Basic Christianity. THE RIGHT APPROACH 1 Basic Christianity God takes the initiative. The Right Approach The Bible reveals a God who, long before it

Basic ChristianityBasic Christianity



THERIGHTAPPROACH

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God takes the initiative.

The Right Approach

The Bible reveals a God who, long before it even occurs to men and women to turn to him, while

they are still lost in darkness and sunk in sin, takes the initiative,

rises from his throne, lays aside his glory,and stoops to seek until he finds them.


God takes the initiative.God makes himself known to us.

Right The Approach

God has spoken. He has taken the initiative to make himself known. The Christian concept of revelation is essentially reasonable. The idea is that God has ‘unveiled’ to

our minds what would otherwise have been hidden from them.


God takes the initiativeGod makes himself known to us.But it isn’t enough!

The Right Approach

It isn’t just that we are ignorant but also that we are sinful. This is why it isn’t enough for God simply to reveal himself to us and dispel our ignorance. He

must also take action to save us from our sins.


God takes the initiativeGod makes himself known to us.But it isn’t enough!How to look for God and find him.

The Right Approach

God keeps his promises. He honours all earnest searching. He rewards all honest seekers. The

undertaking given by Jesus is very clear: ‘Seek and you will find.’



WHO CHRIST IS:The Claimsof Christ

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Begin with Christ.

The Claims of Christ

Who Christ is and what he has done are the rock upon which the Christian religion is built.

If he was not who he said he was, and if he did not do what he said he had come to do, then the

foundation is undermined and the whole thing will collapse.


Begin with Christ.Trust the Gospels.

We don’t need at this point to go along with the Christian view and accept the Gospels as the

inspired Word of God. All we need to do is take them seriously as the undeniably historical

documents that they are.



Begin with Christ.Trust the Gospels.Admire... and worship.

We are persuaded that Jesus was a historical person who possessed two distinct and perfect

natures, one divine and one human, and that this makes him absolutely and for ever unique. In short,

we believe him to be worthy not just of our admiration but also of our worship.



Begin with Christ.Trust the Gospels.Admire... and worship.Jesus: “It’s all about me”.

This self-centredness of the teaching of Jesus immediately sets him apart from the other great

religious teachers of the world. They point people away from themselves, saying, ‘That is the truth, so far as I understand it; follow that.’ Jesus says, ‘I am

the truth; follow me.’



Begin with Christ.Trust the Gospels.Admire... and worship.Jesus: “It’s all about me”.Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God.

He is not just another signpost, but the destination to which the signposts have led.



Begin with Christ.Trust the Gospels.Admire... and worship.Jesus: “It’s all about me”.Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God.Just ‘a great teacher’?

We simply can’t go on treating Jesus as a great teacher if he was completely mistaken in one of the

chief subjects of his teaching—himself.




WHO CHRIST IS:The Characterof Christ

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The greatest man who has ever lived?

The Character of Christ

It’s not simply that he is better than others, nor even that he is the best human being who has ever lived, but that he is good—good with the absolute

goodness of God.


The greatest man who has ever lived?The man who never did anything wrong?

Everyone else was a lost sheep; he had come as the Good Shepherd to seek and to save them.

Everyone else was sick with the disease of sin;he was the doctor who had come to heal them.

Everyone else was trapped in the darkness of sin and ignorance; he was the light of the world.



The greatest man who has ever lived?The man who never did anything wrong? What his friends thought about this.

Peter first describes Jesus as ‘a lamb without blemish or defect’ and then says that he ‘He

committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth’.



The greatest man who has ever lived?The man who never did anything wrong? What his friends thought about this.What his opponents thought about this.

So when Jesus was on trial for his life, his detractors had to hire false witnesses against him. But even then they were unable to agree with one another. In fact, the only charge they could come

up with was not moral but political. Time after time, his court appearances made it clear that he was

blameless.



The greatest man who has ever lived?The man who never did anything wrong? What his friends thought about this.What his opponents thought about this.The character of Jesus.

The moral perfection which was quietly claimed by him, confidently asserted by his friends andreluctantly acknowledged by his enemies,

is clearly shown in the Gospels.



The greatest man who has ever lived?The man who never did anything wrong? What his friends thought about this.What his opponents thought about this.The character of Jesus.Explaining the paradox.

It is this paradox which is so amazing, this combination of the self-centredness of his

teaching and the unself-centredness of his behaviour.




WHO CHRIST IS:The Resurrection of Christ

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What the resurrection of Jesus proves.

The Resurrection of Christ

The argument is not that his resurrection establishes his deity, but that it fits with it. It is only to be expected that a supernatural person

would come to and leave the earth in a supernatural way.


What the resurrection of Jesus proves.Evidence to examine.

We may not feel able to go as far as Thomas Arnold who called the resurrection ‘the best attested fact

in history’, but certainly many impartial investigators have judged the evidence to be

extremely good.



What the resurrection of Jesus proves.Evidence to examine.An empty tomb.

The tomb was empty. The body had gone. There can be no doubt about this fact. The question is

how to explain it.



What the resurrection of Jesus proves.Evidence to examine.An empty tomb.Undisturbed graveclothes.

What did Peter see which made him believe? The story suggests that it was not just the absence of the body, but the presence of the strips of linen

and, in particular, the fact that they were undisturbed.



What the resurrection of Jesus proves.Evidence to examine.An empty tomb.Undisturbed graveclothes.Seeing Jesus.

It is unreasonable to dismiss the appearances of Jesus as hallucinations being experienced by people

with disturbed minds. The only alternative left is that they actually happened. The risen Lord was

seen.



What the resurrection of Jesus proves.Evidence to examine.An empty tomb.Undisturbed graveclothes.Seeing Jesus.A big change.

It was the resurrection which transformed Peter’s fear into courage, and James’ doubt into faith.It was the resurrection which changed Saul the

Pharisee into Paul the apostle.




WHAT WE NEED:The Fact and Nature of Sin

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Talking about sin.

The Fact and Nature of Sin

Sin is an unpopular subject, and Christians are often criticized for going on about it too much.But they only do so because they are realists.

Sin is a fact of human experience.


Talking about sin.Sin - how far it spreads.

‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray,each of us has turned to his own way’, and

‘All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags’.



Talking about sin.Sin - how far it spreads.Sin - what it really is.

It is either an ideal which we fail to reach, or a law which we break. ‘Anyone who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins’, says James. That is the negative aspect. ‘Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness’, says

John. That is the positive aspect.



Talking about sin.Sin - how far it spreads.Sin - what it really is.Using the Ten Commandments.

So much takes place beneath the surface of our lives, in the secret places of our minds, which other

people do not see and which we manage even to conceal from ourselves. But God sees these things.




WHAT WE NEED:The Consequences of Sin

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Sin and God.

The Consequences of Sin

If the curtain which veils the indescribable majesty of God could be drawn aside—even for a moment—

we too would be unable to bear the sight.


Sin and God.Captured into slavery.

It is not so much particular acts or habits which enslave us, but rather the evil infection from which

these spring. This is what lies behind the New Testament

description of us as ‘slaves’.



Sin and God.Captured into slavery.Sin and other people.

Human sin or self-centredness is the cause of all our troubles. This is what brings us into conflict

with each other. If only the spirit of self-assertion could be replaced by the spirit of self-sacrifice, our

conflicts would cease.




WHAT CHRISTHAS DONE:The Death of Christ

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His death - our freedom.

The Death of Christ

Sin caused a separation between us and God; the cross, the crucifixion of Christ, has brought us back

together. Sin made us enemies; the cross has brought peace. Sin created a gulf between us and

God; the cross has bridged it. Sin broke the relationship; the cross has restored it.


His death - our freedom. Why Jesus had to die.

What the Bible teaches concerning the centrality of the cross has been recognized and celebrated by the Christian church from the very beginning. The cross is the symbol of our faith. The Christian faith

is ‘the faith of Christ crucified’. There is no Christianity without the cross.

The Death of Christ


His death - our freedom. Why Jesus had to die.Light from the Old Testament.

The Old Testament sacrifices are a visible symbol which points forward to the sacrifice of Christ.

The Death of Christ


His death - our freedom. Why Jesus had to die.Light from the Old Testament.Just an inspiring example?

An example can stir our imagination, kindle our idealism and strengthen our resolve, but it cannot remove the stains of our past sins, bring peace to

our troubled conscience or restore our relationship with God.

The Death of Christ


His death - our freedom. Why Jesus had to die.Light from the Old Testament.Just an inspiring example?Why can’t God just forgive us?

We are not to think of Jesus Christ as a third party wresting salvation for us from a God who is

unwilling to save. No. The initiative lay with God himself. ‘God was reconciling the world to himself

in Christ.’

The Death of Christ



WHAT CHRISTHAS DONE:The Salvation of Christ

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Forgiveness plus!

The Salvation of Christ

God is as much concerned with our presentand future as with our past.

His plan is first to put right our relationship with him, and then progressively to set us free from our

self-centredness and bring us into harmony with other people.


Forgiveness plus!How to change human nature.

Is it possible to make a sour person sweet, a proud person humble, or a selfish person unselfish? The

Bible declares emphatically that these miracles can take place. It is part of the wonder of the gospel.

Jesus Christ offers to change not only our standing before God but our very nature.



Forgiveness plus!How to change human nature.Transformed by the Holy Spirit.

This is the open secret of how to live as a Christian. It is not about us struggling in vain to become more like Jesus, but about allowing him, by the power of his Spirit, to come and change us from the inside.



Forgiveness plus!How to change human nature.Transformed by the Holy Spirit.Transformed by the church.

The church is the place where we find the new quality of relationship which Christ himself gives to

those who belong to him.




HOW TORESPOND:Counting the Cost

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A costly business.

Counting the Cost

Jesus never concealed the fact that his religion included a demand as well as an offer. Indeed, the

demand was as total as the offer was free. His offer of salvation always brings with it the requirement

that we obey him.


A costly business.Taking orders from above.

Many people think that we can enjoy the benefits of Christ’s salvation without accepting the challenge of his absolute authority. There is no support for such an unbalanced idea in the New Testament.

Counting the Cost


A costly business.Taking orders from above.How to be sure of God’s will.

If you are prepared to do God’s will and listening out for him to reveal what it is,

he will let you know in his own time.

Counting the Cost


A costly business.Taking orders from above.How to be sure of God’s will.Committed for life.

It is only as we see the cross that we become willing to deny ourselves and follow Christ. Our

little crosses are far eclipsed by his. Once we catch a glimpse of the greatness of his love in willingly

suffering such shame and pain for us who deserved nothing but judgment, only one course of action

will be open to us.

Counting the Cost



HOW TORESPOND:Reaching a Decision

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Volunteers only!

Reaching a Decision

We cannot remain neutral. Nor can we just drift into Christianity. Nor can anyone else settle the

matter for us. We must decide for ourselves.


Volunteers only!Like getting married...

Christ can enter, cleanse and forgive you in a matter of seconds, but it will take much longer for

your character to be transformed and shaped to his will.

Reaching a Decision


Volunteers only!Like getting married...Facing up to what it would mean.

There can be no resistance, and no attempt to negotiate our own terms, but rather an

unconditional surrender to the lordship of Christ.

Reaching a Decision



HOW TORESPOND:Being a Christian

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Children of God.

Being a Christian

The Bible clearly distinguishes between the general relationship which God has with the whole human

race as Creator and the special relationship as Father which he establishes with those who are his

new creation through Jesus Christ.


Children of God.Calling God ‘Father’.

God is indeed our Father in heaven, who knows our needs before we ask

and will not fail to give good things to his children.

Being a Christian


Children of God.Calling God ‘Father’.How we can be sure.

The basis of how we know that we are in relationship with God is not how we feel, but the

fact that he says we are.

Being a Christian


Children of God.Calling God ‘Father’.How we can be sure.Christianity in practice.

There are two main areas in whichwe are meant to grow as Christians.

The first is in understandingand the second in holiness.

Being a Christian


Children of God.Calling God ‘Father’.How we can be sure.Christianity in practice.Joining a church.

If we are born again into God’s family, not only has he become our Father but every other believer in the world, whatever their nation or denomination,

has become our brother or sister in Christ.

Being a Christian


Children of God.Calling God ‘Father’.How we can be sure.Christianity in practice.Joining a church.How to make a difference.

Every Christian should be deeply concerned about others. And it is part of our Christian calling to

serve them in whatever ways we can.

Being a Christian


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Basic Christianity. THE RIGHT APPROACH 1 Basic Christianity God takes the initiative. The Right Approach The Bible reveals a God who, long before it