Preface for Lessons 1-15: Dealing with Sin
This is a brief introduction for Lessons 1-15, “Dealing with Sin”, added here to prepare the reader for the significance of these lessons, and for the rest of the course. This will give us a better understanding of the significance of these lessons.
There are two objectives which we address in our Christian life (and in this course). The first is communion with God, also known as fellowship. The second is the building and strengthening of our faith. These are defined, respectively, as fellowship (communion with God)...and maturity (which comes from building up our faith). We talk at length about maturity in later studies. At this point, what we want to understand is the place of fellowship with God in our Christian walk.
Fellowship, simply put, is a happy and peaceful relationship with God, our Father. We will always be His children, but—since we inevitably break His rules, we cause Him to be unhappy with us, just as any father is with His children from time to time. In God’s grace, He has provided a way for us to assuage this momentarily dissonant relationship, thus restoring fellowship. The method He designed for this brings the redeeming work of the cross, whereby our sins were paid for, into our Christian lives. The same way the sacrifice of Christ was used to remove our sins at salvation, it is used to forgive the sins we commit after salvation...if we follow His system.
So...at salvation, all sins were forgiven, but now that we are saved, we must know how to deal with the sins we go on committing. The way God has provided for this is found in the upcoming lessons, which show the solution for sin for believers. This is Technique 1, which, as we will see, is the gate to the fulfillment of all other techniques discussed in later studies.
Fellowship with God is broken by sin, and the reason the first technique is so crucial is that it restores fellowship. Why is this important? That is because, as we will demonstrate in Scripture, we will not be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit if we are not in fellowship with God. Fellowship is the key to everything else we will ever do.
We must be clear. The Holy Spirit always lives in us, but He does not always control us, because when we sin, we truncate, or cut off, the control of the Spirit and turn it over to the sinful nature. The object is to keep the Holy Spirit in control by staying in fellowship. That is what Technique 1 will do.
In conclusion: At salvation we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. This is permanent, and is called our POSITION in Christ, where we are cloaked in the robe of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our ETERNAL standing before God. But we won’t always be controlled by the Spirit. The presence or absence of the control of the Spirit reflects our CONDITION, which is our TEMPORAL standing...or the way we look in time. Our condition will be characterized by either the stain of sin or the righteousness offered by God for our daily lives. This will result in either the control of the Spirit or the control of the sinful nature. When we are in fellowship, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. When we sin and are out of fellowship, the sinful nature will be in charge. Technique 1 tells us how to resolve all of this, to ensure that we stay in fellowship.
You can proceed now to Lessons 1-15, which are excerpts from the course, Bible Basics for Living: Essential Foundations.
This is a brief introduction for Lessons 1-15, “Dealing with Sin”, added here to prepare the reader for the significance of these lessons, and for the rest of the course. This will give us a better understanding of the significance of these lessons.
There are two objectives which we address in our Christian life (and in this course). The first is communion with God, also known as fellowship. The second is the building and strengthening of our faith. These are defined, respectively, as fellowship (communion with God)...and maturity (which comes from building up our faith). We talk at length about maturity in later studies. At this point, what we want to understand is the place of fellowship with God in our Christian walk.
Fellowship, simply put, is a happy and peaceful relationship with God, our Father. We will always be His children, but—since we inevitably break His rules, we cause Him to be unhappy with us, just as any father is with His children from time to time. In God’s grace, He has provided a way for us to assuage this momentarily dissonant relationship, thus restoring fellowship. The method He designed for this brings the redeeming work of the cross, whereby our sins were paid for, into our Christian lives. The same way the sacrifice of Christ was used to remove our sins at salvation, it is used to forgive the sins we commit after salvation...if we follow His system.
So...at salvation, all sins were forgiven, but now that we are saved, we must know how to deal with the sins we go on committing. The way God has provided for this is found in the upcoming lessons, which show the solution for sin for believers. This is Technique 1, which, as we will see, is the gate to the fulfillment of all other techniques discussed in later studies.
Fellowship with God is broken by sin, and the reason the first technique is so crucial is that it restores fellowship. Why is this important? That is because, as we will demonstrate in Scripture, we will not be filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit if we are not in fellowship with God. Fellowship is the key to everything else we will ever do.
We must be clear. The Holy Spirit always lives in us, but He does not always control us, because when we sin, we truncate, or cut off, the control of the Spirit and turn it over to the sinful nature. The object is to keep the Holy Spirit in control by staying in fellowship. That is what Technique 1 will do.
In conclusion: At salvation we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. This is permanent, and is called our POSITION in Christ, where we are cloaked in the robe of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is our ETERNAL standing before God. But we won’t always be controlled by the Spirit. The presence or absence of the control of the Spirit reflects our CONDITION, which is our TEMPORAL standing...or the way we look in time. Our condition will be characterized by either the stain of sin or the righteousness offered by God for our daily lives. This will result in either the control of the Spirit or the control of the sinful nature. When we are in fellowship, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. When we sin and are out of fellowship, the sinful nature will be in charge. Technique 1 tells us how to resolve all of this, to ensure that we stay in fellowship.
You can proceed now to Lessons 1-15, which are excerpts from the course, Bible Basics for Living: Essential Foundations.
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