Baptism Training - Part 1
What Do followers Of Christ Believe?
•God and Satan
As a follower of Christ we believe there is only one God who exists as three distinct persons called the Holy Trinity – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to die for our sins and to bring the gift of eternal life to everyone who believes His
name (John 3:16). Colossians 1:15 says:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
We know that Jesus, obeying the will of the Father, died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead on the third day. We know that after Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven, He sent His Spirit to live with us and in us as an advocate and guide to show us God’s will for our lives (John 14:16-17). 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16 goes into more detail and we see just how important the Holy Spirit is. Starting in verse 11 Paul asks:
“who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of the person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by
God.”
Pause and let that sink in.
How awesome is it to know that we have access to God’s thoughts through His own Spirit, whom He gives freely to all of His children!
As a believer we know that when we refer to God, we are referring to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is something that is very important to keep in mind as you grow your faith. For a more in-depth look at the Trinity and answers to some common questions, check out this great resource.
Satan is definitely not fun to talk or think about, but the fact is that he is real. Being able to acknowledge his existence in a healthy way and understand how he attacks and impacts your life is very important for you as you move forward in your faith journey. Satan’s sole purpose is to keep that from happening.
John 10:10 says:
Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
Nothing good comes from him and he is very crafty with the way that he tempts us. You may have heard the quote “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he doesn’t exist.” This isn’t far from the truth.
As human beings, we often struggle with and sometimes accept sin in our lives as something that is just part of who we are. We forget that our identity is in Christ, not in the sin that we struggle with. This comes, at least in part, from a failure to acknowledge that there is an enemy, who wants to push us away from God.
Sometimes we don’t realize it’s happening until we’ve gone so far we don’t feel like there is any going back, which is another method the devil uses. He doesn’t hit us with the big stuff right away because he knows we won’t go for it. Satan pushes us towards destruction in small steps.
For example: He knows that a good husband won’t just go out and cheat on his wife on a whim, but he might successfully tempt the husband to watch something on TV that he shouldn’t watch. Once he gets comfortable there, it might escalate to pornography. Then once he is comfortable with that, it might escalate to a gentlemen’s club and before the husband knows it, his marriage has crumbled as a result of something he never thought he would do.
The devil takes sin, makes it look appealing and pleasurable and then uses it to steal our joy, kill our relationship with God, and destroy our lives.
•SIN
Sin separates us from God – eternally and in this life.
Isaiah 59:2 shows that sin separates us from God relationally. He still loves us and pursues us, but when we choose to sin, it impacts our relationship with God. We may forfeit some blessings and we usually have to face some consequences, as a result of our sin.
So how do we combat this?
The first step is to hate the sin in our lives the way that God hates the sin in our lives. John Piper said that to truly come to a place where you can hate the sin in your life, you must first understand what the “ultimate essence of evil” is. In other words, what is at the root of all sin? The answer is surprisingly simple!
The “ultimate essence of evil” is preferring ANYTHING over God.
Isn’t it true that anytime we do something wrong, it is out of selfish ambition? We might try to convince ourselves that this isn’t the case, but ultimately we saw what God’s will was and then chose something else. We were created to put God’s glory on display to the people around us, who don’t know him yet. We often
get sidetracked though by what we want (regardless of what God wants) and what we want to do.
We spend so much time thinking, planning, and preparing for the future here on Earth that we forget there is an eternity to follow. While it isn’t wrong to plan for the future, in fact the Bible says it is wise (Proverbs 16:1-4, Proverbs 6:6-8), we must plan with an eternal perspective remembering that where we spend our
eternity is based on how we live now.
There is a great illustration for this, as well as the importance of keeping an eternal perspective that has helped many understand this concept.
Pause here and check out this short clip.
•God and Satan
As a follower of Christ we believe there is only one God who exists as three distinct persons called the Holy Trinity – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We believe that God the Father sent his Son, Jesus, into the world to die for our sins and to bring the gift of eternal life to everyone who believes His
name (John 3:16). Colossians 1:15 says:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”
We know that Jesus, obeying the will of the Father, died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead on the third day. We know that after Jesus was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven, He sent His Spirit to live with us and in us as an advocate and guide to show us God’s will for our lives (John 14:16-17). 1 Corinthians 2: 6-16 goes into more detail and we see just how important the Holy Spirit is. Starting in verse 11 Paul asks:
“who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of the person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by
God.”
Pause and let that sink in.
How awesome is it to know that we have access to God’s thoughts through His own Spirit, whom He gives freely to all of His children!
As a believer we know that when we refer to God, we are referring to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is something that is very important to keep in mind as you grow your faith. For a more in-depth look at the Trinity and answers to some common questions, check out this great resource.
Satan is definitely not fun to talk or think about, but the fact is that he is real. Being able to acknowledge his existence in a healthy way and understand how he attacks and impacts your life is very important for you as you move forward in your faith journey. Satan’s sole purpose is to keep that from happening.
John 10:10 says:
Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
Nothing good comes from him and he is very crafty with the way that he tempts us. You may have heard the quote “the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he doesn’t exist.” This isn’t far from the truth.
As human beings, we often struggle with and sometimes accept sin in our lives as something that is just part of who we are. We forget that our identity is in Christ, not in the sin that we struggle with. This comes, at least in part, from a failure to acknowledge that there is an enemy, who wants to push us away from God.
Sometimes we don’t realize it’s happening until we’ve gone so far we don’t feel like there is any going back, which is another method the devil uses. He doesn’t hit us with the big stuff right away because he knows we won’t go for it. Satan pushes us towards destruction in small steps.
For example: He knows that a good husband won’t just go out and cheat on his wife on a whim, but he might successfully tempt the husband to watch something on TV that he shouldn’t watch. Once he gets comfortable there, it might escalate to pornography. Then once he is comfortable with that, it might escalate to a gentlemen’s club and before the husband knows it, his marriage has crumbled as a result of something he never thought he would do.
The devil takes sin, makes it look appealing and pleasurable and then uses it to steal our joy, kill our relationship with God, and destroy our lives.
•SIN
Sin separates us from God – eternally and in this life.
Isaiah 59:2 shows that sin separates us from God relationally. He still loves us and pursues us, but when we choose to sin, it impacts our relationship with God. We may forfeit some blessings and we usually have to face some consequences, as a result of our sin.
So how do we combat this?
The first step is to hate the sin in our lives the way that God hates the sin in our lives. John Piper said that to truly come to a place where you can hate the sin in your life, you must first understand what the “ultimate essence of evil” is. In other words, what is at the root of all sin? The answer is surprisingly simple!
The “ultimate essence of evil” is preferring ANYTHING over God.
Isn’t it true that anytime we do something wrong, it is out of selfish ambition? We might try to convince ourselves that this isn’t the case, but ultimately we saw what God’s will was and then chose something else. We were created to put God’s glory on display to the people around us, who don’t know him yet. We often
get sidetracked though by what we want (regardless of what God wants) and what we want to do.
We spend so much time thinking, planning, and preparing for the future here on Earth that we forget there is an eternity to follow. While it isn’t wrong to plan for the future, in fact the Bible says it is wise (Proverbs 16:1-4, Proverbs 6:6-8), we must plan with an eternal perspective remembering that where we spend our
eternity is based on how we live now.
There is a great illustration for this, as well as the importance of keeping an eternal perspective that has helped many understand this concept.
Pause here and check out this short clip.
• SO WHY IS SIN SUCH A STRUGGLE?
The reason is because we are born with a sinful nature. This is the curse that came out of the sin of Adam and Eve. Verses in scripture like Psalm 51:5 and Ephesians 2:2-3 make this clear. There are even several passages in the Bible that call us slaves to sin. For example, Romans 6:20 says we were “slaves to sin, free from the control of righteousness.”
To look at it in practical terms, think about what it takes to raise a child. Nobody has to teach a child to be selfish, to take things that don’t belong to them, to lie, or lash out in anger. Those things all come naturally. Instead children have to be taught to share, ask for something before they take it, to be honest even when it might get them in trouble, and love and treat others the way they would want to be treated. Sin is something we are all born with and we all struggle with it in different ways. For some it is gossip or lying and for others it may be addiction or sexual immorality, but at the end of the day the result is the same.
Sin pulls us away from the loving God who wants to draw us near to him.
Romans 6:23 says the wages of (payment for) sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what does this gift look like and how does it apply to us now? We will break that down in the second part of our baptism training.
You’re one step closer to your special day... The first part of your baptism training is almost complete!
The reason is because we are born with a sinful nature. This is the curse that came out of the sin of Adam and Eve. Verses in scripture like Psalm 51:5 and Ephesians 2:2-3 make this clear. There are even several passages in the Bible that call us slaves to sin. For example, Romans 6:20 says we were “slaves to sin, free from the control of righteousness.”
To look at it in practical terms, think about what it takes to raise a child. Nobody has to teach a child to be selfish, to take things that don’t belong to them, to lie, or lash out in anger. Those things all come naturally. Instead children have to be taught to share, ask for something before they take it, to be honest even when it might get them in trouble, and love and treat others the way they would want to be treated. Sin is something we are all born with and we all struggle with it in different ways. For some it is gossip or lying and for others it may be addiction or sexual immorality, but at the end of the day the result is the same.
Sin pulls us away from the loving God who wants to draw us near to him.
Romans 6:23 says the wages of (payment for) sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So what does this gift look like and how does it apply to us now? We will break that down in the second part of our baptism training.
You’re one step closer to your special day... The first part of your baptism training is almost complete!