"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."    Matthew 28:18-20

        Lessons:

       1.  Who am I now?

       2.  The Bible.

       3.  How to Study the Bible.

       4.  Who is Jesus Christ?

       5.  The Holy Spirit and the Trinity.

       6.  What is God Like?

       7.  Prayer, Confession, and Forgiveness.

       8.  The Church

       9.  The Christian Life, Part  I

     10.  The Christian Life, Part II

WRITE A DEFINITION OF A DISCIPLE: 

"WHOEVER DOES NOT CARRY HIS OWN CROSS AND COME AFTER ME CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE."   Luke 14:27

     Everything we study in this course is affected by our understanding of who we are in Jesus Christ and who Jesus Christ is.  The purpose of this part of this series is to grasp your new identity as a Child of God.  You are no longer an ordinary person; you belong to Jesus Christ.

     1.  Why should God let you into His heaven?  What would you say to Him if He asked you that question right now?

     2.  How long have you been a Christian?

     3.  Are you sure of your salvation?

     4.  How important is it to you that you become a follower of  Jesus in every way you can?

     5.  What did Jesus command His followers to do in Matthew 28:19,20?

    What does the word "disciple" mean?  (Look it up in a dictionary.)

    Are you a disciple?

    Have you been baptized?

    What were the followers of Jesus to do in verse 20?

     Do you want to commit yourself  to doing all that Jesus commands?  Why?

Notice what Jesus said:  Make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to obey what I have commanded.  You have become a disciple and been baptized; now begin the lifelong process of obedience.   

     6.  What do these scriptures say about who you are now that you are a Christian?

    I  John 3:1

    Ephesians 2:10

    Ephesians 2:19

    I  Peter 2:4,5

    7.   What do these scriptures say about who you used to be?

     Ephesians 2:1-3

     Ephesians 2:12

     Romans 5:6,8,10 (three things)

     8.  From Colossians 1:13:

     In what kingdom did we live before salvation?

     What kingdom are we in now that we are saved?

     9.  Into whom were you baptized?  Romans 6:3

   10.  If you are "in Christ" what are you now?  II Corinthians 5:17

   11.  What else have we become "in Him"?   II Corinthians 5:21

    What problem is overcome when we "become the righteousness of God in Him"? Romans 3:23

   12.  Write a definition of  "righteousness."  (Use a dictionary.)

   13.  Who is "for us" now that you are a Christian?  Romans 8:31

   14.  Why is He so good to you?  Did you earn His favor?  What does Ephesians 2:4,5 say about the reason for God's goodness towards you?

   15.  To what extreme did God go to save us?  Romans 8:32

   16.  Who is interceding for you at the right hand of God?  Romans 8:34

     What does "intercede" mean?  (Write a definition.)

   17.  What will stop the love of Jesus Christ (or separate you from it)? Where is this love?  (roman 8:39)

    18.  From what were we saved by the blood of Christ?  Romans 5:9                 

    19.  What had you earned by your sin?  Romans 6:23

    20.  Are you still under the condemnation of sin?  Romans 8:1

  According to Romans 8:1, there is no condemnation for  ___________________

     _________________________________________________________________.

     21.  What does it mean to you personally to not be under the condemnation of God any longer?  (Write it in your own words.)  If you don't know what "condemnation" means, look it up in a dictionary.

     22.  If you have been made right with God (justified) what do you then have? 

            Romans 5:1

     23.  List what and who and where you are now that you are saved. (Look at the answers to the above questions.)

     a.                                                                   d.

     b.                                                                   e.

     c.                                                                   f.

     "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."  II Timothy 3:16

     The Bible is the most widely circulated and translated book in the world.  More copies of the Bible have been printed than any other book.  There have been more books written about the Bible than about any other book in the world.  The Bible was written by 40 men over a period of about 1500 years.  The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, except for a very small portion which was written in Aramaic.  The New Testament was written in Greek.  The theme of the Bible is God's redemption of men, and the central person of the Bible is Jesus Christ.

The word "testament" is derived from the Latin word used for "covenant."  The two words are interchangeable; as such, one could call the two parts of the Bible "The Old Covenant" and "The New Covenant."  This could be a better way to view the divisions.

 I.  The Old Testament contains 39 books.  It is called the "Old Testament" because it has been displaced by the "New Testament."

A.  The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses about the year 1450 B.C.  These five books are called "the Law," "the Books of Moses," and "the Pentateuch."                                                                          

            Fill in the blanks with the names of the books. (They are in order.)

1.  ________________ Creation; the fall of man; the flood; beginning of God's family; beginning of  redemption.

2.  ________________ The delivery of God's people (the Hebrews) from Egypt; the Ten Commandments.

3.  ________________ Laws for the priests of the tribe of Levi: sacrifices; purification; holy feasts.

4.  ________________ Wandering of the Hebrews in the wilderness for forty years; their disobedience.

5.  ________________ Moses reminding people of Israel (the Hebrews) what God required & preparation to enter promised land.

B. The Old Testament books of history tell of the life of  the nation of Israel from about 1400 B.C. to about 600 B.C.  They describe:

1.  The entrance of Israel into the promised land.   (Joshua)

2.  The leadership of certain men called "judges."  (Judges)

3.  The beautiful story of one of Jesus' ancestors.  (Ruth)

4.  The History of the nation of Israel from the rise of  the first king to its destruction.  (David the great  king and his son Solomon are in this section.)      [I Samuel-II Chronicles]

5.  The return of some of the people of Judah from captivity and events in the lands where they were captive. (Ezra-Esther)

C.  The books of Poetry tell of the way God deals with men,  the wisdom of God's way.

1.  _________________ A man who trusts God undergoes  suffering and still trusts God.

2.  _________________ Songs of praise from the hearts of  several men, also, men crying out to God.

3.  _________________ The wisdom of God for practical,  righteous living.

4.  _________________ A rich and powerful king writes about the emptiness of life without God.

5.  _________________  A series of songs expressing Solomon's love for a Shulamite woman.

D.  The Major Prophets are recorded messages from God to His  people.  A prophet is a man that receives a special  message directly from God with instructions to deliver it to men.  Since these are the longest of the prophetic books they are called "Major Prophets."  They were written from about 740-540 B.C.

1.  _____________________________   4.  _______________________________

2.  _____________________________   5.  _______________________________

3.  _____________________________ 

 E.  The Minor Prophets are the shorter books of prophecy.   They make up the last 12 books of the Old Testament.  They were written from about 790-400 B.C.

       1.  _____________________________   7.  _____________________________

       2.  _____________________________   8.  _____________________________

       3.  _____________________________   9.  _____________________________

       4.  _____________________________  10. _____________________________

       5.  _____________________________  11. _____________________________

       6.  _____________________________  12. _____________________________

     There are 39 books in the Old Testament.  Memorize them.

II.  The New Testament contains 27 books.  It is called the "New Testament" (God's new agreement with man) because it displaced the "Old" Testament (the Law given to Moses).

      A.  The first four books of the New Testament are called the "Gospels."   They tell

            who Jesus Christ was, what He taught, and what He did.  Their purpose for being

            written is found in John 20:31.  Write this purpose in your own words and insert

            your name in the verse (make it  personal).  Put the name of the book beside the

           description of the book.  (They are in order.)

1.  __________________ Written especially for Jews, it  reveals that Jesus Christ was their long hoped-for Promised One (Messiah).

2.  __________________ The life of Jesus as the one who lived a life of obedience.  Jesus was a man of action.

3.  __________________ The human side of Jesus is revealed while showing His perfection.

4.  __________________ Emphasis on the deity of Jesus as the Son of God.  Jesus teaches about Himself.

     B.  The beginning of the church and the spreading of the gospel in the Roman world

          are contained in this book of  history.   __________________________

     C.  The letters to believers are called "Epistles" (letters).  These letters tell Christians

           what to believe, how to apply their faith to daily living, and what God expects

           of them.

     1.  The letters of Paul.  (List them in order.)

          a.  __________________  f.  __________________  j.  __________________

          b.  __________________  g.  _________________  k.  __________________

          c.  __________________  h.  _________________  l.  ___________________     

          d.  __________________  i.  _________________  m.  __________________

          e.  __________________

     2.  General Letters

          a.  __________________  d.  _________________  g.  __________________

          b.  __________________  e.  _________________  h.  __________________

          c.  __________________  f.  __________________

D.     The New Testament ends with God's plan for the end of the present earth,

      judgment of all men who ever lived, and  the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This

      is the book of  ___________________.  Read verses 18 & 19 of chapter 22.

     There are 27 books in the New Testament.  Memorize them.

THE BIBLE DIVISIONS AT A GLANCE

 Old Testament:

•     Books of Moses (Law):  5 books -- Creation, flood, beginning of Hebrew nation.

•     Books of History:  12 books -- Exodus from Egypt, conquest of Canaan, rise and fall of Israel as a nation.

•     Books of Poetry:  5 books -- literature of Israel.

•     Books of Prophecy:   17 books -- God's message to Israel and the nations.

New Testament: 

•     Gospels:   4 books -- Birth, teachings, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

•     Acts:  1 book -- Beginning of the Church, history of the early church, ministry of  Paul.

•     Letters:  21 books -- Instructions to Christians.

•     Revelation:  1 book -- The glory and triumph of Christ.

     God's redemption of men through Jesus Christ is the theme of the Bible.  In the Old Testament the sacrifices and prophecies point to One who was coming.  In the Gospels we see that the Coming One had arrived and that He died so men could be saved from sin through faith in Him.  The Epistles (another name for "Letters") have the theme "Someone has come; live for Him."  Revelation tells us that Jesus Christ is the One who is coming

again.

     Read the following scriptures and write the main ideas.

     1.  II Timothy 3:16

     2.  Luke 24:25-27

3.      John 5:39

     "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become 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."  II Timothy 3:14,15 

You may know a lot of things.  But until you know "the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation," you don't know the most important book in the world.

 I.  Why We Should Study the Bible.

A.  What can knowledge of the Scriptures give?  II Tim.3:15

B.  How should we handle the word of truth?  II Tim. 2:15

C.  From II Timothy 3:16 answer the following questions:

1.  What is "God-breathed"  (inspired)?

2.  Scripture is useful for:

a.

b.

c.

d.

Now go back and write a definition of each from the dictionary.

D.  If we hear and practice the the words of Jesus we can be compared to a man who

      _________________________________.  (Matthew 7:24,25)  If we do not know the words of Jesus, how can we act upon them?        

E.   By what will we be judged on the last day?  John 12:48   

II.  Correctly Handling the Word of God

     "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but     men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."  II Peter 1:20,21    

     Since Scripture is a communication from God, we need to understand what He was saying.  It is not sufficient to say, "Well, this is what I feel about this scripture!"  The only  accurate message is the message God intended.

                              STEPS FOR UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE

     Apply these rules to any passage that you wish to understand.  (Beside some of the following questions there are sample verses given to illustrate the rule.)

1.  Which covenant (old or new) is the passage in?  Exodus 20:8

2. Who is speaking or writing, and in what capacity?  That is, is someone speaking on his own authority or God's?  John 4:20

3. What is the context?  (What is the subject of the surrounding text?  It is not likely that the author made an abrupt change in topic without some hint of doing so.)  In John 6:35-40, what event took place that the subject would be bread?  John 6:9-11

4.  To whom is the author speaking?  (To the apostles, Moses, God, all Christians, some other individual, or to the Israelite nation?)  Is John 14:26 directed to all Christians or just the apostles?

5.  What is the purpose of the written or spoken message?  (Sometimes this is plainly stated and sometimes it is not.)

6.  What cultural, geographic and historical gaps need to be bridged?  Was there anything different in that culture that would affect my understanding of the text?  Where were these cities?  Where did these events take place?  What was the political climate at that time?  In Luke 23:1,2 what tension was created by Jesus claiming to be a king?

7.  What is actually said?

     Problems: 

a.  What was the meaning of the words at the time of writing?  ("Lord" for  instance.)

b.  What or who is the subject of the sentence?  In Acts 1:17, is the "he" Jesus or Judas?

8.   Is the language literal or figurative or both?  (Use the context and other passages to compare. Take literally if possible.)  Luke 21:20, literal armies or figurative ones?

9.   What is said on the subject elsewhere in scripture?  Hebrews 4:12 and Ephesians 6:17 help in understanding the "sword of the Spirit."  What is the sword of the Spirit? 

10. What is the original meaning?  This can be done only in light of the foregoing investigations.  Only when we seek and find this can we say we understand the passage and apply it.  Matthew 7:6 combines this rule with several rules.

11. What does this passage mean to me?

Does it contain one or more of the following:  (Obtain your anwers from the verses below