Beginning Bible Doctrines

Now that you have believed in Jesus Christ, God wants you to:

1. Get to know Him through the Bible.
2. Talk with Him through prayer.
3. Become actively involved in a Bible teaching local church.

The objective of this booklet is to introduce beginning Bible doctrines that contribute to initial growth in the Christian life.

Divine Attributes

1. God is a spirit person (John 4:23-24; Genesis 1:26).  He thinks (Psalm 139:1-6), decides (Psalm 115:3), and responds (Psalm 103:6-14).
2. The nature of God is composed of intrinsic attributes or characteristics.  The attributes of God explain God to man.
3. The attributes of God are equally shared by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4. The attributes are:

Salvation

1.      Salvation is the deliverance from God’s condemnation (John 3:16-18; 1 Timothy 1:15).

2.      God is absolutely righteous. He is holy and perfect (Psalm 99:9; 1 John 1:5).

3.      God created man in His own image. God wants man to believe Him and to serve Him (Genesis 1:27-28; Psalm 8:3-6).

4.      Man rebelled against God and became sinful. All people are sinners and under God’s condemnation (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-7; Isaiah 59:2; Romans 3:9; 6:23).

5.      God provided the righteous substitute, Jesus Christ, God the Son, to be judged instead of man (John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Timothy 1:15).

6.      Salvation is by grace. God freely offers eternal life to man as a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 6:23).

7.      A person accepts God’s gift of salvation by believing (faith) in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation (John 1:12; John 3:16-18; Ephesians 2:8-9).

8.      Man will be judged by God if he refuses to believe on God’s Son to save him (John 3:18; Hebrews 9:27).

Assurance of Salvation

1. Assurance means that the individual believer has
   confidence that he is in the family of God and therefore has eternal life. Assurance is man’s confidence of personal salvation, while eternal security is a fact, whether one has assurance or not. God wants all believers to have assurance of their salvation (1 John 5:13).

2.      The issue in assurance is not how you feel, or whether you have gone forward in some previous meeting, or whether you have signed a decision card, but whether you have ever or you are now trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior
(John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 John 5:13).

3. Primary confidence is based upon what the Bible, the Word of God, says (John 5:24; Hebrews 4:12; 1 John 5:13).
4. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit indwells every believer and bears witness with a believer in his human spirit that he is a child of God in accordance with the Bible (Romans 8:16).

Eternal Security

1.      Security means that when a person believes in Christ as Savior, he can never lose his eternal life. The Bible clearly teaches that once we believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, our eternal destiny is fixed and secure. We are secure in our salvation whether we feel secure or not.

2.      The Bible teaches that the believer is clearly declared to be secure in a number of passages.

§         The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13).

§         The believer is in God’s hand (John 10:28-29).

§         God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).

§         The believer is in the plan of God (Romans 8:28-30).

§         Salvation is by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

§         The believer is a new creation in relationship with Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

§         Jesus, our advocate high priest, saves forever (Hebrews 7:25).

§         Jesus, our advocate high priest, has satisfied every claim against believers (Hebrews 9:24; 1 John 2:2).

3.      Confidence about eternal security allows the believer to concentrate on the Father’s plan for him (2 Timothy 1:8-14).

Position in Christ (Positional Truth)

1.      Positional truth, described by the phrase “in Christ,” means that the believer is in union (unchangeable family relationship) with Jesus Christ (John 14:20; 1 Corinthians 1:2;
2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:2; Philippians 1:1).

2.      This personal union or family relationship begins at the moment a person believes in Jesus Christ as Savior through the baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13;
Galatians 3:26-29; Ephesians 1:1).

3.      Union with Jesus Christ results in each believer being a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; 2 Peter 1:4) with a

§         New relationship with God.

§         New life—God’s kind of life.

§         New capacity—to know God, to fellowship with God, to grow in the Christian life, and to serve God.

§         New means of living.

4.      This position includes the fact that each has retroactively died, arisen, and has been seated with Christ, is currently living with Christ, and has a future destiny with Christ believer
(Romans 6:6-13: Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 2:6-7; Colossians 3:1-4).

5.      Position in the family of God brings many benefits
including:

§         Security (Romans 8:28-39).

§         Spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).

§         Membership in Christ’s body, which is the church
(1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 1:22-23).

§         A plan for each believer’s life (Ephesians 2:10).