Brengle Create
The Conference Bible Study
The Salvation Army
Sydney, Australia
September 21-25, 2009
Bible Study
Introduction
“Ignorance of the Scriptures
is ignorance of Christ”
St. Jerome
Bible Study
Introduction
“For where two or three are gathered in my
name there am I in the midst of them.”
Matthew 18:20
Bible Study
Introduction
Acts
1:15--120
Believers
Growth in the Early Church
• Acts 2:41--3000
• Acts 4:4--5000
• Acts 4:32--Multitude
• Acts 5:14--Multitudes
• Acts 6:1--Multiplied
• Acts 6:7--Greatly Multiplied
Bible Study
Introduction
“And daily in the Temple, and in every house,
they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus
Christ.”
Acts 5:42
Bible Study
Introduction
Terms:
•Atonement: justification/righteousness,
reconciliation/propitiation/expiation, regeneration,
salvation
•God’s Grace: common grace; prevenient grace;
sanctifying grace; accompanying grace
•Sanctification: perfect love; purity of heart;
empowerment by the Holy Spirit
Bible Study
Introduction
• Martin Luther--simul justus et peccator--at the same
time we are justified and a sinner
• John Calvin--the Christian pilgrimage
• John Wesley--perfect love: “Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself”
(Matthew 22:37-40).
Bible Study
All The Wisdom We Possess
“Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say true and
sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of
God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds,
which one precedes and brings for the other is not easy
to discern.” John Calvin
Bible Study
All The Wisdom We Possess
Prevenient
Grace: John
1:9
•A basic knowledge
of God--especially
the divine attributes
of God
•A basic knowledge of the moral law of God
•The ultimate origin of conscience (not nature; not society)
•A certain measure of free will is supernaturally restored to
all people
•Restrains human wickedness; places
perversity
a check on human
Bible Study
All The Wisdom We Possess
“Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.” #567
Bible Study
All the Wisdom We Possess
The Nature of Sin:
•
Augustine--concupiscence; the cure is self-control (Ephesians
4:22-24)
•
Calvin--pride; the cure is humility (which is true self-knowledge)
(Philippians 2:5-11)
•
Wesley--unbelief which leads to selfishness; the cure is living
for something greater than yourself (Philippians 2:1-4)
•
Jonathan Edwards--sloth; the cure is discipline (II Timothy 4:58)
Bible Study
All the Wisdom We Possess
“Anger and sloth,
Desire and pride,
This moment be subdued.
Be cast into the crimson tide
Of my Redeemer’s blood”
Bible Study
All the Wisdom We Possess
The Wesleyan Quadrilateral
•Scripture
•Reason
•Tradition
•Experience
Bible Study
All the Wisdom We Possess
“There is no other way by which any means of grace
whatsoever can be of any benefit, but by knowledge. All
teaching is in vain without learning. Therefore the
preaching of the gospel would be wholly to no purpose, if
it conveyed no knowledge to the mind.” Jonathan
Edwards.
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
Atonement Means:
•Justification/Righteousness
•Reconciliation/Propitiation/Expiation
•Regeneration
•Salvation
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
•John
Conscience
Wesley’s Order of Salvation:
•Conviction of Sin
•Repentance
•Reconciliation
•Regeneration
•Sanctification
•Glorification
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
Perfect Love:
•Rejoice Evermore
•Pray Without Ceasing
•In Everything Give Thanks
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
Justification and Sanctification compared:
Justification--what God does for us through his Son;
Sanctification--what God does in us through His Holy
Spirit
•
•Justification--makes us acceptable to God;
Sanctification--makes God desirable to us
•Justification--restores us to the favor of God;
Sanctification--restores us to the image of God
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
Justification and Sanctification Compared:
Justification--saves us from the guilt of sin; Sanctification--saves
us from the power of sin
•
•Justification--confers a new status on us (imputed
righteousness): Sanctification--instills a new character in us
(imparted righteousness)
•Justification--related to faith; Sanctification--related to love
•Justification--gives us a title for Heaven; Sanctification--makes
us fit for Heaven
Bible Study
All the Righteousness We Possess
Here’s the Really Good News!
I Believe in Predestination!
And I hope that you do too!
See Ephesians1:1-14
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
Matthew 5:43-48: “Be perfect as your Father
in Heaven is perfect.”
Telos--end, conclusion, goal
• Teleios--complete, perfect
• Be compassionate
• Love friend and foe
• Serve the Lord with an undivided heart
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
There is an eschatological
dimension to this hope
It is a hope for the individual
•
• It is a hope for the Church
• It is a hope for the present
• It is a hope for the future
• It is a hope in which the future is recognized now in the lives of
believers within the Body of Christ
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
Galatians 3:28: In Christ there is neither:
Jew nor Greek--racial distinctions
• Slave nor Free--status distinctions
• Male nor Female--gender distinctions
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
Catherine Booth’s View of Sin
(Earliest extant letter, May 18, 1847)
An evil heart of unbelief
• An impetuous will
• A momentary loss of common sense
• Selfishness
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
Catherine Booth’s View of Holiness
•Fullness of love that destroys the self and fills the soul with
heaven-born generosity
•The perfect heart:perfect in loyalty to God, in obedience, and
trust
•Being thoroughly given up to God--full surrender and
empowerment for ministry
•Not conforming to the world
•Holiness and good works
Bible Study
All the Hope We Possess
William Booth, Purity of Heart, 1902;
holiness is not:
what
•Not a heart that is never tempted to do evil
•Not a heart that cannot suffer
•Not a heart that cannot sin
•Not a heart, however blessed it may be, that
cannot increase in enjoyment, usefulness, and
power