In this lesson, we will be going through the first ten questions and answers of this Discipleship program. This first lesson answers questions about God, humanity, and the Holy Bible.
Christian Discipleship Lesson One
QUESTION 1: WHO IS THE FIRST AND BEST OF BEINGS?
Answer: God is self-existent and the first and best of beings.
Scripture: Isaiah 44:6; Psalm 8:1; 96:4; 97:9, 1 Samuel 2:2
God is the creator, not the creation, and is self-existent. Therefore, He is the first being of any kind. God has always existed and is superior to all beings, whether spirit or corporeal. He is perfect in every way.
QUESTION 2: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN?
Answer: Man’s chief purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy a
personal relationship with him forever. Scripture: 1 Corinthians
10:31; Psalm 16:11; 37:4; 73:25-26; Isaiah 43:7.
This answer speaks from the perspective of a saved, born-again Christian. All humankind should glorify God, but only true Christians seek to accomplish this task out of love, respect, and willingness. As Christians, we enjoy a personal relationship with God, with unlimited access to God through Biblical scripture and prayer.
QUESTION 3: HOW DO WE KNOW THERE IS A GOD?
Answer: The sentient nature in man, and the works of God, plainly
declares that there is a God. But also, his Holy Word and Spirit
reveal him unto us for our salvation. Scripture: Romans 1:18-20;
Psalm 19:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:9, 10;
Matthew 11:27.
God made us in His image. Therefore, we have compassion, mercy, grace, the ability to reason, and the capacity to understand God’s Word and divine will. The accomplishments of God also proclaim the fact that God exists. God, the Holy Spirit, reveals God to us unto salvation. But also, only God can be an eyewitness to the existence of God. Thankfully, God the Son is that eyewitness that is required to prove there is indeed a God.
QUESTION 4: WHAT IS THE WORD OF GOD?
Answer: The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being
given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only
infallible rule of faith and practice. Scripture: 2 Peter 1:21; 2
Timothy 3:16, 17; Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 5:17- 18; 1 Corinthians
2:13; Psalm 19:7-8.
The whole counsel of God is the entire Holy Bible. I submit that you cannot completely understand the New Testament if you don’t know the Old Testament. All of it is divinely inspired, and the only parts of the scripture that are not required today are the Civil Laws and the Ceremonial Laws of the Old Testament. But they are otherwise helpful for understanding Hebrew culture. The Civil and Ceremonial Laws only applied to the nation of Israel before the destruction of the last temple in 70 AD. The Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. It is all-sufficient, or Sola Scriptura, a Latin fraise meaning by scripture alone. No other writings or “inspirations” are acceptable.
QUESTION 5: HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?
Answer: The Bible evidences itself to be God’s Word by the divine
nature of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, and its power to convert
sinners and to educate saints. But only the Spirit of God can make
us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-7,13-16; Psalm 19:7-9; 119:18,129;
Acts 10:43; 26:22; 18:28; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 15:4; John
16:13,14; 1 John 2:20-27; 2 Corinthians 3:14-17; 4:4, 6.
Scripture not only interprets scripture but also verifies scripture. Any perceived incongruence in one portion of scripture can be clarified by scripture from other passages. Therefore, the Bible shares a consistent narrative that the Holy Spirit reveals to us as we read, study, and learn. Also, the completed prophecies prove the Bible is the Word of God because the predictions have come true with 100 percent accuracy.
QUESTION 6: MAY ALL MEN MAKE USE OF THE SCRIPTURES?
Answer: All men are not only permitted, but commanded and
encouraged, to read, hear, and understand the Scriptures. Scripture:
John 5:39; Luke 16:29; Acts 8:28-30; 17:11.
There is no need for a priesthood or interpreter of scripture. All people can read, hear, and understand most of the Bible. The milk of the scriptures is easily understandable. The meat of the scriptures often requires a subject matter expert to provide its meaning entirely. But the scripture that you must know for salvation is clearly understood by all.
QUESTION 7: WHAT DO THE SCRIPTURES MAINLY TEACH?
Answer: The Scriptures mainly teach what man is to believe about
God and what God requires humanity to do in obedience to His
will. Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; John 20:31; Acts 24:14; 1
Corinthians 10:11; Ecclesiastes 12:13.
People who read Genesis 1-11 and the New Testament can learn almost all the requirements for salvation and glean knowledge of what God wants us to do in obedience to His sovereign and perfect will. Reading, studying, and understanding the rest of the scripture will give us a complete understanding of God’s will. If we can keep in mind who God is and how completely depraved and insignificant we are, obedience will come naturally.
QUESTION 8: WHAT IS GOD?
Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, self-existent, and
unchangeable, in his being abides, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, love, and truth. Scripture: John 4:24; Psalm
89:14; 90:2; 147:5; James 1:17; Revelation 4:8; Exodus 34:6, 7; 1
Timothy 1:17; Numbers 23:19.
He is the all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere always, creator, master, and sustainer of everything that ever was or will be. He created everything from nothing by speaking it into existence. God is vastly superior to humans in every way, and He is perfect. I used to limit God to only the good in the universe, but after hearing a sermon by John McArthur, I have come to realize that God is sovereign over everything. God created and takes responsibility for all the good and evil in this universe. All things are playing out per His perfect will. Some of what’s going on are detestable to us, but we are not God. We can’t see the future, but He can. We can’t understand why a loving God would allow bad things to happen, but we don’t have the capacity to understand God’s complete plan. All we, as Christians, know is that a holy and perfect God is in full control and that our task is to trust in Him completely.
QUESTION 9: ARE THERE MORE GODS THAN ONE?
Answer: There is only one living and true God. Scripture:
Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalm 96:4-5.
There is only one God. All other imagined gods are just products of imagination. Only the Triune God of the Bible is alive, accessible, and truly God. Worshiping made-up gods is idolatry.
QUESTION 10: HOW MANY PERSONS ARE THERE IN THE GODHEAD?
Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead: The Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in
essence, equal in power and glory. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:11;
8:6; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Acts 5:3,4; Matthew 28:19; 2
Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3.
If a person begins reading the Bible without preconceived notions, they will conclude that there is one God in three persons. I know this because that’s how I came to this same conclusion. The Godhead has existed eternally as one God in three persons. Each person of the Godhead loves and exalts each of the other persons of the Godhead. This mutual admiration is how God can know and share love, mercy, kindness, grace, etc. because the Godhead has shared this with each other eternally as one God. No other religion has a God resembling our personal, accessible, perfect God.
Discipleship a Necessity for Every Church
As a continuation of last week’s post, I will be spending the next few weeks on Christian Discipleship. You can read my previous post by visiting Discipleship a Necessity for Every Church.