John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.
Believing the Gospel
Repenting
Acts 20:21 Solemnly testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance unto God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
Mark 1:15b Repent and believe in the gospel.
Redeemed – An Eternal Redemption
Hebrews 9:12 And not through the blood of goats and calves but through his own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, obtaining an eternal redemption.
Redeemed – Christ’s Death Has Destroyed Satan and Released the Divine Life
Hebrews 2:14 Since therefore the children have partaken of blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the Devil.
Redeemed – Christ’s Death has Dealt with Sin
Romans 8:3 … God, sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
Redeemed – Christ’s Death Solved the Problem of Our Sins
1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you, first of all, that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
About the Believers – Called
Romans 8:30 And those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
Ephesians 4:1 I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him
Every believer is a called one. I grew up knowing that certain ones served God because at a certain point in their lives, God would call them. They received “a calling”, I had been taught. Little did I realize that one day, I myself would also be called. What we find in God’s word is that every believer is a called one – “those whom He predestinated, these He also called.” (Romans 8:30) If it weren’t for God Himself calling us, we wouldn’t be saved.
When God called us, we were in the middle of our own pursuits. Why did He call us? It was not just to leave us there. He has a purpose and His calling has a purpose. When God called Saul of Tarsus, he answered, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5) He also asked, “What do you want me to do?” (Acts 22:10). As the called ones, we must be like Saul who became the apostle Paul. The Lord has called us. We should likewise ask Him, “Who are You, Lord?” and “What do you want me to do?”. We can fully trust in the Lord our God, who has called us. We can put our life in His hands. This One who has created all things and predestinated us and called us has a purpose and a plan. Why not open ourselves to Him in faith?
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About the Believers – Predestinated
Ephesians 1:5 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
Romans 8:29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;
Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him
God knows all things, the past, the present, and the future. He is the source and initiator. Therefore, before you and I were born, He knew us. Not only so, but He looked at all those whom He would create and marked them for a certain destiny. This was His predestinating us as is mentioned in Ephesians 1:5. In his translation of the Bible, John Nelson Darby used the words “having marked out”. In fact, God marked us out for something really special, to be His many sons (Ephesians 1:5) and to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). You might ask yourself, “why did He do such a thing, and why did He choose Me?” The same verse tells us that He did it according to the good pleasure of His will. This just says that God likes you.
The verse prior, Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love”. Therefore, we’ve been chosen and predestinated. No one knows why He chooses one over another, but we can say that there is something in His heart for you.
The following story about D.L. Moody really helps to make this point clear.
D. L. Moody encouraged his seminary students to preach the gospel. A student, who heard Moody’s teaching on predestination in class, was impressed and did not dare to preach the gospel, because he had a problem. He said to Moody, “I dare not preach the gospel now.” Moody asked him why, and he said, “When I am preaching, I look at a person and consider whether he is predestinated; I look at another and consider whether he is chosen. If God has not chosen and predestinated these ones, and they are eventually persuaded by me to believe in the Lord, will I not be making a big mistake?” Moody then replied, “Brother, just do your best to persuade him. As long as you can persuade someone to believe in the Lord, he has been chosen and predestinated by God.” Then Moody went on to say, “At the entrance of heaven, the words whoever will may come are written on the outside; this means that whoever believes can be saved. But once a person passes through the entrance and looks back, he will see written on the inside, ‘You have been predestinated.’ Outside of the entrance is whoever, but inside of the gate is predestinated.” Thus, when leading those who have passed through the entrance and have been baptized, we should say, “You have been predestinated by God. You believed in the Lord and were saved because God picked you out and marked you out a long time ago.” (Lessons for New Believers, Lesson 1, published by Living Stream Ministry)
Isn’t that a helpful story? Now we can only worship God and thank Him, and tell Him that -we like Him, too.
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The Common Faith
The common faith is what we believe in. This is what we stand for and contend for. We can be general about so many other things, but with the common faith, we should be precise and unwavering. It is common because all genuine believers have it in common and treasure it. For our college years, for our working life, and for our whole life, it is important to be equipped with the knowledge of the common faith; this is a fundamental need of all Christians. This Bible study presents 8 items of the common faith that we can count on and treasure for our whole life. Item by item, we will be able to express what we believe in.
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The Common Faith – Item 8 – Christ Coming Again
The final point we will cover for this series on the common faith is: Christ Coming Again.
We have seen that Christ has done everything to save us! His word reveals that He became a man, just like you and me…
The Common Faith – Item 7 – Repentance, Believing, and Regeneration
Our salvation starts by believing into the Lord Jesus and repenting of our past. Immediately after this, we are regenerated, which is to be born again.
Event Coming up: 2020 Fall College Conference
Reach out to us and find out how to register!
You are warmly invited to join us for our Fall Mountain States College Conference.
Topic: The Gospel of John
Dates/Times (Mountain Time):
Session 1—Friday, November 6, 7:30 pm
Session 2—Saturday, November 7, 10:30 am
Special Topic—Saturday, November 7, 1 pm
Session 3—Saturday, November 7, 7:30 pm
Session 4—Sunday, November 8, 10:30 am
The meetings will be conducted via live Zoom webinar and group discussions.
May the Lord bless us all during this time.
The Common Faith – Item 6 – Christ’s Ascension
In the middle of this heated election season, what we desperately need is to see the ascended Christ. Therefore, this week, we come to another item of the common faith – Christ’s ascension.
The Common Faith – Item 5 – Christ Resurrected on the Third Day
Three days after Christ died on the cross, He resurrected from among the dead. This is proof that His death was effective. However, His resurrection also accomplished other things.
The Common Faith – Item 4 – Christ Died for Our Sins
By becoming a man, God accomplished a great thing: He died for our sins. Our sins were like a debt we could not pay. So, Christ came and paid it for us.