beginning, and he will physically live with us there whether it’s in heaven or on earth. But if we still choose not to believe Him and the one he sent Jesus, and continue to live as if we don’t believe him, we will never enter that place again.
Believing Him is the same as it was for Adam and Eve, obeying what he says. You can believe that you need oxygen to survive and the only way to get it is through breathing, but if you hold your breath that belief in itself will not keep you alive, you must breathe. You can say you believe God, but if you don’t do what he says, act on those beliefs in the appropriate ways, you will not have eternal life, why? because you clearly don’t believe him.
When we hear that verse, “Whoever says Lord, Lord will not enter the Kingdom unless he does the will of the Father”, it is saying that you can say you believe me all you want, but if you don’t do what I say, that shows you don’t believe, that’s not God’s fault. Adam and Eve could have said yes I believe you God, and then go and eat the fruit anyway, their words wouldn’t have saved them would they? They still ate the fruit.
Do we believe that Jesus died for the forgiveness of our sins? Great. Do we believe everything he said? Great. Do we live as though we believe everything he said? If not, then we don’t really believe Him, we don’t trust Him.
Now let’s get specific. Do you believe there is a literal heaven and hell, and that anyone who doesn’t believe God will go to hell whatever that is? 47% of church going Christians are not sure about this.
Do you believe that everything in the Bible is the true word of God? 40% of church going Christians are not sure about that.
Do you believe that getting baptised and taking Communion are necessary commands of God? 62% of church going Christians are not sure about that.
Do you believe that Jesus was actually resurrected from the dead? 40% of church going Christians are not sure about that.
Do you believe that Satan is a living entity and not just a symbol? 67% of church going Christians are not sure about that.
Do you believe that the Holy Spirit is a living part of the trinity, and not just a symbol of God’s power or presence? 62% of church going Christians are not sure about that.
Do you believe that Christ’s death forgives all sin? 40% of church going Christians aren’t sure about that.
Do you believe that God’s word represents absolute truth? Only 44% of church going Christians are convinced of this.
Do you believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and people can only enter the Kingdom of God through Him? The Barna group didn’t ask that question, but clearly from these other responses, a very large percentage of people in the Christian church are not sure about that, and it is reflected in the way we live our lives. If we don’t firmly believe what the Bible says, how are we going to convince anyone else?
Pretty much everyone who claims to be a Christian would agree with the statement that believing in Jesus will save a person from sin and give them eternal life. John 3:16 is so prevalent that there is little question about this. But let’s look at this verse without our cultural filters as it was spoken originally. First taken completely literally in English.
“In this way, because of God’s love of His creation, therefore his only born son is delivered in order that whoever entrusts oneself in a completed way into God himself, god forbid shall ever be completely destroyed, but otherwise hold perpetual lifewith no beginning or end.”
To simplify, “God delivered to us to be killed, his only son so that whoever completely gives their lives to Him, God will prevent from being completely destroyed, and will give him the life that was originally given to man.” Everything on earth is destined for destruction so that it can be made new, that is very clear in Scripture, salvation is being pulled out of that destruction. Now why would God do such a thing, well because it’s all his, he can do whatever he wants with it.
But to stop there is premature, because the thought is not completed. He goes on in John 3 to talk about how and why mankind does not choose Jesus, because we would rather do our own thing (he calls it evil) and not be exposed to God because of it.
But it says, the one doing the truth comes to let his works be revealed. Doesn’t that sound like when Adam and Eve hid from God? They knew they messed up and they didn’t want to be exposed to God, therefore destroying the relationship. Anyone ever have that experience with their parents when they were young? It’s literally like being caught with your pants down. That’s why the Bible mentions them noticing their nakedness after they sinned.
Then at the end of the chapter, “the one receiving (accepting) the truth of God through the words of the one He sent, testifies that God is true. And again the one completely entrusting oneself to Jesus, has this life and the one disobeying Jesus will not see this life, but the penalty remains on him”.
See how the idea of belief is crystallized here? Believe that God is true and right by accepting the testimony of Jesus and entrusting your life completely to him who is truth. That is how we get the original life breathed back into us. The entrusting of oneself by belief is exactly like letting someone drive your car when you’re drunk. You are not capable of driving properly and you believe that they will do it better, and you trust that they will not wreck your car, otherwise you wouldn’t let them drive it.
Belief is trust, and in this context, complete trust, and if you have complete trust you will do whatever the person you put your trust in says. The conclusion we have to draw from this is that for the most part, people, including Christians, by their behaviour, trust themselves and the world more than they trust God, at least in many areas of life. But God does not accept selectivity, he is the perfect God to be perfectly trusted, not for his sake, but for ours. That my friends is the story and plan of salvation.
I could go on and on about the specifics and keep you here until tonight, but there is a quicker way and I want to just be focussed on what you absolutely have to know to be a disciple. And the answer is, the Bible. You don’t need to know a lot about church, in fact the less you know about church, the easier it might be for you to know the truth in the Bible. Isn’t that unfortunate?
If you look at our statement of faith and just about any Christian statement of faith, you will see what we say we believe. And the idea is that if you don’t believe these things, you should not be part of that church or organization, so we browse through and say “ya I believe that”, and your in. But do you, do we believe all those things to the point that we trust they are absolutely true, enough to entrust our lives to those truths and live as though they are true.
Let me just grab the first one from our statement of faith. “We believe that the Bible is the word of God, fully and verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Bible in its original manuscripts is free from all falsehood or mistake and so is entirely true and trustworthy in all its assertions on all matters of natural and theological fact and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct”.
I assume most of you have read that, and if you are members, have had to formally agree to that and all the other articles of the statement of faith. Now my question to you is, do you believe those things, and if so do we always behave as if we believe those things. Is the Bible the first place we go on all matters of faith and conduct, on all matters of natural and theological fact, and do we submit then to what it says about those things? Because if we don’t we might as well burn our statement of faith.
If you know the Bible you will know all the other doctrines that are necessary, like the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, Heaven and Hell, angels and so on. In fact our statement of faith is perfect for giving you what you need to know because there are scripture references with each doctrine so you can see for yourself. I can’t teach you all you need to know in a few minutes every Sunday morning, you’ve got to do this on your own. I can help with clarification, but you need to do the work.
I encourage all of you to look at this document in the next little while and reaffirm your beliefs. If you are having trouble with some of the beliefs please come talk to me or one of the elders so we can tell you what to believe (just kidding). But we need to ask questions if we have trouble with a belief, because blind belief is not necessarily the best either, we should be sure and test our beliefs or they will not hold up under pressure.
There was twenty years between the time I started looking into the Bible to the time I became a believer. And what I found was that I couldn’t understand what I was reading until it was clearly explained to me and I decided to believe it, then all the sudden the word started to make sense and increased my belief. The New Believers Bible made a huge difference for me in understanding the truths of the Bible, and I have some on hand here. We look for proof before we are willing to believe, but the truth seems to be that until we believe by faith, the proof doesn’t show up. It’s after we believe that the proof seems to come. We know this because it appears Jesus didn’t heal people who didn’t believe, he always your faith has healed you.
You can find our statement or affirmation of faith in our constitution which can be obtained through the office or on the foyer table, or on our website, or on the wall in the foyer.
I encourage you to look at it and read the associated scripture verses to refresh your memory and note any questions or doubts you might have so they can be discussed and researched further.
No it’s not just about what you know, the Pharisees knew a lot but they didn’t believe. But knowledge will help you believe, it will teach you the truth about the God that wants a personal relationship with you.
Action Plan: Look over the Statement of Faith and read the scripture references. Also determine your stage of growth based on that survey you got last week and decide what you need to know and do to get to the next stage (I put some in your mailbox if I knew you weren’t here last week, and I have extra copies here). And next Sunday I will speak more about what we must do, the basic necessities for being a disciple.
