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Foundations
Of
Faith
Dr. James B. Richards
Impact Ministries
Publications Department
3300 North Broad Place
Huntsville, AL 35805
(256)536-9402

Not affiliated with Impact Publishers, Inc.

San Luis Obispo, California

Page 3 of 105
 Impact International Publications
3300 North Broad Place
Huntsville, AL 35805
(256)536-9402
Fax: (256)536-4530

email: impactministries@impactministries.com
website: www.impactministries.com

© 1998 by Dr. James B. Richards

Printed in the United States of America

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Other Books by Dr. Richards:

How to Stop the Pain

Taking the Limits off God
The Gospel of Peace
The Prayer Organizer
Supernatural Evangelism
Grace: The Power to Change
Leadership That Builds People, Volume I
Leadership That Builds People, Volume II
My Church, My Family:
How to Have a Healthy Relationship
with the Church
Escape from Codependent Christianity
Satan Unmasked
Effective Small Group Ministry in the New Millennium
Foundations of Faith Workbook
Relevant Ministry Workbook
Impact Sponsoring Program
People Skills Workbook
Team Building Workbook
Effective Small Group Ministry in the New Millennium Workbook
Information also available about:
Impact International School of Ministry
Resident Program
Correspondence Program
External Degree Program
Tape & Book Catalog (free)

To receive any of the above, call or write today:

Impact Ministries
3300 N. Broad Place SW
Huntsville, AL 35805
(256)536-9402 • Fax: (256)536-4530
E-mail: publications@impactministries.com
Website: www.impactministries.com

Page 5 of 105
 Impact International
School of Ministry
Impact International School of Ministry is raising up leaders that are able to meet the needs
of this generation. The twentieth-century church is out of touch with the real needs of society. We
have become a sub-culture that speaks a language no one understands. Our methods are outdated and
ineffective. We are answering the questions that no one is asking, while ignoring and minimizing the
ones that are being asked.
We have become like the religious community of Jesus' day. We cling to our tradition and
make the Word of God of no effect. More than once I have looked at ultra-religious people and
applied this verse to them. But, the truth is, any method I cling to that is no longer effective has
become my tradition.
Tradition comes from things that were good; things that worked at one time. The church is
like the children of Israel who didn't want to worship in the temple because they still clung to the
tabernacle. That was good, but its time had past. God's life, presence and power was no longer there,
it was time to move on.
Several major sources tell us that the majority of church growth in America is actually
Christians changing churches. We are not really growing. The church has become a marketing
agency that competes for those who know Jesus while abandoning those who do not know Him.
Impact International School of Ministry will prepare you to reach this generation. Our
commitment to the Word of God is absolute. Our commitment to methodology is as varied as the
needs that exist. We are in touch with the world and we are on the cutting edge of what works.
If you are more interested in reaching the world than following the crowd, this may be the
training program for you. Impact International School of Ministry has a residents program or an
external program through which degrees can be earned. Call today for information:

Why Should I Choose

Impact International School of Ministry?
I'm glad you asked!
1. Evangelism: IISOM was built on the power of one-on-one evangelism. Every student learns to
win the lost and develop them into committed followers of Jesus.

2. Missions Impact Ministries reaches millions of people around the world through its missions'
efforts. Our students team up with some of the most powerful ministries in the world.

3. Pastoral Training: Jim Richards has spent nearly 30 years pioneering churches in America and
around the world. You will have hands on training and personal modeling from an entire staff who is
committed to building the local church. You will be involved in the inner working of a church that is
effective at winning its city, and is developing people and that has never had a split.

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4. Children's Ministry: You will be trained in an innovative, positive Children's Ministry. If children
is your passion, you will be part of a Children's Ministry that is reaching kids.

5. Youth and Teens Impact Ministries is in touch with the youth of our city. We speak their
language, play their music and minister to their needs. Train with people that are doing it, not just
talking about it!

6. Administration: Be a leader who fulfills your vision! At IISOM learn how to organize,
administrate and build effective teams that work together for a cause. According to a recent study,
this is a skill that few Christian leaders have ever developed.

7. Counseling: IISOM has powerful counseling programs that help people deal with the real issues
of their heart instead of the continual cycle of rededicating and failing. If you want to counsel and
really help people, you will never find a training opportunity like this!

8. Substance Abuse: The minister who cannot effectively work with substance abuse will not be
effective in this generation. Learn from certified substance abuse counselors. Work in our
substance abuse clinic with real users. Experience what it takes to get people clean and free in
Jesus.

9. Mentoring: Do you want to spend the next 2-4 years sitting in a class with someone spouting
theories or do you want to work along side caring ministers who allow you to become involved?
Mentoring makes the difference between theory and reality.

10. A Real Church Environment: IISOM is part of a real church that is active in the community.
You will get to see how everything you learn in school is applied in a real church environment.
While you attend school you will have a church family that serves your family and sees you as
more than a student.

11. New Covenant Based Interpretation: At IISOM you will study every page of the Bible from
the perspective of Faith-righteousness, grace, peace and the unconditional love of God. You will be
established in the New Covenant, not a mixed message of law and works.

Impact International School of Ministry has a well-rounded program, caring teachers and
proven track record. We do not specialize in one doctrine or one issue. We know it takes more than
one strong point to build a ministry. We've covered all the bases. You will be ready to succeed in life
and ministry!
You may be a person who knows you have a call from God, but doesn't know what it is. At
IISOM you will be given the opportunity to find your place and discover your dreams. More
importantly, you will be empowered to live them to the fullest. Because we teach all of our material
in a way that applies to ministry, business or personal life, it will be an investment in your future,
your call and your personal dreams.
Don't Wait Another Day! Enroll TODAY!
Impact International School of Ministry
3300 N. Broad Place SW • Huntsville, AL 35805 (256)536-9402 • (256)536-9876. Fax: (256)536-
4530 E-Mail: iisorn@impactrninistries.com. website: www.impactrninistries.com

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 CONTENTS

Introduction 6
Faith Righteousness 10
Repentance from Dead Works 22
Faith Toward God 32
Doctrine of Baptisms 47
Baptism in the Holy Spirit 54
Laying on of Hands 69
Resurrection from the Dead 81
Eternal Judgment 88
Transforming the Thought Life 95

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 INTRODUCTION

I want to explain why a Foundations of Faith class is necessary and why it is

important to you and your ministry. Anyone who wants to be a worker or a leader in a
church should be required to go through the Foundations of Faith class. Actually, we
encourage all believers to complete the class. It is essential for a new convert, but it is
also helpful for the person who has been a believer for 20 years. It is equally important
for those who come from another church to go through the Foundations of Faith class.
There are reasons for that and one reason is consistency in the message that we
preach.
You do not have to agree on everything. There is a whole world of things in the
Bible that are not extremely important. It is amazing how people fight over unimportant
issues. It is really not important what we believe about the rapture. There are many
factors about Jesus' life and many theological factors that people stress as if the
salvation of the world hinged on them, but it really does not. It is not important whether
you believe "once saved, always saved" or if you can lose your salvation. If it were
really important, the Bible would have majored on it. Those are not important issues
for people who want to walk with God. The Bible does tell us the foundations of our
faith. These are the foundations of the New Covenant. There are only six. If we agree
on these, then we agree on the essentials and we are capable of ministering
effectively.
The first reason that we encourage people to go through the Foundations of
Faith class is the consistency of our message. The second reason is because reading
the Word of God builds faith in you. It is mistakenly taught that just reading the Bible
will bring faith. That is not true and that is not what the Bible says. You will find that
the Bible says if you believe the gospel of peace, you will read the Bible and it will bring
faith. If you do not believe the gospel of peace, you can read the Bible and it can
make you afraid or confused. We want to help you so that whenever you are reading
the Word of God, when you are praying and when you are walking with God, it will
always build faith.
.

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The third reason for going through the Foundations of Faith class is so you do
not become a manipulator. People have often come to our church from other
churches and they had done well as leaders in their former churches. When they
came to our church they did not know how to function because we do not allow
manipulation. We do not allow leaders to coerce people into serving. We do not allow
people to use guilt. Guilt is not an acceptable reason to have people serving. We do
not allow those kinds of tactics. In most of today's churches that is not only
acceptable, but the tactic of choice. For those of you who will one day be teachers or
leaders, we want you to know that there is a way to do it other than guilt. We never
want you to manipulate or pressure people.
The fourth reason is that you will not be able to implement most of the
messages you hear if you do not have a foundation of grace and peace. There are
challenging messages about examining yourself, being honest with yourself, or being
honest with God. If you do not believe in grace and peace you cannot do that. If you
are not firmly established in the fact that God can love you no matter what kind of
problem you have, you cannot really apply the messages you hear. You will choke on
them. Therefore, we want people to have the ability to apply the messages they hear.
The fifth and most important reason is so you will be established in the love walk.
Being established in the love walk means that you are firmly established in how much
God loves you. It means that you understand the importance of love being the priority
in the life of the believer. It means that you have the capacity to walk in love and that
walking in love is more important to you than being right. Walking in love is more
important than most of our priorities.
These are the five main reasons that we provide this class. However, there is
one other important thing that will emerge. Everything that you believe should be
evaluated by guiding principles and truths. Many times we believe things, find things in
the epistles, or turn on Christian television and hear people preach something that
refutes or denies everything that Jesus died to give us.
In ancient times, ships were guided into harbor with a series of lights that had to

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be lined up. If he saw three different lights, he was coming in sideways. The closer
together he got those lights, the more sure he was that he was going to come into the
harbor safely.
We have three guiding lights to determine truth. The first is the Gospel. Several
years ago I was sitting in a meeting and the man that was speaking was a man I respect.
As he taught, he began to emphasize how the New Testament church should focus mainly
on the epistles for doctrine. When he said that, I felt the spirit of God spoke to me and said,
"If you try to use the epistles as an anchor for your beliefs, you will deny the gospel.
Measure everything you find in the epistles by the Gospels."
How often do we hear messages where the doctrine in those messages denies the
way that Jesus related to people? Jesus did not vote to kill the woman found in adultery.
Jesus did not advocate the accepting of tradition as a way to stay secure with God. There
are many things that Jesus taught, did, and ways He treated people that we extract
doctrine from. The epistles deny those things. We are not to look at the Gospel from a mere
theological point of view, but in light of how Jesus treated and related to people.
The second guiding point that we have is the Foundations of the Faith. In other
words, when I find something that I think is a revelation in the epistles, I have to look at it
and ask, "Is this consistent with the way Jesus treated and handled people?" Then I have
to ask if it is consistent with what the Bible identifies as the six foundations of faith.
Two guiding lights are better than one. You can have one guiding light and think that
you are on track, but you will run into the rocks because you are coming in sideways. Two
guiding lights are better than one, but if you can line up three guiding lights, you have no
fear of shipwreck.
The third and most important guiding light is the cross of Christ. What does the Bible
clearly teach happened through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus? I have often
sat in meetings and heard people teach things that denied the death, burial, and
resurrection of Jesus. They were not denying that it happened, but what the Bible says was
accomplished through it.
Those are the three guiding points for believing. In this Foundations of Faith class,
we help you establish some guiding points so you can take what you believe and ask if it
lines up with all three of these points. We are not going to make that decision for you. That

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is your decision. That is why we do not labor on a lot of nonessentials. We labor on these
essentials, these foundations.
I encourage you to build a personal notebook from the notes you take when you
begin this class. Over time you will have your own resource library.
The two translations of the Bible that I am primarily using are the King James and
New International Versions. I use the King James Version primarily because people are
more familiar with it. For clarity, I sometimes use the New International
Version.

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 FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

Psalms 11:3 says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
This is our cornerstone scripture for this series. Your foundation is what will make you able
to stand. What you believe about healing is not going to make any difference in the real
victory you have in your life. Just as what you believe about the rapture, the millennium, the
anti-christ and the book of Revelation, none of these things are going to determine whether
you stand or fall.
The foundation is the most important part of a building. It is not the roof. It is not the
walls. It is not the hardware you use on the doors. It is the foundation. No matter how good
the materials that you use above ground, if the foundation is not strong and sure the
materials above ground will crack and collapse. I have told this story quite often about
driving through New Orleans with a friend of mine. He took me through the neighborhood
where he lived. He told me before we went into the neighborhood that the houses were
built by two different contractors, using the same plans and the same materials. He said, "I
want you to see if you can pick out which contractor built which house."
As we drove through that subdivision I said, "Contractor A built that one and
contractor B built this one." The difference was that one of the contractors tried to take a
short cut on his foundation. The water tables in New Orleans are extremely high.
You do not take short cuts. Because he did not lay a firm foundation, they began to
collapse. As the foundation began to sink, the brick began to crack. On the inside of these
houses, there were cabinets that you could not open or close. They were out of square.
You could not open the windows. All of these problems were because of the foundation,
even though they both had the same quality of materials above ground. The foundation is
the most important part of the building.
A faulty foundation is what causes people to waver and fall. If you are sick, it is not
what you believe about healing that causes you to give up, but what you believe about
Jesus. Many people make it through sickness without getting healed and never lose their
victory. Many believers go all the way to death and never lose their victory.

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 It is not because of what they believe about healing, but because of what they
believe about Jesus. When you go through difficult financial times, it will not be what you
believe about prosperity that will determine whether you fall or stand. It will be what you
believe about Jesus. What you believe about prosperity may make a difference in how you
prosper, but you can prosper and fall. The Bible says that prosperity is the destruction of a
fool. We try to find stability in our lives by what we put "above ground" - healing, prosperity,
prayer, etc., but we try to deal with those on a faulty foundation. The more lofty doctrines
that you learn, the more sure you are to fall if your foundation is not true.
In Hebrews 5:11-14, NIV, Paul is writing to the Hebrew Christians. He says, “We
have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact,
though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the
elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who
lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish
good from evil." A spiritual infant is a person who is not familiar with the teaching of
righteousness. This is the struggle of the church world is today. Most division in the church
world revolves around the issue of righteousness.
Faith-righteousness is the cornerstone or capstone of the Gospel. When you build
an archway, there is a stone in the center of the archway shaped a certain way. That stone
determines if it is all going to hold together. If that capstone or keystone falls out, the whole
doorway is going to come down. The foundations of faith provide us with our foundation.
However, there is one thing that holds it together causing it to make sense, and that is faith-
righteousness. Until a person is established in faith righteousness they will never find that
hub, that matrix, around which everything else fits together. Faith-righteousness is the
cornerstone or the keystone of the Gospel.
Romans 1:17 says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness from God (It is not from man.
It is not from how strong man is. It is not from how hard man works.) is revealed. A
righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous shall live by
faith." "Faith righteousness from first to last" means that no matter what you are studying in
the Bible or what scripture you are reading, if the way you are interpreting that scripture
points you away from faith-righteousness, you do not understand it. You have a wrong
comprehension.

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I once did a meeting with a man who is probably the most popular preacher in America
today. I have done a few meetings with him and we are casual friends. I picked him up at
the airport and we were on our way. I put him to the test. (I do this frequently if I really want
to find out where somebody stands.) While riding down the road I asked if he believed in
faith-righteousness. He replied, "Yes, brother. Hallelujah. Glory to God. I believe in faith-
righteousness." I waited a little while and brought up faith righteousness again. He said,
"Yes, brother, our righteousness is as filthy rags before God. There is no other
righteousness except for faith-righteousness. Hallelujah." I let it go for 20 or 30 minutes, I
did not want him to see the connection.
I made up a fictitious story and asked him for his advice. I told him that I had a
woman in my church who did not attend very often. (For a preacher that is 10 points off.)
Then I said, "She really does not give much.” (That is another 25 points.) Then I said, "She
was at church the other day. She came down to the altar and wanted me to pray for her
finances.” I asked him to advise me. He said, "Brother, I tell you, she need not expect God
to bless her financially. She need not expect that God is going to answer her prayer. If she
does not give, God is not going to help her."
That is not faith-righteousness! Righteousness qualifies you for all of the blessings
and promises of God. When I say, "I have not done enough of this for God to answer my
prayer," then that does not reveal the righteousness of God from faith to faith, from first to
last. I have now departed into works-righteousness.
A woman once worked for us whose husband was one of the most unorganized,
blow-money-type of guys you will ever meet. If he went to work with $100 in his pocket, at
the end of the day he would only have two or three dollars left and would not have a clue
where it went. No matter how much money he left the house with, he spent it. He was
actually pretty good at making money; he just did better at spending it than he did making
it.
Every time they would get ahead, he would do something bazaar that would get
them back in debt. At this time, they owed $100,000 in back taxes and penalties to the IRS.
Every creditor that they owed was at their door. She got into a service, got her faith built up,
was encouraged, and began seeking God. God came through with the
most phenomenal financial miracle for them. The husband ran out and spent the
money on something else.

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 I walked back in one day and she was crying. I asked what the problem was and she
said, "God is not going to bless us after my husband blew the money." I told her that I did
not realize that she was such a self-righteous hypocrite. She asked what I meant, and I told
her that I did not know that she was into works-righteousness. "Yes, your husband made a
terrible mistake. Yes, only a fool takes the blessings of God and blows it. But that does not
mean that because your husband made a mistake that God cannot deliver you." She was
going back to works. She was disqualifying herself from the promises of God based on
failure. People try to qualify themselves in this same way for the promises of God based on
performance. Neither of these reveals faith from first to last.
Romans 3:21-22 says, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has
been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God
comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." When we think of the law, we tend
to think only of the Law of Moses. The law is anything that you determine you must do to
qualify for God and His blessings apart from Jesus.
In the Pentecostal churches in Puerto Rico, the mothers of the church meet women
at the door with a tape measure. If the heels of the shoes are too high they break them off,
or you take your shoes off. If the slit in your skirt is too high they take a stapler and staple it
up. Otherwise, God cannot manifest Himself in that service. That’s WORKS
RIGHTEOUSNESS. I believe in praying and seeking God. I believe in living right. But these
things have more to do with me and how it affects me in my relationship with God than how
it affects God in His relationship with me. You will learn some practical things about this as
we continue.
The Bible teaches us that Abraham is the father of faith. We have unfortunately
misunderstood this. We think that Abraham is the father of faith because he believed God
and Sarah was able to get pregnant. When the Bible talks about Abraham being the father
of faith, it is not talking about the father of faith in the ability to get miracles. It is talking
about him as the father of faith-righteousness. Abraham is not only the father of faith. He is
the father of faith-righteousness.
It says in Romans 4:3, “What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God
and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham was the first person of record that
believed God. Because he believed God, God credited that to him as righteousness. it goes
on to say in Romans 4:17, "I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in

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the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls things
that be not as though they were." The scripture talks about calling things that be not as
though they were. Some people place the total emphasis of this passage on the fact that
Abraham called himself the father of many nations when he was not. That is probably a
legitimate factor. But that is not what the scripture is trying to bring out. It is talking about
God calling those things that are not as though they were. What did God call as if it was,
but was not? He called Abraham righteous!
One of the most popular messages that I have ever preached was called "Men of
Like Passions." I do not think we have it any more, but in this tape I identify Abraham as the
father of failure. He is not only the father of faith-righteousness. He is also the father of
failure. Abraham's family was worshiping idols in Ur of the Chaldees. God told Abraham to
come out and follow Him. Abraham did not go. He stayed there for years. Finally, his father
talked him into following God. When he came out, God told him not to bring anyone with
him. Abraham brought his entire family with him. He reaches a particular city. He is not
supposed to stop there, but that is where he sets up camp. He stops following God. Finally,
his father dies and years go by. Now that his father is dead, he decides to follow God. He
follows God into the land of Canaan. When he gets there, there is famine. A lot of people
say that the famine was God testing Abraham. No, Abraham was several years late. If you
get somewhere and there is a famine, you probably just drug your feet getting there. It is
like going to the bus stop. If the bus has already gone, the driver did not leave to get even
with you. You got there late.
I once stayed in Harlem while in New York City working with substance abusers. I
was the only white man in Harlem. I did not see one other white person and they looked at
me funny. Then I had to go to the Bronx. South Bronx is a dangerous place. I would time
myself so that when I got to the bus stop I was not going to miss the bus, but I was also not
going to have to wait very long. I was almost mugged at a bus stop once. If I had missed
that bus and gotten mugged God did not plan that. I just missed the bus because I got
there late.
Abraham got there late and there was a famine. God says, "Do not worry. Just trust
me. I will take care of you." He said, 'Whatever you do, do not go to Egypt." Where did
Abraham go? He went to Egypt. God had told Abraham that through him and Sarah all of
the nations of the world would be blessed. If God told you that about your wife, you would

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obviously need to protect her. Abraham goes to Egypt and nobody really threatens him; he
just becomes afraid. Out of fear, he gives his wife to another man. They were not going to
pass the night playing Monopoly. He gave his wife to another man to have sex with him.
God rescues her and tells Abraham to get back to Canaan.
Abraham leaves, but takes a little Egyptian servant girl back to Canaan with him.
God told Abraham to have sex with Sarah and produce a child. Hagar, the Egyptian servant
girl, walks by. Abraham says, "I am with you on that sex thing, but God I think you are
missing it on who I am supposed to do this with. I believe that this 20 year-old is really the
will of God instead of this 60 year-old."
Abraham commits adultery Hagar and has an illegitimate child by her. This is
adultery and God is not condoning it. Throughout all of those problems, Abraham never
stopped trusting God. Even though he made mistakes he never stopped trusting God. The
Bible does not say that a righteous person never falls. The Bible does say in Proverbs
24:16, "A righteous man falls seven times, but he gets up again." It says in Psalm 37:23-24,
“The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord . . . Though he fall, he shall not be utterly
cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with the right hand of His righteousness."
I am not telling you to go out and do all of these things. I am also not telling you that
it is all right to do these things. It is not all right. Sin is not all right. Sin will kill you. Sin will
destroy you. It will make you lose your mind. Sin will harden your heart to God to a point
where you cannot have a relationship with Him. But it cannot make God stop loving you.
God called Abraham righteous even though he was not. God credited him with
righteousness.
The faith walk of the believer is not about whether or not you can believe for
miracles. The faith walk of the believer is whether or not you can believe that God still loves
you and that you are still righteous even though you have fallen. When you pick yourself
up, you have to say, "I messed up, I failed, but I am still righteous. God still loves me." The
proof that you are righteous is the fact that you got back up. Even though you fail, the
righteousness inside of you, in your heart, keeps saying, "You can do this. Come on. Trust
God. Come on, get up again." The fact that you keep getting up is the proof that
righteousness is still alive in you. By the end of this class you are going to learn a lot about
walking in righteousness. God called Abraham righteous because he believed God. Our
performance did not make us righteous. Jesus made us righteous.

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 There is a difference between what happened to Abraham and what happens to us.
The difference is that Abraham was not really righteous. God just called him righteous and
treated him as if he were righteous. It is different with us. When we receive Jesus, our spirit
man is regenerated and we are given the free gift of righteousness. We have righteousness
as a part of our nature. It may not be yielding fruit, and we may not be walking in it, but we
do have righteousness. We cannot make ourselves more righteous. Jesus has made us as
righteous as we will ever be.
You can do some things to walk in your righteousness so that life is not so difficult
and challenging for you. You can do some things that will help you walk with God, but you
cannot make yourself more righteous. Most people will agree with me on this, but most
people get in trouble thinking that they can make themselves unrighteous. Most people do
believe that they can make themselves unrighteous.
How did you get into this Iife? You were born into it. You cannot undo the fact that
you were born. You can kill yourself, but you still cannot deny the fact that you were born
as a human being. You cannot become something else. There is no process that you can
move through to become something else. You were born a human being; you are going to
be a human being. A law is established in Genesis 1:11-12 that says, "every seed bears
after its own kind."
How did you become a sinner? You were born into it. You were born with a sinful
nature. You did not have to do anything to become a sinner. Your sinful nature led you to
do things. When you were a sinner I am sure that you did good things. You may have done
several good things. You might have gone to church, tithed and made all kinds of
sacrifices. But, none of these things ever changed your sinful nature. You were born into
righteous through Jesus. Every seed bears after its own kind. You cannot become
something else. You were born after the seed of Jesus.
Why, as a sinner, do you believe that your good works could not change your sinful
nature, but you are willing to believe that your evil works can change your righteous
nature? It does not make sense. Evil works can hurt you and sin still kills you, but one thing
sin cannot do is change your nature. It can harden your heart and make it hard for you to
find God, but it cannot change your nature. We cannot make ourselves righteous. We
cannot make ourselves more righteous. We cannot make ourselves less righteous.

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 In Romans 10:2-4 Paul was speaking of the Jews. He says, "For I can testify about
them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they
did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own,
they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may
be righteousness for everyone who believes." The Jews wanted to earn righteousness
through their works; therefore, they rejected the righteousness of God through Jesus. We
do the same thing. When we think that we can make ourselves more righteous or less
righteous we reject the righteousness of God. We are saying that Jesus is not enough.
Romans 9:30-33, Paul is still speaking, “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles,
who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but
Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they
pursued it not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumble over the stumbling stone.
As it is written: 'See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that
makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Israel wanted righteousness, but they could never get it. They would not abandon
their logic. They thought they could only get righteousness through their performance. The
Gentiles did not know anything about the law. They were not really looking for
righteousness, but someone came and preached to them and said, "Here, we will give you
righteousness as a free gift from Jesus," and they took it. So the Jews, who were trying to
get it through their works, could not get it. But the Gentiles, who accepted it as a free gift,
got it.
Jesus is not the stumbling stone. The stumbling stone is Jesus as your
righteousness, or faith-righteousness. To this very day, in the church in America, faith
righteousness is still the stumbling stone. People and churches stumble over the issue of
faith-righteousness. The question people are actually asking is this, "Does Jesus really
make me righteous enough?"
Hebrews 6:1-3 says, "Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let
us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,
and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of
resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”

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 There are six foundational doctrines:
1. Repentance from dead works
2. Faith toward God
3. Doctrine of baptisms
4. Laying on of hands
5. Resurrection of the dead
6. Eternal Judgment
Remember, this whole thing started by him saying that they ought to be teachers by
now. He said, "But you are not, so we are going back to dealing with the milk." He tells
them that he wants to get them to a place where they are not going to cling to the
principles, to the fundamental things, so that they can go on to perfection. We have been
given perfection as a free gift. The next time somebody tells you that you are not perfect,
you say, "Oh yes, I am. You may not see it yet, but I am."
That was the flaw of the law. The Bible says that the law could not make the corners
there unto perfect. Our spirit man has been made perfect. We just have not gotten it on the
outside yet. We are working on that part and that is what he is talking about. We want to
leave these foundational things and go on to perfection.
He says, "So not laying again the foundation." The phrase "not laying again the
foundation" is a very important phrase. It has two very clear meanings. One of the
meanings is to ''not cast down or cast away the foundation." We do want to go on to
perfection, but we do not want to cast down the foundation. That means that we need to get
a solid foundation laid in our lives from these six foundational truths. No matter what we
build, we do not want to cast down or reject that foundation. I want to build everything that I
believe on a foundation. I want to make sure that it lines up with these foundational truths. I
am not going to cast away the foundation. It also means not continually laying it over and
over or not repeating the foundation. You cannot hear a message on these foundational
things every Sunday and arrive at your dreams, your goals, and your destiny.
When I was in the Baptist church, (I am not being critical. I love the people of the
Baptist church. I was in a good church, I had a good pastor, and they really helped me.)
hearing about how to get saved every Sunday did not help me grow as a Christian. That
does not make them bad people. I am saying that the idea of believers getting together on
Sundays to hear the Word is to get the tools we need to fulfill our dreams, make our lives

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count for God and have meaningful relationships, etc. We cannot keep repeating the
foundation. Because we win new people to Jesus, and people come to church who do not
have a foundation, we have these classes. We can come in and lay the foundation. As you
hear these messages, you have a foundation to build on. Also, whether it is something that
I preach or someone else preaches, you can always go back and ask yourself if it lines up
with the foundation. We should not have to repeat the foundation, but we should also never
depart from it.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 1
FAITH RIGHTEOUSNESS

Psalm11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

The foundation is the most important part of a building.

A faulty foundation is what causes people to waver and fall.

Hebrews 5:11-14, NIV, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain
because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again.
You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not
acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature,
who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

A spiritual infant is not familiar with the teaching of righteousness.

Faith-Righteousness is the cornerstone (or capstone) of the gospel.

Romans 1:17, NIV, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed,
a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: the righteous
will live by faith.”
Romans 3:21-22, NIV, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has
been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from
God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

Romans 4:3, NIV, “What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it
was credited to him as righteous."

Romans 4:17, NIV, “as it is written: 'I have made you a father of many nations.' He is
our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead
and calls things that are not as though they were."

What did God call Abraham? Righteous.

Why did He call him righteous? Because he believed God.

Who made us righteous? Jesus.

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Can we make ourselves more righteous? No.

Can we make ourselves less righteous? No.

How do we receive the gift of righteousness? We were born into it.

Romans 10:2-4, NIV, "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their
zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes
from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

The Jews wanted to earn righteousness through their works, therefore, they rejected the
righteousness of God.

Christ is the end of the law/works for righteousness.

Romans 9:30-33, NIV, “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a
law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but
as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written: 'See, I lay in
Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who
trusts in him will never be put to shame.'"

Is Jesus the stumbling stone? No.

What is the stumbling stone? Faith-Righteousness.

Hebrews 6:1-3, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of
the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit."

Not laying again can mean:

1. To not cast down or cast away the foundation.

2. Not continually laying it over and over or repeating the foundation.

We should not have to repeat the foundation, but we should never depart from it.

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 REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS
Hebrews 6:1 says, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us
go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and
faith toward God.” The very first foundation is repentance from dead works. The first two
foundations (faith and repentance from dead works toward God) are absolutely the most
important. But it is impossible to understand these two apart from understanding grace and
peace. With repentance from dead works we are going to focus on the power of grace in
our lives.
The word "repent" means to have a change of mind. It does not mean to cry at an
altar. It does not even necessarily mean that you change your direction. You will ultimately
change your direction. If you change your mind, you will change direction. When the Bible
talks about repentance, it is usually talking about us changing our minds about what we
believe. What you believe produces the actions in your life. You can change the actions
and really not have repented at all. The Greek word for "repent" in the New Testament
means to change your mind. When I get saved I have to renew my mind. I have to change
my mind about what I think about God, myself, life, marriage and finances. I have to
change my mind to believe what God's Word tells me.
When I was first born again I was a rock-and-roll musician and a drug dealer. I did
not feel comfortable continuing to do either one of these things. As a Christian, I did not feel
this would be the thing to do. I was immediately without a job and had nothing to do but
read. I had a New Testament that I had probably stolen from somewhere. I am glad it was
only a New Testament. If it had been both Old and New Testaments, I would have started
at the beginning of the book. I had already tried that years before only to find confusion.
Right away I found that it said you have to believe. As I read, every time I found something
that was different about life than the way I viewed it, I would get out of my rocking chair, get
on my knees and say, "God, I am willing to believe this." That was repentance. I was
changing my mind about what I believed.

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 Reading the book of Proverbs I found that it is to a man's honor to overlook an insult.
From my past, when you were insulted, you got honor by beating the daylights out of the
guy. I had to repent about that. I had to change my mind. The way to have honor in that
situation is to overlook the insult. I would sometimes come across things that I did not
understand. I would get on my knees and say, "God, I really do not know what this means,
but you say to believe it and I will believe it. You will have to help me understand what it
means." That is repentance! That is how we renew our minds. We change our mind, our
opinion, our point of view.
When we accept Jesus, we are to change our minds about dead works. When we
think of dead works, we tend to think of evil works. Paul (we assume it is Paul's writing) is
not talking about evil works, but about dead works. Dead works will kill you faster than evil
works will. Evil works will kill you, but Paul is not saying in this passage to repent about
chasing women. Paul did not chase women. He is not saying1 in this passage to repent
from being a drunk. He was not a drunk. He is not saying to repent from cheating and
stealing. He did not cheat and steal. What Paul had to change his mind about was what he
believed would make him righteous. When we accept Jesus, we have to change our minds
about dead works.
There is no functional difference between dead works and good works. People are
easily confused about good works and dead works. Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are
God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in
advance for us to do.” We are supposed to do good works, but we are supposed to change
our minds about dead works. Dead works and good works can be the same action with
different motives.
Praying can be dead works. For a lot of people, getting saved is getting a fire
insurance policy and praying and reading the Bible is paying the premiums. If you are
praying because you think you have to in order to eam something from God, that is dead
works. If you are praying because you want to have a relationship with God, that is good
works.
If you are reading your Bible because you think it qualifies you for God's blessings,
that is dead works. If you are reading your Bible because you want to renew your mind,
learn about God, and grow as a person, that is good works.
I There are other scriptures that are very clear about abstaining the sinful lifestyle.

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 Witnessing ... Jehovah's Witness' are out knocking on doors early on Saturday
morning. If you ask them why they are doing this, they will tell you that it is what they must
do to go to heaven. DEAD WORKS! Many people think they have to witness for God to
love them or to go to heaven. That is dead works. Witnessing because you have a passion
for people and because you care about what happens to them is good works. It is not just
what you do. It is the motive behind what you do.
Attending church ... some who attend church hate it, but others because they want
to come together. They want to learn about God. They want to walk with God. They want to
be a part of a family. They want to make their life count – GOOD WORKS. Anything can be
dead works or good works. What determines the difference is your motive for doing it.
I do several things that I do not necessarily like to do, but I recognize my need to do
it. Not my need to make God love me, but because I realize that by doing certain things I
am going to grow and develop. I am going to develop as a person, and that is good works.
In order to understand and repent from dead works it is essential that we understand
the grace of God. The grace of God was the power that worked in Jesus. It was the power
that worked in the Apostles and it is the power that works in every believer to live above sin
and to do good works.
John 1:14 says, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus." Jesus brought us grace and
truth. Moses brought us truth, but he did not bring us grace and truth. The law was truth,
but it required the ability of man to uphold it.
Romans 8:3 says, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh." According to this verse, the weakness of the law is the flesh. When the Bible
speaks of flesh it speaks of man's attempt to be righteous by his own ability/works.
We think that being in the spirit is like being way out there, floating around in the
heavenlies, having a mist in our eyes, hearing angels humming in the background. In our
minds, that is being in the spirit. Or, depending on what church you attend, it may

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be shaking and quivering. We think that being in the flesh is when we sin and do bad
things, but neither is true. Being in the flesh is when you attempt to be righteous by your
own ability, by your performance. Being in the spirit is when you accept that righteousness
is a work of the spirit of grace, the spirit of God that is in you. It is a free gift that came in
you with Jesus. You are in the spirit if you believe that Jesus is your Lord and that He has
made you righteous. You are in the flesh if you believe that you are saved, but must
perform to earn righteousness. Being in the flesh leads to sin. The Bible talks about the fruit
of the spirit and the works of the flesh. The fruit of the spirit is something that grows in your
life because you believe that you are righteous. The works of the flesh are those things that
you end up doing because you do not believe you are righteous, because you are limiting
yourself to your ability.
Doing the best you could did not help you before you got saved. I did the best I could
do, and I still ended up a drunk and a substance abuser. That was the best I could do. I do
not want to be living in the best I can do. I know the best I can do, and it is not very much.
You might not have been as bad off as I was, but if you had stayed there long enough, you
would have been. When you get saved you do not have any more ability to live above sin
than you did before you got saved, apart from the grace of God. That is why Christians still
have problems with sin. They are trying to do the best they can instead of trusting God to
work in their lives. Attempting to be made righteous by one's ability is dead works.
Moses brought us the law. He brought us truth. But it was dependant upon our ability
to live it. Jesus brought us grace and truth. Everything that Jesus did was a work of God's
grace in His life. The ability to live above sin, the ability to work miracles, the love and
patience to minister to people, even the ability to face the death and suffering of the cross
was a work of grace. It was a work of God's ability. Remember that Jesus became a man,
"like as we are," in all ways. As a man, He did not have the ability to do these things apart
from God working in Him.
The traditional definition of grace is "unmerited favor." That does not tell you anything.
"Unmerited favor," just means that God accepts you apart from your performance. Grace is
not God's ability to overlook your sin. Grace is God's ability to get you out of sin. A biblical
definition of grace is: (This is a biblical definition of the word "grace." It is not the complete
definition, but is a condensed version.) a divine influence, which works from the heart and
makes one able.2 In other words, grace makes you able. It is the ability of God that works in

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your heart. Moses gave us truth, but it was up to our ability to live that truth. Jesus gave us
truth AND the ability to live that truth.
Everything we have in God is a work of grace. Ephesians 2:8-10 says, "For by grace
are you saved through faith, not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man
should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We are saved by grace through
faith. We tend to leave the grace part out of it. We are saved by God's ability.
What does that really mean? The word "saved" comes from the Greek word "sozo."
Sozo means to save, heal, deliver, preserve, do well, make whole, keep safe and sound,
and to rescue from danger. Jesus looked at the woman who had the issue of blood and
said, ''Thy faith has made thee sozo, healed." Sozo can mean healed, it can mean born
again. The Bible says to lay hands on the sick and they will be sozo. They will be healed.
They will recover. You begin realizing that it is not just our born again experience that is a
work of grace through faith, but everything that ever happens. If you get healed, it is grace
through faith. If you have prosperity working in your life, it is by grace through faith. If you
learn to walk in love, it will not be information that makes it happen, but grace through faith.
Everything that God does is a matter of grace that makes us able. Every work of God is a
work of grace, the divine influence of the heart that makes one able.
Grace makes us able to walk in healing. Grace makes us able to be all that God said
we could be. It is His power, not ours. This tells me that no one has to fail. As a matter of
fact, the Bible says in the book of Romans that God made this to be of grace so the
promise would be sure to all. As long as it was law, the promise was only sure to people
who had the ability. People like me would have gone to hell under the law. I was not one of
those people who had the ability. The only way the promise could be sure for everyone was
because God said, "We are not going to make this thing work from your ability; we are
going to make it work on my ability. We are going to make sure that you can make it."
Romans 5:21 says, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace

2 Thayer, Lexicon

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reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." When sin reigns it
brings death. Do not forget that. Sin will kill you. God will still love you while you are dying,
but sin is going to kill you. When righteousness reigns, it brings grace.
How does righteousness empower my life? Simple. Do I believe I am righteous in
Jesus. If Jesus is my righteousness, then righteousness will allow grace to reign. When
grace reigns, it brings life. This word for "life" is not just being alive. It is the Greek word,
"zoe." "Zoe" is the quality of life possessed by God. It is the quality of life that you have.
Grace will bring you a new quality of life. It will make you able to live a new quality of life.
Righteousness is given to me as a free gift when I receive Jesus. Jesus is my
righteousness. Romans 10: 9-10 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shall be
saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation." We do not work our way to righteousness. We believe our way to
righteousness. We believe on the finished work of Jesus.
Galatians 5:4 talks about falling from grace. It says, "Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; you are fallen from grace." The Baptist
and the Methodist fight over what this means. They assume that grace only applies to the
born again experience. Falling from grace has nothing to do with whether or not you are
born again. Falling from grace has to do with whether or not you are living in this realm of
God's ability.
Falling from grace is when a person tries to be righteous by works of the law. Any
law -- it could be Baptist law, Methodist law, Catholic law, and the law you make in your
mind. It could be the Law of Moses. When you try to be righteous with God by a list of
rules, you have rejected the finished work of Jesus, and Christ is no longer of any affect in
your life. You have fallen from that realm of God's ability. I want to live and walk in the
realm where God's ability works in me. I do not want to have Jesus in my life, trying to do
the best I can and say, "No, I do not want your help. I am just going to do the best I can."
That is not what He wants. It is not a matter of trying to please God. God made us pleasing
through Jesus. It is a matter of whether or not I can have the quality of life that God has
here and now. That is why I want to live in grace and stay out of sin. Falling from grace
means that we have left that realm of God's ability. He cannot work in our lives when we
are depending on our own ability.

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 Galatians 2:21 says, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." The word "frustrate" means to set aside, neutralize,
disannul, nullify, make void, or to reject. When we try to be righteous and acceptable to
God by our works we neutralize God's ability. His ability no longer works in our lives,
therefore, we are left to our own ability. When I believe that I am righteous because of
Jesus, grace (the ability of God) works in my life and I can live righteous. Therefore, if you
look back at your failures and say, "I am just not much of a Christian," you are denying that
you are righteous and grace cannot work in your life. You have to look back and say, "Yes,
I have problems. This is sin and I call it sin. God, I am confessing this sin to you, but I still
believe that I am righteous. I still believe the righteousness of God is in me." If you believe
that; you will come out of that sin. This was what the Apostle meant when he said, "I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me." Everything that the Bible says I can do I can
do, because I trust Him to live in me and empower me. Nothing I do will make me more
righteous. I am righteous through Jesus because I believe that I am righteous. I have the
grace (ability of God) to live righteous, fulfill my dreams and be all that God would have me
to be.3
I will mention this about grace. There is really no such thing as gifts of the Holy
Spirit. We have a concept that the gifts of the Holy Spirit (healing, tongues, and prophecy)
are something that God hands you as a little toy to play with. It is a gift because it is free,
but actually the word for the gifts of the Holy Spirit comes from the Greek word "charis" -
"grace of the Holy Spirit." I cannot heal, but God in me is able. That is why we lay hands on
the sick. Not because we can do it, but because God in us can do it. All of these are
abilities of the Holy Spirit that we allow to flow through us. We do not have to work them up;
we just let His ability flow out of us.

3 I encourage you to read my book, Grace: The Power to Change. It will get you on track with grace. We are
only hitting the high spots.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 2
REPENTANCE FROM DEAD WORKS

Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith
toward God . . ."

The first two foundations of the faith are repentance from dead works and faith toward God.
Of all we build upon, this is the most important. However, this is impossible apart from
understanding the grace and peace of God.

Repent means to have a change of mind.

When we accept Jesus, we are to change our minds about dead works.
What is the difference between dead works and good works? None.

Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Dead works and good works can be the same actions with different motives.
Praying can be dead works or good works.
Bible Reading can be dead works or good works.
Witnessing can be dead works or good works.
Attending Church can be dead works or good works.

In order to understand and repent from dead works it is essential that we understand the
grace of God. The grace of God was the power that worked in Jesus. It was the power that
worked in the apostles. It is the power that works in every believer to live above sin and do
good works.

John 1:14 & 17, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

Jesus brought grace and truth.

The law was truth, but it required the ability of man to uphold it.

Romans 8:3 "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:"

According to this verse, the weakness of the law was the flesh.

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When the Bible speaks of flesh, it speaks of man's attempt to be righteous by his own
ability/works.

Attempting to be made righteous by one's ability is dead works.

Jesus brought grace and truth.

Everything that Jesus did was a work of God's grace in His life; the ability to live above sin;
the ability to work miracles; the love and the patience to minister to the people; even the
ability to face the death and suffering of the cross was a work of grace.

Traditional definition of grace, unmerited favor.

A biblical definition of grace: "A divine influence which works from the heart and makes one
able."

Jesus gave us truth and the ability to live that truth.

Ephesians 2:8-10, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them."

We are saved by grace through faith.

The word "saved" comes from a Greek word, "sozo." Sozo means to save, heal, deliver,
preserve, do well, make whole, keep safe and sound, and to rescue from danger and
destruction.

Every work of God is a work of grace, a divine influence in the heart that makes one able.

Grace makes us able to walk in healing; grace makes us able to be all that God said we
could be. It is His power, not ours.

How does grace work in my life?

Romans 5:21, "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

When sin reigns it always brings death.

When righteousness reigns it brings grace.

When grace reigns it brings life.

Righteousness was given to me as a free gift when I received Jesus.

Jesus is my righteousness.

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Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation.”

We do not work our way to righteousness; we believe on the finished work of Jesus.
He makes us righteous as a free gift.

Galatians 5:4 "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified
by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”

When a person tries to be righteous by works of any law, he has rejected the finished work
of Jesus. Christ is no longer of any effect in his life. Why? He has fallen from grace, God's
ability.

Falling from grace means that we have fallen from the realm of God's ability. His ability
cannot work in our lives when we are trying to live in our ability.

Galatians 2:21 "do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain."

The word "frustrate" means to set aside, neutralize, disannul, nullify, make void or reject.

When we try to be righteous and acceptable to God by our works we neutralize God's
ability. His power no longer works in our lives and we are left to our own ability.

When I believe I am righteous because of Jesus, the grace/ability of God works in my life to
live righteous.

This is what the apostle meant when he said, "I can do all things through Christ who
strengthens me."

Everything that the Bible says I can do; I can do because I trust Him to live in me and
empower me. None of the things I do will make me more righteous. I am righteous through
Jesus. Because I believe I am righteous, I have the grace/ability of God to live righteous,
fulfill my dreams and be all that God would have me to be.

"Grace, The Power to Change", by Dr. James B. Richards, would be excellent reading to come to a full
understanding of God's grace.

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 FAITH TOWARD GOD
Faith toward God is the second foundation of faith. Faith is simply trusting God. It is
impossible to trust someone of who you are afraid. You cannot trust someone and be afraid
of them at the same time. The word for fear in the Old Testament is not a word that means
terror. It means to have an awe for God that inspires love, worship and adoration. It is not
talking about being afraid of what He will do to you. We are only able to trust God when we
believe He loves us and will not hurt us. Tradition has created an unbiblical view of God.
Religious people have tried to use fear as motivation to obey God, but we should be
motivated by love. When we believe God loves us, we will obey Him. When we love Him, it
will be easy to obey Him. Jesus said in John 14:15, "lf you love me, you will obey me."
Pretty simple, isn't it? Many people take that and say, "Okay, you have to obey Him to
prove that you love Him." That is getting the cart before the horse. He is saying, "If you love
Me, you will obey Me."
When I see a person who is not obeying God that tells me that they are not really in
love with God. It does not tell me how bad a person he is. This is a person who is not
experiencing the love of God. The scripture teaches that you cannot love God until you are
first convinced that He loves you. 1 John 4:19 says that we love Him because He first loved
us. Instead of trying so hard to love God, we need to learn about God's love for us. When
we believe and experience His love, the natural response will be to fall in love with Him. It is
easy to love someone who loves you.
God's love is revealed to us in many ways, however, it is clearly seen at the cross.
As we begin to grasp the truth of what He did at the cross we begin to fall deeply in love
with Him. We get the greatest understanding of God's love when we realize the penalty
Jesus paid for sin and how He made peace between God and man.
Luke 2:8-10 tells the story of what happened with the shepherds when they were out
in the field and the angels appeared. It says, "And there were, in the same country,
shepherds abiding in the field keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the
Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them and they were
sore afraid. And the angels said unto them, 'Fear not. For behold, I bring you good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born, this day, in the city of David, a

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Savior which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you. Ye shall find the Babe
wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.'" We say this, "peace, good will toward men", at
Christmas. It has become a Christmas greeting. It says in Luke 2:10, "And the angel said
unto them, 'Fear not, behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all
people. Luke 2:14 says, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men."
The good will was not between men. The peace was not between men. The good
will and the peace were both from God. What was significant about this? Why did these
angels get so excited and break out praising God saying, "Hallelujah, Glory to God, and on
earth there is going to be peace and good will toward men?" It is because God, for the first
time since Adam brought sin into the world, was making peace between Himself and man.
This is something that had not existed on the face of the earth for four thousand years.
Sin had to be paid for under the Old Covenant. Righteousness was not yet satisfied
and God was angry. Psalms 7:11 says, "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with
the wicked every day." People quote that verse and frighten the world. That was under a
different covenant. That was before righteousness was satisfied and wrath was appeased.
God made a New Covenant in the blood of Jesus that fulfilled righteousness and satisfied
judgment.
We should forget the Old Covenant! Let's say that you financed your house and
interest was at 10%, then the rates dropped down to 6%. You draw up a new covenant, a
new contract. On this new contract your interest rate is 6%. Your payment has dropped
from $800 to $600 per month. Part of that contract will say that all previous agreements,
whether written or otherwise, are null and void. That is a part of every contract. You know
your house payment is going to be $600 per month instead of $800. If the payment notice
comes and tells you to pay $800, are you going to pay it? No! You will pay $600, because
you have a new contract. Because of unbelief we go back to the requirement of the old
contract and reject the requirement of the new contract when trying to relate to God. We
are not established in the New Covenant.

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 Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a
curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree."
2 Corinthians 1:20 says, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are Yes
in Christ. So through him the Amen is spoken by us to the glory of God." ALL of the
promises are yours because you are in Jesus. NONE of the curses are yours, because you
are in Jesus.
We still try to get the promises by qualifying under the old contract. The old contract
says you have to do everything right. You are fooling yourself if you think you can qualify
for the promises of God by doing everything right. You are a self-righteous, deceived
person if you think you can qualify for the promises apart from Jesus. You cannot qualify.
Jesus has been the only person that could qualify. I cannot qualify and you cannot qualify
under those old requirements. The law not only required you to do everything right, it also
required you to do it right from your heart. Nobody measured up under the law. We qualify
because we are in Jesus. No one, other than Jesus, ever qualified under the law.
Romans 5:8-11 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how
much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having
been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice
in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
I am justified by the blood of Jesus and saved from wrath through Him. I was an enemy of
God, but now I am near to God by the death of His Son. The word "justified" means made
righteous. Some people break it down and say that "justified" means "just as if I'd never
sinned." That is not a good definition. "Just as if I'd never sinned" is like saying that I am still
scum, but God is going to pretend like I am not. It is not just as if I had never sinned. God
has made a new creation. We are righteous through the blood of Jesus.
The word "reconciled" is a very interesting word. It means, "exchanged." I have been
made righteous to God, but an exchange has also taken place. Isaiah 53:4-10 talks about
this exchange. "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered
him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace
was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

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each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He
was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By
oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For
he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was
stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death, though he
had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush
him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see
his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand." This
passage describes what I call the "Great Exchange."
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For God made him who knew no sin to be sin . . ." He
became our sin, the sins of the world. Remember that righteousness of the law required
that sin be paid for in the body of the sinner. The only way we could make it to heaven was
for all righteousness to be fulfilled. Jesus had to become our sin. When He became our sin,
He was then wounded, or punished, for our transgression. When it says that He carried our
grief and sorrows, those words in the Hebrew mean sickness and disease. He carried the
sickness and disease that the law says we deserve. An exchange took place. Jesus
became all that we were as far as our sinful nature, and He took all of the punishment that
we deserve. That is only half of this truth. There is another side. Then we receive, as a free
gift, all that He was and all that He deserved. That is a great deal!
1 John 2:1-2 says, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not."
God does not want man to sin, but when he does sin, God helps him. "If any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father . . .” An advocate is someone who is for you. God is still
for us when we sin. We still have an advocate even when we sin. Verse 2 says, "And He is
the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."
The word "propitiation" means to satisfy. It satisfies wrath and righteousness. Jesus
satisfied all of the requirements of the law for righteousness, but He also satisfied all of the
requirements of the law for punishment. He is our propitiation. He satisfied God on our
behalf.
Think about this and write it down in your own words. God's wrath against my sin is
satisfied. God's need for me to be righteous is satisfied in Jesus. In your life, did you grow

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up with a picture of God as being satisfied? You probably saw God as being angry, but God
has not been angry since Jesus was raised from the dead.
1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. One of the reasons people do not love God is
because they do not realize what Jesus did for them. We have this picture of Jesus
hanging on the cross, a little blood trickling down and a glowing halo hanging behind His
head.
When you have a favorite child, the parents do not want to punish that child. For
example: A mother and a father leave two children at home and say, "I am going to the
store. I want you to clean up the house and help me. I want everything to be clean and in
good shape when I come back." The mother and father leave and the favored child does
not do anything. He knows that he does not have to. The other child knows that if he does
not clean the house, he will be in trouble. The child that is not favored does all of the work.
Just before the parents come home the favored child gets mad and breaks a flowerpot. It
hits the floor, dirt flies everywhere, and now the clean house is a mess. The parent walks in
and is full of rage. The parent knows which child did it, but he loves him so much. He has
so much compassion for him that he just does not have the heart to punish him. He turns to
the other child and punishes him instead.
That seems totally unfair, but that is how much God loves you. He loves you so
much that even though we were the ones that broke the flowerpot, even though we were
the ones who made the mess, He said, "l love you too much for you to have to pay this
price.” We are God's favorite child. God took Jesus and said, "You will pay the price for
everyone." When that becomes a reality to you, you will fall in love with God. He became
our sin and took everything that our sin deserves. The Bible says that all of His joints went
out of place. Every sickness known to man came on Jesus while on the cross. He did not
just die. He went to hell. That is what righteousness requires. We never have to face those
things and we never have to be afraid of God. God proved His love at the cross by
satisfying His wrath. We never have to fear the wrath of God. Jesus experienced rejection
so that we could be assured acceptance.
Ephesians 1:6 says, "For the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he has made us
accepted in the beloved." I am accepted. I may be the child that makes the mess, but I am

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still accepted. That does not mean I want to excuse myself and keep making messes, but
when I make the mess I know God will not turn against me in judgment and wrath.
Isaiah 54:7 "For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will
bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with
everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. To me
this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover
the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you
will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has
compassion on you. 0 afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you
with stones of turquoise, your foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of
rubies, and your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your
sons will be taught by the Lord, and great will be your children's peace. In righteousness
you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror
will be far removed; it will not come near you. If anyone does attack you, it will not be my
doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you. See, it is I who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have
created the destroyer to work havoc; no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you
will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me." In verse 9, when it says "this is as the waters of Noah
unto me," God promises to never be angry again.
Do you believe the promise that God made to Noah that He would never again flood
the world with water? He says this is just like that promise. "Just like I swore to Noah that I
would never destroy the world by water, I will never be angry with you." We believe that
God is never going to flood the world again. He sealed that promise with a rainbow. He told
us He would never be angry with us, and never rebuke us. He sealed that promise with the
blood of Jesus. We believe the promise sealed with a rainbow, but we do not believe the
promise sealed with the blood of Jesus.

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 This is a product of what we have been taught, all of our lives. We have always been
taught that God was angry. People have tried to use fear as a way to manipulate us into
serving God. That does not work. It says in the last part of Isaiah 54:9, "So now I have
sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again . . . my unfailing love for you will
not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed." The New Covenant that God
establishes is called the covenant of peace. It is called the covenant of peace because this
is where God made peace with man.
Isaiah 54:17 says we should refute every tongue that accuses us. An accusation
brings judgement. The King James Version says that you should condemn every tongue
that pronounces judgment on you. An accusation brings judgement and God freed us from
judgement through Jesus. If He were to accuse and judge us, He would break His own
covenant. People say that God is going to judge America. Can you believe that in light of
these scriptures? I have heard people say that if God does not judge America, He will have
to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. I say, "If God judges America; He will have to
apologize to Jesus, because He established a covenant of peace." If America falls, it will be
because we have given ourselves to sin and wickedness. God does not have to judge us
for us to fall. Sin will make us fall.
Proverbs 19:27, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the
words of knowledge." Any message that undermines the love of God will cause the believer
to err. When people move away from Huntsville they ask, "What will we do for a church?" I
tell them that choosing a church that speaks in tongues or that worships the way we do is
not the most important factor. Find a church that places a strong emphasis on the love of
God. You do not want to leave church feeling beaten up. If you are in a church that really
promotes the love of God, you will make it. You will not leave beaten up. You will leave built
up!
Romans 10:13-17, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? (We have too many preachers
that have not been sent.) As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!" Get a concordance and look up
peace. Start looking at it as more than just a tranquil state of mind and start realizing that it

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is a "tranquil state of mind that comes because there is peace between you and God." You
may say, "Man, I did not know there was a gospel of peace." There is! It is the good news
about the peace that God made with man through Jesus.
It continues, they have not all obeyed or believed the gospel. That word "obey" in the
Greek means believe. Believe and obey are the same word. Not everyone believed this
good report. Isaiah said, "Lord, who has believed the report. So then faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God." One must believe the gospel of peace if the Word
is to produce faith when they read it. It did say that faith comes by hearing and hearing by
the Word of God. It says that if you call upon the name of the Lord you will be saved, and
you will call because you believe. You will believe because somebody preached it to you.
Somebody is going to preach to you because they have been sent. They will preach the
gospel of peace to you, and then faith will come by hearing and hearing by the Word of
God. Most of what you hear is not going to build faith. Faith is trusting God. Hearing that
God is going to kill you will not make you trust him. That will destroy faith, not build it.
Ephesians 6:11,15, "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil . . . And have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel
of peace." The word "preparation" means "a firm foundation that comes from a readiness of
mind." The foundation that causes a believer to stand firm in every situation is the gospel of
peace. This is talking about emotionally maintaining your footing. If you do not maintain
your footing, when someone hits you, you fall over. Back in those days when a soldier went
to battle, the main thing was to keep your footing. In hand-to-hand combat, you must keep
your footing. It does not matter how strong you are, you have to keep your footing. When I
train people in health and they are going through an exercise program, I always tell them to
build their legs. The most important muscles to build in the body are your legs. It will keep
you from having back pain. It will help you to walk and work all day. Most of us do not lose
upper body strength; we lose lower body strength. We need lower body strength in battle.
When someone hits you, you will always maintain your balance.
No matter what hits you emotionally, you want to maintain your balance. If the

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first thought you have when sickness comes is, "What did I do wrong? Why is God letting
this happen to me?" you are going to lose your balance. When financial disaster hits, if you
say, "0 my God, what did I do to deserve this?" you have lost your balance. Your footing is
not good; you are gone.
Before I get the answer to my problem, I need to first get myself stabilized. No
matter what happens in my life I know there is peace between God and me. These bad
things are not from God. God is not doing this. Out of that peace in my heart, I have the
emotional stability to walk this out and keep trusting in God. The message of the cross is
the message of how God made peace between Himself and man.
In the Living Bible, 1 John 4:18-19 says, “We need have no fear of someone who
loves us perfectly. His perfect love for us eliminates all dread of what he might do to us. If
we are afraid, it is for fear of what he might do to us and shows that we are not fully
convinced that he really loves us. So you see, our love for him comes as a result of his
loving us first." Believing that God loves me with a perfect love sets me free from the fear of
what He will to do to me. Any time something goes wrong in your life and you think that it
might be God; this tells you that you do not really believe He loves you with a perfect love.
We do not understand perfect love because all we have ever experienced is
conditional love. We have people all around us that will love us as long as we do everything
right. But God is going to love us whether we do things right or not. The thing that will keep
your heart stable is to believe that "stuff happens." It is not important that I understand
where it comes from. All I need to know is that bad things are not from God.
When I first got saved I was taught 'about faith. Faith was taught to me as if it were
my trying to get God to do something that He did not want to do. I was taught that God was
doing this to me and I had to believe hard enough to get Him to do something else. I cannot
change the mind of God. I do not have that much faith. Early on, I told God that I did not
have much faith, and if this is the way it is, I am done. Faith is trusting that God is for you
no matter how the circumstances look. That will keep your emotions stable.
Having faith does not mean I will always get the specific outcome that I desire.
Having faith means believing God will not hurt me or abandon me. It means that no matter
what the outcome, I will emerge victorious because God is with me.
In order to better understand the gospel of peace, I recommend reading my book, “The
Gospel of Peace."

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 3
FAITH TOWARD GOD
Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Faith is simply trusting God. It is impossible to trust someone if you are afraid of that
person. We are only able to trust God when we believe He loves and will not hurt us.
Tradition has created an un-biblical view of God. Religious people have tried to use fear as
the motivation to obey God. We should be motivated by love.

When we believe God love's us we will obey Him. When we love Him it will be easy to obey
Him.

John 14:15, "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

God's love is revealed by what He did at the cross. He loved us so much that He put all of
the punishment that we deserved on Jesus. Because Jesus paid the penalty for sin, there
is now peace between God and man.

Read Luke 2:8-10

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And, 10, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the
Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior: which is Christ the Lord. And this
shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Luke 2:10, "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of
great joy, which shall be to all people."

Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Was the good will between men? No. Was the peace between men? No.

Who was the good will from? God. Who was the peace from? God.

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What is significant about this? God was making peace between Himself and man for the
first time since Adam brought sin into the world.

Under the Old Covenant sin had not been paid for, righteousness was not satisfied and
God was angry.

Psalms 7:11 "God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day."

God made a new covenant in the blood of Jesus. How should we relate to the Old
Covenant? Forget it!

Read Galatians 3:13 & 2 Corinthians 1:20. NIV

Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’”

2 Corinthians 1:20, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in
Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God." NIV

All the promises are ours; none of the curses are ours.

Why? Because we are in Jesus.

Read Romans 5:8-11. NIV

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died
for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved
from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to
him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be
saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

I am justified by the blood of Jesus and saved from wrath through Him. I was an enemy of
God, but now I am near to God by the death of His Son.

Define: Justified: made righteous; Reconciled: exchanged.

Read Isaiah 53:4-10. NIV

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken
by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was
crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his
wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his
own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and
afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and
judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off
from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. Yet who of
his generation considered that he was cut off from the land of the living for the

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transgression of my people, to whom the blow was due? He was assigned a grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit
in his mouth. Yet it is the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the
LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the
will of the LORD will prosper in his hand."

Isaiah 53:4-10 describes the Great Exchange.

1 John 2:1-2, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for <the sins of> the whole world."

Define propitiation: to satisfy.

In your own words, describe what this means for you?

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1 John 4:10, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins."

The exchange has two parts:

1. God proved His loved at the cross by satisfying all wrath; so we would never have
to fear wrath.
2. Jesus experienced rejection so we could be assured of acceptance.

Ephesians 1:6, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted
in the beloved.”

Read Isaiah 54:6-17. NIV

"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a
surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will
have compassion on you, says the LORD your Redeemer. To me this is like the days of
Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I
have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be
shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my
covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. A afflicted
city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will build you with stones of turquoise, your
foundations with sapphires. I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling
jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. All your sons will be taught by the LORD, and
great will be your children's peace. In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be
far from you; you will have nothing to fear. - Terror will be far removed; it will not come near
you. If anyone does attack you, it will not be My doing; whoever attacks you will surrender

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to you. See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a
weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to work havoc; no
weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,
declares the LORD."

In verse 9, what is it referring to when it says, "for this is as the waters of Noah unto me?"
God promises never to be angry again.

54:9b, "now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again."

54:10, "my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,
says the LORD, who has compassion on you."

This New Covenant that God established is called a Covenant of Peace.

Why? Because this is where God made peace with man.

54:17 says, we should refute every tongue that accuses.

An accusation brings judgement. God has freed us from judgement though Jesus. If He
were to accuse and judge us, He would break His own covenant.

Proverbs 19:27, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words
of knowledge."

Any message that undermines the love of God will cause a believer to err.

Read Romans 10:13-17, KJV

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the
gospel. For Eseles saith, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

One must believe the Gospel of Peace if the Word is to produce faith when it is read.

Read Ephesians 6:11, 15, KJV

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. And your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace."

The word "preparation" means a firm foundation that comes from a readiness of mind.
(Thayer's Greek Lexicon of the New Testament)

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The Gospel of Peace is the foundation that causes every believer to stand firm in any
situation.

The message of the cross is the message of how God made peace between man and God.

1 John 4:18-19, TLB

“We need have no fear of someone who loves us perfectly; His perfect love for us
eliminates all dread of what He might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what He
might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that He really loves us. So you
see, our love for Him comes as a result of His loving us first.

Believing that God loves me with a perfect love sets me free from fear of what He will do to
me.

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 DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS
The Bible teaches about three different baptisms: 1) Baptism into Christ, 2) Baptism
in water, and 3) Baptism in the Holy Spirit. The Bible makes reference to other baptisms,
but they are unclear. For instance, the Bible talks about the baptism of fire. I do not know
what the baptism of fire is, so there is no value in trying to create a doctrine around
something that you do not know.
The Greek word for "baptize" means to immerse or place something into something
else. In ancient Greek writings the word "baptize" is used to describe a sinking ship. If a
ship went down at sea, they would use the Greek word "baptizo" to describe what
happened. This is an important concept. Understanding this will help us understand the
different doctrines of baptism.
1 Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body...” The
first baptism that we experience when we become a new believer occurs when we are born
again. The Holy Spirit baptized (immersed) us into the body of Christ. Because we are
placed (baptized) into Jesus' body, we no longer relate to God on our own merit. We are
now in Christ. We relate to God on the merit of the righteousness of Jesus. We are hid in
Him.
Take special note every time you see the words "in Him," "through Him," "in Christ"
or "by Him." These are all making references of what we have because we are in Jesus.
We are to relate to God from the perspective of being in Him. We are no longer in the flesh.
We are in Jesus. We are not relating to God on what our ability can earn us. When you are
born again, the Spirit of God baptizes you into the body of Christ.
In baptism, we have the person doing the baptizing, the one being baptized, and the
element into which they are baptized. In this case the person doing the baptizing is the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ. We are the ones being
baptized, and the element we are baptized into is the body of Christ. This will become
important as we look into some of the other aspects of baptism. The next baptism is the
baptism in water. Jesus commanded His followers to be baptized in water and in the Holy
Spirit. In the Great Commission, He told His followers to go into all the world, preach the
gospel, and baptize all who believe.

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 Matthew 28:19 says, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them
in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Throughout the book of Acts we
see the early church obeying this commandment. All early Christians were baptized by
immersion in water. Throughout the years baptism has become a ceremony or ritual that
has very little meaning for the new believer. This is definitely not the plan of God. According
to the archives of the Catholic Church, for about the first 300 years of Catholicism they
taught that the only acceptable form of baptism was by immersion. Baptism by sprinkling
became something that was developed through the years in order to placate the wealthy.
Also, when they went out on crusades, they would get thousands of people together and
say, "die or become Christians." After that, they would throw water on them and call them
Christians -- because they threw some water on them. That is not what baptism is really
about.
You must remember that everything we receive from God is a work of grace through
faith. Ceremony has no value apart from faith and grace. Ceremony does have value when
grace and faith are a part of it. When a believer is baptized in water he should believe (this
is where he operates faith) that God has something specific for him to experience, and he
should be empowered (that is grace) in an area of his life.
Communion is a ceremony. When taking Communion you should believe that
something specific will happen and you should be empowered. You should experience
something in your heart that strengthens your walk with God. Ceremonies are designed to
give us a specific way to experience God's realities.
Does the whole world have salvation? That is a yes and no answer. Yes, they had it
given, but no; they have not received and experienced it. Technically, our sins are already
forgiven, so people say, "Okay then, 1 John 1:9 says to confess my sin. “Why should I
confess my sin if it is already forgiven?" There is a whole group of people that will teach
you not to confess your sins.
Ceremonies are actions designed to give us a place to experience what God has
given us. In other words, works do not make it happen. Faith makes it happen, but we
come to experience this through certain works. Ceremonies facilitate experience.
An example that I like to use is, when my children were growing up there would be
many times when they would do things that I knew they did. They did not know that I knew.
Even though what they did may have hurt and disappointed me, in my heart I forgave them.

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However, they were not experiencing that forgiveness, even though it was in my heart.
They would walk around feeling guilty. It is sometimes humorous to watch how kids do that.
When your kids get mad, when they come in and go to their room and do not talk to you,
that is very often guilt. They are avoiding you and staying away. My children would be
angry with me and depressed. My forgiveness already existed, but they had not yet
experienced it.
Several times over the years they would walk around miserable for a few days,
weeks, or months, and finally we would sit down and talk. They would occasionally come to
me -- occasionally. The parent usually initiates. That is the way it is with God. He is always
saying, "Come on. Get back in fellowship with me. Talk to me. Come on; let's get this thing
worked out." You go to your kids and say, "Tell me what is wrong. Talk to me." They finally
come out and tell you what is wrong. You forgave them a month ago when you found out
about it, but they experience this relief when they tell you. It is over and they know that it is
over. I had already forgiven them, but they did not benefit from it until they experienced it.
That is the way it is between God and us. He has already given the forgiveness. That is
why we come and get back in fellowship with Him and confess. God always has steps for
us to take that cause us to experience what He has freely given in Jesus. It does not
benefit you until you experience it.
Mark 16:16 says, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved (sozo)." This is
not talking about a requirement for getting born again. Baptism has a lot to do with
experiencing sozo in every area of life. The prerequisite for baptism is to be a believer. In
other words, baptism is not for young children or the unconverted.
Romans 6:4 says, 'Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death." Baptism
is where we identify with the death of Jesus. Romans 6:6 says, "Knowing this, that our old
man (your old, sinful nature) was crucified with him." Jesus became our sin while on the
cross, therefore, our sinful nature died with him. If that sinful man died with Him, then we
are dead with Him. Romans 6:11 says, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." The word "reckon"
means "to consider it so." If you believe that you died with Christ, you need to consider
yourself dead to sin. Grace will give you the power to live free from sin. One of the
problems you have with temptation is not considering yourself really free from sin. If you
are dead to sin, it does not mean that you never sin. It does not mean that you will never be

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tempted. It means that you do not have to do it. You may give in, but you know you do not
have to.
Romans 7:1 says this, "Do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to men who
know the law - that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?" If we have
not died with Jesus, then we are still under the law. Everybody that is not born again is still
under the law. They are still trying to relate to God on the basis of their performance. They
do not have Jesus. They do not have the free gift of righteousness. They have not received
that free gift.
Romans 7:4, "So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ,
that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we
might bear fruit to God." We are dead to the law because we died with Christ. We do not
look to the law for righteousness. We are alive to God, therefore, we are under grace
(God's ability) not law (our ability).
The law is the only thing that gives sin power. The Bible teaches that the law is the
strength of sin. As long as a person is under law, sin has power in their life. There are
several reasons for this. First, we have to depend on our own ability under the law.
Second, we know that when you focus on what you should not do, you become drawn to it
because you are focusing on it. In Romans 7, Paul said that the passions of sin were alive
in us by the law. The law stirs up sin. People who try to relate to God on the basis of the
law (works, performance) always end up in sin because they are stuck in their own ability.
We died with Christ on the cross; therefore, we are dead to the law. The reason we
are dead to sin is because we are dead to the law. The law does not apply to dead people.
The only way to be free from the law is to die. You begin to see when you look at the
foundations of faith, (and this is one of the foundations), how few Christians really consider
themselves dead to the law. The law is no problem to me. I am dead. The law cannot make
me righteous. l am a dead man. We are dead to the law, so we do not look at the law for
righteousness.
We are alive to God. We are under grace. Romans 6:14 says, "For sin shall have no
dominion over you because you are not under the law." It is amazing, but most people think
that if they give up the law, they will end up in sin. The Bible says that you have to give up
the law to get out of sin. You cannot be under law and grace at the same time. The law is
your ability. Grace is God's ability. The law works by you putting forth your best effort.

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Grace works because you believe that Jesus is in you, that you are a new creation, and
that you are righteous. If you believe you are righteous, you will live righteous. The way this
reads in the Greek is, "No particular sin of any kind shall exercise lordship over you."
The only reason a Christian sins is because he wants to. That is why the Bible tells
us to confess our sin. The word "confess" means "to say the same thing." You have not
confessed your sin as long as you have an excuse or someone else to blame. There is one
way to know which sins you are going to be vulnerable to. It is simple the ones you like! I
have never once had a temptation to hit my hand with a hammer. You are only tempted to
do things that you like, and you are only going to do them because you enjoy the pleasure
you get from them. Getting out of sin is not going to happen because I try to obey some
rule. A rule is not going to keep me from doing something I enjoy.
We share the most unique method for getting people out of sin. It is the only thing
that works. Once a person realizes that sin is the source of pain in their life, they will get out
of it. That is all it takes. Sin is not a list of the things you do that makes God unable to love
you. Sin is a list of things that you do that brings pain into your life. We gravitate toward
what we believe will bring us pleasure. We avoid that which we believe will bring us pain. It
is no wonder the whole world is running away from God. Look at the message that the
churches preach. They proclaim God as the source of pain. I have never seen one person
walk with God when fear was their motive. Any person who makes a commitment to God
out of fear and does not eventually adjust that commitment, will never last. In 25 years I
have never seen one person with the testimony, "I got saved because I was afraid of going
to hell", make it. That can be a starting place, but as you get to know God, love is going to
become the compelling force in your life.
Our death to the law and sin is only a part of what happens at baptism. Jesus
died on the cross and was buried, but the Spirit of God raised him up. That same Spirit
works in us. Ephesians 2 says that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, the
same Spirit that caused Him to conquer all principalities, power and every demon, is the
very same Spirit that works in us, the Spirit of resurrection. Jesus not only died, but He was
raised from the dead. Colossians 2:12 says that we are buried with Him in baptism, but we
are raised up with Him through faith in the power of God that raised Him from the dead. If
we believe that Jesus died, then we believe that we died with Him, therefore, we are dead
to sin. If we believe that God raised Him from the dead, then we believe that we were

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raised from the dead and are alive to God. Even though baptism is a ceremony, it is a
ceremony that puts you in a position to work faith about specific events. I do not encourage
people to get re-baptized, but I have re-baptized people because when they were baptized
it did not mean anything to them. The main thing is that you operate faith whether you get
re-baptized or sit back and say that this is what happened when I was baptized.
Baptism is something I do because I believe I am dead. I am burying this old man.
Just like Jesus came out of the grave, I am believing that I am, by that same Spirit that
raised Jesus, being raised up in newness of life. I have seen people get victory at water
baptism that they never could get before. For the first time in their life, they exercised faith
in the fact that they were dead to sin and alive to righteousness, alive to God.
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the
old is gone, the new has come!" That is powerful! Not many Christians really believe that
the old is gone and the new has come. After a person receives Jesus as Lord and Savior,
he is baptized in water. You were baptized in the body of Christ the day you believed. You
are getting baptized with water to exercise faith about your personal death, burial, and
resurrection. We are to believe, to consider (to reckon), that our old life (old nature) died
with Christ on the cross. By trusting the power of God, we are to believe that we are raised
up as a new person with a new nature, just as Christ was raised up. Jesus had to get a new
nature. The Bible says that He was raised up in righteousness. He died in sin and God
raised Him up righteous. He became our sin. He is our example and we are to look at Him
and say, "He died of sin; I died of sin. He was raised up in righteousness; I am raised up in
righteousness – His righteousness."
Based on this belief, the new believer is to bury the old man. In water baptism we
demonstrate our faith in the fact that we are dead. We also demonstrate our faith in the fact
that we are now raised from the dead in Him. For many, this is a place for grace.
Empowerment to live a new life becomes reality. It is here that we experience the reality of
death, burial, and resurrection.
Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead? Have you confessed Jesus as
your Lord? Have you been baptized since you believed? If not, are you ready for water
baptism?

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 BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans. He said He would send
another Comforter. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit. A good name for the Holy Spirit is
Comforter. He is not a tormenter. He is a comforter. When you are tormented over sin, that
is not God. It is your conscience. God is there offering you comfort. You will have comfort
when you walk with Him. Torment comes when we determine to stay in our sin. The
torment is the guilt of a defiled conscience.
In John 14:16, 26, Jesus says, "And I will pray the Father and he shall give you
another Comforter . . ." The word "another" means "another of the same kind." In other
words, another Comforter, just like Me. Jesus is saying, "He will do the same thing that I
do." "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you."
The Spirit of God is with us to teach us, comfort us, lead us, show us Jesus, give
personal empowerment, and empowerment for ministry. All of which is a work of grace. The
Holy Spirit is our lifeline to God. Apart from the Holy Spirit, the Bible is only a book of rules.
Apart from the Holy Spirit, this is just more information.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus said, "You shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come
upon you . . ." This word "power" comes from the word "dunamis." The word dynamite
comes from this word. Dynamite, however, blows up once and is gone. The root word for
"dunamis" is dynamo. A dynamo has the ability to give off a charge equal to itself without
losing any of its inherent power. That is the way Jesus is in us. His power flows through us,
yet He states that He abides the same.
This scripture talks about the Holy Spirit coming upon you. The Holy Spirit comes in
you at salvation. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is not when the Spirit comes inside of you.
It is when the Spirit comes upon you. Our problem is that we get the Spirit in us to empower
us to live the Christian life, but we do not allow the Holy Spirit upon us or flow outside of us,
to empower us to touch the world.
Salvation (baptism into the body of Christ, being born again) empowers us

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personally to live the Christian life, but the Holy Spirit upon us empowers us to touch
the world. When you were baptized in water, you were not trying to get the water
inside of you. You were trying to get covered over with the water. Jesus said He
would baptize us in the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the person doing the baptizing, not the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who baptized us into the body of Christ. At
water baptism, the preacher baptizes the believer into the elements of the water. But
here, Jesus becomes the person baptizing. He baptizes the believer into the Holy
Spirit. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be with you and the Holy Spirit would be
in you. He came in you when you were born again, but a promise is another story.
The Holy Spirit comes in you at salvation. It is then that you are born again.
In John 3:5 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no man can enter the kingdom of
God unless he is born of water and spirit." You have to be born of the Spirit in order to
be born again, that is the Spirit coming in you. Titus 3:5 says, "Not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy He saved us by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." In Acts 1:8, Jesus was not
talking about the Holy Spirit coming in us at salvation. He was talking about us
receiving power when we were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
None of the disciples were born again while following Jesus. You have to
believe that God has raised Jesus from the dead to be born again. The Holy Spirit had
not yet been freely given. Jesus had not yet been raised from the dead. They were
His disciples and the Holy Spirit could actually come upon them for ministry. In the
Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people and that is how they worked
miracles. Powerful things happen in the lives of believers when the Holy Spirit comes
upon them. The Holy Spirit came in the disciples when they believed that God had
raised Jesus from the dead.
The book of Luke describes this event. Luke 24:45 says, “Then He opened their
minds so they could understand the scriptures." I believe this is talking about when
they were born again, which was after Jesus was raised from the dead. It tells us in
the book of John that He breathed on them. John 20:21-22, after He was raised from
the dead Jesus said, "'Peace be unto you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending
you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Spirit.''' I
believe this is when they were born again. But after He opened their understanding, it

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says He then told them to tarry (to wait) for the promise. The promise was that they
would be baptized in the Holy Spirit. They would be endued with power for ministry.
They received the Holy Spirit in them, but they had not yet been empowered by the
Holy Spirit to minister to others.
Acts 2:17 says, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour
out my spirit upon all flesh." On the day of Pentecost, Peter was preaching and they
were saying, “What has happened here?" (By the way, they were not in the Upper
Room. I know this preaches nicely, to say so. You could not get all of the disciples
and their families into the Upper Room, let alone the thousands of people that saw and
heard them. The Upper Room was not very big. They stayed in the Upper Room, but
they went out in the temple to pray. They were daily going to the temple and praying,
and they were waiting for the promise.) You have heard it said that they waited for 50
days. Actually, they only tarried seven days. We know this because Jesus was
crucified on the day of the Passover. From Passover to Pentecost was 50 days.
Jesus was in the grave three days and three nights. The Bible says that He showed
Himself alive to them at 40 days. That is a total of 43 days. He ascended 43 days
after His crucifixion. It was seven days to Pentecost. It may have taken them a few
days to get to the temple because they met Him in Galilee. They may not have tarried
seven days, but the most they could have possibly tarried was seven days from the
time of His ascension to the day of Pentecost. They did not tarry for 50 days or 50
years, and we do not have to tarry at all. They were tarrying because the Holy Spirit
had not yet been poured out. He has now, and we do not have to wait. They were
baptized in the Holy Spirit and they all started speaking in tongues.
In Acts 2:39 Peter was explaining what had happened. He said, "For the
promise is unto you." If he would have stopped right there we would have said the
baptism in the Holy Spirit is only for those people who lived then. However, he went
on to say, "and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
our God shall call."
From these scriptures about the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the promise was
given to ALL BELIEVERS!! If you are from a denominational background and think we
are going to make you speak in tongues, you are mistaken. We do not make anyone
do anything. Tongues are already in you. When the Holy Spirit came in you, He

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brought it all in you; all of the "gifts of the Holy Spirit." These are all abilities of the Holy
Spirit.
In Acts 2:4 it tells what happened when the believers were filled with the Holy
Spirit. It says, "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in
tongues." They all spoke with other tongues. The Holy Spirit did not speak. They
spoke. The Holy Spirit never makes you do anything. The Holy Spirit leads and
compels you, but you are the one who does it. The Bible does not call the Holy Spirit
the doer of the Word. He is the helper. He said, “…will send one alongside to help."
The Holy Spirit does not do anything for you. He helps or empowers you as you do
things.
The word "tongues" simply means a language. The Bible says there are
tongues of men and tongues of angels. A tongue is really a language that is intelligible
to somebody, just not to the one who is speaking.
While I was worshiping God one night during a service, one of our missionaries
to Mexico suddenly began to cry. I did not have a clue as to what was going on.
When he finally got himself composed, he came up to me and said that he wanted to
share. He was from Puerto Rico. He said, "While you were praying, you began to pray
in Spanish and you began to pray specific things." I did not know what I was saying.
Another tongue is another language. It is foreign to me, but intelligible to someone. I
have had that happen to me more than once.
A friend of mine was once in Jerusalem. He went to the Wailing Wall and began
to pray. All of these Jews began to get mad and leave. The tour guide asked him why
he insulted all of these people. He did not know what he was referring to. The tour
guide told him that he was praying in the Hebrew language and glorified Jesus as the
Messiah. That is why the Jews became angry and left.
Tongues is a language that is intelligible to someone, somewhere. However, it
is not intelligible to you. In Acts 10:46, when the Gentiles received the baptism of the
Holy Spirit it says, “They heard them speaking in tongues and praising God." Acts
19:6, “When Paul placed his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they
spoke in tongues and prophesied." In all of the instances of believers receiving the
baptism of the Holy Spirit, they all spoke in tongues.
From reading the following scriptures, we see there are three main reasons for

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us to speak in tongues. There may be other reasons, but these are the three main
reasons. The first reason is for personal edification, 1 Corinthians 14:4. When I first
started studying this, I thought it was self-centered, to edify yourself. There are many
times, however, that I need edification or encouragement that no one else can give me.
I was baptized in the Holy Spirit just a couple of weeks after I was saved. I
really did not know what it was. I just prayed all night and before the night was over I
began to speak in tongues, not realizing what it was. The first church I attended was a
Baptist church. They believed that speaking in tongues was of the devil. I did not
realize that what I was doing was speaking in tongues. I thought, "If I ever hear any of
those 'tongue-talkers’, I will just cast the devil out of them. I wondered what it
sounded like; I did not know they were talking about was what I was already doing.
When I finally figured out that I was speaking in tongues, I started to waver. I
had heard all of these bad things about it, but I also knew that it was in the Bible. I
decided to put this to the test. I made a commitment to myself that when I prayed in
tongues, I would not stop until I felt edified. That was a challenge, but I put it to the
test. Back in those early days, because of my wavering and unbelief, I would pray in
tongues for hours before I felt this edification and strength come into me. Now, I can
worship God in other tongues for a matter of minutes and strength and edification
come very quickly.
Not everyone will know how to encourage you. My tape set, "Keeping Yourself
Encouraged" will answer a lot of questions about tongues. It deals with how to use
these gifts, or graces, of God to keep yourself built up. Many people look at those who
are in ministry and ask how they keep themselves encouraged. There are specific
ways this happens. A prayer life that includes praying in tongues is an essential part.
The second reason for speaking in tongues is for glorifying God. In 1
Corinthians 14:2 and Acts 2:11, when it talks about praying in tongues, it says that they
were glorifying God. It is a means of worshiping and glorifying God that goes beyond
our personal understanding. Some people struggle with intimacy. Often, we cannot
express intimate feelings. Brenda and I have a wonderful marriage. We are very
passionate and extremely intimate, however, I sometimes find myself wanting to
express an intimacy and really do not know how to do it. I feel awkward and wonder
how I can say it without sounding stupid. This can happen in our relationship with God.

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When we pray in tongues, only our hearts are involved, not our understanding. The
Holy Spirit gives us words of intimacy, praise, worship and adoration. We would
otherwise be unable to express these things. We would be limited to our present
abilities of expressing intimacy.
Romans 8:26-27 teaches that when we pray in other tongues we pray the
perfect will of God. We have all been in situations when we did not know exactly how
to pray. This is where praying in tongues comes into play.
You might be thinking, 'Why do I need to pray about things anyway?" God gave
authority of planet Earth to man. God never arbitrarily does anything in planet Earth.
In the book of Genesis, when He created Adam, He said, "Let us make man in our own
likeness, our own image, and let them have dominion." (Genesis 1:26) From that day
until now, the only extent that the will of God is done in Earth is when man exercises
his will for it to be done. When praying, I have to exercise my authority as a human
being who has dominion over planet Earth. God is able to move in the situation
because I express my will. Neither God nor the devil can do anything they want to do
in planet Earth. God and the devil can only do in planet Earth what man will have
done. Authority is exercised by words. When I pray in other tongues, because I am
yielding to the Holy Spirit, He will lead me in this language to say, ''This is the will of
God for these things."
While praying and worshiping God in other tongues, He often gives me the
interpretation. I get the wisdom about how to approach something through praying in
tongues and getting the interpretation. The Bible says when you pray in tongues you
should pray for the interpretation.
Personal edification, praising and glorifying God, praying the perfect will of God,
and getting the wisdom of God are the main reasons for praying in tongues. People
mistakenly think the Holy Spirit will make them speak in tongues, or He will speak for
you. The Bible clearly points out that the believers spoke in tongues, not the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit never forces you to do anything, but when the believer decides to act
on the promises of God, the Holy Spirit will certainly do His part. We speak and the
Spirit's part is to give us the words or the utterance.
In the book of Acts there is an account of people being born again. Phillip, the
very first deacon, preaches to the Samaritans. When he preaches, they all receive the

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Word of God. Acts 8:14 says, “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria
had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived,
they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.” The word for "receive" is
not a passive word. It does not mean that nothing happened. This is the Greek word
"para lambano." This is an aggressive word that means to "take hold of or to put into
operation." There is a word "dekomai" which means to receive passively. They did not
take hold of and operate in the Holy Spirit.
It was so foreign to the New Testament church for someone to be saved and not
speak in tongues. I am not saying you are not saved if you do not speak in tongues,
but it was foreign for believers not to speak in tongues. It was so foreign that when
they heard that they had received the Word of God ("dekomai," passively received it),
but they had not "lambano,' (taken hold of the baptism of the Holy Spirit) they knew
something had to be done. They sent the apostles down to find out why these
believers were not getting baptized in the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:15 -17 says, “When they
arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive (Iambano) the Holy Spirit,
because the Spirit had not yet come upon them; they had simply been baptized in the
name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they
received the Holy Spirit.”
The reason they had not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit is because they
had not been taught. It says they were only baptized in the name of Jesus. They did
not know the Holy Spirit was available to them. When they found that He was, they
were not re-baptized in water, but the apostles laid hands on them and they prayed for
them that they might take hold of and received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, "I will baptize you in the Holy Ghost." Jesus is the one doing the
baptizing. A believer wants to get baptized, placed into, covered over, immersed with
the Holy Spirit so that what is inside gets to the outside. First, receive Jesus as your
Lord and Savior. Then, receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Although I had already received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and was speaking
in tongues, I was struggling with it because I was in a church that condemned it. I had
heard horror stories about it. I had heard that a missionary came from Africa who
heard someone speak in tongues and was actually cursing Jesus! I did not want to
curse Jesus. I began trying to find someone who was there and could confirm this. I

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could not find anyone . . . because it never happened. The Bible says that no man
speaking by the Spirit says “Jesus be cursed.” But because I was hearing this fear and
unbelief, I was wavering in my confidence. When I read the Bible for myself, apart
from the influence of people, and I saw that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was part of
what Jesus died to give me, I said, “Who am I, regardless of how comfortable or
uncomfortable I am with this, to reject it?" I decided that whether or not I am
comfortable with it is not the issue. The issue is whether or not Jesus died to give it to
me. This was important enough that it was included in my salvation package. If it was
important to God, it needs to be important to me. I may not understand, but I will come
to understand. I made a decision that if Jesus is Lord, I will not refuse anything that He
offers me. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then you are a candidate for the baptism
of the Holy Spirit.
Second, you must believe the baptism of the Holy Spirit is for you. Think this
over. You do not have to be in church to get baptized in the Holy Spirit. There were
several different ways that people got baptized in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts.
Sometimes people laid hands on them, and sometimes while people were preaching to
them. You can get baptized in the Holy Spirit right now. Nobody has to be with you. It
is a simple thing. You simply ask Jesus and accept that the reality of it does not have
anything to do with feelings. Then act on your faith. Speak in other tongues, trusting
the Holy Spirit to give you the words.
While preaching at an Assembly of God church in Mexico, the Lord impressed
me to preach on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The place was packed. I thought,
“Well, this is a Pentecostal Church. Everybody here probably has the baptism of the
Holy Spirit." I found that, around the world, most Pentecostals do not have the baptism
of the Holy Spirit. So I preached on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the line was so
long it took us hours to pray for the people. Since then I pray for people in groups. I
have seen up to 5,000 people get baptized in the Holy Spirit, start speaking in tongues
and worshiping God at the same time. But, in this church, we asked all of the people
the same questions. "Do you believe this is in the Bible? Do you believe this is for
you? Do you want it?" Then I asked them a simple question, "If we pray for you, are
you going to receive it, and are you going to speak in tongues?" Every single person
that said "yes" to all of those questions prayed in tongues that night.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class #4
DOCTRINE OF BAPTISMS
Psalm 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

Baptism into the Body of Christ

The Bible teaches about three different baptisms:
Baptism into Christ.
Baptism in water.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The word "baptize" means to place something into something else. In ancient Greek
writings the word "baptize" is used to describe a sinking ship.

1 Corinthians 12:13, "For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body...”

The first baptism is something that occurs when we are born again.

The Holy Spirit baptized or placed us into the body of Christ. Because we are placed
(baptized) into Jesus' body, we no longer relate to God on our own merit. We are now
in Christ. We relate to God on the merit (righteousness) of Jesus.

Because the Spirit baptizes me into Jesus, when God looks at me He sees me as
righteous.

As you read the New Testament notice how many times it refers to us as in Christ,
through Christ, by Him etc... God only sees us through the righteousness of Jesus.

Baptism in Water
The next baptism is the baptism in water. Jesus commanded His followers to be
baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit. In the great commission, He told His followers
to go to all the world and preach the Gospel and to baptize all that believed.

Matthew 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

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Throughout the book of Acts we see the early church obeying this commandment. All
of the early Christians were baptized by immersion in water. Throughout the years,
baptism has become a ceremony or ritual that has very little meaning for the new
believer. This is not the plan of God.

Everything we receive from God is a work of grace through faith.

Ceremony has no value apart from faith and grace.

When a believer is baptized into water he should believe (faith) God for some specific
things and he should be empowered (grace) in an area of his life.

Ceremonies are designed to give us a specific way to experience God's realities. Let's
read the following scriptures and determine what reality we should experience in water
baptism.

Mark 16:16, "He that believes and is baptized shall be saved..."

The prerequisite for baptism is to be a believer. Baptism is not for children or for the
unconverted.

Romans 6:4, “Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death.”

Baptism is where we identify with the death of Jesus.

Romans 6:6, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him."

Jesus became our sin while on that cross. Therefore, our sinful nature died with Him.

If our sinful man died with Him then we are dead to sin.

Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Reckon means to consider it so.

If you believe you died with Christ you can consider yourself dead to sin, grace will
give you the power to live free from sin.

Romans 7:1, "Do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to men who know the
law - that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?" (NIV)

Romans 7:4, "So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that
you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we
might bear fruit to God." (NIV)

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We are dead to the law, so we do not look to the law for righteousness. We are alive
to God, therefore, we are under grace/God's ability not law/our ability.

Romans 6:15, "For sin SHALL NOT have dominion over you."

Our death to the law and sin is only part of what happens in baptism. Jesus died on
the cross and was buried, but He was raised up by the Spirit of God, the same
Spirit that works in us.

Colossians 2:12, "Buried with Him in baptism, raised with Him through your faith in the
power of God who raised Him from the dead.”

If we believe that Jesus died, then we believe that we died with Him. Therefore, we
are dead to sin. If we believe that God raised Him from the dead, then we believe that
we were raised with Him and we are alive to God.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is

gone, the new has come!" (NIV)

After a person has received Jesus as Lord and Savior he is to be baptized in water.
He is to believe (consider/reckon) that his old life and his old nature died with Christ on
the cross. By trusting in the power of God he is to believe that he is raised up as a
new person, with a new nature, just as Christ was raised from the dead.

Based on this belief, the new believer is to bury the old man. In water baptism we
demonstrate our faith in the fact that we are dead. We also demonstrate our faith in
the fact that we are now raised from the dead in Him. For many this is the place where
grace/empowerment to live the new life becomes a reality. It is here that we
experience the reality of death, burial and resurrection.

YOUR RESPONSE
1. Do you believe that God raised Jesus from the dead? _______________

2. Have you confessed Jesus as your Lord? _________________________

3. Have you been baptized since you believed? ______________________

4. If not, are you ready to be baptized in water? ______________________

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 BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Jesus promised that He would not leave us as orphans. He said He would send us
another Comforter. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16, 26. "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He
may abide with you forever;
26) But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name,
He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you."

The Spirit of God is with us to:

1. Teach us

2. Comfort us

3. Lead us

4. Show us Jesus

5. Personal empowerment

6. Empowerment for ministry

The Holy Spirit is our lifeline to God.

In Acts 1:4 Jesus told the disciples to wait until they were endued with power from the
Father. Jesus promised that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came
upon them.

Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you."

Is this scripture talking about the Holy Spirit coming upon you or in you? Upon you.

When does the Holy Spirit come in you? At salvation.

The Holy Spirit comes in us at salvation. It is then that we are born of the Spirit.

John 3:5, "Jesus answered, 'I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit.’“ (NIV)

Titus 3:5, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

In Acts 1:8, Jesus was not talking about the Spirit coming in us at salvation, He was
taking about us receiving power when we were baptized in the Holy Spirit.

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Acts 2:17, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out My
Spirit upon all flesh."

Acts 2:39, "For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar
off even as many as the Lord our God shall call."

From these scriptures about the baptism in the Holy Spirit, to whom is this promise
given? ALL BELIEVERS.

According to Acts 2:4, what happened when the believers were filled with the Spirit?
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the
Spirit enabled them.

They spoke with other tongues.

Tongues is another word for language.

In Acts 10:46 when the Gentiles received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, what
happened?

"For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God." (NIV)

In Acts 19:6, what happened when the believers received the baptism in the Holy
Spirit?
“When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke
in tongues and prophesied." (NIV)

In all of the instances of believers receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit, they all
spoke with tongues. By reading the following scriptures we see that there are three
reasons for us to speak in tongues:

1. Personal Edification, 1 Corinthians 14:4

2. Glorifying God, 1 Corinthians 14:2, Acts 2:11

3. Praying the perfect Will of God, Romans 8:26-27

People mistakenly think that the Holy Spirit will make them speak in tongues or that He
will speak for you. The Bible clearly points out that it was the believers who spoke in
tongues, not the Holy Spirit. The Spirit never forces anyone to do anything. But, when
a believer decides to act on the promises of God, the Holy Spirit will certainly do His
part. We speak; the Spirit gives the words.

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 HOW TO RECEIVE THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. Receive Jesus as Lord and Savior.
2. Believe that the Baptism in the Holy Spirit is for you.
3. Ask Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
4. Receive by faith. This has nothing to do with your feelings.
5. Act on your faith.
a. Thank the Lord for baptizing you in the Holy Spirit. Worship Him for
answering your prayers.
b. Begin to speak in tongues. You might ask, "But, how will I know it's not me
speaking in tongues?" It will be you. You do the speaking, the Holy Spirit
supplies the words.

YOUR RESPONSE
1. Have you received Jesus as Lord? _______________

2. Have you received the baptism in the Holy Spirit? __________________

The tape series "Keeping Yourself Encouraged" Will provide thorough teaching about the importance of
the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Speaking in other tongues.

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 LAYING ON OF HANDS
The next area of the foundation is the laying on of hands. The laying on of
hands not only focuses on the ceremonial laying on of hands, but more specifically the
"realm" of personal ministry. Every believer is called to personal ministry. Personal
ministry is an important part of personal growth and development.
Luke 4:40 says, “When the sun was setting all that had any sick with divers
diseases brought them unto him {Jesus] and he laid his hands on every one of them
and healed them." Jesus laid His hands on the sick to minister to them. It was a part
of bringing healing to them. When I read these scriptures, particularly as a new
believer, I would think, ''What kind of magical power was at work that He could put His
hands on somebody and heal them?" I still thought this after I got baptized in the Holy
Spirit and learned about ministering to people. I was not taught much from a practical
perspective. I was taught that you just lay hands on people, hoping that something will
happen and they would somehow get healed or, believe hard enough to push this
power out. The laying on of hands is a ceremonial action, just like water baptism and
communion. It is not the ceremony that makes something happen or the fact that you
have laid hands on somebody. But this does facilitate and create an opportunity for
people to experience something as a result of what they believe in their heart.
Jesus never did miracles by His own power. It is very important that you
understand this. The Bible teaches us that He was a man, full of the Holy Spirit, just
like we are. When the Bible uses the word "full" (like full of the Holy Spirit), we tend to
think of it as a quantitative measure. The terminology "full of the Holy Spirit" or ''filled
with the Holy Spirit" has more to do with yielding to the presence of the Holy Spirit than
having more of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, "Be not drunk with wine wherein is
excess but be filled with the Holy Spirit." When you get drunk with wine, you become
intoxicated. You are yielding to the influence of alcohol. When you become full of the
Holy Spirit, you are yielding to the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is not talking about
having more of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was a man, full of the Holy Spirit. He was a man
that yielded to the influence of the Holy Spirit and everything He did is completely

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possible for us. We have the same power He had.
John 20:21 says that He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy
Spirit?" He said, “As the Father sent me, so I also send you." In other words, in the
same way that the Father sent me, with the same commission, and with the same
power, I am sending you. That power is the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said in John 14:12, "He that believes on Me the works that I do shall he
do also and greater than these because I go to my Father." He was going to the
Father to send the Holy Spirit.
Acts 10:38 tells us, "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and
with power who went about doing good and went about healing all who were
oppressed of the devil." Jesus had power because the Holy Spirit was upon Him. We
have power because the Holy Spirit is upon us. The same power!
In Luke 10:8-9, Jesus sent His disciples out before they were born again. They
did not have the Spirit in them, but even under the Old Covenant, the Spirit could come
upon them. It says, “When you enter into a town and are welcome, eat what is set
before you, heal the sick who are there, and tell them the Kingdom of God is near you."
When Jesus sent forth His disciples, He not only gave them power, but a commission
to heal the sick. That was a part of their responsibility.
Mark 16:17-20 says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my
Name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up
the serpent, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them, and they shall lay
their hands on the sick and they shall recover. Then after the Lord had spoken unto
them He was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God, and they went
forth and preached everywhere and the Lord working with them and confirming the
word with signs following." The Bible should be the interpreter of the Bible. The Bible
says that no part of the scripture is given for private interpretation. In other words, I
cannot interpret the Bible in light of my experience. I take this scripture and ask
myself, “What else do I see in the Bible that makes me understand this scripture?" We
saw in the book of Acts that people who believe in the name of Jesus could cast out
devils. The first time I ever cast a devil out of anybody I had never seen it done, and
did not have a clue how it was to be done. I just read it in the Bible. One night, a
musician friend called me. A local musician in town had actually sold his soul to the

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devil and they brought him to me for deliverance. All I knew was that the believers in
the Bible could do it and Jesus said I could do it. That is how I learned to cast out
devils. The Bible interpreted it, I saw it, and I knew that it was scriptural.
The Bible says, "They shall speak with new tongues." We see this in the book
of Acts. It also says, "They shall take up serpents." We cannot make a private
interpretation and decide that we are going to get everybody to handle snakes. The
Bible example that we have of this is the Apostle Paul. He was on an island after he
had been in prison. While gathering wood, a poisonous viper bit him. This was not
some religious test of faith. It just bit him. But he believed God and it did not harm
him.
A brown recluse spider once bit a good friend of mine. He came to church and
told us that he had been bitten and was already starting to show signs of deterioration.
The church laid hands on him and prayed for him. He got healed. I think this applies.
The Bible says, "If they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them." Again, you
do not see people doing this to test God. I think this falls under our provision of
protection. When things happen to us we should believe God for protection. It is
simple and is not something one should do to test God. It says, “They shall lay hands
on the sick and they shall recover." In the book of Acts we see the believers preaching
the gospel and laying hands on the sick.
The Bible says signs follow believers. The punctuation in the King James was
not in the original language. The writers of the King James Version of the Bible put the
punctuation where they thought it should go. Sometimes it was good and sometimes it
was not. I would have punctuated this differently. It says, 'These signs shall follow
them that believe; in my name they shall cast out devils." Personally, I think the
punctuation should have read like this: “These signs shall follow them that believe in my
name; they shall cast out devils . . .” If you are a believer, then these signs can and
should follow you. It did not say that you should follow the signs? It says that signs
shall follow you. Mark 16 is a part of the Great Commission. This is what Jesus told
the disciples to do when He left planet earth.
This does not work like magic. I do not have to have a special anointing to do
this. There is no special anointing. Remember, everything God does is by grace
through faith - everything. There is no other way. It is always going to be by grace

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and faith.
Jesus told his disciples to do two things: He told them to preach the good news
of the kingdom. Several years ago, when I would lead 100 people a year to the Lord
one-on-one (I thought I was a hotshot), the Lord spoke to me and said, "Son, if you
would preach the gospel, you would really see results." I argued with God and said,
“What do you mean 'preach the gospel?' I am preaching the gospel. I do not know
anyone who has led more people to Jesus than I." The Lord just repeated it in my
heart, "If you will just preach the gospel, you will really see results." Finally, after I
stopped arguing with God, I started praying and asking what He meant. I just prayed,
meditated, and read the Word. The Lord spoke to my heart and said, "The gospel is
good news."
It is not good news to tell someone everything they did wrong to get into the
trouble that they are in. It is not good news to tell someone who is already faltering
that if they would just start doing right, pray hard enough and believe hard enough that
they could get out of trouble.
I know a lady in New Orleans who went to her pastor about a problem. Her
pastor, who was trying to be spiritual, said, "If you will fast and pray for three days, God
will give you the victory over this." She replied, "If I had enough self-control to fast and
pray, I would not be in this trouble."
Jesus said, "I came to proclaim the year of jubilee." (Luke 4:18) (The King
James Version says the acceptable year of the Lord). The Year of Jubilee was the
year all debts were canceled. Every 50 years all debts were canceled and all of the
land returned to the original landowners.
Let's say there are two men in debtor's prison. They are sitting side-by-side.
One man was in debtor's prison because there was sickness in his family. It took
everything he had to buy medicine and to pay a doctor to try to keep his family alive.
He lost everything he had. He went in debt, so he was sent to debtor's prison. You
can understand why that man is there and you can really look forward to and rejoice
that his land is going to come back to him in the Year of Jubilee. The other man, in the
same jail cell, is a drunkard, a thief, a gambler, a liar and a cheat. He squandered his
inheritance and went deep in debt. They took everything away from him. Guest what?
In the Year of Jubilee both men are released from their debt. Whether they are there

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deservedly or undeservedly, the debt is canceled.
The good news of the Kingdom of God is "the debt is canceled." Jesus qualifies
you to partake of the Kingdom of God. The good news is you are free from sin, God is
for you and is not against you. Jesus purchased all of this for you. You do not have to
make this work. Jesus is going to make this work for you. He also tells them to
minister to the needs of the people. This is two-fold. Preach the good news of the
Kingdom then minister to the needs of the people. Remember Romans 10:17 says,
"Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." We know this is because
they are hearing the good news - the Gospel of Peace.
There are only fourteen individual healings in Jesus' entire ministry. When you
read the four gospels, it sounds like a lot more than that because the same stories are
told over and over. There are several cases where multitudes were healed, but only
fourteen individual healings. If you study those fourteen cases, you will find that nine
out of the fourteen times, the Bible specifically says it was "their faith" that brought the
healing.
We have this idea that Jesus had magic hands because He was the Son of
God, but we are sons of God. We have been adopted into the family of God. We are
sons of God, just as much as Jesus. It was not that He had magic hands. He
preached the gospel, the good news to them. They believed the truth and then He
ministered healing to them. The Bible clearly states that the majority of miracles that
happened under Jesus' ministry were a result of their faith, not His faith. He shared
the good news about the Kingdom of God. When they heard it and believed it, they
were able to receive miracles.
The number one question in a person's mind when they hear about a miracle is
"Am I qualified?" People are struggling with whether or not they are qualified. That
gets back to righteousness. You wonder, "Am I good enough? Do I qualify for this
miracle?" The Bible says in the book of Colossians 1:12, "Blessed be the Lord God,
He has made us meet to be partakers and to share in the inheritance of light”. That
word "meet" means qualified. Colossians 1:12 says, "Giving thanks to the Father who
has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of Light." You
are qualified. You are qualified if you are in Jesus, if you believe on the Lord Jesus.
We should always share the good news of faith righteousness and allow people to

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believe. When they believe they are qualified in Jesus, they will be able to receive.
Then you are not just having a ceremony of laying on of hands. You are laying hands
on them because they believe.
The Bible tells us to lay hands on no man suddenly. Do not be quick to lay
hands on anyone. When you go to the average church that preaches a message of
healing, they beg people to come to the altar. When people believe it, you do not have
to beg them to come, they come for ministry. When you have to beg them to come
down, nothing much happens. Just the act of laying hands on someone will not make
anything happen. Laying on of hands is just like praying for forgiveness, getting water
baptized, and taking communion. In that moment, it is the believing in your heart that
allows grace to come alive and empower you to walk in healing. You never lay hands
on someone apart from first building faith in them. You build faith by preaching the
good news about the Kingdom of God. The debt has been paid.
Philemon 6 (NIV), says, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith so
that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
Everyone benefits when you share your faith - the person who hears and you.
However, if the other person does not benefit, you will benefit. If you are active in
sharing your faith, you grow in the confidence of the good things you have in Jesus.
You will benefit whether they do or not.
I have preached in places where the people's hearts were so hard they rejected
the word. Yet, I would leave encouraged and built up. I would sometimes have people
traveling with me who would ask how I could take the rejection. I would say that I felt
good. They may not have gotten anything, but I am reminded of who I am in Jesus. I
am feeling better about God and me regardless of what they do. I want something
good to happen, but I am going to get something out of it whether they do or not. We
are not keeping score of how many points you can get because of the number of
people who respond. Our job is to share. The response is between them and God.
When I share my faith it helps me to grasp the good things I have in Jesus. I do
not believe I would have ever gotten healed from my kidney disease if I had not spent
years praying for the sick and seeing it. I knew that the sick would get healed. When I
was sick with my kidney disease, Brenda was giving me shots every four hours to keep
me alive. Later, it decreased to every eight hours. If I did not take these shots, I would

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die. I would preach this faith message, the good news that God is a healer. I would
have people come and I would lay hands on the sick and they got healed. After the
service was over I would excuse myself, go to the back room so Brenda could give me
a shot to keep me alive. This does not make me a hypocrite. This just means that, at
that moment, I am not able to receive what God has done for me.
I did not struggle with “Why?" or “What is wrong?" What is wrong does not
matter. I just kept walking with God and I knew I was going to walk into healing. That
was the approach I took and people sometimes got offended. They thought, "What
kind of man are you? You are on medication." Well, what kind of man would I be if I
had stopped preaching the truth just because I was on medication? When I got the
things established in my heart that needed to be established, I walked out of that
sickness. I am convinced that one of the things that helped keep me from giving into
that disease was the fact that I kept sharing my faith. I kept ministering.
The same thing applies to prosperity. When Brenda and I got married, if you
look under poverty in the World Book Encyclopedia, they probably have our picture
right beside the word. It was costing me $125 a day just for medication. I did not have
insurance. I missed six weeks of work the first year we were married sitting in a
lawyer's office with $10,000 in legal fees. This was in addition to the $125 a day for
medication, and the hospital bills that continued mounting up. We were broke and it
was getting worse every day. But we never stopped giving. The grace that made me
able to give was a part of what made me able to receive and come out of that poverty.
If you quit, you alienate yourself from God's resources. If you quit, you are the
one who loses. You lose the knowledge of the good things you have in Jesus.
Something stays alive in you when you give it away. Reciprocity is the law of the
Kingdom of God. The way to the top is the bottom. The way to receive is to give.
Share your faith!
Following are some ways you can share your faith. First, you can share Jesus
with the lost. You may not be bold enough to do that yet, and that is all right. There
are many other ways. Do not be like the man with one talent. Do not disqualify
yourself because you are not a soul winner.
Another way to share your faith is to sponsor a new believer. When you
sponsor a new believer you have outlines like this that you take to that person's house.

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You sit down with them one-on-one and go through these outlines together. It is
wonderful to have the opportunity to share with someone who is eager to hear.
Another way that you can share your faith is to encourage a believer. When you see
someone who is discouraged, they do not need you to pat them on the back and say,
"You poor thing." Agreeing with someone about how bad it is will not get him/her out
of the situation. Encourage them and tell them what Jesus has done for you. Tell
them where He has brought you from. Share your testimony.
Every believer should be able to share his/her testimony in three to five minutes.
You should be able to share different aspects of your testimony. If God has brought
you through something financially, you should be able to share how He brought you
out of the financial trouble. If He has brought you out of depression, the fact that He
saved you, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you should be able to share it. You would be
amazed how many people would receive help and encouragement if you share your
testimony. Everyone should share his or her faith. One of the reasons we have so
many spiritually dwarfed Christians is because they do not share their faith. You are a
minister. We are all ministers under this New Covenant.
You are not required to lay hands on everyone to minister to them. The key
thing about ministry is to follow-up with prayer. After we have shared with someone,
we should either pray with them or ask them to pray. As people make decisions and
call upon the Lord, they will experience the sozo of God. The Bible says that all who
call upon the name of the Lord will be sozo (saved). Too often people hear the truth,
but never act on it. Lay hands on people when it is appropriate, otherwise, allow them
to pray or lead them in prayer. After sharing with someone, always give them an
opportunity to receive ministry.
There will be times when you lay hands on people and times that you will not.
You can lay hands on people when you are ministering to the sick, ordaining deacons,
or leading them into the baptism in the Holy Spirit. You do not have to do it this way
every time, but you can. In Acts 13:3 it talks about ordaining and sending forth
ministers. Often, I hear people say, "Brother Jim, I am a minister. I am sent by God. I
am not sent by a church." Then you are not sent. Nobody is just sent by God. The
local church sends people and launches people into the ministry. If you think that no
I For sponsor training and materials, contact Impact Ministries '3300 N. Broad Place' Huntsville, AL 35805 •

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one sent you but God, you need to read the Bible.
In 1 Timothy 4:4 it talks about stirring up spiritual gifts. I cannot give you a
spiritual gift, but a spiritual gift can be stirred up in you or imparted by the Holy Ghost
when someone lays hands on you. The ceremony only has value if there is faith.
The local church has a ceremony for the ordination of ministers. Like any
ceremony, this becomes a time when we experience something from God because we
believe and receive from Him. It is not the magic of the ceremony. No one can give
you a gift, but we can facilitate and recognize what God is doing. I cannot put you in
the ministry if God has not put you in the ministry. I can only acknowledge that I see
this in you. I cannot give you a gift. A gift is an ability of, or grace of the Holy Spirit. I
cannot give it, but I can acknowledge that I see it. I acknowledge the call of God on
you life by laying on of hands. Through this, the Spirit of God may release a particular
gift to empower you to fulfill your call.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 5
LAYING ON OF HANDS
Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

The next area of foundation is “Iaying on of hands." The laying on of hands not only
focuses on the ceremonial laying on of hands, but more specifically the realm of
personal ministry. Every believer is called to personal ministry. Personal ministry is an
important part of personal growth and development.

Luke 4:40, "Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers
diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and
healed them."

Jesus laid hands on the sick to minister to them and heal them.

Jesus never did miracles by His own power. He did all that He did as a man full of
the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:38, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power,
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God
was with him."

Jesus had power because the Holy Spirit was upon Him.

We have power because the Holy Spirit is upon us.

Luke 10:8-9, "When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.
Heal the sick who are there and tell them, The kingdom of God is near you." (NIV)

When Jesus sent His disciples out, he gave them the power to heal the sick.

Mark 16:17-20, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if
they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up
into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached
every where, the Lord working with them, confirming the word with signs following”

Signs follow them that believe.

Does that mean me? Yes.

This was a part of the Great Commission.

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How could I possibly lay hands on the sick and expect them to recover?
By grace through faith.

Is this a special power that works like magic? No.

Is there a special anointing I must receive to do this? No.

Everything God does is by grace through faith.

Jesus told His disciples to do two things:

Preach the Good News of the Kingdom.
Minister to the needs of the people.

Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing the Word.

In the majority of miracles that happened under Jesus ministry, the Bible clearly states
that the miracle was the result of their faith, not His faith.

He shared the Good news about the Gospel, when they heard it and believed it they
were able to receive miracles.

We should always share the good news, allow people to believe, then they will be able
to receive.

Sharing Our faith

Philemon 6, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have
a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (NIV)

Who benefits when I share my faith? Everyone.

What does it help me grasp? The good things I have in Jesus.

What are some ways I can share my faith?

1. Share Jesus with the lost.
2. Sponsor a new believer.
3. Share your testimony.
4. Pray for someone.

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Should everyone share his or her faith? Yes.

Are you a minister? Yes.

Do I lay hands on everyone I minister to? No.

The key thing about ministry is to follow up with prayer. After we have shared with a
person we should either pray for them or ask them to pray. Too often, people hear the
truth, but never act on that truth. When it is appropriate, we will lay hands on them,
otherwise we will allow them to pray or lead them in prayer.

Romans 10:13, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Special times for laying on of Hands

Mark 16:1 8 Ministering to the Sick.

Acts 6:6 Ordaining Ministers.
Acts 13:3 Sending Forth Ministers.
1 Timothy 4:14 Stirring up Spiritual Gifts.

For the ordination of ministry this ceremony is done by the local Church.

Like any ceremony, this becomes a time when we experience something from God
because we believe and receive from Him. It is not the magic of the ceremony. No
one can give a gift or a ministry to a person. We can only facilitate and recognize what
God is doing.

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 RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD
The resurrection is the one and only thing that separates Christianity from all
other religions of the world. Jesus rose again on the third day, just as He said He
would. He did not go from Friday to Sunday. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday.
You do not have to make a big deal out of that, but He was crucified on the day of
Passover. He was in the grave Wednesday night, Thursday night, and Friday night.
He arose on the Sabbath. He arose at six o'clock in the evening at the end of the
Sabbath, the beginning of the first day of the week. In Jewish time, the beginning of
the day would not have been Sunday morning, but at six o'clock on Saturday when the
Sabbath ended. Their time clock goes from evening until evening, not from morning
until morning. Again, that is not really important other than the fact that people, over
the years, have said they did not understand that Jesus said He was going to be in the
grave for three days and three nights. How could He have died on Friday and risen
again on Sunday? He did not!
Matthew 17:23 says, “They shall kill him and on the third day he shall be raised
again, and they were exceeding sorry." The resurrection is the proof that Jesus is the
Son of God. Romans 1:4 says, "It is declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead." The fact that God
raised Jesus from the dead is proof that we have eternal life. 1 Corinthians 6:14 says,
"And God has both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power." The
fact that He raised Jesus is the proof and the hope we have that He will raise us also.
The Holy Spirit was given to us to guarantee eternal life and the resurrection
from the dead. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 says, "Now it is God who makes both us and you
to stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his
spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come." When you buy a
house, you pay a deposit or down payment. The deposit is your guarantee that you
will pay the balance. God gave us His Spirit as a guarantee that we have eternal life
and that we would be raised from the dead. This is why you grow in your confidence
when you accept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. You recognize and experience the

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deposit of the Holy Spirit. You recognize that your nature has changed. Allowing the
gifts of the Holy Spirit to operate in your life continues to increase your awareness and
confidence. Allowing God to manifest in more dramatic ways gives you an ever
increasing assurance. This is your deposit, your guarantee. To the degree that you
allow the Holy Spirit work in your life, that influences how sure you feel about God's
guarantee. That assurance causes you to face eternity with complete peace and
confidence.
People have always taught error about the resurrection. Even the Pharisees
and Sadducees were divided over the issue of resurrection. The Sadducees did not
believe in the resurrection. In 2 Timothy 2:17-18, Paul was writing to Timothy because
of his error. It says, “Their word will eat as doth a canker of whom Hymenaeus and
Philetus who concerning the truth have erred saying that the resurrection is passed
already and overthrow the faith of some." This is an issue with which people have
always struggled.
There are two basic deceptions about the resurrection from the dead. The first
deception is that God will not raise you from the dead. In other words, you have
missed the resurrection, you did not qualify, believing on Jesus was not enough. The
second error is that the resurrection is passed, it has already taken place. Paul's logic
is very simple . . . if God raised Jesus from the dead; He will raise me from the dead.
I Corinthians 15:12-17 says, "If it is preached that Christ has been risen from the
dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead. If there is no
resurrection of the dead then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not
been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith. More than that, we are then
found to be false witnesses about God for we have testified about God that He raised
Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if
the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either, and if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins." This is where you start
having value for the doctrine of the humanity of Jesus. He was God, but He emptied
Himself. The Bible says in the book of Philippians that He emptied Himself and
became like a man in every way. Jesus could not work a miracle apart from the Holy
Spirit. He did not have the ability, because He became a man. Jesus could have
sinned and gone to hell. He could have failed because He was a man, tempted like we

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are. Jesus had no special power that we do not have. The only difference is He was
not born a sinner.
We have been taught that having a sin nature is having an inherent desire to
sin. I disagree. When I was a sinner, I had a deep desire to be godly, but could not do
it. I did not have the ability to be godly.
The law of first reference is very important when interpreting scripture. This is
when you go back to the first time something happened. When you consider when sin
entered the human race, Adam did not want to commit adultery or get drunk. Adam
still wanted God. The problem was he was afraid of God. Fear was the first thing that
entered when sin entered.
I personally believe that to have a sin nature is not having a nature that
inherently craves sin, but to have a nature that is inherently fearful. Jesus was never
afraid of God because He did not have a sin nature. When you were born again, you
were not afraid of God. You were not afraid of God until you went to church and
somebody taught you to be afraid. You learned to be afraid. When you were born
again, you received a new spirit and a new heart. The problem is you did not renew
your mind according to the New Covenant. You did not bring your thinking and belief
in line with what God had done through Jesus. Therefore, you went back into fear.
Fear makes you think you are not qualified. Only one thing overcomes fear, and that is
love. To the degree you believe God loves you, will be the degree you overcome fear.
Faith worketh by love.
Jesus was a man in all ways. He is the Captain of our salvation. That means
that we will never do one thing that He did not do first. He not only did it, but He gave
us His power to do the same thing. Jesus was a man who became a sinner on the
cross. He died and went to hell. Jesus had to be born again in order to be raised from
the dead. The Bible calls Him the ''first born" of the dead. He had to be born into
righteousness, and God raised Him up. It would be totally impossible for God to have
raised Jesus up and not raised us also. Jesus was a man. You say, "Yeah, but He
was the Son of God.” We are also sons of God. We have been adopted. We have
been born again. I understand that Jesus was the Son of God in an eternal sense that
we are not. As far as standing before God, we stand before Him equal with Jesus.
The Bible says in the book of 1 John, "As He is, so are we now in this world." Paul is

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saying, "Look, God raised Jesus from the dead and He is going to raise us from the
dead." The resurrection cannot happen without us knowing.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 says, "Behold I show a mystery. We shall not all sleep
but we shall be changed. In a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last triumph,
the trumpet will sound and we shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed."
We will be resurrected one way or the other. We will be raised from the dead or
transformed and transported from planet earth.
Every man will put on immortality. Every man will live forever. Some will live
with God and some will live apart from God. But every man will live forever. There will
not be a resurrection without everyone, wicked and righteous, participating in it.
Revelation 20:5-6, "Yet the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand
years were finished and this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has
part in the first resurrection on such the second death has no power that shall be
preached of God and of Christ and they shall reign with Him a thousand years." There
will be two resurrections. One will be the resurrection of the righteous. We will rule
and reign on planet earth with Jesus. Then, at the end of a thousand years, there will
be a resurrection of the unrighteous. Everyone will be resurrected, and everyone will
live forever. The difference is whether you live forever with God or apart from God.
The resurrection is not when God wakes us up from the sleep of death. The
resurrection is when we receive our new, incorruptible bodies. Death is when the spirit
leaves the body, but the spirit never sleeps. The spirit never dies. When you die, you
do not go into a coffin and sleep until Jesus blows the trumpet to wake you. When you
die, your spirit man, the real you (your spirit and soul), goes somewhere. The wicked
goes to a place called Hades; the righteous to the presence of the Lord.
When you study the story of the rich man and Lazarus you find that, at that time,
the abode of the dead was divided into two categories. Remember that it said there
was a great gulf between them, and on one side was the bosom of Abraham and on
the other was torment.
The Bible teaches that Jesus led captivities captive. All of the righteous who
had died, up until that point in time, were led into the presence of God. When the
wicked die, they go to Hades. They do not go to eternal Hell. When the righteous die,
they go to the presence of God. In 2 Corinthians 5:8 Paul says, “We are confident, I

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say, and willing rather, to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord."
When I am absent from this body, I am going to be present with the Lord. We do not
have to fear that we are going to die and go into a sleep-like state. When a believer
dies, he goes immediately into the presence of God. The resurrection is not when God
wakes us up. The resurrection is when God rejoins our spirit and soul with a new,
incorruptible body. The truth is everyone will live forever. They will live forever with
God or apart from God, based on the choices and decisions that they have made.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 6
RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD
Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

The resurrection is the one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions of
the world.

Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, just as He said.

Matthew 17:23, "And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And
they were exceeding sorry."

The resurrection is the proof that He is the Son of God.

Romans 1:4, "And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."

The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead is the guarantee we have eternal life.

1 Corinthians 6:14, ''And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by
his own power."

The Holy Spirit was given to us as a deposit to guarantee eternal life.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22, "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.
He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a
deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (NIV)

There have always been people who taught error about the resurrection.

2 Timothy 2:17-18 ''And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus
and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past
already; and overthrow the faith of some."

There are two basic deceptions about the resurrection:

1. God will not raise me from the dead.
2. The resurrection is passed. It has already taken place.

Paul's logic was simple. If God raised Jesus from the dead; He will raise me from the
dead.

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1 Corinthians 15:12-17, "But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead,
how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no
resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not
been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then
found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised
Christ from the dead. But he did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if
the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (NIV)

Can the resurrection happen without me knowing it? No.

1 Corinthians 15:51, "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be
changed."

Even if I don't know it I will be resurrected.

Every mortal man will put on immortality.

Every man will live forever.

Some will live with God; some will live apart from God, but all will live forever.

Revelation 20:5-6 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

The resurrection is when we receive our new bodies.

What happens when someone dies? Your spirit man (spirit and soul) go somewhere.

Death is when the spirit leaves the body.

James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also."

When the wicked dies he goes to a place called Hades.

When the believer dies he goes to the presence of God.

2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the
body, and to be present with the Lord."

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 ETERNAL JUDGMENT
The thought of judgment brings fear to those who are not established in the love
of God. Jesus said in John 12:31, 32, "Now is the judgment of this world." "Now"
does not mean a thousand years from now or two thousand years from now? Jesus
made this statement two thousand years ago. He said "now", right now, is the judgment
of this world. "Now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and if I be lifted up from
the earth will draw all men unto me."
In the King James Version of the Bible, the word "men" is in italics. When you
see a word in italics in the King James Version, that means it is not in the original
language. The translators inserted it because they thought it would make the text
clearer. However, you have to realize that they were translating from their particular
doctrinal beliefs. This could be read – “Now is the judgment of the world, and if I be
lifted up from the earth will draw all unto me”. He is saying, "Now is the judgment of this
world, and if I be lifted up (He is talking about on the cross) will draw all judgment unto
me."
You must remember that Jesus was judged for the sins of the entire world. He
took the punishment for their sins, regardless of whether they accepted Him or not.
That is why God loves (and we should love) the sinner just as much as He loves the
saint. God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to pay the price. This
encourages me. People often say, "I want my brother to get saved, but he is so wild it
is going to be tough." Your brother will not be any tougher to get saved than anyone
else will. His sin was paid for at the same time as everyone else. He needs to hear
the good news. The price has been paid.
Jesus took all of the judgment of the world. In John 12:48, Jesus says, "There
is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words. That very word
which I spoke will condemn him at the last day." The one who rejects Jesus will be
judged. The one who believes on Jesus will not be judged.
John 5:24 says, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him
who sent me has (right now) eternal life and will not be condemned (or will not be

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brought into judgment.) He has crossed from death into life." The one who believes
on Jesus will not be judged. When we accepted Jesus, we accepted the righteous
judgment against us. We accepted the judgment upon our old nature. We said, ''This
man needs to die." That is what happened when we accepted Jesus. That man died.
We do not want that life and do not want to be that person any more. Jesus gives us
righteousness as a free gift. The person who does not have faith-righteousness will be
judged by their works. If you reject the righteousness of God, you are saying, "The
righteousness of Jesus is not enough. I want to be judged by my own righteous
works."
Revelation 20:11-15 says, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was
seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, there was no place for them, and I
saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were opened.
Another book was opened which is the book of life. The dead were judged according
to what they had done as recorded in the books. The seas gave up the dead that were
in them, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them and each person
was judged according to what he had done or according to his work. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of
fire." The Bible goes on to say that the second death has no power over those whose
names were found in the Book of Life. If your name is in the Book of Life, you will not
be in the great white throne of judgment.
There are two judgments: the great white throne of judgment and the judgment
seat of Christ. The great white throne of judgment is for people who rejected
righteousness as a free gift and want to be judged by their own righteousness. God
says, "If that is what you want, fine." The only problem is the works of the flesh shall
save no man. Even the law said that it could not make you righteousness, but if that is
what you want, that is your choice.
2 Corinthians 5:10 says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things he has done while in
his body whether good or bad." We, the believers, are going to appear before the
judgment seat of Christ. There are horror stories about the judgment seat of Christ.
Scriptures are taken out of context, such as, "That which you whisper in secret will be

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shouted from the housetops." People teach this scripture and say that when we stand
before Jesus they will plug in the videotape and every secret thing we have ever done
will be played before everyone.
Believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ and we will be judged
according to our works. We are not being judged as to whether or not we are going to
heaven. The judgment seat of Christ is not a place where decision is made about
whether or not you qualify to get into heaven. The judgment seat of Christ is the place
where you go to receive rewards.
In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 Paul says, "By the grace God has given me, I lay the
foundation as an expert builder. Someone else is building on it, but each one should
be careful how he builds for no one can lay any foundation other than the one already
laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man build from this foundation using gold, silver,
costly stones, wood hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is because the day
will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each
man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burnt up,
he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved but only as by one escaping through the
flames."
We will stand before Jesus, but we are there for rewards, not for punishment.
There will be no weeping or sorrow. If our traditional concepts of the judgment seat of
Christ were true, there would be a lot of weeping there. Scripture cannot contradict
scripture. The Bible clearly states that it is a place of rewards. It is like putting all of
my works in my little wagon to go before Jesus, (the judgment seat of Christ), to get
my rewards. It is like passing through an airport metal detector, except you pass
through the fire. Fire will not have any power over me because I have been raised
from the dead and have an immortal body. The fire will not hurt me. I drag my little
wagon full of my works through the fire. All of my works are tested by the fire. There
will be a lot of people who go through the fire and all of their works will be burned.
Jesus is going to say, "I am glad to see you, son. I am glad you are here." He
will not beat them up or condemn them. The purpose for works passing through the
fire before you stand in His presence is so that there is no condemnation. There are
only rewards. On the other hand, I drag my wagon full of works through the fire and
the wood, hay, and stubble burn, but the works made from gold, silver and precious

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stone endures. We are not judged to see if we get into heaven, but to receive rewards.
Rewards are based on good works. That which is unacceptable to God will bum,
therefore, there is no reason for fear or shame in the presence of God.
For this reason, it is important to know the difference between good works and
dead works. Dead works are the things that I did to earn something from God, to
qualify, to become righteous. Good works, on the other hand, are those things that I
did from good motives because I love God and I care about people, I want to be a
servant and I wanted to help. This is what determines if the works you do are good
works or dead works. That is what determines if they survive the fire. The Bible
teaches that even if all of our works are burned, we will be saved. You will pass
through the fire so there will be nothing to condemn you. There will be nothing for
which you will be ashamed when you stand in the presence of God. However, this life
is the one and only time you will have to make an investment in eternity.
I do not understand all there is to know about eternal rewards. Some try to say
there are no rewards. The Bible is very clear, however; there are rewards. There is a
lot that I do not know about rewards. As far as I am concerned, once we get them, we
are just going to lay them at the feet of Jesus. I do know this is the only time we have
to invest in eternity. There is no other time.
Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and
every tongue that shall rise up against you in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is
the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me."
It is very important that we reject the message of the "judgment preacher.”
There are many good men and women who are godly people, but they preach the
message of judgment. They do not have themselves established in this foundation of
faith called eternal judgment. We, who have received Jesus, have already been
eternally judged. There will be a Day of Judgment, but the Bible says we are delivered
from wrath. Every scripture in the New Testament that talks about a time of judgment
is pointing to a time in the future. If you research the tenses of the words in the original
language, you will find this is very clear. "God said this is to me as water of Noah.
This I swore to Noah that I would never destroy the world by water again, so have I
also sworn that I would not be angry with you, and I would not rebuke you." If a person
proclaims that a bad event is the judgment of God, we should refuse it. We should not

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accept it; we should not condone or consider it. The Bible says we should condemn it.
That does not mean that we have to attack those people, but we should totally refuse
it. You should never listen to messages that make you afraid of judgment.
1 John 4:18 says that if you are afraid of judgment, it shows that you do not really
believe that God loves you with a perfect love. The message of judgment does not
promote the love of God. It does not promote peace in your heart or confidence
between you and God. It does not build faith. It does not do one thing positive to you.
It makes you afraid of God. It makes you participate in dead works instead of good
works. It will ultimately get you back under law and back into sin. It does not matter
how much we respect the person saying it. God is not going to judge America.
There is one day of judgment and that is for sinners. It is going to be the White
Throne Judgment. There is going to be one day of judgment for the believers and that
is going to be the Judgment Seat of Christ. The scripture says we should never
accept the message of judgment because of the way it will undermine our confidence
in the love of God.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 7
ETERNAL JUDGMENT
Psalm 11:3 "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

The thought of judgment brings fear to those who are not established in the love of
God.

John 12:31 "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be
cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Jesus took all the judgment of the world.

John 12: 48, NIV, “There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my
Words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.”

The one,who rejects Jesus will be judged.

John 5:24, NIV, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

The one who believes on Jesus will not be judged.

We accept the righteous judgment of God against us now.

Jesus gives us righteousness as a free gift.

The person who does not have faith-righteousness will be judged by his works.

Revelation 20:11-15, NIV, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated
on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw
the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according
to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were
in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was
judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the
lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone 's name was not found
written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

If your name is in the Book of Life you will not be in the Great White Throne of
Judgment.

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2 Corinthians 5:10,NIV "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that
each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether
good or bad."

Believers will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:10-15, NIV, "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an
expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how
he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is
Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones,
wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it
to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer
loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

We are judged to receive rewards.

Rewards are based on good works.

That which is unacceptable to God will be burned.

There will be no reason for fear or shame in the presence of God.

Isaiah 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue
that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the
servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. "

We should never accept a message of judgment.

Resource: Review the book, "The Gospel of Peace" by Dr. Jim Richards

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 TRANSFORMING THE THOUGHT LIFE
Transforming the thought life is not a part of the foundations, but I feel that I
should touch on this. It is assumed to be required in the foundations.
We said that the word "repent" means to have a change of mind. When you got
saved or just before you got saved, you thought that you knew it all. You probably got
saved because you finally figured out that you did not know it all. You changed your mind
about your need for God.
Before I got saved I believed some stupid things. I had a religious grandmother
who had some strange religious beliefs. I did not believe most of them and I thought
that most of them were absurd. I thought, "If God is that stupid, I really do not want to
have anything to do with Him." But you still pick up beliefs throughout your life. Not only
do you pick up beliefs about God, but also beliefs about yourself.
The two areas of belief you want to deal with are what you believe about God and
what you believe about you. What you believe about God will determine what you
believe about you. What you believe about you will ultimately determine your self-worth
and everything you do with your life. Everything you do rises from your sense of
self-worth. To some degree, your vulnerability to sin arises out of your level of self-worth.
If you continue to believe the same way you have believed, even though you are
saved, you will keep having the same problems. The main reason Christians continue
to have the same temptations and the same struggles throughout their lives is because
they do not change what they believe.
Throughout my Christian life, there have been and will continue to be key times
and places where I must sit down and say, "I realize that my thinking is more
influenced by people than by the Word of God." I do not want you to believe anything I
say if you cannot verify it by the Word of God. Take this study, read the Word of God
for yourself and reach your own conclusions.
When I got saved, I basically said, "God, here is the deal. I will give you my life
if you want it. I will not play religion or the games that I see people play. That is disgusting
to me. I do not want to be like that." I did not want to be like any Christian I
knew. All of the Christians I knew were mean, hateful, two-faced and spineless. I also

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told God, "I will only believe what I can personally find in the Bible." That did not mean
that I would not let somebody teach me, but no matter what someone taught, I was
going to confirm it in the Bible. If it is in the Bible, I will take it. If it is not in the Bible, I
am either going to reject it or I am going to sit it on the shelf. Maybe they are seeing
something I am not seeing, but I am going to sit it on the shelf until I can see it. I am
not going to let it influence the way I approach life.
I had to make adjustments on a regular basis. As I grew and listened to people
preach and teach I realized they were influencing me. I realized I was sometimes
influenced by old beliefs. Most of the major turning points in my life were at times I
realized I was being influenced by a belief that did not come out of the Bible, but out of
my background, traditions, or culture.
When I got healed of my kidney disease, I was walking it out. The final point for
me occurred when I had just gotten out of the hospital. I was walking at seven o'clock
one morning on Holmes Avenue during rush-hour traffic, praying and worshipping God.
The Lord spoke to me and said, "You do not believe the truth. You believe what other
people have influenced you to believe." I just stood on the side of the road, looking up
into heaven, talking to God. I said, “What do you mean? My whole life I have swam
upstream. I refused to give in to tradition." God spoke once again and said, "You do
not believe the truth. You believe what people influence you to believe." I argued with
God some more and finally, He said, "In the area of healing you do not believe the
truth. You believe what others have influenced you to believe." I got on my knees,
there on that sidewalk, and said, "All right, I am going to read the New Testament
again, as if I have never read it. I am going to read every scripture in the Bible again
as if I have never read it, and I am going to see what I am missing."
A unique thing happened that day. I went home, laid down to take a nap and I
had a dream. In this dream I saw every church service I had been in from the first day
I got saved. It was like turning pages of a book. I saw what they said about healing. I
saw how, back in the Baptist church, when someone said anything about healing they
would always add "if it by thy will." I saw the Charismatic churches I had attended
where they gave people the requirements they had to meet. I awoke from that dream
and realized that people had influenced me more than the Bible. I began to read those
scriptures about healing again, as if I had never read them. The result of that came in

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a few weeks when I completely walked out of that disease.
I did the same thing with prosperity. When I walked out of that sickness, I was
still financially destitute. Brenda and I made a decision to once again read the
scriptures concerning prosperity. We looked at all of those things again and, we
walked out of all of those curses, one by one. This happened because we refused to
keep accepting the tradition of men. The tradition of men makes the Word of God of
no effect.
Romans 12:1-2 says, "Therefore I urge you brothers, in the view of God's
mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your
spiritual or reasonable act of worship or service. Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will
be able to test and prove that God's will is his good, pleasing, and perfect will." The
word "transformed," is the word "metamorphosis." Metamorphose means to change
from the inside out. It is like the caterpillar that turns into a butterfly. He was a butterfly
on the inside all along; it just had to come through to the outside. It is like the acorn
that grows to be a giant oak. The acorn does not have to become something else. It
does not have to become an oak tree. What is already in him has to come out and
grow. If there is anything that will destroy you, it is the need to become something you
are not. Trying to become something is devastating. Trying to become righteous,
trying to become holy will kill you. You cannot do it. If you say you have to "become
something," in your heart you are saying “you are not." If I have to become righteous,
then I have to believe I am not righteous. If I have to become anointed, then I have to
believe I am not anointed.
The change that God wants to take us through is a transformation. We were
made righteous the instant that we were born again. Righteousness is on the inside of
you. You are not trying to become righteous. You are trying to facilitate that
righteousness, which is already in you, getting to the outside, so it is in your actions and
in your thoughts. Our spirit is righteous and we want to walk in righteousness. In order
for that which is in my spirit to come out, I must renew my mind. I cannot think about
things the way I did before.
The mind is the doorway of the heart. The book of Proverbs teaches "As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he." The word "thinketh" comes from two Hebrew words,

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which basically mean "doorkeeper." A man's thoughts are the doorkeeper of his heart.
The doorkeeper not only determines what can get into your heart, but also what can
come out of your heart. Although you have righteousness inside of you, it cannot
come out of your heart if your thoughts are not consistent with that reality. Even
though you have been made righteous on the inside, if you do not think that you are
righteous, the doorkeeper will not let it out of your heart. It is the same as healing. If
you think you have to get healing, then the doorkeeper will never let the healing you
have come out of your heart. If you think that you have to get prosperous, then the
doorkeeper will never let the prosperity that is on the inside of you come out. You will
always end up back in works trying to make something happen.
In Romans 8:6 it says, "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace." We tend to think that being carnally minded is having nasty,
dirty thoughts. Nasty, dirty thoughts are obviously not good for you, but the word
"carnal" means natural. To be carnal minded is to be natural minded. You saw things
from a natural perspective before you got saved. But you cannot think about God, life
or yourself the same way you did before receiving Christ. That is being naturally
minded and natural mindedness leads to death. Spiritual mindedness leads to life in
Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down
imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." We are in warfare, but
our warfare is not with the devil. The warfare is with our minds, our thoughts. Satan
has already been defeated. Any Christian fighting the devil is wasting his time. Many
Christians who fight the devil do not believe that Jesus totally conquered the devil. The
devil is not the problem. Our thoughts are the problem.
In the book of Peter it talks about how lust wars in our soul. In other words,
there is warfare, but that warfare is taking place in my soul, my mind and emotions.
The warfare is not taking place between the devil and me, but in my thoughts. Lusts
war against my mind. When I was sick, the battle that was going on was the sickness
in my body, telling my mind that healing was not mine. This is easy to believe when
you are hurting all over your body. The warfare was whether or not I would believe

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that I had healing through Jesus. When I was desperate in poverty, the warfare was in
not having enough gas, or food to eat. All of that said to my mind, to my natural
reasoning, "You must not have God's blessing in the area of prosperity. You better
figure out some way to get it." The war in the area of righteousness is finding yourself
messing up and your mind saying, "See, you are not righteous. You better get some
righteousness." When we set out to get something, we deny that we already have it. I
have news for you . . . God has nothing left to give you. He gave you EVERYTHING
when He gave you Jesus. There is nothing left to give.
Hebrews 10:26 says, "For if we willfully sin after receiving knowledge of the truth
there remains no more sacrifice for sins, But a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." The moment I say that I did not get
this (healing, prosperity, etc.) when I received Jesus, the problem is that there is no
more sacrifice. Therefore, I end up in torment, expecting the worst, wondering if I am
ever going to qualify. There is no other sacrifice. Either Jesus gave us what God had
or He did not. If He did not give it to us, then we cannot get it. We cannot earn it.
A vain imagination is any thought not based on reality, not based on the Word of
God. I should cast down every vain imagination. Our warfare is to bring every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ. This does not mean that you have to make your
thoughts obey you. Trying to catch hold of a thought is like trying to catch a goldfish.
They are slippery and you can hardly hold onto them. People try to control their
thoughts. "I am not going to think about this. I am not going to think about it." Well,
they are thinking about it. To not do something, you have to first think about it. Trying
to control them is not the answer. You will only torment yourself.
To bring your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ means that any time a
thought comes, you have to determine what the obedience of Christ brought
concerning that thought or fear. How am I going to bring this thought "I do not know if I
have enough faith to get healed." captive to the obedience of Christ? I ask myself, "Did
Jesus' obedience purchase healing for me or not? Yes, it did." I have brought that
thought captive because now I do not have to try to get healing. Jesus' obedience got
healing for me. Bring the thoughts: "I have to pray and fast; I have to get that special
anointing," to the obedience of Christ. Jesus got the anointing. I am in Jesus. Jesus
has it, therefore, I have it. What does His obedience bring me (not what my obedience

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brings me or I can believe for)? Many people try to work faith for things that God did
not give them. " believe God for a big Cadillac." There is not one word about a big
Cadillac in scripture. I can believe for prosperity. I can believe that God brought me
prosperity, and if out of my prosperity that is how I want to use it, then so be it. But I
want to bring every thought captive to what Jesus' obedience purchased.
Following are some simple steps to bringing your thoughts captive. First of all,
and most importantly, is to know this New Covenant. Read the New Testament. Find
a translation you like and understand. If it makes sense to you, read it. Do not read it
because you are trying to make God happy with you. Read it to learn about God. For
more than 25 years, every time I pick up my Bible, I say in my heart, "God, I am
trusting you to speak to me and teach me out of this." I can honestly say there has
never been a time reading my Bible that God has not spoken to my heart. It may take
you some time to recognize God's voice. Sometimes when He speaks to you, it is just
a word coming alive to you. You read something and it is like "Yeah! This is it!"
Learn how to meditate. When I come across something I do not understand I
just close my eyes, kick my feet up, lay back and say, "God, I need some help on this
one." I think about what it means and what it means to me? I sometimes get an
understanding right away and I sometimes have to put it on the shelf and say, "I do not
understand this yet, but it's all right. I will figure it out later."
Second, when vain imaginations come, whether in the form of temptations,
feeling rejected, works righteousness or anything, immediately bring that thought
captive to what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial and resurrection. "The
Prayer Organizer" is one of the best tools we have for helping people renew their
minds. Use "The Prayer Organizer" the first 30 minutes in the morning and the last 30
minutes at night. As you become accustomed to personalizing these scriptures, when
something comes at you or pops up in your mind that is contradictory to those
scriptures, you will immediately identify it. It will effortlessly emerge from your heart.
"By His stripes I am healed. I have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. No
weapon formed against me is going to prosper." Immediately, do not wait, do not

I The Prayer Organizer is an excellent tool for establishing a prayer life that builds faith and self-worth.

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ponder it, immediately raise the shield of faith and quench that fiery dart. The shield
of faith is when you believe the truth.
Changing your opinions to line up with God's opinions is simple. When you are
reading the Bible and see something that conflicts with your beliefs, deal with it. When
you come up on something about marriage, relationships, honesty, anger, or anything
that challenges your beliefs, repent. Many people fight against giving and refuse to
believe the truth about it. God still loves them, but the way to solve that problem is not
to try to prove it wrong. When you see something about giving, just say, "God, giving
must be good for me. You put it in here. I am struggling with this God, and I do not
want to give. But I am willing to let you work in me because I know that, in the end, it is
going to be good for me." That is the starting place.
The Bible says be willing and obedient to eat the good of the land. Willingness
precedes obedience. When becoming willing you are not saying, "I am going to do
this, God." You are just saying "I am willing to let You work in me and bring me to a
place where I can do this." Just change your opinions.
If something is happening in your life which is not consistent with the Bible, do
not accept it as reality. Jonah 2:8 says, 'They that observe lying vanities forsake their
own mercy." In other words, when we look at the circumstances of life and say it is
reality, we forsake the mercies of God. We get ourselves to a place where we are
controlled by this present reality instead of a more powerful reality. Paul said he did
not look on temporary things. He said, "I do not look on that which is visible. I look on
the invisible, because that is the reality." There is a realm of reality and you have to
look at it first. Do not accept it as reality if it is not in the Bible. WALK BY FAITH!
Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him." Unfortunately, most of what we have been taught about faith is actually
dead works. We have been taught that faith is something we do to get God to respond
to us. God says, "What can you do for me that I should owe you anything?" There is
nothing we can do for God that should make Him respond to us. There is nothing we
can do to make Him indebted to us.
This unhealthy concept of faith says that God has not given me what I need and
I must convince this unfriendly God to give me something He is withholding from me.

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Faith is not how we get God to respond to us, but our response of trust to what God
has already given us in Jesus. Trying to confess enough to make something happen is
not faith. That is unbelief. When a person is trying to get God to do something He has
already done in Jesus, it is unbelief and what they are confessing is a statement of
unbelief. Faith is my response of trust to what God has done for me through Jesus.
Unbelief is my lack of trust for what God has done for me through Jesus. When I
accept God's opinion, I am walking in faith. Whether I can get it to work or not, I am
walking in faith.
I can remember the day I sat in my bed and said, "All right God, Galatians 3:13
says that I am redeemed from the curse of the Law, yet my whole life is a curse. I am
sick. I am probably dying. I am broke and everything in my life has gone wrong.
There is hardly one thing I can look at in my life right now that is not a curse. But you
said that I am redeemed from the curse of the law. This curse might be here, but it
does not have the right to be here." We do not deny the reality. We deny the right. If
the curse is here, it is because I gave it the right to be here. I said, "From this day
forward, I will not accept the curse of sickness in my life."
I turned to 2 Corinthians 1:20 where it says, "All of the promises of God are yes
in Jesus." I said, "God, the promises are not working in my life, but you said that they
are yes for me if I am in Jesus. From this day forward I say that I believe the promises.
Not that I am going to get them, I say that I am going to live in them. From this day
forward, I am accepting the reality of the promises and the curse has no right.
Then I said to myself, "Healthy people do not sit around in the bed all day. If
healing is mine, I cannot experience it unless I am up walking it out. I am getting up
out of this bed and taking a shower. I got up out of bed and was so weak that I could
hardly stand. Everything warred against my mind. The pain and nausea would say,
"See, you are not healed. Healing is not yours." I would say, "Yes, in the name of
Jesus, healing is mine." The war was going on in my mind. It took me all morning just
to take a shower because I was so weak. I would wash a little and rest a little. I got
out of the shower, put the commode lid down and sat there, completely exhausted. I
do not know how long it took me to shower and get dressed, but if healing was mine I
was going to walk in it.
Some people ask, "Jim, when did it come?" We are always looking for the fire,

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the earthquake and the wind, but God said, "I am in the still, small voice." I walked in it
day by day. I got stronger and stronger until one day the reality of health was more
real to me than sickness. When health became more real, in my heart, than sickness, I
walked out of that sickness. When Peter was walking on water and began to sink, he
did not go straight to the bottom. He sank a little at a time. He sank to the degree of
his fear and unbelief. That is sometimes the way we come out of things. Every now
and then we launch out of something, but we usually emerge from it to the degree that
we give up our fear and unbelief.
I cannot accept anything as reality if it is not based on the Word of God. My
faith pleases God. Whether I can get it to work or not, it still pleases God. When I trust
God, I have life and peace. When you do not have peace, you are simply not trusting
God in that area. That does not make you a bad person. It does not make God angry.
It makes you not have peace.
Philippians 4:7 says, "And the peace of God which passes all understanding will
keep your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus." This is not saying that
tranquility in your mind will keep you. He is talking about this peace that exists
between you and God. This peace will keep your heart and your mind stable through
the Lord Jesus, regardless of the circumstances.
Renew your opinions about God beginning with these six foundational doctrines.
From these, you have the foundation to build a life of peace, prosperity and victory.

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 FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH
Class # 8
TRANSFORMING THE THOUGHT LIFE
Psalm 11:3, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"

The literal meaning of repentance is, "to have a change of mind."

Romans 12:1-2, NIV, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer
your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. this is your spiritual (or
reasonable) act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind. ..Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

The word "transformed" means metamorphosis.

Metamorphose is change from the inside out.

We have been made righteous.

Our spirit is righteous, but we want to walk in righteousness. In order for that which is
in my spirit to come out I must renew my mind.

Romans 8:6, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and
peace."

The word "carnal" means natural.

I cannot think about God, life, or myself the way I thought before receiving Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:4, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ."

My warfare is not with the devil, it is with my mind/thoughts.

Our warfare is to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Explain: When a thought comes, you have to determine what the obedience of
Christ brought concerning that thought or fear.

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Steps to bringing thoughts captive:

1. Know the New Covenant. (Read the New Testament.)

2. When vain imaginations come (temptations, rejection, works righteousness, etc.)

bring it captive to what Jesus accomplished through His death, burial and
resurrection.

3. Change your opinions to line up with God's opinions.

4. If it is not Bible do not accept it as reality.

I must walk by faith.

Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

Faith is our response of trust to what God has done for us through the Lord Jesus.

Unbelief is our lack of trust for what God has done for us through the Lord Jesus.

When I accept God's opinion I am walking in faith.

My faith pleases God.

When I trust God I have life and peace.

Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

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