WHAT WE BELIEVE
1. Many religious groups have something known as a creed.
2. The dictionary says a creed is:
3. “A brief statement of religious
belief; [or] a confession of faith.”
4. “A specific statement of this kind is accepted as
authoritative by a church.”
THE NEW TESTAMENT DOES NOT
CONTAIN ANY CREEDS. IT DOES, HOWEVER,
HAVE THE WORD “BELIEVE.” IN MANY
PASSAGES THIS WORD IS ASSOCIATED WITH THINGS BELIEVED BY THE FIRST CHRISTIANS.
1. This morning we want to look at some of the beliefs
held by Christians who lived by the NT.
2. The purpose for doing this is to see from yet
another angle who Christians are.
3. Christians are people who believe in certain things.
4. Our beginning point is found in Heb. 11:6.
A. All belief systems have what might be called “core”
beliefs.
B. This is probably the intent of religious creeds.
C. The New Testament does not present us with “core”
beliefs.
D. It present us with facts
and truth which we are to believe and obey.
E. One truthful fact is in Heb. 11.
F. If you have found verse 6, let’s look at it together
– READ.
5. A Christian is someone who believes in God.
6. We do not “hope” that God exists or treat God’s
existence as “very probable.”
7. We believe that He truly exists.
8. I recently read about Stephen Wolfram, a man who
earned his PhD by the age of 20.
9. He started to teach at Caltech when he was 21. He is a leading expert in computer science.
10. He has come to the conclusion that the universe is
like a giant but simple computer.
11. He is not the only person who has this view of what
exists.
12. If what exists is like a giant computer, who
designed it? Computers are made.
13. There are several forms of irrefutable evidence to
prove that God exists.
14. This proof allows and causes Christians to do what
Heb. 11:6 says.
15. A Christian is someone who believes beyond any doubt
that God does exist.
16. Our second reference is found in Mk. 1:15.
17. I am only referring to this passage so if you want
to turn somewhere, please go to Rom. 10.
18. In Mk.
19. A Christian believes in God (Heb. 11:6), but this is
not the end of the belief.
20. The gospel is also in our belief system.
21. The word gospel means “good news.”
22. There are all kinds of good news.
23. Without additional information we would not know
what the good news of the gospel is.
24. Rom. 10 helps define the gospel.
A. If you have found this chapter let’s look at verse 9
– READ.
B. In the first part of this verse we read about Jesus.
C. A Christian is someone who believes in Jesus.
D. That is, we accept Him as someone who really lived.
E. Jesus was as historical as Abraham Lincoln, though
we have never personally seen them.
F. The Christian also recognizes and accepts the Lord’s
position.
G. In Rom. 10:9 Paul said He is “Lord.”
H. In addition to accepting these two items, there is a
third belief in this verse.
I. The Christian believes Jesus was raised from the
dead.
25. If we want to sum up the gospel message (Mk.
26. A Christian believes Jesus came,
He died, was raised, and now is the savior of the world.
27. Those who are Christians are fully persuaded about
each of these things.
28. We believe God exists (Heb. 11:6), and that He has
enacted a plan to save man (
29. We further believe, because the Bible specifically
says so, this plan must be accepted as true.
30. In Lk.
31. He said Satan tries to keep people from believing
the gospel.
32. Jesus compared the devil’s work to seed which is
planted on unproductive ground.
33. Here is how the verse reads – READ Verse 12.
34. In this parable Jesus joined belief with salvation.
35. If we do not believe we cannot be saved.
36. Christians therefore believe in the need to believe.
A. We do not a creed to tell us what to believe.
B. God’s word tells us what to believe.
C. We need to believe in God, Jesus,
the Lord’s coming to the earth, death, burial, and resurrection.
WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHO CHRISTIANS ARE, WE FIND THEY ARE PEOPLE WHO AGREE UPON AND TREASURE IN THEIR HEARTS IN ALL THE ITEMS JUST MENTIONED.
A. These beliefs are important (essential), but how are they created?
B. The religious world uses a variety of techniques to help people believe.
C. God has His own way to create and promote belief.
D. In
Jn.
E. These words became what we know as the Bible.
F. God’s word is the basis for creating faith as well as telling us what to believe.
G. In
fact, in
2. God has told us what we are to believe and how to create an acceptable level of faith.
3. God has also demonstrated how this works.
4. Let’s look at Acts 8.
A. There was a man who was going home.
B. He had finished with his worship so he began a long trip back to where he had come from.
C. On the way back he was reading the scriptures.
D. He was having some difficulties so God sent a preacher to help him.
5. The verse we want is 37 – READ.
6. A preacher said this man needed to believe.
7. If he wanted to become a Christian there were some facts he needed to accept.
8. How was this believe created?
9. Verse 35 says it came through preaching/teaching/a message from the “Scriptures.”
A. The unsaved man needed to believe in certain things.
B. He already believed in God because he had been at worship (verse 27).
C. He believed some of what was necessary but he still needed more information.
10. This man believed in the very way
described by Rom.
11. God tells us belief is necessary, He tells us what to believe, and He shows us how it is done in Acts 8.
THOSE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS HAVE THE SAME BELIEFS AS THE EUNUCH IN ACTS 8 BECAUSE CERTAIN BELIEFS BEFORE SOMEONE CAN BECOME A CHRISTIAN.
A. The beliefs stated this morning are important, but they are not the total picture.
B.
In Acts
12. This passage says Christians believe they will be “saved through the grace of Jesus.”
13. I have had people allege that within the churches of Christ we do not believe in grace.
14. We have been charged with believing in “water salvation.”
15. It has been said that we believe in salvation by works and not by grace.
16. The Bible says Christians believe in salvation by grace. This truth is clearly stated.
17. The man in Acts 8 was saved by grace.
18. Salvation by grace did not interfere with his need to obey God’s commands.
19. One of heaven’s commands is
baptism for the remission of sins (Acts
20. Baptism is necessary because it brings an unsaved person into Christ and unites us with Him.
21. Baptism is the final act which allows us to access the God’s grace.
22. When we think about the beliefs of Christians, we must say we believe we are saved by grace.
23. We also believe what we find in other parts of the Bible.
24. Salvation by grace includes being obedient to God’s commands.
25. Another belief with respect to salvation is equality.
26. Christians believe there is “no
distinction” in Christ (Rom.
A. No matter who we are, we are on equal footing in the church.
B. We do not believe this because it was decreed by some human authority.
C. This is taught in God’s word and we accept it and practice it as written.
D. The equality under the New Testament has never meant sameness in roles.
E. A company may have an equality policy but not everyone is going to be the CEO.
F.
Christians believe that each person who is saved has
equal standing in the church, but
not everyone has the same function.
27. Christians also have a belief regarding the next life.
28. Rom. 6:8 says we believe we shall “live with Him.”
29. Christians believe in heaven and plan on being there.
30. This is a hope which is so “sure
and steadfast” it “anchors the soul” (Heb.
31. Christians are so sure of their convictions their faith is a stabilizing force in their lives.
32. This stability is partly based upon a point made to Timothy.
33. In 1 Tim. 4:3 Paul spoke of “believing and knowing the truth.”
A. Who is a Christian?
B. The child of God is someone who knows and believes the truth.
C. A Christian is fully persuaded he or she has the information that is right and reliable.
D. We believe we have found the right way to God and the next life.
34. There are a lot of others in the world who believe they have this truth.
35. We are very aware of the fact that it is not enough to believe we have the truth.
36. We need to know beyond any doubt that we have the truth.
37. This knowledge can be attained.
38. Earlier I spoke of scientists who have compared the universe to a giant but simple computer.
39. Computers are designed. We can therefore look for a designer (creator) concerning our world.
40. We can then see if He has communicated with man. This has been done.
41. The Creator has communicated, and we can prove that His message is contained in the Bible.
42. Christians believe this and thus follow the scriptures.
43. This word is powerful.
44. 1 Thess.
45. Christians are people who believe God’s word works in their lives.
46. The word “believe” points to many of the truths Christians know and abide by.
47. Those who are Christians believe in all the things described in this lesson.
48. If we are a Christian, the items listed this morning are points we need to believe and treasure.
49. When someone says, “What do you believe?” we can hold up a copy of the New Testament.
50. This is our belief manual—nothing more and nothing less.
51. For those who are not Christians, the beliefs given this morning can be proven.
52. Not only can they be proven, they need to be accepted.
53. If they are not, our creator says that we will be separated from Him in eternity.
54. If you do not believe in what has been described and live accordingly, a single question comes to mind: Why?