Dr. Voddie Baucham has written an impactful study that will take you deeper into God’s Word so that you gain knowledge and understanding, and are able to contend for the truth. It seeks to discover answers to questions like:
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Does truth exist? If so, how can we know it?
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We have our faith, and other people have theirs; should we try to convince people that our faith is right and theirs is wrong?
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While we believe the Bible, other people believe their holy book. Who can say that ours is correct and someone else’s is incorrect?
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Who is Jesus? What are the implications or our beliefs about Him?
From Ever Loving Truth – Introduction
learn more at Voddie Baucham ministries web site: http://www.voddiebaucham.org/vbm/home.html
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INTRODUCTION
We are in the midst of a culture war.
We need to understand what our culture expects in the way we practice our faith.
1. Religious relativism. “All religions are basically the same.” “We all worship the same god but just refer to him/her/it by different names.
2. The big brother to religious relativism is tolerance. We are now living under a new tolerance. We must allow individuals to say whatever they want and to believe whatever they want. Additionally, we must celebrate, embrace, and incorporate their beliefs into our own belief systems.
3. Philosophical pluralism. There are no absolutes. What’s true for you may not be true for me. There is no such thing as absolute truth. It is logically impossible for there to be no absolutes.
As biblical Christians, we must understand the following points about our culture war.
1. We are marginalized.
2. Neutrality is not an option.
Biblical Christianity violates the premises on which our cultural thinking is built. There is an effort to redefine Christianity.
3. We experience open hostility when we use the name of Jesus. Why? Because there is power in the name of Jesus! One day, “at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth…” and “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:11)
4. We must continue to stand firm and proclaim.
The goal for biblical Christians is for us to be radically saved, to be turned inside out and upside down, and to do what God says regardless of what the government says. God is in control.
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Session 1 Viewer Guide:
Today’s inclusivism: regardless of what or in whom you believe, you are in right standing with God.
We cannot reconcile the idea of inclusivism and the truth that Jesus died for us to be right with God.
The mind-set of the people we are trying to reach:
1. Religious relativism
2. New tolerance
3. Philosophical pluralism, also referred to as postmodernism
Understanding how people think helps us to understand how to present the truth of the gospel to them.
The Socratic method of evangelism: ask questions.
Most people have a worldview full of holes. Ask questions about their worldview until they reach a point that they have to admit it doesn’t work. Then you have an opportunity to share a worldview that works.
If our freedoms were taken away, we would still be servants of the King of kings and the Lord of lords and the Most High God.
Our culture has conditioned us to think a certain way. That way might go against what the Bible teaches.
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These are additional articles that relate to the study material of week one. The Jehovah’s Witnesses; The Oneness Pentecostal Movement; Postmodernism; Students’ Rights to Religious Expression
Session 2 Viewer Guide:
In many instances in our culture the name of Jesus is considered contraband.
This is similar to Peter and John’s experience before the Sanhedrin. They were told to stop using that name!
Our commitment has to be to the real Jesus.
The question is not, Who is Jesus to me? The question is, Who is Jesus?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:3: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
Jesus laid down unlimited righteousness.
Christ “died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God.” (1 Pet 3:18)
Pay attention to parallels between Peter and John’s experience in a pre-Christian culture and our experience in a post-Christian culture.
Session 3 Viewer Guide
We can be used as God’s tools, like the believers we studied this week.
Read Acts 4:19-20: Peter and John responded, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give you heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.
We are connected to the greatest power in the world. That is more than enough.
What is the difference between relying on God’s sovereignty and looking to other sources?
We’ve learned how to manipulate people to accept the gospel rather than count on God’s power for the task.
There is a difference between being committed to a program or a marketing scheme and being committed to Christ, who unequivocally state that He will build His church.
There have always been costs associated with sharing the gospel.
In America, where the cost of standing for Christ is so low, we have almost no willingness to do so.
Regardless of the cost, we must speak about the things we have seen and heard.
In Acts 5 we see that the apostles were plugged in to their power source. The same power source is available to you. We have power for the task.
Additional Resources:
The Apostles: Faithful to Death
Students’ Rights to Religious Expression
Session 4 Viewer Guide
We say we believe the things we study in the Bible because it is the Bible. Who is to say that the Bible is true?
We have to address the issue of the authority and authenticity of the Bible.
The Bible was written in 3 different languages on 3 different continents by 40 authors over 1,500 years. It portrays a God who revealed Himself and desires to redeem mankind. The story fits the evidence. We can trust what the Bible says as true.
The central piece of furniture in the church before the Reformation was the table where the Lord’s Supper was served. After the Reformation the central piece of furniture in the church was the pulpit. Today the central piece of furniture in the church is not a piece of furniture. It’s a stage.
Why I choose to believe the Bible:
- ▫ Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents (see 2 Peter 1:16)
- ▫ Read Luke 1:1-3. Luke investigated everything carefully from the beginning to record the exact truth.
God does not despise your mind.
There is nothing more relevant than the fact that God has spoken.
Additional Resources:
Session 5 Viewer Guide
5,000 New Testament manuscripts available
10 Caesar’s Gallic Wars
10 Homer’s Odyssey
5 Aristotle’s Poetics
3 works of Herodotus
Earliest document dates after the originals:
- ▫ Gospel of John manuscripts: 30-60 years (available A.D. 120-150)
- ▫ Caesar’s Gallic Wars: 1,000 years
- ▫ Works of Herodotus: 1,300 years
- ▫ Aristotle’s Poetics: 1,400 years
- ▫ Homer’s Odyssey: 2,100 years
Why I believe the New Testament:
- The New Testament is a reliable collection of historical documents.
- These historical documents were written by eyewitnesses during the lifetimes of other eyewitnesses.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-6. There were more than five hundred eyewitnesses to the resurrection. This document was written down during the lifetimes of other eyewitnesses.
Read 2 Peter 1:17-18.
- These eyewitnesses report supernatural events.
- These supernatural events fulfilled specific prophecies.
Read Psalm 22, originally referred to by its title, “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? And written one thousand years before Jesus was born. The author described a crucifixion, although this had not yet been invented.
The Bible separates us from the world.
Session 6 Viewer Guide
If there is salvation in none other, then what we believe about Jesus matters.
In our culture very few people would argue that there is no Jesus. However, most would not say that He is the divine Son of God.
Some may say, “Jesus to you is one thing. Jesus to me is quite another.”
Jesus is not up for interpretation. We don’t have the right to redefine Him.
The question is not, Who is Jesus to me? The question is, Who is Jesus?
Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-10. You cannot say that Jesus was a good man, good teacher, and good prophet and deny that he is God, that He died for sin, that He was resurrected, and that He’s coming back again, and that He’s the only way for us to get to heaven.
The apostle Paul said that if you move away from the gospel as it was proclaimed, then your belief is in vain.
If you don’t believe in the resurrection, you are not saved.
We cannot define Christianity on our own terms.
The gospel message must contain 9to be continued in session 7):
- 1. Christ died for sin: “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3). Read Isaiah 53:3-6.
- The problem is that we are sinners - by nature and by choice.
- We have to be punished for our sin because God is just.
- Our only hope is for someone to die on our behalf. That someone has to be without sin. That someone is Jesus.
I wish to pass something on to the class. Richard Ball’s vehicle and body were found near his home last Saturday afternoon. I know nothing more than that. This is sad new, yet I wish to thank everyone for your prayers for Richard and his family.
Steve