03 Fundamental Principles

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Bible DoctrinesLesson 3 FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Were going to look at a LOT of things in this course

(but)

WANT TO START OUT: With the ABSOLUTE NON-

NEGOTIABLES.

SEE: There are a lot of areas (in Scripture) we can differ on

When it comes to END TIMES: There are all kinds of views.

Youve got people who believein

Pre-Trib Mid-Trib Post-Trib Some who believe were in the millennium now

And, you know what? Thats okay. (Because thats a

secondary issue.)

When it comes to SECONDARY ISSUES: We can disagree

we can debate and thats fine!

BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS: The Bible says are non-negotiables.

Theyre FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES and if we walk

away from them (as a church)


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Then, we can no longer call to ourselves as CHRISTIAN.

Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the (fundamental)principlesof the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;

not laying again the foundation

UNDERLINE TWO PHRASES: Fundamental Principles and

The Foundation.

What hes about to list in the rest of the verse are the

FUNDAMENTALS

the BUILDING BLOCKS the BEDROCK FOUNDATION

of CHRISTIANITY.

You cant COMPROMISE these 6 POINTS and STILL

CALL YOUR CHURCH CHRISTIAN.

_________________________________________

These are the Things: that DEFINE CHRISTIANITY and

make Christianity Christian.

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FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES:

Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the (fundamental)

principlesof the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection;

not laying again the foundationof (now here it is)


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Repentance from dead works, and of Faith toward God Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of Laying on of hands and of Resurrection of the dead, and of Eternal Judgment.

SIX THINGS ARE MENTIONED: But, really, they form threecouplets.

The First Two Go Together: Repentance From Dead Works AND

of Faith toward God.

COUPLET #1The Doctrine of Salvation (Non-negotiable!)

Two things are brought out

a.) Repentance From Dead Works

DEAD WORKS: are works that an UNBELIEVER does, (in his

state of spiritual death), TRYING TO EARN SALVATION.

So REPENTANCEfrom dead works WOULD MEAN

(as an unbeliever) you QUIT TRYING TO become

ACCEPTABLE TO GOD by your OWN EFFORTS


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That BRINGS US TO THE NEXT POINT: Faith toward

God.

This is the doctrine of SALVATION(Non-Negotiable.).

COUPLET #2The Doctrine of Baptisms (Plural) and Laying on

of Hands.

THESE ARE CHURCH ORDINANCES: We`ll deal with them

a little later.

COUPLET #3 Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment.

You can`t do away with heaven & hell, and remain

Christian.

The moment you do away with the resurrection of the dead and

eternal judgment you CEASE to be CHRISTIAN and you

enterthe Kingdom of the Cults.

Three NON-NEGOTIABLES: The Doctrine of Salvation the

Doctrine of the Church the Doctrine of Resurrection &Judgment.

All right letsback up to the beginning begin looking at

some basics:


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This Isnt Boring: This is EQUIPPING.

II. THEOLOGY PROPERTHE STUDY OF GOD,HIMSELF

(First, lets define the word THEOLOGY.) (Some

definitions youll want to get down.)

The word Theology comes from the Greek word Theos,

which means God.

Theology then, means, the Study of the things of God. (Class

definition write!)

Now, when we talk abouttheology, really, its a very broad

term.

Theology would include anything that HAS TO DO with the

doctrines of the Bible.

(You could talk about healing, and it be called theology.

Creationangels & demonseternity heaven and hell.)

So, SINCEtheology is such a broad term theologians have

coined the term THEOLOGY PROPER, to describe the

study of God, Himself.


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THEOLOGY PROPER is a subject that can never be

exhausted. God is infinite.

In fact, the Book of Revelation saysthat there are angels that flycontinually around the throne, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy.

And, the REASON they cry out like thatis: because every time

they do another circleof the throne, they see another FACET of

Godtheyve never seen before.

(Doing that from eternity past still seeing new things about

God!)

God is infinite, and well be learning about Him throughout

eternity, all well really be ableto accomplish in thiscourse, is to

scratch the surface, and look at some of the major truths

concerning the Godhead.

A. GODS EXISTENCE

1. Scriptural Arguments For the Existence of God Strangely

enough, there are none.

Theres not one verse in the Bible, where God ATTEMPTS TO

PROVE that He exists!

Genesis simply begins with the phrase, In the beginning, God,

and goes on from there.

So, if youre looking for proof of Gods existence, youre

going to have to look elsewhere


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2. Philosophical Arguments for the Existence of God

The Universal Belief Argument - Simply states that: Allof mankind has some idea of a Supreme Being.

Doesnt matter where you go, (you can go to the remotest

junglein Africa, and theybelieve in some sort of god.)

Built in!

The conceptsof God differ from culture to culture, but the

concept of a Supreme Being who created us, is universal.

(So, the argument GOES, in orderfor every nation,

cultureand raceto have an inward knowing that there is

a God, there must be a Godwho placed that knowledge in

man.)

The Cosmo-logical ArgumentIt says: Every effectmusthave an adequate cause.

The existence of the universe, argues forthe existenceof a

Creator/Designer. (All this is here! There mustbe a God!)

Of course, those who believe in evolutionwould like us to

believethat all of thisjust happened.

But, even a brief examinationof the universe, makes

evolution impossible to believe.

(Even the sheer size of the universe is mind-boggling.)


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The Paper Stack ModelLets saythat the thickness of a

sheet of paperrepresents the distance from the earth to the sun

(93 million miles).

To represent the distance to the nearest star, we wouldneed a 71 foot highstack of paper. (A 7-story building.)

To cover the diameter of our Milky Way galaxywouldrequire a 310 mile high stack.

To reach the edge of the known universe, would demanda pile of paper sheets31 million miles high.

Of course, the universe is as infinitely small, as it is large:

The tip of a ball point penhas so many atoms, that if theywere carried by an army, marching four abreast, (one

atom per man), it would take over 20,000 years for a

march-past.

B. THE NATURE (ESSENCE) OF GOD (What is God

like?)

1. God Is A SpiritJohn 4:24God is not merely energy or

thought.

Yet, just because Hes a Spirit, doesnt mean He has no form orshape in the spirit realm

John 5:37And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath

borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any

time, nor seen his shape.


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2. God is a PersonThat is, Hes not just an impersonal

forcesomewhere in the universe.

He exhibits all of the elements involved in personality.

He creates(Gen. 1:1); He destroys(Gen. 18:26); He provides

(Ps. 104:27-30); He promotes(Ps. 75:6-7); He cares(1 Peter 5:6-

7); He hears(Ps. 94:9-10); He hates(Prov. 6:16); He loves(John

3:16); He grieves (Gen. 6:6).

(All those are functions of PERSONALITY)

3. God is a Trinity

Now, in some ways, this is a difficult concept tounderstandon the other hand, its very simple.

(Small wars have been fought over our ideas of what theTrinity is like.) I dont want to takea lot of time on this.

I just want to give you three statements that summarizethe Biblical teaching of the trinity.

A. God is Three Persons - The Bible teaches a distinction

between the three Personsof the Godhead.

The Fatheris not the Son or the Spirit.

The Sonis not the Father or the Spirit.

The Spirit is not the Father or the Son.


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They are three separate and distinct Persons.

B. Each Person in the Godhead is Fully God - The Fatheris

God , the Sonis God (Heb. 1:8; John 1:1-4), and the HolySpiritis God (Acts 5:3-4).

The Son and Holy Spirit are co-equaland co-eternalwith God

the Father.

C. There is one God There is one God, not three Gods.

Together, the three Persons make up one GODHEAD. Or, one

God. (Deut. 6:4-5; Ja. 2:19)

Really, this is the pointthat causes all the confusion.

If all we said was: God is 3 persons(fine!) and each Person is

fully God. (Fine!)

What causes the confusionis now saying, Theres ONE

God.

PEOPLE GET HUNG UP ON THIS: So hard to understand!

Just have to accept it by faith

VERY SIMPLE: If you take the analogiesthat God gave us.

Marriage: The two shall be one. (My wife and I got

married and became one.)


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(Say I do and then magically form into one body?)

One in unity and purpose.

(See more in a moment )

We have lots of SINGULAR words made up of MANY

TEAM: Many individuals, but one team.

ARMY: Many individuals one army.

BOARD(like a church board): Many individuals one

board.

GOD: Three individuals one God.

WRONG VIEWS WITHIN CHRISTENDOM (All deny one

of the 3 key statements)

1.) MODALISM

Claims that there is one Person (not 3). Jesus only

But, He appears to us in three different forms (or modes).

Some Pentecostal groups believe in Jesus only.


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The way they explain it: Im a father, a husband andteacher and a pastor. But, Im one person, not four.

Thats the way they say God is. Theres one Person, HisName is Jesus.

Jesus is a Father, a Sonand a Spirit, but just one person.

HANDOUT

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS WITHIN THE GODHEAD

Whenever the Godhead does something

The Father makes the plan. The Son executes theplan. The Holy Spirit reveals the plan.

Redemption: The Father plannedRedemption (Eph. 1).The Son carried it out (Eph. 2). The Holy Spirit is

revealing the planof Salvation to man (Eph. 3).

Creation - The Father Plannedit.The Son Executed it(without Him was not anything made

that was made. He was the Word that was spoken).


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The Spirit brought it to pass.

C. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD -

The attributes of God can be broken down into two majorcategories.

(i) Gods Communicable Attributes, (ones He shares withus);

(A communicable disease is one that youre willing to sharewith me).

(ii) Gods Incommunicable Attributes, (The ones thatbelong to Him alone).

1. GODS INCOMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES

a. God is Eternally Self-ExistentGod never had a beginning.

He has just always been. (Exodus 3:13-14).

b. God is Self-Sufficient- God doesnt need anybody!

He has never had, in eternity past, nor will He ever have in the

ages to come, a need for which His own Divine Nature has not

already provided. (Ps. 50:10-12)


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c. God is Infinite

d. God is OmnipresentEverywhere at once.

e. God is OmnipotentAll powerfulGen. 18:14; Rev. 19:6.

f. God is OmniscientAll knowingGod possesses complete

and universal knowledge of all things past, present & future.

This includes not only the actual, but also the possible outcomes

of every possible situation. (When you come to a fork in the

road, God knows every detail of the outcome of each path.)

g. God is Immutable (Unchangeable)God never differs from

Himself. His character remains constant and unchangeable

(Mal. 3:6; Ja. 1:16-17; Heb. 13:8).

h. God is SovereignNow, this has to be explained. Many

times, when you mention the Sovereignty of God, people get the

idea that He just arbitrarily does what He wants. But, thats not

true.

God is sovereign, but Hes sovereign according to His Word.

In other words, God has limited Himself by what Hes said, and

there are certain things He CANT do, because of what Hes said.


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That is, He has no limitations, other than those He has placed

upon Himself. (There are certain things that God cant do. But,

only because He said He cant!)

8 Things God Cant Do

God Cannot LieHeb. 6:18 God Cannot Abandon YouHeb. 13:5 God Cant Be Unfaithful2 Tim. 2:13 God Cant Be Tempted, Or Tempt YouJames 1:13 God Cant Be MockedGal. 6:7 God Cant Save Apart From JesusActs 4:12 God Cant Save Beyond the Grave2 Cor. 6:2; Matt. 9:6 He Cant Change(Mal. 3:6)

i. God is IncomprehensibleNo one but God Himself can fully

understand and comprehend God. (Job. 11:7-9; Ro. 11:33).

2. GODS COMMUNICABLE ATTRIBUTES

a. God is Holy Lev. 19:2; 1 Peter 1:15Hes holy; but Hes

willing to share that holiness with us.

b. God is Righteous2 Cor. 5:21

c. God is FaithfulGal. 5:22

d. God is Love1 Cor. 13


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e. Mental Attributes

Knowledge, Understanding & Wisdomf. Moral Attributes

Goodness Love Mercy (Grace, Patience) Holiness Peace Righteousness Jealousy Wrath

g. Attributes of Purpose

Free Will

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