SERIES TOPIC: UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH (Part 6).

SUB-TOPIC: THE BASIC DOCTRINES OF JESUS CHRIST BEQUEATHED TO HIS CHURCH.
John 14:26; 1 John 2:27

We have considered the first two doctrines of Jesus Christ, namely:

The Authenticity and Sacredness of the Holy Bible.
The Godhead and the Deity of Jesus Christ.

Now, we shall be considering the third doctrine of Jesus Christ, which is:

3.The Total Depravity of Mankind and God’s Plan of Salvation.
Romans 3:23–24; 5:12–14; Psalm 51:5; John 3:3, 16; 2 Corinthians 5:18–22

The Holy Bible teaches that mankind, ever since the time of Adam and Eve, his wife, has sinned against God and, thus, has fallen short of His glory, which He originally bestowed upon them when He created them in His image and likeness.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23

Mankind’s fall from grace and glory into sin and depravity began with their first ancestors, Adam and Eve, when they deliberately disobeyed God in favour of a lie told to them by Satan. See Genesis 2:8–17; 3:1–8.
That single sin they committed corrupted their entire nature so much that it was transferred to their future generations, of whom we are part today.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Romans 5:12.

The total depravity of mankind is such that children born to them are affected by the sinful nature of their parents, even from the womb, thus conditioning them to choose a sinful course of life by default as they grow up. See Genesis 5:1–3.
Although man was created in God’s image and likeness, yet after their fall into sin Adam and Eve gave birth to children in their own corrupted image and likeness, not after God’s anymore.

Genesis 5:3: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:”

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
Psalms 51:5

As a result of this colossal damage which sin had inflicted on mankind, who are God’s crown creation, there was the need for Him to take steps to redeem them from their fallen state of sin and servitude to Satan and restore them to their original nature, bearing His image and likeness in which He made them. This is necessary because unless they are thus renewed, they cannot have fellowship with Him—neither here in their temporal life on earth nor forever in eternity.

“Jesus answered and said unto
Him, Verily, verily, I say unto
Thee, Except a man be born
Again, he cannot see the
Kingdom of God.” John 3:3

For God to be able to renew man’s spirit from the depravity it suffered because of sin, an atonement had to be made for their sin. That was the reason why God gave up His own Son, Jesus Christ, to make this atonement for mankind with His own blood.

“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but
Have everlasting life”.
John 3:16

The effect of this atonement brings about forgiveness of sin, reconciliation with God, and newness of life to whoever believes in and accepts Jesus Christ into their life as Lord and personal Saviour. This is not just a flimsy undertaking to fulfil a religious obligation; it must, instead, be a purposeful step of faith by anyone who truly wants to be free from a sinful life and be united with God as one in spirit, soul, and body.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17

In dealing with this third doctrine, which is the Total Depravity of Mankind, and God’s plan of Salvation, we must, of necessity, also include the following doctrines because they complement each other. They are as follows:

i. The doctrine of Redemption

ii. The doctrine of Repentance

iii. The doctrine of Water Baptism

iv. The doctrine of Justification

( For an in-depth study of this doctrine click the link below: https://joeachi.cw.center/in-his-image-and-likeness-the-redemption-road-map/ )
Let us take up the first point.

1.Doctrine of Redemption

Since mankind, through their ancestors, Adam and his wife Eve, willingly submitted themselves to obey Satan and, in the process, rejected God’s Lordship and authority over them, they invariably became bondslaves of Satan.

As to how this seemingly simple act of rejecting God’s command and accepting Satan’s lie could render them his bondslaves, the Holy Bible gives us the answer in Romans 6:16:
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”

So, when Adam and Eve persuaded themselves to follow Satan’s evil counsel by eating from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden, they ultimately chose a new master for themselves from that moment onward.

But God, in His great mercy and love for man, decided to offer them the opportunity of redemption so they could be set free from their bondage to Satan and be united with Him again as their Lord and God if they so wished.

But the price for the redemption of mankind was a very high one. It had to be paid with the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because He was the only One able to accomplish it to perfection as God desired.

The principle governing the doctrine of redemption is captured in Romans 5:18–19, thus:

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

From this principle, it was necessary that Jesus Christ must be subjected to the same temptations that sinful mankind is exposed to from Satan. If He could live through the course of His earthly life under Satan’s temptations without falling into any of them, then He could be the means for the redemption of all sinners who look to Him for salvation.

See Romans 5:18–19:
“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Did Jesus Christ successfully accomplish that mission? Yes, He did. See Hebrews 4:15:
“For we have not an high priest (Jesus Christ) which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

By His victory over sin and, ultimately, Satan, Jesus Christ paved the way for the redemption of any sinner who believes in and calls upon Him for the salvation of their soul.

See Colossians 1:13–14:
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins”.

Let us now consider the second point.

ii. The Doctrine of Repentance

Redemption is possible only for those who make the decision to repent of their sin and to forsake it altogether. It therefore means that no sin could have been forgiven to anyone without the divine institution of redemption. There is forgiveness of sin only because there is an already accomplished work of redemption put in place by God.

In the Old Testament, this redemption was given through animal sacrifice, but in the New Testament, it was made possible through the one-time sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son of God.

See the following Scriptures: Hebrews 9:11–22; John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 15:1–4; 1 John 2:1–2, 1:8–10; Romans 3:23–25.

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Repentance is mandatory for the enjoyment of God’s free redemption through His Son, Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:8–9 says:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Repentance is the admittance of one’s faults to those affected by it (James 5:16) and the confession of one’s sins to God (Proverbs 28:13) in order to obtain God’s mercy and forgiveness, which are made available through the redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ.

The third point.

iii. The Doctrine of Water Baptism
Luke 3:1–14.

Water baptism itself does not take away sin but, rather, is undertaken as a witness to onlookers present that the person being baptized has repented of and forsaken their sins. See 1 Peter 3:21; Romans 6:1–7.

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4.

Water baptism by immersion is a symbolic Christian ritual which bears witness to the fact that the baptized Christian is associated with Christ’s death to sin and His resurrection to eternal life and glory. Accordingly, there are expected to henceforth live a new life under the power and guidance if God’s Holy Spirit.

It is an important ritual because it gives the baptized Christian the opportunity to profess their new life in Christ before those present and to offer them the opportunity to hold them accountable for the life they would live thereafter. So, this ritual is a kind of witness for the Christian’s redemption, as are also the blood of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
See 1 John 5:8, which says:

“And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit (Romans 8:16), and the water (1 Peter 3:21), and the blood (Hebrews 9:14): and these three agree in one.”

The fourth point:

iv. The Doctrine of Justification

The doctrine of justification says that God justifies anyone on the basis that they do the following:

To accept God’s verdict that they are lost in sin and cannot be made right with Him by any means of their own making.
To believe in the redemption provided by God through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, and accept it as the only means for their forgiveness and restoration to newness of life (being born again).
To truly and sincerely confess and forsake their sins, with no desire whatsoever to return to them anymore.

When anyone does the above in simple faith and with a sincere motive, God then justifies them.

By justification we mean that God recognizes their act of faith described above as sufficient for Him to exercise His grace and mercy to declare them forgiven of all sins, acquitted of all penalties on account of those sins and to declare them righteous before Him as though they had never sinned before.

See Romans 3:23-24:
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…”

Looking back in retrospect at the third doctrine, which is THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY OF MANKIND AND GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION FOR THEM, we can see how all the four other ancillary doctrines, explained above, are divinely orchestrated to fulfill God’s plan in providing the means for renewal and restoration to fallen mankind, to wit:
That they MUST ACCEPT that they are SINNERS before God; BELIEVE and ACCEPT the fact that ONLY the redemption which God has provided to them in Jesus Christ ALONE is sufficient to renew them. Then they MUST REPENT AND CONFESS their sins to God, TOTALLY FORSAKE them and be BAPTIZED before WITNESSES as a true sign of their sincerity in repenting of and forsaking their sins.

Where this is done to God’s utmost satisfaction (without any adultration of the process by a false and unscriptural doctrine) He finds sufficient justification for the exercise of His power to accept, forgive and totally renew the sinner and to make them appear in His sight as though they have never sinned before.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 captures this essence beautifully thus:

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”

To Be Continued.

Let us take up the first point.