Part 1
One of the most foundational truths that we, as Christians, must always remember is that the Bible is sufficient, it is enough. The Bible ground zero in our fight for both our individual and corporate spiritual survival.
Part 2
Tragically, the Christian landscape is cluttered with cheap substitutes for Scripture. And many professing Christians believe the Bible is not enough, even though they may never say that out loud. Friend, what do you believe about the sufficiency of the Bible?
Part 3
Sadly, many professing Christians believe that God is just like us; therefore, many have misunderstood, or even missed altogether, the truth that God alone is great. As Christians, we must recapture, understand, and embrace God’s greatness. But we must do so by searching the Scriptures to develop a biblical view of God.
Part 4
The Bible teaches that it is God alone who is great. He is unmatched and unrivaled, meaning there is no one like Him. This is the consistent testimony of Scripture and such a vital truth that we as Christians must embrace and champion. It is God’s greatness that is the foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Part 5
To discover the meaning and message of the Bible, you must be committed to reading and studying it. And when you do, you will come to understand the grand story of Scripture: God is redeeming a people by His Son, Jesus Christ, for His Son, to the praise of His own glory. And John chapter 17 gives us a glimpse of that great story.
Part 6
The great story and theme of the Bible is that God is redeeming a people, by His Son, for His Son, to His own glory. Friend, are you one of God’s redeemed? Have you been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ? The Bible teaches that the Eternal Son of God came into the world to accomplish salvation for His people—and He did so for the glory of God.
Part 7
The Bible speaks often about two great truths: sovereignty and providence. For Christians, we have to understand that our lives must be anchored to these doctrines, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Part 8
God’s sovereignty and providence go hand-in-hand, and it is vital that every Christian know the Bible’s teaching on such doctrines and live in light of such key truths. Scripture teaches that not only does God preserve all the things that He created, but He also governs all the things to ensure that the purposes for which He created them are in fact accomplished.
Part 9
Sadly, there are many misconceptions about salvation and how God saves a sinner who is dead in their trespasses and sins. But Scripture is clear that salvation, from beginning to end, is a might work of the Triune God: it was decreed by the Father, accomplished by the Son, and applied by the Spirit.
Part 10
The knowledge of God’s sovereignty in salvation shouldn’t steer us away from evangelizing but should drive, motivate, and compel our evangelism because God uses means to save people. Said this way, in salvation, God intends to use His word and people to sow the seed of the gospel to draw sinners to Himself.
Part 11
It has been said that understanding our union with Christ is crucial to the Christian life. The Bible teaches that union with Christ is a spiritual union between Jesus and the redeemed, where He is their supreme source in this life. This is best pictured when Jesus says that He is the vine and we, as Christians, are the branches.
Part 12
The Bible teaches that every Christian is in union with Christ. This great theological reality has many applications for the Christian life. Our union with Christ encourages and promotes sanctification, which is a slow and steady increase in holiness and Christlikeness.
Part 13
The New Testament describes Jesus Christ as the rightful owner of every Christian, which means not only that He created us but that He also redeemed us by His blood. He also sustains us and is our ultimate and highest authority in our lives.
Part 14
Obeying Jesus as Lord is a necessary consequence of salvation. This simply means that the person who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord will walk in obedience to His commands. Of course, this does not mean that he will do so perfectly, but the pattern of his life must be one that loves to obey his Lord and Savior.
Part 15
How can a man be made right before God? Friend, do you know the answer to that question? And not just the answer, but the biblical answer? Theologians call the answer to this question the doctrine of justification.
Part 16
The doctrine of justification is a magnificent exchange where the Lord Jesus Christ gets the blame for my sin and I get the credit for His obedience. He gets my declaration of guilt, and I get His declaration of righteousness. On the cross, He suffered the punishment for my sin and I received the reward for His obedience.
Part 17
The Parable of the Soils, also known as the Parable of the Sower, is a vitally important parable that describes four responses that people give after hearing about the good news of Jesus Christ. But according to Jesus, this parable is also key because it is the foundation on which all His other parables rest.
Part 18
Jesus’ parable of the soils is a unique parable that describes four responses to the gospel message. But it is interesting that three of the four responses are favorable to the gospel and two of those responses appear to be genuine salvation but, over time, prove not to be. The question is: is your profession of Christ merely in appearance or do you have true salvation in Jesus Christ?
Part 19
After repenting and believing in Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that you are now on the road or path of sanctification. What is equally true is that sanctification is not optional—our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, requires it of every Christian. Sadly, however, this is another key truth that today’s church has largely forgotten but that we, as Christians, must always remember.
Part 20
The Bible teaches that Christians must put forth maximum effort in pursuing godliness or holiness. Theologians call this pursuit and subsequent change sanctification. But sanctification isn’t an abstract doctrine but rather a concerted effort to identify and mortify sin and put on the opposite biblical virtue. At the same time, the Christian must pray to the Lord for His Spirit to change the heart.
Part 21
Since Genesis 3 and the Garden of Eden, Satan has been relentlessly attacking God’s Word, trying to discredit it in any way possible. Today, the Bible is still under attack by Satan himself, particularly as he seeks to dismantle the inerrancy of Scripture. Unfortunately, many professing Christians have sided with Satan and teach that the Bible does have errors.
Part 22
The doctrine of inerrancy is a crucial doctrine that has largely been forgotten in the professing Christian world today. Sadly, many have sided with liberal theology, which teaches the Bible isn’t God-breathed and that it includes many errors. But how should Bible-believing Christians respond to these attacks? Pastor Tom considers three primary lines of argument for biblical inerrancy.
Part 23
What is expository preaching and should all preachers commit to this kind of approach? Sadly, topical and thematical sermons dominate the pulpit today. Although there is a place for that type of approach, expository preaching, however, is the biblical way. The truth is, expository preaching has been foundational in the life of the church for centuries, which is why it needs to dominate our pulpits today.
Part 24
What are the biblical arguments for expository preaching? The Bible is clear both in the Old and New Testaments that preaching and teaching God’s words verse-by-verse through books of the Bible is foundational and the pattern of God’s people. Unfortunately, this type of preaching has been abandoned by the church and substituted with inferior models and patterns.
Part 25
Sadly, church attendance, church membership, and even church involvement have largely been forgotten in today’s world. In fact, many look at Christ’s church in hopes of getting something out of it rather than looking to serve and worship Christ with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Part 26
The New Testament teaches that Christians are a part of a local church and make it their priority—that is the overwhelming pattern. So once Christians have found a biblical church, what are they to do there? The Bible teaches that Christians are to be engaged in corporate worship, serving, and fellowship.
Part 27
It is common in Christian circles today to passively acknowledge the reality of Jesus’ second coming. If you examine the sermons of today’s contemporary church, if you look at the books that are published, and if you listen to the prayers that are prayed, you will find that the church has largely forgotten the reality of the second coming.
Part 28
The Bible teaches that on an appointed day in the future, Jesus Christ will return to the earth to establish a kingdom and rule with His people. In light of that reality, the Bible calls all Christians to live in a constant state of readiness, to keep watching and waiting for Christ to return while we carry out the New Testament duties He’s assigned to every Christian and every local church.
Part 29
One of the most, if not the most, difficult doctrines in all of Scripture is the doctrine of hell. But, as Christians, we can’t allow its difficulty to deter us from reading and studying all that Scripture has to say about it. And we can’t allow unbiblical ideas or concepts to be substitutes for it.
Part 30
The Bible teaches that the doctrine of hell is not a subject to be ignored but one that needs careful attention and study. And Scripture also teaches that the doctrine of hell is more than just a theological topic—in fact, there are many applications that can be drawn from a careful study of hell.
Part 31
According to Scripture, work is a divine gift and calling that should be embraced and never ignored. In fact, the Bible teaches that work existed before the fall of man and will even exist in the new heaven and new earth. As Christians, we need to understand the theology of work so we can work hard for the glory of Christ and God the Father.
Part 32
The Bible speaks often about work, particularly that God’s people must work hard for His glory. In reality, work is one of the major activities of life, and, as Christians, we need to use that time and our efforts to honor our God and Father. As Christians, we must approach work with a vastly different perspective than that of the unbelieving world.
Part 33
The common human perception of heaven—apart from Scripture—bears almost no resemblance to what the Bible teaches. The common view is a caricature of the real biblical heaven, described in the New Testament. The Bible teaches that the Christians’ eternal home will be a new earth remarkably like the one on which we live.
Part 34
The book of Revelation gives a detailed description of what the new heaven and earth will be like for all those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ. It is clear that there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, trials, or death. But more than that, the Bible teaches that believers will spend eternity in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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