02. The Christian Creed

Lesson 1 entitled “The Best Belief” explains why Christian theism is the most logical answer to truthseekers’ questions concerning ultimate reality, because the New Testament (NT) God provides the only credible hope for attaining heaven and justice, the “duo of desirables” (DOD).The purpose of this lesson is to delve more deeply into GRFS or how to satisfy God’s condition for forgiveness of sins that is indicated in Scripture by the word “IF” (e.g., Rom. 10:9), which is the fulcrum of faith, implying the ability either to cooperate with God or not (e.g., Deut. 30:19, Matt. 23:37) or MFW.  Note that the choice is binary:  God’s Way to heaven or the highway to hell.

The OT indicates that God chose the Jewish culture for the purpose of providing Messiah, through whom the world would be blessed or saved (Gen.  22:18, Isa. 42:6, 49:6, Joel 2:28& 32, Mic. 4:2-3, Zeph. 3:8-9, Zech. 2:11, 14:9&16), and the NT proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah or Christ (Acts 2:36, Rom. 1:1-4, Heb. 1:1-4, 3:3-6).  It is tragic that the person God has ordained to be the head of one worldwide body of believers (John 17:20-23, Eph. 1:9-10 & 3:6, Col. 1:18-20, Phil. 2:9-11) is rejected by so many who claim to be theists.  And it is ironic that this gemstone, which is the foundation and cornerstone of ultimate reality (Eph. 2:20), is the stumbling-stone (1Pet. 2:6-8) to faith in GRFS for many souls (1Cor. 1:22-25).  The reason (per 2Cor. 4:3-4) is that the god of this world or Satan blinds their minds (cf. 1Cor. 2:14).  Messiah/Christ is the key stone.

A crisis that threatened a Philippian jailer with death prompted him to ask Paul and Silas the most important question in life:  “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30)  This question is most important, because—as sinful and mortal souls—we need saving from corruption, both moral and physical.  We need saving from physical death if we value or enjoy life, and we need saving from immorality or evil-doing if it results in unhappy existence, especially after this lifetime.

The reply of Paul and Silas was this:  “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 16:31)  This is GRFS in a nutshell.  Jesus Himself expressed GRFS even more succinctly using three, four and five letter words:  “Ask… seek… knock…” (Matt. 7:7) and “Repent” (Matt. 4:17).  This indicates that God graces every sinful soul with the ability or opportunity to repent and seek salvation (cf. 1Tim. 2:3-4, Ezek. 33:11), which might be called “seeking grace” (Tit. 2:11).   As Hebrews 11:6 states:  “he [God] rewards those who earnestly seek him” (cf. Isa. 45:19).  Seeking God is the beginning of saving faith, and not repenting or rejecting God’s salvation in Christ is the essence of evil atheism or faith in I-dolatry (Rom. 3:11, 1:18-23).  Jesus defined saving faith as love for God (Matt. 22:37) or reflecting God’s love (John 15:9-12, 1John 4:19).  All humans hate or sin, but every sinner/hater has the opportunity to repent or have saving faith/love (John 6:29, Rom. 1:20, 2:7, 3:21-22, 4:16 & 5:5-19, Gal. 5:22-23).

Thus, sinful humanity retains the image of God or moral free will, so every normal adult soul is able by faith to choose to seek salvation–or not (cf. Deut. 30:19).  That is why Paul went “every Sabbath to the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4)! “He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus.” (Acts 28:23b) “Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.” (Acts 28:24) “They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul made this final statement: The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet, ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving, for this people’s heart has become calloused.'” (Acts 28:25-27a, cf. 2Tim. 3:7)

Regarding the human heart, we can see that it is “deceitful… and beyond cure” (Jer. 17:9) when it becomes calloused (cf. Matt. 23:37), but the uncalloused heart is enabled to seek salvation and find God (per Matt. 7:7 & Heb. 11:6).  God’s enabling of seeking is not irresistible, it does not pry open a hardened heart, and it does not continue forever (Rom. 10:10-13, Heb. 3:12-19).

GRFS may be denoted by the use of the Greek word kerygma, meaning proclamation or preaching, referring to the good news (Gospel) concerning salvation to heaven and from a just hell (the DOD, cf. Rom. 1:16, Gal. 1:6-12, Col. 1:21-23).  This Gospel was preached by Peter (in Acts 2:22-24) and summarized by Paul (in 1Cor. 15:1-8). The salient points include:  Jesus was a man, accredited by God (to be Messiah), who died on a cross, but who was raised or resurrected from the dead.  Messiah is the Way to heaven.

An obvious question to ask at this point is, “What is GRFS for those who have never heard of Jesus?” (which includes everyone living B.C. and millions of people who have lived A.D.)  If God loves the world (John 3:16) and wants everyone to be saved (2Tim. 2:3-4, Ezek. 33:11), then He must provide an opportunity.  God’s just judgment is illustrated by Jesus in the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-29), which indicates that God will judge souls on the basis of the truth (Word = Christ per John 1:1f.) they have received.

There are two main ways God/Christ is encountered:

1. General revelation, which includes meditating on the natural world or God’s supernatural work and moral conscience.  Paul said men are without excuse, both because God’s eternal power and divine nature (love) are manifested by creation (Rom. 1:20), and because a proto-gospel has been proclaimed to everyone under heaven implicitly or in pre-NT foreshadowings (Col. 1:23, Rom. 10:13-18, Gal. 3:8).  He also taught that all normal humans have  an inner conscience or “common” sense (Rom. 2:14-16), which manifests morality or a moral Authority in every culture.  Thus, sinners have no excuse for not seeking God’s salvation or being truthseekers (Matthew 7:7, Hebrews 11:6).

2. Special revelation (1Pet. 1:8-12), which refers mainly to divinely inspired NT teaching regarding God’s history of salvation.  Again, the Parable of the Talents indicates that souls are saved via faith in God/ Christ as revealed (cf. 1Cor. 10:1-5).  Truthseekers around the world in all times are pilgrims at various places along the road of life, and all true roads eventually lead to the Way to eternal life in heaven (John 14:6, Acts 24:14, Phil. 2:10-11).  All truth leads to One Way.

Regarding the second mode of revelation (NT), the kerygma or GRFS can be stated in various ways, which may cause confusion.  Some statements (e.g. Acts 16:31, quoted previously, & Eph. 2:8-9) are in terms of believing right, and others (e.g. Matt. 7:21, “only he who does the will of my Father will enter heaven”, cf. Gal. 6:7-9 & Eph. 2:10) are in terms of behaving right.  This prompts the question:  Is salvation obtained by believing God’s words or by doing God’s works?  The answer is indicated by John 6:29:  “The work of God is to believe in the one [Messiah/Christ] He has sent.”  As Jesus stated (in John 14:6):  “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”  And saving belief in Christ is connected with or manifested by love for humanity (1John 3:23-24, John 14:15, 23 & 15:9-12).

The mind of Jesus is truth incarnate (John 1:14), and all truth manifests the Spirit of Christ or God (1John 5:6).  The work of God (GRFS) is to seek and believe the truth, and part of the truth is that no one comes to know God as Father except through faith in God’s truth embodied as God the Son.  And the full Gospel is that salvation is followed by sanctification or spiritual growth toward moral perfection (Phil. 3:12-19) that reflects the love of Christ (Eph. 3:16-19).

Teachings that are secondary or subsequent to learning GRFS may be indicated by another Greek word, didache, which means teaching.  The didache may be very important and requisite for becoming spiritually mature, but it is not most important or necessary to know/believe in order to be saved.  The distinction between kerygma/saving faith and didache/working faith was made by Jesus when He commissioned His original twelve disciples minus Judas (MT 28:19-20).  This “Great Commission” speaks of both types of information.  The kerygma is indicated by verse 19, in which Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations”.

A Christian disciple is a learner or one who believes the good news about God’s offer of eternal life to all who accept Jesus as Christ, the Lord incarnate.  The didache is implicit in verse 20, in which Jesus continues by saying “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”  This speaks of the information a disciple needs to know and believe after conversion in order to grow in Christ-likeness regarding how to live the law of love.  It is the “all truth” that is taught by the Spirit referred to in John 16:13.  Again, it is very important but not necessary for salvation.  Witness the thief on the cross in Luke 23:39-43, who had no opportunity to learn the didache after his conversion; although, like Paul (according to Acts 22:3) and most adults, some didachaic truth is learned prior to knowing the kerygma.

The distinction between kerygma and didache can be seen also in 2 Timothy 3:15-17.  The scriptures “which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” refers to the Gospel or kerygma.  The scriptural teaching that is useful for “training in righteousness, so that the man [or woman per Gal. 3:28] of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” refers to the didache.  The apostle Paul also employs the difference between kerygma and didache in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.  The “foundation… which is Jesus Christ” is the kerygmatic teaching regarding salvation.  Paul alludes to the didache when he says that one should be careful how he/she builds upon this foundation.

The distinction between kerygma and didache involves a difference in content and purpose.  The kerygma proclaims GRFS, which calls for repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord, which is an all or nothing decision that occurs at one moment in time.  The didache teaches God’s will regarding how saints or those who have been saved should live in order to be a good witness for Christ, which involves learning more of God’s Word throughout one’s lifetime.  A passage teaching this truth is Colossians 2:6-7:  “Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord [kerygma], continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught [didache].”

There is no qualitative difference between faith that accepts God’s saving grace at conversion and faith that accepts God’s working grace or motivates good works while walking/living (Eph. 2:8-10, 2Cor. 5:7), but only a quantitative difference as each additional moment passes–and of course faith remains non-meritorious during the saint’s entire lifetime (Rom. 1:17).  IOW, the ability to do good works as well as have saving faith are both due to God’s grace.

Notice that the kerygma/Gospel fulfills and supersedes OT revelation, but does not contradict its correct interpretation (Heb. 8:6-13). However, the NT revelation of GRFS will never become obsolete (Phil. 2:9-11, Rev. 22:12-13).  Thus, new revelations from God’s Holy Spirit will not contradict the Gospel, although they may express its truth in a different way or form, or else God would be inconsistent or tricky.  There may be new wine skins, but no new wine (Matt. 19:17).  Post-NT inspiration must be didachaic information regarding contemporary moral or political issues.

The kerygma/GRFS should be every Christian’s creed, and only belief in this crucial truth should be viewed as a test for orthodoxy or heresy.  As Paul wrote in Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Conversely, judgments concerning a person’s spiritual orientation or ultimate destiny should not be made on the basis of didachaic or secondary doctrines.  (If any judgment is made, it should begin with a self-examination per Matt. 7:1&5, 2Cor. 13:5-8).

A major reason many Christians throughout history have not manifested the love and unity of God’s Spirit (Eph. 4:3) as well as they should is because of failure to realize this truth.  If they did, it would free them to speak honestly and fellowship without becoming unduly upset about relatively minor issues.  They would receive God’s blessing as peacemakers, who draw inclusive circles around people based on the kerygma rather than denominational lines between them due to didachaic differences.  Jesus prayed for spiritual unity (cf. John 17:20-23, “May they be one…”).  Thus, unity regarding the Gospel is more important than accuracy regarding doctrinal details.

The normative way of stating the kerygma/GRFS in the NT is “Accept Christ Jesus as Lord” (as in Acts 16:31, 2Cor. 4:5 & Col. 2:6). The main points of Christian orthodoxy implicit in this statement can be explained or elaborated as follows:

1. There is a/one all-loving and just Lord or Creator God (Deut. 6:4, John 3:16, 2Thes. 1:6), who is both able (2Tim. 1:12) and willing (1Tim. 2:3-4, Ezek. 33:11) to provide all morally accountable human beings salvation or heaven—a wonderful life full of love, joy and peace forever.
2. Human beings are selfish or sinful (Rom. 3:23, 2Tim. 3:2-4, Col. 3:5), miserable (Gal. 5:19-21), and hopeless (Eph. 2:12) or hell-bound at the judgment (Matt. 23:33 & 25:46) when they reject God’s salvation (John 3:18, Rom. 2:5-11).
3. Jesus is God’s Messiah/Christ and incarnate Son, the way that God has chosen (John 3:16, Acts 16:30-31, Phil. 2:9-11) of providing salvation by means of his atoning death on the cross for the payment of the penalty for the sins of humanity (Rom. 3:22-25 & 5:9-11), followed by his resurrection to reign in heaven (1Cor. 15:14-28).
4. Thus, every person who hears the NT Gospel needs to repent and accept God’s grace or justification in Jesus as Christ/Messiah the Lord or Supreme Commander (Luke 2:11, John 14:6, Acts 16:31), at which moment God’s loving Holy Spirit of Christ indwells/baptizes the believer into the church (Rev. 3:20, Rom. 5:5, 1Cor. 12:13).
5. Loving Christ Jesus as Lord (Luke 2:11), God the Son (Matt. 16:16) or God in the human dimension (Col. 2:9) means reflecting divine love as empowered by the Holy Spirit, thereby obeying His command to love one another (Matt. 7:21, 22:37-40, John 13:35, Rom. 13:9)—forever (Matt. 10:22, Psa. 113:2), which will eventually achieve spiritual maturity on earth and heaven after Christ returns at God’s resurrection (John 14:6, 17&26, Rom. 8:6-17, Gal. 6:7-9, Eph. 1:13-14, Phil. 3:12-16, Heb. 10:36, 12:1, Jam. 1:2-4).

Although perfection is not achieved in this life, the necessity of learning the didache in order to strive for perfection indicates the need for perseverance or to keep on learning and growing spiritually until we die physically (Phil. 3:12-14).  Thus, although learning any specific part of the didache is not GRFS, a person who does not “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6) or want to learn “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4) fails the self-examination Paul commanded and Jesus implied.  Perseverance produces didachaic fruit/faithfulness (Gal. 5:22) following (Eph. 2:8-10) and building on kerygmatic faith (1Cor. 3:10-15).  In Eph. 2:10, “walk” can be translated as “walking with God”, which is an apt (KJV) way of indicating working grace that enables saved sinners (those who exercised seeking grace to choose saving grace) to cooperate with the HS by reflecting divine love variously (Rom. 5:5-8 & 12:6-8, Gal. 5:22-23, & 1Cor. 12:4-11).

Learning the manifold teachings or doctrines describing God’s moral will (Eph. 5:8-10) takes a lifetime.  Thus, the need for perseverance, loyalty or remaining faithful, which is as easy or simple as an act of will.  Remain faithful until the end.  Paul taught the importance of continuing to learn God’s Word (LGW) in 2Tim. 3:14-17, saying “Continue in what you have learned and have been convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Several things in this pericope are worth noting:

1. “Continue” speaks of perseverance.
2. “Convinced” speaks of confident faith rather than of absolute certainty.
3. “Learning GW from infancy” refers to God’s “plan A” for parenting.
4. “Able” speaks of having volition or faith to seek–or not (Matt. 7:7, Rom. 3:11).
5. “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful…” refers to the reason God inspired the OT and NT canons.
6. “Servant of God” is the meaning of the word “Muslim”.
7. “Equipped” refers to having spiritual armor by which to defeat the devil’s schemes (Eph. 6:10-18).
8. “Teaching” implies LGW as the main method of becoming mature or fully equipped, which means having humility = teachability.

Paul explains how LGW may be accomplished in Eph. 4:11-13: “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

For Christians who desire to read the entire Bible, it makes sense to start with a gospel such as Matthew and then an epistle such as Romans or Ephesians before reading Genesis, followed by Acts to learn how the church began and Hebrews to learn why the Gospel superseded the Torah. Then a person might want to alternate between OT and NT books winding up with Revelation about the ultimate destiny of souls.

We see that God’s goal for our faith before the end is attaining Christ-like moral maturity and spiritual unity (Eph. 1:4 & 2:10), so God’s will is resisted or contradicted by people who have a judgmental and divisive spirit rather than God’s loving or Holy Spirit.  Jesus warned against this evil spirit early in his ministry (Matt. 7:1-5&21).  Also near the end of his earthly life, Jesus prayed for godly unity (John 17:20-23).  It is up to each of us to cooperate with God in answering this prayer.

Part II: Need for Perseverance

The fifth point of the creed set forth in Part I warrants additional explanation. Just as unsaved sinners do not experience complete hell on earth, saved sinners/saints do not “live happily ever” on this earth when they repent of evil/Satanism.  While we look forward to the proverbial “pie in the sky by and by”, we receive only a taste of heaven (Heb. 6:5) in the here and now.  In order not to become discouraged, Christians need to understand that salvation has three stages or time components.  They were saved from ultimate hell at the moment of deciding to accept Jesus as Lord (Eph. 1:13, Rev. 3:20), they are (being) saved or perfected morally while remaining loyal to Jesus (Jam. 1:3-4), and they will be saved bodily on the day of resurrection (Zech. 14:1-9, 1Thes. 4:16, cf. 1Cor. 15:35-55).

The spiritual union between believers and Christ is comparable to marriage (Eph. 5:23-32), and just as a husband and wife need to continue their commitment until they part at death, Christians also need to retain saving faith (Luke 9:23, 2Cor. 4:16) as they grow spiritually, learning how to become more like Christ or achieve His fullness.  Then they will neither take God’s grace for granted nor repent of their decision to serve Him as Lord.  In other words, perseverance is an implicit and integral part of faith; Christians need to persevere in their acceptance of the kerygma and to keep on learning the didache until the day they die (Matt. 10:22, 2Thes. 1:3-5, 2Pet. 1:5-8).

Saying we “need” perseverance prompts this question:  Is it possible for a Christian to repudiate his/her saving faith and become apostate or again bound for hell?  Before seeking to answer this question, we should remember that although perseverance is an implicit part of the creed, understanding the details of this or any doctrine is not necessary in order to remain saved, because the kerygma is simple enough for a young soul to understand (cf. MT 18:3), and didachaic details can become rather complicated and controversial.  Thus, a Christian needs to be humble or Spirit-filled before tackling such issues, keeping in mind that whichever position a Christian takes on any secondary doctrine, he/she should fellowship with those having a different interpretation who affirm the kerygma both verbally and by typically manifesting divine love.

The issue of apostasy has been debated ever since Augustine of Hippo developed his doctrine of predestination about A.D. 400.  Romans 8:38-39 seems to say that it is impossible for a Christian to fail to persevere.  Paul writes:  “For I am convinced that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  We also read in John 10:27-29 that Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice… no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”  (Also, see Rom. 8:38-39, Rom. 14:4&10, 1Cor. 1:8, 10:12 & 15:5, 2Cor. 1:20-24, Eph. 1:11-14, 1John 2:19, Psa. 135:6 & Pro. 21:1.)

However, there are numerous verses in the NT which indicate that it is possible for a believer intentionally or willfully to separate him/herself from Christ (cf. Gal. 5:1 & Rev. 12:9).  The classic passage that teaches the possibility of apostasy is Hebrews 6:4-6:  “It is impossible for those who have… shared in the Holy Spirit… if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again.”  Another verse in this vein is Galatians 5:4: “You who are trying to be justified by law… have fallen away from grace.”  (The reader should also see Rom. 11:22, 1Cor. 15:2, Col. 1:22-23, 2Thes. 1:4-5, 2Tim. 2:12, Heb. 3:6&14, 10:35-36, Jam. 1:12, 2Pet. 1:10-11, 2:20, 1John 2:24-25 and Rev. 2:10.  These Scriptures are quoted at the end of this part.)

Some Christians say that the biblical exhortations to persevere do not imply the possibility of apostasy but this interpretation is problematic for three reasons:

First, the plain sense of many verses of Scripture including those listed in the preceding parentheses suggests that it is possible for a believer to commit apostasy, and saying that this understanding is false seems to make God tricky.

Second, God’s plan of salvation from the miserable consequences of choosing to reject Him makes sense only if people are morally accountable or free, and free will is meaningful only if a person can choose between essentially opposite options, as in Deuteronomy 30:19:  “I set before you today life and death, blessings and curses.”  This is the same choice that was set before Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:16-17) and before that to Satan in heaven (Luke 10:18).  I see no reason to think that this choice is not eternal, because it is this choice which creates:  free will (faith in Christ or antichrist), moral responsibility (love the Lord or hate Him) and meaningful life (taste of heaven now and hope for eternal joy rather than misery now and ultimately hell).  And 1 Corinthians 13:13 says “these three remain”.

Third, Jesus said “The truth will set you free” (John 8:32), and “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)  As a disciple of Christ I feel free, and I find every day fraught with significance as I fight on God’s side against evil in a war that has ultimate consequences for the destiny of my soul.  Spiritual freedom is in Christ.

If Christians retain the same freedom they had as non-Christians to accept or reject Christ’s Lordship, then the second most important truth to learn in life after the Gospel/kerygma is the “necessity” of persevering in accepting Christ as Lord and in learning God’s Word (LGW) until we die in order to achieve our God-given purpose in life: the fullness of Christ or spiritual maturity.  [LGW signifies this truth.]

The doctrine of perseverance or LGW serves as a bridge from the kerygma (creed) to the didache (lifelong spiritual growth) or from spiritual birth to maturity, so it is logical to harmonize various/diverse biblical statements on this issue before proceeding to other didachaic topics.  The passages cited previously that seem to support predestination may be harmonized with those supporting free will or perseverance as follows:

1.  John 10:27-29 –  being “unsnatchable” does not disallow a person from choosing to jump out of the “Father’s hand”.   Also, in John 6:37 “never drive away” does not mean a person cannot go away, and in John 6:39 “I shall lose none” may refer to those who persevere or do not stray, who stand firm, who endure, who hold firmly, etc.

2.  Rom. 8:38-39 –  “anything else” may refer to powers other than one’s own will.

3. Rom. 14:4&10, Paul says not to judge a servant of Jesus, who is able to make them stand before God’s judgment.  The verb “make” may mean “provide a way”.

4. 1Cor 1:8, 10:12 & 15:58, Paul says that Jesus will keep the Corinthian believers firm to the end, warns them that if they think they are standing firm to be careful that they don’t fall and therefore, stand firm, letting nothing move them from the work of the Lord.  These verses indicate that standing firm involves a believer cooperating with the way Jesus provides.

5. 2Cor 1:20-24, Paul says that God makes us stand firm in Christ and anointed our hearts with the HS as a seal and deposit; it is by faith that we stand firm.  This indicates that the way God provides for standing firm is for believers to persevere in cooperating with the HS.

6.  Eph. 1:11-14 –  what is “predestined” is God’s plan to choose or elect anyone who desires to be “in him” or to satisfy GRFS.  Thus, being “marked in him with a seal” does not abrogate moral free will (cf. 2Pet. 1:10f).

7.  1 John 2:19 –  when synthesized with verse 24 must mean that those who repudiate their Faith do not eternally “belong”.

8.  Psalm 135:6 –  in light of “volitional verses” (such as Deut. 30:19 & Matt.  23:37) means that God “pleases” to permit limited free will.

9.  Pro. 21:1 –  in order not to make God responsible for the sins cited in the rest of the chapter must mean that the “king’s heart” or will is choosing to cooperate with the  Lord’s “hand” or directions.

Scriptures that teach the possibility of apostasy include the following:

Matt. 10:22, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Rom. 11:22, “Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”

1Cor. 15:2, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.”

Gal. 5:4, “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”

Col. 1:22-23, “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.”

2Thes. 1:4-5, “Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.  All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.”

2Tim. 2:12, “If we endure, we will also reign with him.  If we disown him, he will also disown us;”

Heb. 3:6&14, “But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast… We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.”

Heb. 6:4-6, “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”  This passage indicates that apostasy may be viewed as total depravity or blasphemy against the HS (MT 12:31).

Heb. 10:26-36, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God… So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Jam. 1:12, “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

2Pet. 1:10-11, “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

2Pet. 2:20, “If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”

1John 2:24-25, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life.”

Jude 21, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Rev. 2:10, “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.  Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Part III: Spiritual Dynamics & Prayer

Part II discussed perseverance as the bridge from GRFS (the kerygma) to LGW regarding various teachings (the didache) subsequent to learning the Gospel.  The dynamics of the HS interacts with humans is described in Lesson 3, so here will be added a few details specifically related to the kerygma.  Adam and Eve knew GRFS as God’s command not to eat from the forbidden tree (Gen. 2:17), but relationship with God typically begins when a becomes a truthseeker, because God’s Spirit is Truth (1John 5:6), and Paul indicates that souls will be able to discern God’s being and moral will in creation and so are without excuse for not satisfying GRFS as revealed via what theologians call general revelation (Rom. 1:20, 2:14-15, Gal. 5:14), because this serves as the proto-gospel.

When Abraham realized that God had a moral requirement, he worshipped Him and the relationship with God became personal (Rom. 4:1-25).  Of course, partial knowledge of God’s Word limits a person’s ability to cooperate with His HS, so there is a need for evangelism and learning the full Gospel (Matt. 28:19-20), so souls may choose to accept Jesus as Christ.

When a sinner learns the NT Gospel of Christ, repents and confesses Jesus as Lord (Acts 20:21, Rom. 10:9), the Holy Spirit (HS) enters the convert’s heart (Rom. 5:5, Rev. 3:20), uniting them with God as heavenly Father (Rom. 8:14-16) and identifying them with Christ’s worldwide/catholic body or church (Col. 1:18), which moment is called spiritual rebirth (John 3:3-8) or “baptism by the Spirit” (1Cor. 12:13).  Paul said there is only one baptism (Eph. 4:5) and that anyone without the HS is unsaved (Rom. 8:9), so we must view WB as a symbolic way of portraying baptism by the HS (SB).

Confusion may arise because a few verses in Acts (Acts 2:38 & 10:48) speak as though water baptism (WB) was kerygmatic or sacramental, but Paul said there is only one baptism (Eph. 4:5), so we must view WB as a symbolic way of portraying baptism by the HS (SB).  Both outward confession (Rom. 10:9) and water baptism may be seen as works manifesting love for God that every new Believer may want to perform following his/her decision to have saving faith (cf. Matt. 3:13-15).  Paul referred to the comparable moment for Abraham as spiritual circumcision (Rom. 2:28-29).  Although Paul administered WB for a few folks (in Acts 16:33, 18:8, 19:5 & 1Cor. 1:14-16), he said Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel (1Cor. 1:17) of salvation via faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:21-5:1).

The kerygmatic prayer that is necessary in order for a sinner be saved and walk with God is confession (1John 1:9, Psa. 32:1-5).  The kerygmatic moment or stage of conversion may be described grammatically as occurring in the past:  we were saved when we repented/received the baptism of the HS.  From the moment of repentance onward begins the second stage of growth, discipleship (Acts 14:22) or sanctification (2Thes. 2:13).  The crux of God’s Word is the Gospel of salvation (kerygma), while the secondary teachings (didache) consist of the manifold applications of the law of love (1John 3:11).

The Believer’s main types of responses to God’s Word are prayer to God and good works unto others for God (cf. 1John 4:20, Eph. 2:10).  Prayer is simply talking to God.  The power of prayer is God’s, and believers should not talk as though God would not act if they did not pray.

When Jesus taught believers how to pray (in Matt. 6:6-13), he said it should be done in secret and avoid babbling like pagans.  He advocated praying for God’s will to be done, praying for physical needs, requesting forgiveness of sins as we forgive those who regret sinning against us, and seeking freedom from the tempter.

Paul exhorted believers (in Eph. 6:18) to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests, which leads into a discussion of didachaic prayers/thoughts a believer might address to God.

When a believer confesses sin and is refilled by the Spirit, he/she experiences divine love, joy and peace (Gal. 5:22-23), which prompts prayers giving thanks.  Jesus led a prayer of thanksgiving during the Last Supper (1Cor. 11:23-24).  Paul frequently expressed thankfulness for believers he had helped to convert and who had helped support his ministry (1Thes. 1:2, Phil. 1:3).  He instructed Believers to “Pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.” (1Thes. 5:17-18)

A type of prayer akin to thanksgiving is praise, which expresses love and glory to God for who He is and what He means to us.  Numerous Psalms express this type of prayer, from 9:1-2 to 150:1-6.  Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice [prayer] of praise.”  Revelation 5:13 refers to prayers of praise in heaven:  “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth . . . singing:  To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

A fourth kind of prayer is petition, which may be the most used and least understood type.  The Lord’s Sample Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13) has a series of petitions.  In Philippians 4:6 Paul taught:  “By prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  A petition in which we ask God for something on behalf of another person is called intercession.  Paul frequently prayed for others (Eph. 1:16-18, Phil. 1:3-4&9, Col. 1:3&9), and he asked believers to pray for him (Eph. 6:18-20, Col. 4:3-4, 1Tim. 2:1, 2Thes. 3:1), so perhaps intercession should be our most frequent type of petition (Eph. 6:18b).

The privilege of petitioning God should not be viewed as a blank check, nor is the primary purpose of prayer to persuade God to do our will like a genie.  Rather, in prayer we should express our agreement with the perfect will of God.  As 1 John 5:14 says, “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”  Although agreement with God is not always mentioned (cf. Eph. 3:20, John 16:23), Jesus exemplified this principle when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:36-46).  Pray for God’s will to be done.

Again, we should approach God’s “throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16) not to ask Him to do some good He otherwise would not do, but rather to remind ourselves of His presence and that He is the source of all blessings (Jam. 1:17).  Prayer is like surfing:  one does not need to ask God to send waves, but rather for readiness to ride them.  In order to pray in accordance with God’s will, we must know God’s Word (John 15:7).  Like bread and butter or romantic love and spiritual marriage, prayer and LGW go together.

We need to partake of the bread of truth (Matt. 6:10-11), because our souls need every word God speaks (Matt. 4:4). Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” (John 14:23). In order to obey, we must learn, even as Jesus did (Heb. 5:8). This is the reason believers should attend a local church (fellowship) where the pastor/lead learner is a good Bible teacher (Heb. 10:25, Rom. 10:14). The numerous practical problems we experience in this pre-heavenly life—poverty, war, disease, divorce, crime and so forth—find their solution to the extent that as many people as possible learn GW as soon as possible. Prayer is easy and can be done almost anywhere, but let us not neglect taking time and making effort to study Scripture.

Much of God’s will is prescriptive or stated in clear moral teachings such as the Ten Commandments (Exo. 20:1-17, Matt. 19:17-21, Gal. 5:22-23).  We may not know how to pray, but we can “live up to what we have already attained” (Phil. 3:16). That we pray is more important to God than our wording (Eph. 6:18a, 1Thes. 5:17, Rom. 8:26-27).  Not praying would be like giving God “the silent treatment”.

God may answer a petition in various ways:  1. He may grant it as requested (1Kings 18:37-39), 2. He may grant the underlying desire in a way different than requested (Gen. 17:18-19), 3. He may grant the request, but it will not satisfy our desire (Num. 11:4-34, Psa. 106:15), and 4. God may say “no” or “not yet”, perhaps but not necessarily because we are committing some sin, including:  a. lack of faith (Jam. 1:6-8), Matt. 21:21-22), b. disobedience or lack of love (1John 3:21-23, Pro. 21:13, Job 35:12-13), c. marital strife (1Pet. 3:7), and d. selfishness (Jam. 4:3).

We considered prayer in some detail, because it is an integral aspect of spiritual dynamics or how the Spirit of God communes with Believers.  The second main type of response by Believers is doing good works, which would lead into discussion of a myriad of moral (didachaic) topics that is beyond the scope of this lesson. Let us simply say that saints should seek to become morally perfect (Matt. 5:48) or pure (Phil. 1:10& 2:15) or spiritually mature (Eph. 4:13, Phil. 3:12-15), which means to remain filled by or to be in step with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:25) more and more of the time (Phil. 1:9, 1Thes. 4:1 &10).

Some people wonder whether God’s will includes a specific plan for their lives, including career and spouse.  While some Believers may feel called to serve the Lord in a specific way, probably most Christians do not have a “Damascus road experience”, and so they are free to choose whatever morally respectable vocation (1Thes. 4:11-12) or spiritually compatible spouse (if any, 1Cor. 7:8-9, 2Cor. 6:14) appeals to them.  Every soul’s general calling has been revealed or taught in the Holy Scriptures, which is to experience the miraculous fullness of Christ or become a Christ-like person (Eph. 4:1-2, 2Thes. 1:11-12).  We may make any moral choice.

No one achieves moral perfection in this life (Phil. 3:12), but no one who lacks divine love will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8).  Thus, a person who claims to be godly but who is behaving in an ungodly (unloving, untruthful) manner may be in one of the following categories:

a. a normally loving person observed during a rare moment when he/she acted uncharacteristically (Phil. 3:12-16),

b. an immature Believer, who is making progress–you should have known him/her a year ago! (1Cor. 3:1-3, Eph. 4:11-15)

c. a truthseeker who has not yet learned the correct interpretation of God’s Word (1Cor. 6:9-11, Eph. 5:8-9), or

d. a pseudo-Christian (Matt. 7:21, 1John 2:19), who may affirm morality while rejecting its divine rationale.

e. an apostate (Heb. 6:4-6, 10:23-39), who once believed but became blasphemous or foolish and ship-wrecked their faith (1Tim. 1:19-20), becoming completely corrupt and callous (Matt. 13:14-15, Heb. 6:4-6).

Paul listed some sins he implied genuine Christians would not typically commit (in 1Cor. 6:9-10), saying:  “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

Apparently, although a new Christian might commit such sins occasionally, it is inconceivable (because antithetical to NT teaching) that a mature Christian would commit them so typically that the person could be classified as an adulterer, for example (1John 3:6).  Atheists might try to practice the “Golden Rule”, but the key issue for them on judgment day will be explaining what good reason they had for rejecting God rather than glorifying Him as the One who determines what is good/golden.

Sinners can overcome selfishness only by becoming one with Christ via faith in Him/God as Lord and thereby sharing His goodness because of union with His/God’s Holy Spirit.  This spiritual union is denoted by references to those who have saving faith as children of God the Father (Rom. 8:14-16).  This is why Christianity is a relationship with God motivated by gratitude for God’s grace (Psa. 100, Eph. 2:4-8) rather than a legalistic religion of working to merit God’s mercy because of fear of punishment.

Again, the evidence of saving faith or satisfying GRFS is working faith, love or helping humanity (John 13:35).  Disciples of Jesus (or Believers) tend to love and help others, not by virtue of their own goodness, but because they are moved or motivated by the loving Spirit of the Lord.  Christians love everyone by reflecting God’s love (Matt. 5:44&48, 1Tim. 2:3-4, Rom. 5:5-8 & 1John 4:7-19). Humans can never become good enough to earn or merit salvation as a reward for right behavior.  A person cannot be good by doing good.  Those who try to attain heaven by imitating Christ-like behavior without accepting Christ’s Lordship and atonement do not merely fall short (Rom. 3:23) but actually go in the opposite direction (Gal. 5:4), so we should cooperate with God’s Way.

Someone who does not hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt. 5:6) and LGW (Psa. 119:9) needs to reevaluate the sincerity of his/her profession of faith in the Lord.  As Paul says (in 2Cor. 13:5), “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith.”  The spiritual beauty of God’s truth is as awe-inspiring or attractive as the physical beauty of God’s world for one who has the Spirit/mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:12-16).

And this brings us to the final stage of salvation:  glorification (1Pet. 5:10) or immortality (1Cor. 15:53) in heaven.  Because everyone in heaven will be happy, I speculate that the different degrees of joy possibly indicated by 1Cor. 3:11-15 will correlate with the degrees of suffering for Christ during earthly existence, comparable to why an artist appreciates a painting more than someone with little experiential knowledge of the subject (Rom. 8:18, 2Cor. 4:17, 1Pet. 4:13).

Part IV: A Biblical and Logical Hermeneutic

A biblical hermeneutic or parameters for interpreting the Bible might well begin with the instruction of Paul (1Thes. 5:21) to “Test everything.  Hold on to the good.”  A truthseeker is guided by the question:  What is most true or closest to the truth, especially the Truth of God’s Word?  The method for discerning truth employs subjective logic that is made as objective as possible by learning from Scriptural and other truthseekers.  As a result of seeking ultimate truth, I have come to value two NT teachings as key points from which to triangulate or use to guide an interpretation of the Bible, especially problematic statements.

First, God loves and wants to save everyone.  Seven Scriptures teaching divine omnilove include:  1John 4:7-12, Rom. 5:8, Matt. 5:44&48, Gal. 5:6&14, Eph. 3:17b-19, Eph. 5:2 and 1Tim. 2:3-4, which might be deemed the “7 pearls”.  Christ died to show God’s love and the possible salvation of all (Rom. 5:6-8) including His enemies:  those who are ungodly, atheist, anti-Christ, pseudo-Christian (Matt. 7:21, John 8:42-44).

Second, God is just (2Thes. 1:6a, cf. Rom. 3:25-26 & 9:14, Deut. 32:4, Psa. 36:6, Luke 11:42, Rev. 15:3).  Explanations of God’s Word should not impugn God’s justice and love for all people (Joel 2:13, John 3:16).  This parameter is affirmed in the OT (Psa. 145:17):  “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.”

Even the wrath of God is an expression of His love and justice.  The writer of Hebrews (Heb. 12:4-11) indicates that divine wrath is intended as discipline for the purpose of teaching people to repent of their hatefulness and faithlessness (Pro. 3:12, Isa. 33:14-15 Rev. 3:19).  If a righteous explanation cannot be found for a passage of Scripture purporting to describe God’s will (such as Joshua 6:17-24, 8:2&24 & 10:28-40, 11:6-23), then it should be considered as historical or descriptive of what people perceived rather than as pedagogical or prescriptive of God’s nature.  Unrighteous rage should not be attributed to God.

The justice of God is a source of comfort and joy to those who have decided to accept His loving Lordship, but it is experienced as judgment or wrath by those who rebel against Him (Isa. 13:13, Rom. 1:18, Rev. 19:11).  The fire that warms (purifies) also burns (punishes).  Stating God’s requirement for salvation negatively:  a person would do well (be wise) not to reject Him in order not to experience the miserable but just consequence (John 3:17-18).  Just consequences teach good behavior.

Another important elements in this Bible-based hermeneutic is that everyone lives by fallible faith/belief/opinion and sufficient knowledge of evidence rather than by absolute certainty or proof or coercion (2Cor. 5:7), so humility is needed.  A logical train of thought leads an unbiased truthseeker to have a propensity to believe in an all-loving God, who is not tricky and does not hide the way to heaven (Heb. 11:6, Acts 13:10).  Humanity’s understanding of God evolved or progressed through the millenniums, so that the OT was superseded by the NT, which is the apex of divine revelation (Heb. 7:18, 8:13, 9:15).

This hermeneutic seeks to harmonize disparate Scriptures as taught by Paul (in 1Thes. 5:21), exemplified by Jesus (in Matt. 4:6-7) and illustrated by the transparent overlays of bodily systems found in some books on anatomy.  Considering both sides of an issue or doctrine is called dialectical theology. An interpreter should want to include all true assertions in the picture of reality without making a “Procrustean Body” by cutting off or ignoring parts that do not seem to fit, because the correct understanding must be self-consistent or else God would be tricky.  The whole truth combines parts without sawing!

The Bible says God’s Spirit is love and truth (1John 4:8 & 5:6), which means all love (agape, Rom. 6:5-8) in all people is God’s operation, and all truth in all cultures is God’s revelation.  Thus, becoming a Christian theist does not mean rejecting what is good and true in one’s pre-Christian experience or culture.  When considering two different understandings (thesis A versus antithesis B), the truth may not be either one or the other but rather the proper harmonization of the two.  (Both A and B = synthesis C.)

The Bible teaches (Gen. 1:3, John 1:1-3) that both the world and inspired words are expressions of God’s Word/Logos, and thus scientific and spiritual truths must be compatible or else God would be tricky.  So, while belief that God is love and Jesus is Lord is based upon the biblical revelation, some knowledge also is gleaned from the natural sciences and common sense.  While this interpretation of reality is influenced by the Bible, it also utilizes God-given logical thinking where the Bible seems silent, hoping to be guided by the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17).

Logic is the way every sane soul has access to the supreme Mind or Logos (1Cor. 2:11-16).  Right reasoning is the glue that binds all individual truths together in one faith.  Logic provides the rationale for believing that the history of humanity is not a farce, and it sustains the hope of experiencing love and joy in a future heavenly existence. The beauty of this hermeneutic is the harmonization of whatever is good and true.   However, I realize that—just as frequently happens when a person shares favorite musical or scenic beauty with someone else—it may not move your soul like mine (Matt. 11:16-17).

The explanation of how the infinite and holy God communicates with finite and fallible humans affirms two phenomena: accommodation and distanciation. It appears that God accommodated His revelation so that it corresponded with the evolutionary stages of human moral and intellectual development, imparting His Spirit/Word by means of words, both literal and allegorical or metaphorical (John 16:25&29, cf. Matt. 7:24-27, 16:6-12, etc.), and both explicit (Matt. 5:21) and implicit (Rom. 13:3-4).  God’s Word is revealed by creation (Rom. 1:20), by incarnation (John 1:14) and by inspiration (2Tim. 3:15-17).

In order to create volitional beings having moral free will, God designed reality so that His presence is less than compelling, so that we experience God as distant from us and “unknown” (Acts 17:23).  Even Jesus (God the Son) on the cross cried out “My God [the Father], why have you forsaken [taken God the Spirit from] me?” (Matt. 27:46, Psa. 51:11)  We may feel distant from God even though He is close or immanent, “for in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28), because God’s normative means of conversion is persuasion rather than coercion (Matt. 12:39, 24:24, 1Cor. 1:22-23).  This is seen very clearly in Jesus’ lament over the obstinacy of Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37).  Apparently, undeniable miracles would be coercive or tantamount to demanding conversion and love at gunpoint. Because of human limitations and the necessity of accommodation and distanciation, we must be content with sufficient rather than perfect or inerrant knowledge of God’s revelation and not be unduly concerned when we find grains of sand (discrepancies and problematic passages) amid the gold or truth.  God’s method of conversion is NOT coercion!

Although perfect interpretation and unity may not be attainable by fallible souls, systematic study of Scripture can broaden understanding such as the doctrine of salvation as follows:

God saves sinners who repent (1Tim. 2:3-5, Matt. 4:17, Heb. 11:6), which  means accepting Jesus as Messiah and Lord (Acts 16:30-31, Col. 2:6).  God’s enabling of repentance is resistible so souls may choose instead to serve Satan (Matt. 13:14-15, John 8:42-44). God’s enabling of volition (Deut. 30:19) may be called seeking grace (Eph. 2:8). Souls who choose to reject God/Christ are justly condemned (Rom. 1:20, 2:5-11).

Accepting God’s grace by faith is not a meritorious work (Rom. 3:21-28, Eph. 2:8-19).  Even loving works motivated by God’s HS manifest faith rather than merit (Eph. 2:10), because there is no qualitative difference between faith that accepts God’s saving grace at conversion and faith that accepts God’s working grace while walking/living (John 6:29, 2Cor. 5:7, Rom. 1:17), but only a quantitative difference as each additional moment passes.

The quest for greater Christian unity prompts me to identify the Scripture from which my interpretations of GW spring, and my Top Ten foundational Scriptures in logical order are these:

1. Formerly/at first I was without hope of salvation from meaninglessness and death. (Eph. 3:12b)

2. So I sought salvation and found God. (Matt. 7:7, Heb. 11:6b)

3. The loving God who wants all souls to learn the truth about how to be saved. (1Tim. 2:3-4, John 3:16)

4. Which is to believe that Jesus is Christ, whose death atoned for humanity’s sins. (1Tim. 2:5-6)

5. As taught in all inspired Scripture interpreted in light of this Gospel of salvation. (2Tim. 3:15)

6. Such interpretation of GW also teaches how to be godly after being saved. (2Tim. 3:16-17)

7. Which doctrine Jesus summarized as loving God, oneself and everyone else. (Matt. 22:37-40)

8. And which moral maturity Paul termed as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 5:13-23)

9. That requires persevering in saving faith and learning God’s Word. (Matt. 4:4, 10:22)

10. So that we will grant the prayer of Jesus for us to be one in our witness. (John 17:20-23)

Part V: Some Kerygmatic Details

GRFS per Jesus

Jesus indicated GRFS in various ways, some stated in terms of faith (F) and some in terms of works (W):

From Matthew

1. Repent (4:17, F)
2. Recognize one’s spiritual poverty (5:3, F)
3. Be righteous (5:20, W)
4. Love your enemies (5:44, W)
5. Forgive those who offend you (6:14, 18:35, W)
6. Serve God (6:24&33, W)
7. Enter the narrow gate (7:13, F)
8. Do God’s will (7:21 & 12:50, F&W)
9. Hear and act (7:24, F&W)
10. Confess Jesus (10:32, W)
11. Love Jesus (10:37, F)
12. Give life to Jesus (10:39& 16:24-25, F)
13. Have no doubt (11:6, F)
14. Come to Jesus (11:28, F)
15. Learn from Jesus (11:29, W)
16. Be for Jesus (12:30, F)
17. Understand (13:23, F)
18. Be good (5:48 & 13:38,43,49, W)
19. Value salvation (13:44-46, F)
20. Believe Jesus (16:16& 21:32, F)
21. Become humble (18:3-4 & 19:14, W)
22. Forgive others (18:35, W)
23. Obey the commandments (19:17, W)
24. Give to the poor (19:21, W)
25. Follow Jesus (19:21&29, F)
26. Yield fruit (21:43, W)
27. Dress appropriately (22:11-14, cf. RV 16:15, W)
28. Love God, neighbor & self (22:37-40, W)
29. Hold out until the end (24:13, F)
30. Keep awake (24:42 & 25:13, F)
31. Be ready (24:44, F&W)
32. Be trustworthy and useful (25:21&30, F&W)
33. Help Jesus’ brothers (25:34-40, W)
34. Be righteous/do right (25:46, F&W)

More from Mark and Luke

35.  Accept the kingdom (Mark 10:15, F)

36. Believe the Gospel (Mark 16:16, F)
37. Receive baptism (Mark 16:16, W)

38. Be hated (Luke 6:22-23, W)

39. Lend (Luke 6:35, W)

40. Judge not (Luke 6:37, W)

41. Invite the poor to your party (Luke 14:13-14, W)

42. Use wealth wisely (Luke 16:9, W)

43. Stand firm (Luke 21:19, F)

From John

44. Be born again (3:3&6, F)

45. Come to the light (3:21, F)

46. Drink living water (4:14, F)

47. Heed Jesus (5:24, W)

48. Do right (5:29, W)

49. Work for the food of life (6:27, W)

50. Believe in the one God has sent (F)

51. Partake of the bread of life (6:33-35&51, F)

52. Eat the flesh and drink the blood of X (6:54, F)

53. Dwell within the truth (8:31&35, W)

54. Obey the Son (8:51 & 14:15, F&W)

55. Hate self; serve Jesus (12:25-26, W)

56. Accept Jesus’ words (12:47, F)

57. Follow Jesus’ example (13:15-17, W)

58. Dwell in Jesus and in love (15:5-10, F&W)

59. Heed his command (15:10-12, F)

60. Know God and Jesus Christ (17:3, F)

61. Believe Jesus is Christ/Son (20:31, F)

GRFS per Peter and Paul

From Acts

62. Call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21)

63. Repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38, cf. 3:19)

64. Believe in Jesus (Acts 10:43, cf. 13:39&48)

65. Believe in the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31, cf. 18:8)

66. Repent and turn to God (Acts 26:20)

From Romans

67. Have faith (Rom. 1:17)

68. Persist in doing good (Rom. 2:7&10, cf. 3:12)

69. Obey the law (Rom. 2:13, cf. 3:20)

70. Have faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22, 26&28, 5:1)

71. Confess Jesus as resurrected Lord (Rom. 10:9)

72. Call on the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:13)

From 1 & 2 Corinthians

73. Believe (1Cor. 1:21)

74. Hold firmly to the gospel (1Cor. 15:2)

75. Repent (2Cor. 7:10)

76. Examine yourself (2Cor. 13:5)

77. Aim for perfection. (2Cor. 13:11)

From Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians

78. Do not pervert the Gospel (Gal. 1:6-7)
79. Know that we are justified by faith in JC (Gal. 2:16)
80. Through faith be baptized into Christ and clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27)
81. Stand firm in Christ’s freedom (Gal. 5:1)
82. Do not trust in circumcision (Gal. 5:2-3)
83. Do not try to be justified by law (Gal. 5:4)
84. Live by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16)
85. Sow to please the Spirit (Gal. 6:8)
86. Hope in Christ (Eph. 1″12)
87. Believe/have faith in the Lord Jesus (Eph. 1:13-15)
88. Be saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8)
89. Put off your old sinful self (Eph. 4:22)
90. Be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1)
91. Strive for moral perfection (Eph. 5:3-7)
92. Live as children of light (Eph. 5:8)
93. Be wise by doing the Lord’s will (Eph. 5:15-17)
94. Put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11-13)
95. Stand firm for the faith of the Gospel (Phil. 1:27)
96. Continue to cooperate with God’s good purpose (Phil. 2:12-13)
97. Stand firm in the Lord (Phil. 4:1)
98. Have faith in the Gospel of JC (Col. 1:4-6&23)
99. Receive CJ as Lord (Col. 2:6)
100. Stop sinning and start loving (Col. 3:5-14)

From Thessalonians, Timothy & Titus

101. Have faith that produces good works (1Thes. 1:3&13)

102. Have faith and love that perseveres (1Thes. 3:5-10)
103. Put on faith, love and hope of salvation (1Thes. 5:8-9)
104. Persevere despite enduring persecution (2Thes. 1:3-5)
105. Believe on CJ who came to save sinners (1Tim. 1:15-16)
106. Do not pervert or abandon the true faith (1Tim. 4:1-3)
107. Do not quarrel or wander from the faith (1Tim. 6:3-5&20-21)
108. Have sincere faith that suffers for the Gospel (2Tim. 1:4-12)
109. Do not disown CJ (2Tim. 2:10-12)
110. Confess the name of the Lord and turn from sin (2Tim. 2:19)
111. Fight the good fight and finish the race of faith (2Tim. 4:7)
112. Have faith in the truth that gives hope of heaven (Tit. 1:2)
113. Teach the grace of God that offers salvation to all men (Tit. 2:11-15)

Proto-Gospel

The NT indicates that the “gospel” has existed from the beginning. Paul wrote (in GL 3:8), “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

Even before or apart from the Hebrew culture, Luke wrote (in ACTS 14:16-17) that “In past generations God allowed all the nations to go their own way, although He did not leave Himself without a witness, since He did good: giving rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying hearts with food and happiness.”

Quoting Paul’s speech to the Athenians, Luke wrote again (in ACTS 17:26-27 &30), “God has made every nation of men… so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him… Having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Paul himself wrote (in RM 1:18-20): “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”

And again (in RM 10:17-18), Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course, they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

We can see from these verses that truth sufficient for salvation and judgment in cultures separated from the Judeo-Christian tradition is revealed through what theologians call “general” or “natural” revelation. Paul told the Colossians (in CL 1:23): “The gospel that you heard… has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.”

Applying these verses to the Parable of the Talents (MT 25:14-30), we can infer that the man who received the most talents is comparable to a person who has had the opportunity of learning the full NT gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus as Messiah. The person who received fewer talents may be viewed as representing those who experienced the OT dispensation. And the person given only one talent is like a pagan who has access to nothing more than knowledge gleaned by meditating upon nature. Each person will be judged fairly on the basis of the truth he/she had the opportunity of learning.

Spiritual Israel = God’s Chosen People

Passover celebrates the salvation of the Hebrews from captivity in Egypt. The original Passover included the killing of a lamb and putting its blood on the door frames of the home, so that the Lord’s judgment of sins (killing the firstborn) would not fall upon the members of that household. In 1Cor. 5:7, Paul calls Jesus “our Passover Lamb”, because his sacrificial death paid the penalty for all who accept him as Messiah. As Paul said again in Rom. 5:9, “Since we have now been justified by his [Christ’s] blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath [just judgment] through him.” Also in Eph. 1:7-8, Paul wrote, “In him [Jesus] we have redemption [salvation] through his blood [death], the forgiveness of sins…” And finally, in Col. 1:19-20, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness [Spirit/Word] dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself [and thus to each other] all things [souls/people, Jews and Gentiles]… through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Paul (in Eph. 2:13) indicated that the Jewish Passover foreshadowed God’s universal plan of salvation, saying “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away [Gentiles or non-Jews] have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” We see that the promise God made to Abraham (in Gen. 12:3b) was that “All people on earth will be blessed through you”, and Abraham told Isaac (in Gen. 22:8) that “God himself will provide the lamb” or sacrifice that will provide salvation. John the Baptist said of Jesus (in John 1:29) “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” As Paul wrote (in 1Tim. 2:6), “Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all humanity”.

Following the Exodus from Egypt, Moses instituted a sacrificial system that portrayed Messiah’s atonement, and then Messiah/Christ Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper as a reminder that His death fulfilled Moses’ legalistic system, so we no longer need to practice it. As we find in Heb. 7:18 & 8:13, “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless… By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.” Paul also taught this truth in Col. 2:8, 13b-14, 16, 20 &23, saying that God canceled the written code, nailing it to the cross, so we should not let anyone judge us by what we eat or with regard to a religious festival [such as Passover, a New Moon or a Sabbath/Sunday].

The universality of God’s salvation is also taught by Paul in Col. 3:11-12: “Here there is no Greek [Gentile] or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all [as the HS]. Therefore, as God’s chosen people [spiritual Jews per Rom. 9:6-8, cf. 25-26 &30-32], holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, gentleness and patience… forgive as the Lord forgave you and put on love, which binds all virtues together in perfect unity… The Gentiles have obtained a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness has not obtained it, because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the ‘stumbling-stone’ [Messiah].”

Paul concludes in Rom. 11:5, “So, too, there is a remnant [of Israel] chosen by grace.” We should relate this to Eph. 1:11, “In him [Christ] we were also chosen… and you were also included in Christ [chosen] when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” And Peter addresses his first epistle to Gentile as well as Jewish believers, saying (in 1:1-2) “To God’s elect [chosen], strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God”. And again in 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God [chosen].” Similarly, John says two times in Revelation (1:6 & 5:10) that God has made all believers “to be a kingdom and priests to serve God [chosen].

The NT significance of the Passover was a “mystery” until Paul received divine revelation. As Paul wrote in 1Cor. 2:7-8; “We speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” Sometimes you will hear preachers speak only of Jews as God’s chosen people as if they still do not understand this mystery either. We have the advantage of knowing the NT, by which we can better interpret the OT–using hindsight, so to speak. While this method is not approved by some scholars, it is one used by the NT writers, which is good enough for

Imputation and Knowing

Salvation involves being reckoned as righteous by God via being imputed the righteousness of Christ.  Relevant Scriptures include the following:

Rom. 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (cf. Rom. 4:5,9,11,22-24).

1Cor. 1:30, “…you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness…” (cf. 2Cor. 5:21).

Also, “knowing” means being aware of or having learned something.  In saying that we “know” Christ, it should not be implied that working up enough faith until it becomes certainty is needed.  In addition to this normal usage, biblical knowing can mean:

1. OT – having sexual intercourse, as in Adam knowing Eve and producing Cain ion Gen. 4:1 (KJV), or

2. NT – having confidence or rational/evidence-based faith, as in Eph. 3:12, Heb. 3:14, 10:35, John 3:11&16, Rom. 8:22-28, 1Cor. 6:2-19, etc.

3. Paul wrote 1Cor. 13:9 & 2Cor. 5:7, which speak of partial knowledge and walking by faith, even after the Damascus road miracle.

4. GW – “know” does not mean humans are capable of absolute certainty, which would require omniscience and infallibility.

Judaizers, Sabbatarians and Actsists

Paul warned Christians to beware of Judaizers, who revert to teaching justification by observing the law (Gal. 4:8-5:12).  In Phil. 3:1-9 Paul said, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord!… Watch out for those… mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision [cf. Rom. 2:29]… If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:… in regard to the law, a Pharisee… as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ… I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–that comes from God and is by faith.”

Regarding the Sabbath Law, one needs to discern the correct doctrine for Christians by considering the following:  1. The first reference to the Sabbath in the OT is found in Gen. 2:2-3, “God rested from His work and rested on the seventh day and made it holy.”  2. Moses promulgated the Sabbath law as the 4^th of the Ten Commandments in Exo. 20:8-11, cf. Lev. 19:3&30, Deut. 5:12-15.  3. Other OT references to the Sabbath include 2Chron. 2:4, Isa. 56:2-6, Jer. 17:21-27 and Ezek. 20:12.

In the NT we find the following regarding the Sabbath:  1. Jesus declared that he is Lord of the Sabbath and it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath (in Matt. 12:1-12), healing a crippled woman on the Sabbath (in Luke 13:10-16).  2. If Jesus thought keeping the Sabbath was an important law, he would have affirmed it on these two occasions, but he did not specifically nullify it either, which jibes/harmonizes perfectly with Paul.  3. Paul taught that a person may rest on the Sabbath or not (in Col. 2:16, Gal. 4:9-11 & Rom. 14:5).  4. Hebrews encourages Christians to enter God’s Sabbath rest by persevering faith (in Heb. 3:7-4:11).

The primary sin per the NT is ignoring/disbelieving GRFS (Gal. 3:1-14), and secondary sins are transgression of Christ’s moral law of love (John 13:34), which summarizes the OT moral laws (Matt. 22:37-40) affirmed by the NT (Matt. 5:17-48) and calls them the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), which does NOT include all 613 laws of Moses, such as those pertaining to mildew and infectious disease in Leviticus 14 or to the Sabbath day (per Col. 2:16-17).

Jesus fulfilled/accomplished the 613 Mosaic laws (Matt. 5:17-19) and taught that righteousness must surpass/supersede that of the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20) including Paul, to whom Jesus appeared, saying “Saul, why do you persecute me?…   It is hard for you to kick against the goads… I am sending you to to open sinners’ eyes…”  (Acts 22:7 & 26:14&17)  Paul did just that when he preached to the folks (both Jews and Gentiles per Acts 14:1-5) in Galatia (Acts 13:49, cf. 14:1-5), encouraging them to remain true to the faith (Acts 14:22), which he reiterated in his epistle to them, beginning “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all…” (Gal. 1:3-9).

Paul may also have written Hebrews, which warns against not entering God’s Sabbath rest by not holding firmly until the end the confidence/faith in Christ (Heb. 3:14, 4:2).  Heb. 7:11-10:1 begins as follows:  “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood, why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also… The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless, for the law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. Such a high priest truly meets our need… the Son, who has been made perfect forever, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven… The ministry of Jesus has received is superior to the old one [of Moses], since the NC is established on better promises… God said, ‘The days are coming when I will make a new covenant’ [Jer. 31:31-34]. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts… By calling this covenant ‘new’, he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” In this passage the Lord says that the OC including the Sabbath Law is obsolete/abrogated by the Gospel of Christ.  Need GW say more?  Other Scriptures where Sabbath law is viewed as Levitical rather than moral (because Jesus worked by doing healing) include:  Matt. 5:17-20, 12:1-8 & 12-14, Luke 13:10-17, 14:1-6, John 5:1-18 & 9:1-34.

These Scriptures indicate that the main reason Jesus was crucified was for the crime of breaking Sabbath law and claiming to be from God.  We see that Jesus never taught anyone to keep the 4th commandment and never hinted that it was an eternal moral law, but instead indicated that it is merely Levitical tradition, and so Paul wrote “Do not let anyone judge you… with regard to a Sabbath day” (Col. 2:16).

Jesus taught that his righteousness (Matt. 5:10&20) surpassed and superseded that of those who obeyed and taught the law (cf. Matt. 12:5-12, 19:3-9, Heb. 7:18-10:1).  The law is represented by John the Baptist in Matt. 3:11a, “I baptize you with water [WB] for repentance” [forgiveness of sins indicated in the Torah, cf. Rom. 7:4-8:17], and Spirit baptism (SB) is indicated in Matt. 3:11b, “but after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

However, some people (“Actsists”) focus on events in Acts such as WB and glossolalia rather than on teachings in the epistles about faith/SB being what is essential (“Faithists”).  The book of Acts does not teach foundational Christian doctrine but merely records what occurred during the early days of the church era as the revelation of GRFS transitioned from OT beliefs to the NT doctrine that is taught in the epistles, which never command WB or tongues as signs of SB or as essential for salvation.

The transition can be seen as occurring in Acts 16:31-34, where Paul told the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus in order to be saved, NOT to believe and be WB in order to be saved.  However, the jailer and others in his family who believed in God were WB.  Then in Acts 17:30-34 Paul told the Athenians to repent, which some did, but whether they were WB is not mentioned.  Then in Acts 19:1-6 Paul encountered some disciples of John who had been WB but had not been taught about SB, so they received SB when Paul placed his hands on them.  Then in Acts 26:16-18, when Paul recounted his calling to King Agrippa, he quoted Jesus as saying, “I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”  WB was not mentioned, which continued to be the case in Paul’s epistles.

The foundation cited in 1Corinthisans 3:11 is Christ, referring to faith in Christ’s atonement (Rom. 3:12-5:1).  Instructions about baptisms are mentioned in Hebrews 6:2, which logically, semantically, and mathematically had to be that WB is a sign or rite portraying a soul has been SB (Col. 2:12), since there is only one baptism (Eph. 4:5) into one body (Eph. 4:4, 1Cor. 12:13).  This understanding was held by Christians generally until RC perverted it by practicing infant sprinkling, which was corrected by the Anabaptists during the Protestant Reformation.

By the last of Paul’s epistles, WB came to be understood as a good but non-essential work or rite, like physical circumcision (PT), and the basis for believing folks are filled with the HS is reflecting God’s love for everyone (Matt. 22:37-40, 1John 4:7-21, John 13:35, Rom. 5:5, Gal. 5:6 & 22, etc.).  We can see this indicated by Hebrews 8:13, which says the new covenant supersedes or makes obsolete the old covenant, including the ceremonial washings (baptisms).

Then, like now, the rite of WB is rightly performed as an apt or good way of portraying saving faith in the atonement of Christ, even though the work is not required, just as PT was not required for salvation either (per Paul in Romans 3:21-5:1).  WB  replaced PT in the NT church per Col. 2:11-12, which says, “In Christ you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a PT done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ (SB), having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”  Surely Paul did not mean to suggest that WB done by the hands of men is salvific!

Regarding speaking in tongues (SIT), the original occurrence of SIT at Pentecost (in Acts 2:4-11) and for awhile longer was earthly languages given as a sign that fulfilled Joel 2:28-32 (cf. Isa. 28:11-12 cited in 1Cor.14:21), which reversed Babel and evangelized 3,000 people, thereby ensuring the planting of the first Christian church.  However, by the time of its occurrence in the church at Corinth apparently it had morphed into mere pagan-like babbling (cf. Matt. 6:9), which Paul neither quashed completely nor commanded, writing that the gift would cease  (1Cor. 13:8-13) as love continued forever but also that he exercised it more than anyone (1Cor. 14:18), thereby causing confusion.

This confusion and apparent contradiction can be resolved by noting that if SIT were important it would be mentioned and even commanded in other epistles, so the absence of affirming SIT in other Pauline epistles speaks volumes.  Thus, whenever SIT is claimed, it is right to test whether it is genuine or pagan (1Thes. 5:21).

Certainly, if someone suddenly is enabled to speak an unlearned earthly language, that can be verified and considered miraculous, but interpretation of babbling is impossible to verify.  Thus, disagreement can continue regarding the occurrence of SIT in private prayer, although there is no Scriptural warrant for viewing it as signifying Spirit filling rather than love (John 13:35, 1John 4:7-21).

Saving Faith and Good Works

Accepting Jesus as Christ and Lord implies the reason that the kerygma is stated in terms of believing right and behaving right.  We can harmonize these two categories of teachings by understanding that right or saving faith precedes and produces good works or working faith that loves.  The priority of faith is indicated by James 2:17, which says that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied [manifested] by action, is dead.”  And Paul (in Gal. 5:6) states, “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”  Ephesians 2:8-9, which emphasizes salvation by grace through faith, is followed in verse 10 by:  “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”

In other words, right faith in God/Christ is the horse that pulls a cartload of good works.  Good or loving works are significant as the sign of saving faith, but we should never put the cart before the horse.  A person who claims to be a Christian, but who seems selfish and unloving, may be making a false profession; but no particular work—even including outward confession and water baptism—is necessary in order to be saved and to become a Christian.  Saving faith motivates good works.

Of course, the gift of salvation may be rejected because of faith in lies or their father (John 8:44-47).  The latter decision is called “the spirit of the antichrist” (1John 4:2-3), and Jesus said (in Matt. 12:30), “He who is not with me is against me.”  It should be understood that although God’s love is universal and unconditional, receiving His gift of salvation is conditional upon repentance or choosing to accept it by means of non-meritorious faith or cooperating with GRFS.  The purpose of evangelism or teaching everyone on earth the full Gospel (Matt. 28:18-20) is to fulfill God’s desire for those truthseekers who are saved either on the basis of belief in natural or general revelation and obedience to conscience (moralism) or on the basis of belief in God as Lord (theism) to learn the whole truth and be one spiritual body or church united by faith in Christ (Col. 1:15-23).

Justification from Everlasting

The “world” that God reconciles are those who are in Christ because they repented of rejecting God’s offer of life (DT 30:19, MT 23:37). IOW, those reconciled are the world POTENTIALLY or conditionally per 1CR 5:17, “Therefore, IF anyone is in Christ, the new creation [reconciliation] has come…”

The view that God in His Eternal Purpose has already charged the condemnation of their sins to Christ [God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them] contradicts JN 3:18, “Whoever believes in God’s Son is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already…”. We are commanded to witness for Christ in the hope that others will believe and be saved/reconciled.

Interpreting “Justification or non imputation of sin from before the foundation of the world (1 Pet 1:20; Rev 13:8), when God purposed to impute sin on Christ, in order for Him to die for them in the fullness of time (Gal 4:4; 1 Cor 15:3)” as showing enemies of the Gospel [EJ] that “their accusations are false and unjust, for EJ has everything to do with Christ’s Death for Imputed sins of the Elect to Him” is problematic, because it does not explain how this jibes with God being all-loving without maintaining that non-imputation means everyone is saved, which clearly contradicts Scripture.

GRFS and Psychology

Someone might wonder whether souls may be good or have good “hearts” and merit heaven without accepting Christ’s atonement.  The NT says no, but does not consider whether a person might have a psychological excuse (such as being abused as a child by an unloving “Christian” father).  Regardless of how a person behaved while alive, the fact they did not believe the Gospel of Jesus (assuming they had the opportunity) would make them evil for rejecting the only One who is good (Matt. 19:17), the source and Spirit of good, and its Rationale.  God initiates; we cooperate, or not.  IOW, “good” is not an objective natural entity that exists independently from God or prior to Him, determining His morality, but rather goodness is God’s creation/decision and determined by Him.

The corollary of this truth is that apart from God all accountable humans are sinners in need of God’s salvation from selfishness (Rom. 3:23, 6:23).  The command of Jesus to be perfect (Matt. 5:48) means to become like God morally, or as Paul says, to be imitators of God and “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” (Eph. 5:1-2)  Paul calls this goal the “fullness” of God/Christ (Eph. 3:19, 4:13).  It signifies the reason for creation, the purpose of salvation and Believers’ blessings in heaven.  Although God views believers in Christ as sharing His perfect righteousness (sometimes called imputed or positional perfection), practical perfection or continual loving behavior as an immortal being in heaven will begin when life’s test on earth is finished (Phil. 3:12, 1John 1:8, 1Cor. 15:42-50).  May we all pass!

Again, Christ’s command to be perfect/complete/full [the slashes denote equivalent terms] essentially means to become more like Him morally or in loving attitudes and actions (Phil. 3:7-9, Eph. 5:1-3).  Apparently, achieving this goal is aided by an earthly experience or sojourn of learning lessons that prepare us for eternal life and of teaching what we learn to others (1John 1:3-4), which might be why Believers are not immediately translated to heaven when they become Christians.  How long this earthly history will continue only God knows, but some scriptures (Matt. 24:14, 2Pet. 3:9-15 Rom. 11:25) indicate that it will be until everyone living in the world at the time of the end has the opportunity to hear the Gospel, while others stress the need to be ready for it to occur at any moment (Matt. 24:44, 1Thes. 5:2, Rev. 3:3).

Christ’s Atonement

Someone unfamiliar with the OT might ask, “Why did God’s plan of salvation include the gruesome death of Messiah?”  The answer is that Jesus’ death not only fulfilled OT prophecies of a “prophet” like Moses (Deut. 18:15) and a “suffering servant” (Isa. 53), but it also completed and ended the Mosaic sacrificial system, as explained in Hebrews 7:18-10:1.  It is logical to believe that an all-loving God’s plan of salvation would be just, the best and save the most.  Paul taught (in Rom. 5:6-11) that the crucifixion of Jesus not only manifested God’s love but also provided the way for Him to forgive sins justly without abrogating free will and abetting sin.

Jesus bore the just consequences of the sins of all humanity (called “atonement”) so that those who truly repent can receive forgiveness rather than having to experience those consequences or hell.  We must underline the word “truly”, however, because God’s free grace is not cheap or unjust, allowing evil to go unpunished (cf. Matt. 7:21, 2Tim. 2:19, Tit. 1:16).  A person cannot play games with God, who knows the heart (Gal. 6:7-10, Heb. 4:12-13).  Jesus is the only person qualified to be Messiah and atone for others’ sins, because he was innocent of sin even though tempted like every human (Heb. 4:15, 5:7-9 & 6:26-28).

Anyone who thinks God should punish each individual for his/her own sins thinks too highly of himself and too little of the holiness of God.  Even though some sins, such as murder, seem worse than others quantitatively, because they cause more obvious harm, all sin—even that of omission (Jam. 4:17)—is evil qualitatively and equivalent to murder for being diametrically opposed to the perfect will of God (Jam. 2:10-11).  Thus, while it might seem that the just consequence for your own sins would be a hell much less horrible than for someone like Hitler, all ungodly souls are on Satan’s side and cannot earn heaven by trying to be good without cooperating with God.  So instead of seeking salvation our own way, it is wise to be grateful for grace and ask for clarification of one’s (mis)understandings in heaven.

Both Heaven and Hell are Good

Because perfect justice is not attained during this earthly existence, there is a resurrection and judgment (Heb. 9:27-28), when those who serve the Spirit of love (although imperfectly, Phil. 3:12) are separated from demonic souls who do not even want to try to cooperate with the Holy Spirit (Matt. 25:31-46).  Otherwise, there would be no ultimate justice and the entire biblical revelation would make no sense (1Cor. 15:14&19).  If atheists/evil-doers remained unconscious after death, such ignorance would be relative bliss and morality would be nullified (Eccl. 2:12-17). Thus, hell (as a potential destiny) as well as heaven is good (part of the DOD)!

The horror of self-condemnation for serving Satan is this:  apparently the misery of hell does not motivate genuine repentance.  Thus, God abandons people assigned to hell or second death (Rev. 20:6, Rom. 1:28-32), because they are hopelessly corrupt (John 6:44).  This destiny is eternal for anyone whose sins are infinite.  For the rest, hell will end in destruction or non-existence per the following passages:

John 17:12, “None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.”

Romans 9:22, “What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction?”

Galatians 6:8a, “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction.”

Philippians 3:19a, “Their destiny is destruction.”

2Thessalonians 1:9a, “They will be punished with everlasting destruction.”

2Peter 3:7, “By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”

The good news (Gospel) is that God has provided a Way for sinners to be saved from suffering and destruction and to be resurrected to eternal life in heaven.  The desire for eternal joy is not selfish but rather the proper motivation for attaining immortality the right way.  What hope is more credible than the Christian Gospel?  None!  And who is a better candidate for Christ/Messiah than Jesus of Nazareth?  No one! (Col. 1:15-20)  If history evolved in a way that produced a false gospel and pseudo-Christ, all truthseekers want to know, but why choose to doubt the reality of a loving God, revealed by Jesus, who provides eternal joy in heaven until this hope is disproved or discredited?  I prefer to doubt such doubts, because if Christianity is true, then life is not a farce.

Conclusion

This concludes my explanation of the Christian creed and related topics (the Gospel, kerygma, GRFS, etc.). I have tried to be succinct so that busy readers who are investing valuable time in mining for spiritual gold will be rewarded with a rich vein.  My hope is that truthseekers who are working the puzzle of reality will find many truisms that will elicit shouts of “Eureka!”  An obvious truism that needs to be mentioned is that the happy ending has not happened yet!  In between conversion and heaven, God allows our journey to go through various places we would rather not visit:  the ghost town of job loss, the quarantined ghetto of disease, the burning village of divided families.  History can be viewed as a long “King of the Hill” struggle (KOTH).

But let us take heart from the words of Paul (in Phil. 4:12-13:  “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation… I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” I think Paul’s secret is to treat every negative experience as an opportunity for learning some truth that will help us to become stronger persons and better witnesses for Christ.  Financial problems teach us to value spiritual riches and to rely on God (1Tim. 5:6-10), physical ailments teach us to appreciate a healthy immortal life in heaven (2Cor. 12:7-10), and unhappy relationships motivate us to resist the devil, even though we feel as if God has forsaken us (Jam. 4:7-10, Matt. 27:46).

The paradoxical truth is that Believers experience joy despite KOTH or suffering (1Pet. 4:13).  While not desiring to suffer or praying for problems, mature Christians have a Christ-like attitude so that tribulations only make them merely joyful rather than overjoyed!  Christians are joyous because they realize that suffering is only for a season and for good reason:

1. Pain and sickness due to mortality teach us to center our lives on God and the hope of immortality,

2. Pain resulting from sinful behavior leads the wise to conform to the character of Christ (Heb. 12:4-11, Rom. 8:29),

3. Relying on God’s grace and truth in the midst of undeserved troubles glorifies Christ (2Cor. 4:7-11) and shows the value of LGW,

4. Troubles serve to keep mature saints humble (2Cor. 12:7-12), and

5. God’s Holy Spirit comforts those who suffer and thereby demonstrates His love (Matt. 5:4, 2Cor. 1:3-4).

As Paul wrote (in Rom. 5:3-4), “We also rejoice in our sufferings (KOTH), because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”  Our hope is that we gain heaven (Phil. 1:21), which is worth any grief occasioned by Faith (1Pet. 1:6-9, 2Cor. 4:16-18, Heb. 12:2).  Yes, this life is not heaven yet, although our continual prayer is for God’s will to be done on earth in our lives, but I encourage you to keep on believing God and resisting evil (Jam. 4:7) until God’s kingdom comes.  Do not be discouraged, but rather relax and rest in God’s love as you remember what is really important in life.  Have joy despite adversity because of hope!

God’s Epistle

Christ is the image of the invisible God,
By whom all things were created,
And he is the head of his body, the church…
First from the dead resurrected.

For God was pleased in him to dwell fully,
Through him to reconcile sinners
Made peace through his blood, shed on the cross
To make us holy without blemish.

If we continue in faith and stand firm,
Not moved from our hope in the gospel.
The gospel we heard that has been proclaimed
To all, of which Paul is a servant.

Preaching the mystery of God once hidden,
But now is disclosed to the saints:
Christ in you who believe in the Lord,
The hope of glory in heaven.

Continue to live in the way you were taught,
Growing in faith with thanksgiving,
Freed from philosophy and hollow myths,
Depending on human tradition.

For you have received circumcision by Christ,
Being buried with him in baptism
And raised with him through faith in God’s power
The fullness of love and life.

(Colossians 1:15-28 & 2:6-13, paraphrased excerpts)