This lesson will include the questions, answers, and commentary for eighteen through thirty of this Discipleship. This third lesson answers questions about what sin is and the consequences of sin, and the second person of the trinity, Jesus, as per the Holy Bible.
Christian Discipleship Lesson Three
QUESTION 18: WHAT IS SIN?
Answer: Sin is disobedience of the revealed will of God, which teaches that we are to act in perfect holiness from a heart of faith to the glory of God. Scripture: 1 John 3:4; Romans 5:13; 14:23; 1 Peter 1:16; Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Sin is anything contrary to God’s will, including thoughts and deeds. Being a Christian starts with a conversion. In other words, we are born-again. We choose to serve Christ instead of the world or ourselves. We repent of our past sins, are forgiven, and then strive to walk the narrow path described in scripture. We can’t walk the path perfectly from the start. Our journey starts at our conversion, and as we read and study God’s Word, we become better at following God’s will and Christ’s example. Sin is anything that diverts us from God’s perfect will.
QUESTION 19: WHAT WAS THE SIN OF OUR FIRST PARENTS THAT CAUSED THE FALL FROM THE SITUATION IN WHICH THEY WERE CREATED?
Answer: The sin of our first parents was eating the forbidden fruit. Scripture: Genesis 3:6, 12, 13.
The forbidden fruit can be symbolic, meaning that Adam and Eve sought knowledge that was forbidden to them, or literal; they ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17. I believe it was literal, as was the tree of life, and our first parents ate the fruit seeking forbidden knowledge. They chose their own will instead of God’s will, which is the definition of sin. Their situation of living in a perfect world came to an end due to the specific sin of eating the forbidden fruit that imparted forbidden knowledge.
QUESTION 20: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM’S FIRST SIN?
Answer: All mankind descended from Adam, so all people sinned in him and fell with him in his first sin. Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12, 18-19.
That first sin destroyed the perfection in existence before that first sin. So, all humanity is imperfect and sinful. The entire creation has become flawed or “fallen” because of that first sin. Some would say, “That’s not fair. Why should we be punished for the sin of Adam and Eve?” But in reality, we sin, so we receive punishment for our sins. Sin and the fall of humanity began with Adam and Eve, but we perpetuate sinfulness.
QUESTION 21: INTO WHAT CONDITION DID THE FALL BRING MANKIND?
Answer: The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery. Scripture: Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6; John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14.
We all sin and come short of God’s perfect will. The fall from our state of perfection perpetuates our state of imperfection and sin. Without Christ in our lives, we exist in total depravity and misery.
QUESTION 22: WHAT IS THE SINFULNESS OF THAT CONDITION INTO WHICH ALL MANKIND HAS FALLEN?
Answer: The sinfulness of the condition into which all mankind fell is the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the lack of righteousness, and the corruption of our whole nature. All of this, together with all actual transgressions, which we commit because of this nature. Scripture: Romans 5:19; 3:10; Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 51:5; Matthew 15:19.
Our state of total depravity starts from birth with selfishness due to our absolute dependence. We have to be taught righteousness, or in other words, we have to be taught how to be good, follow God’s will, and care for others. We start as sinners and end as sinners, but our journey as Christians teaches us to love God first, others second, and ourselves last. We are all sinners. Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1, 1 John 1:8.
QUESTION 23: WHAT IS THE MISERY INTO WHICH ALL MANKIND FELL THROUGH ADAM’S FIRST SIN?
Answer: All mankind, after the fall, lost communion with God, are under his anger and curse, and also made accountable to all the miseries of this life. To death itself, and the pains of hell forever. Scripture: Genesis 3:8, 24; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 3:10; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41-46; Psalm 9:17.
That first sin separated us from God. As we perpetuate sin, God has the right and responsibility to have wrath towards humanity. Due to that first sin, we all sin and will die. If we don’t accept Christ as Savior and subsequently give up ourselves and make Christ our Lord, we will end up in hell.
QUESTION 24: DID GOD LEAVE ALL MANKIND TO PERISH IN THE CONDITION OF SIN AND MISERY?
Answer: God, out of his loving-kindness, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace. To deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer. Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 5:21; 8:29-30; 9:11-12; 11:5-7; Acts 13:48; Jeremiah 31:33.
God does not abandon us to die and burn in hell. He, from the beginning, had a plan for redemption and salvation. This plan is manifest in His covenant of grace. We are saved by grace alone through Christ alone.
QUESTION 25: WHO IS THE REDEEMER OF GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?
Answer: The only Redeemer of God’s chosen people is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man in two distinct natures and one person, forever. Scripture: Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9.
Jesus paid the price for all our sins. Being the Son of God and the eternal second person of the Godhead, He is both God and man. Only a perfect man could pay the price for humanity’s sins, and only God the Son could receive and erase those sins. Jesus is the only perfect man who has ever existed, and He is God.
QUESTION 26: HOW DID CHRIST, BEING THE SON OF GOD, BECOME MAN?
Answer: Christ, the Son of God, became man by taking himself a physical body and a soul. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and was born of her, yet He was without sin. Scripture: Hebrews 2:14; 4:14; 7:26; Matthew 26:38; John 1:14; 12:27; Luke 1:31, 35; 2:52; Colossians 2:9.
He is also known as the last Adam because He was the second man to be supernaturally given a body of flesh. The Son of God is eternal, but His physical body was supernaturally created. Christ was not born from the union of a man and a woman. Mary was supernaturally impregnated without sexual intercourse, retaining Mary’s virginity and making a living person in Mary’s womb. Since His flesh didn’t come from the union of a man and woman, He was born without a sinful nature.
QUESTION 27: WHAT OFFICES DOES CHRIST PERFORM AS OUR REDEEMER?
Answer: Christ, as our Redeemer, performs the offices of a prophet, a priest, and a king. Both in his condition of humiliation and exaltation. Scripture: Acts 3:22; Hebrews 5:6; Psalm 2:6.
The offices of prophet, priest, and king, are explained in the following answers. As Redeemer, Jesus paid our sin debt. As Christians, we are known by God as those redeemed by Jesus’ sacrifice. Therefore, we become sinless before God and worthy to enter heaven, not because of our righteousness, but because of Jesus’ righteousness imparted to us as saved and born-again believers.
QUESTION 28: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation. Scripture: John 1:18; 14:26; 15:15.
A true prophet provides proper hermeneutics and exegesis of God’s Holy Word. Jesus Christ is the Word manifest as flesh. John 1:1-3. Therefore, Christ reveals or preaches the entire will of God to us for salvation.
Please note that a prophet shares the whole counsel of God’s Holy Bible. A prophet is not someone who “hears a word from God” or has a vision or a dream unless that word, vision, or dream reconciles with the Bible. Anyone professing a “New word or prophecy from God” is lying, and we should disregard it as false teaching, heretical, and an abomination.
QUESTION 29: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A PRIEST?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a priest by once offering himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and to reconcile us to God. And also, by making continual intercession for us before God. Scripture: 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 2: 17; 7:25; 9:28; Ephesians 5:2; Romans 8:34.
Christ died for us because He was the only sacrifice worthy to reconcile us to our perfect God. Yet we are still sinners, so Christ continually intercedes on our behalf to sustain our relationship with God. We are indeed nothing without Christ and his once and forever redemptive power.
QUESTION 30: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A KING?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies. Scripture: Psalm 110:1-2; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:32-33; 1 Corinthians 15:25.
When we accept Christ as Savior, we are to willingly and joyfully relinquish our control. We are to accept Jesus’ Lordship in our lives. Our knowledge of scripture further sustains His Lordship. We can’t follow His Lordship if we don’t know what He wants. So, we need to read and study the Holy Bible. 2 Timothy 2:15. Through our knowledge of scripture, we can more completely give ourselves up to Jesus’ Lordship as our Redeemer and King.
Christian Discipleship Lesson Three
I’m not perfect, and my doctrine and theology may need an occasional adjustment as I continue to learn. That’s why I strongly advocate that you read and study God’s Word for yourself in addition to sitting under a Biblical pastor. Do your research for a closer and more accurate walk with God, and always be open to correction as the Holy Spirit leads.
Christian Discipleship
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