Last week we reached Study 4 in our series on Christianity Explained. In the first 3 studies, we established the 3 essential foundations to being a true Christian.
The belief that Jesus is the Son of God with all authority including final judgment over us, that his death on the Cross was the only way to forgive our sins and that after 3 days he rose back life, proving he really is the Son of God with authority even over death itself. These are the 3 foundations to the well known scripture
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Christianity answers the most important question that we can ever ask. What must I do to be saved? How can I be sure that I am going to Heaven? Today we’re going to have a group discussion on what was covered last week on grace over works.
RC Sproul gave us a lecture on justification by faith alone using passages from Genesis and Romans.
Remember, Abraham was counted righteous on the basis of his faith. When God told Abraham that his descendants would number the stars, it says in Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him as righteousness.
If you did Accounting at school you will have heard of double entry. Basically every financial transaction has an equal and opposite entry in the books. RC Sproul was the son of an Accountant and he explained the double entry. On the debit side we have our sin, on the credit side we can either have Christ’s righteousness or our own, there is no possibility to mix the 2.
However, if we try to pay for our sins with our works, we can’t as we can never be good enough, the debt remains. Remember Adam and Eve got kicked out of Eden for just one sin, we commit many sins.
Romans 4:4-8
Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
RC Sproul explained the accounting word impute very well. If we place our trust in Christ and his death on the Cross for our sins, our sins are imputed to Christ who received God’s punishment for sin on the Cross. But there is a double imputation. At the same time, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us.
Basically, it’s the deal of the century. Only a fool turns it down.
Before we have a group discussion, we’re going to listen to the story of John Newton who wrote the very well known hymn, Amazing Grace which can soften the heart of the hardest sinner. We use this on our very own PCC Logo which is on your sheets of paper.
John Newton Testimony of Amazing Grace
That none should boast
That God would be glorified
That we might have peace with God through Christ
That we might be free from sin
That we might bear fruit
That God’s love might be poured out on us
That we might have eternal life
Group Discussion
1.Luke 18:18-30 Recap of last week - How do you answer the question « what must I do to be saved? »
We must put our faith in Christ and his death on the Cross and believe God’s promise like Abraham did. Rather than trust we are good enough for Heaven.
2.Luke 18:1-8 What was common in the salvation of Ian McCormick and John Newton?
What they had in common was a praying Mum 😊 The scripture emphasises the need to pray for others to be saved.
3.Luke 18:9-14 What was the difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector that led to one being justified?
The Pharisee trusted his own goodness and was unjustified but the Tax Collector asked for God’s mercy and was justified.
4.Luke 18:15-17 What does it mean to receive the kingdom of God as a little child?
To have the faith of a child, to trust in the goodness of God without question like we do our parents when we were very young.
5.Discuss John Bunyan’s chart on the flip side of the paper (adapted by Time Challies).
Note that if you are on the wrong side trusting in your own goodness and heading for Hell, you can repent, receive God's Grace and go on to Heaven ! This is the Good News of the Gospel
Hi, I’m Robert, part of the team at Family First. Thank you for inviting me to speak today.
This is our team, some are instantly recognisable like Bob and Simon, some you may recognise if you watch our regular shows. And others like me, working in the background. A few are part timers. We are just 5.1 full time equivalent. But we do have a voice for Families in New Zealand.
I was born in England in December of 1965, my family emigrated to New Zealand in November of 1974 50 years ago, this year. I became a Christian in May 1977 when I was 11 years old. I went to Papatoetoe High School when Bob was head boy, so I’ve known him most of my life. I was married in 1992 to Mhairi and we have 2 boys, the oldest in London working for Christian Concern the youngest in Tasmania played for the Glenorchy Knights and win the double this season. He’s off to the UK on Tuesday ! I can tell you Bob is a solid character, from a very good family. I’ve known him since our days at good old Papatoetoe High School. That’s him as Head Boy in 1981. His passion was always football, his team, Liverpool.
People see him in the media but they don’t see his private life so much. When we came back from England after 2 years there from 2000-2002, I felt that God told me to get in contact with Bob. He’s been working at Youth For Christ for a number of years and had recently started a church in Papatoetoe though we didn’t know that at the time. Soon after we got back from England, we were at dinner one night and friends of our friends told us they’d been attending Papatoetoe Community Church so we went along, found out Bob was there and soon were involved and are to this day, me as an elder and Mhairi as the administrator. Bob coached our youngest in football for several years and Joshua remains friends with Bob’s son Stephen. Bob
will claim credit for Joshua’s success at football. The reason I share all that is because sometimes it’s good to remember everyone is part of a family, even those we contend with that have completely different world views.
Our former chairmen Ross Wilcox, who stepped down this year aged 84 gave a devotion at our Annual Retreat from 1 Chronicles which stood out to me. Right after King Saul had died, the elders of Israel anointed David as King in preference to someone from Saul’s household. David had already been chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to succeed Saul so the elders anointing of David was like the official stamp.
There was a transfer of power happening but it could all still come to nothing without the backing of the people.
Israel had been defeated by the Philistines and David had to build the army of Israel again. Jerusalem was occupied, even his home town of Bethlehem was overtaken by a Philistine garrison. The enemy was in control of the country. You can imagine the situation.
As David built his army, no doubt the people had to decide, who they would align with to defeat the Philistines. Their enemy was common but the outcome would be different depending on who they picked. Would they be brave and fight with David or would they remain loyal to the House of Saul which had been defeated by the enemy. David’s position was dangerous, the situation could go either way. His own tribe Judah supported him of course, some from Saul’s tribe of Benjamin but not many. The support from the other tribes was mixed. The tribe of Issachar also had to make a decision whether to get behind David.
1 Chronicles 12:32
of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;
It wasn’t the biggest tribe, there isn’t note of any mighty warriors like with the other tribes. But all the leaders, all the brethren it says got behind David. Why? Because they understood the times they were living in. They could see what was at stake was their very long-term existence.
There is a culture war going on today in New Zealand. You are forced to decide who is on the right side of history. And it’s not a straightforward decision. You have church leaders on both sides of the fence. We need wisdom like the men of Issachar to decide which side we will be on.
A strong family gives you a head start in this tough world we live in today. Hopefully your own families are close, some may be gone by now, but they still remain with us in many ways, don’t they? If you don’t have a family to speak of, then the Bible teaches God is our Father and that on the Church you can have many brothers and sisters, so the family is actually much bigger and all over the Globe. A Christian can go to almost any city and the Lord has family there. Certainly, that is true in a country like New Zealand, we are very blessed here.
But we have all seen New Zealand changing before our eyes in the last 20 years and especially in the years since Covid. Many things we have known as New Zealanders growing up have been set aside for this new age we live in. Everything is online now and so fast but for us who remember those old days of face-to-face exchanges, the pre shopping mall days, we feel that human connection being lost. This technology was supposed to make our lives easier and sometimes I feel on top of it, other times it is overwhelming the number of plates we have spinning. People today are looking for an anchor that is found in family but can only ultimately be found in Jesus Christ.
The problem Christians face is that our world view is diametrically opposed to what is generally accepted by the world today.
And the number of people who want to be associated with Christianity is shrinking.
I researched the census results for Paeroa, they are similar to Papatoetoe.
In just 12 years between 2006 and 2018, the number of people who are Christian affiliated shrink from 55% to 35%, a drop of 20%.
At the same time, the people claiming no religion increased by about 20%. So now you have a majority of people in the town who are atheist or agnostic in their belief about God. That suggests a different strategy is needed to Papatoetoe where the drop in Christians was filled by an increase in Hindus. Atheists have been a tough nut to crack for a long time. But it seems that in very recent times they are softening their stance after realising what everything they had spent their lives tearing down is being replaced with. Even Richard Dawkins has recently said he likes to think of himself as a cultural Christian, that’s a surprise. Our own Rodney Hide was an atheist all his life but in the last couple of years he was converted to Christ as he became disenchanted with what was being forced on our kids, he came to see that what Bob had been saying all along was right.
The last census in New Zealand was held on 7th March 2023 and the results are being released from 29th May 2024 to August 2025 so keep an eye out for that.
These changes in demographic mean Family First are increasingly engaged in a war in the spiritual sense. We are often under fire for what is called its right wing extremist bigoted position. Particularly regarding;
1.Marriage is between one man and one woman. As a consequence, every child has the right to a mum and a dad.
The LGBTQ community obviously oppose this view.
The theme of this year’s Forum on the Family was “Protecting the Next Generation”.
Family First lost its charity status because of its narrow view on the definition of the family.
2.Family First takes a biblical view of justice
God is very concerned about justice but we must understand the difference between biblical justice and social justice because they are not the same. In fact, they are diametrically opposed.
The key difference between biblical justice and social justice lies in how the two views define injustice. The Bible defines injustice as that which fails to rise to the level of the law of God. Social Justice defines injustice as anything that produces or allows an inequitable outcome.
First and foremost, we see that Biblical Justice is defined by God and God alone. Second, we know that true, final, and perfect justice will ultimately be rendered by God to each person one day. While man-made systems of justice may fail, nothing gets by God. Even though divine justice serves as a comforting backstop, God makes it clear he wants mankind to strive to render true justice, even in this fallen world. Thus, the delivery of the Ten Commandments and the Royal Law will always be relevant. These should serve as the moral baseline for all rightly structured systems of human laws and judicial enforcement.
We can use the Bible to help us discern what is true and good on many controversial topics like
1.Abortion
2.Euthanasia
3.Gay Marriage
4.Transgender rights
and so on. This is what the progressives hate. They don’t want to be tied to God’s law.
Take abortion. We know from the Bible it is wrong to shed innocent blood. Abel’s blood cried from the ground for justice. (Genesis 4:10-11).
Family First opposes woke diversity and inclusion theology. It’s not that we are against individuals or groups because of race or gender. It’s because God has no favourites.
Romans 2:10-11
but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.
It is also God’s prerogative on how and when he distributes his justice and grace. In the parable of the prodigal son, the older son was disgruntled that the younger son was not treated justly. But the Father said to the older son that it was just.
Almost all of what Family First does is to protect the most vulnerable in our community.
Have a look at this weeks Pulse Point release. Once you strip it down, you will see it’s about protecting our children and preserving their innocence. The challenge is enormous but not impossible. Our team is getting bigger and we need your support for the work we do.
Christianity Explained is designed for the person who knows nothing about Jesus or his Gospel.
Papatoetoe has an estimated 2.8% of its population in Church on a Sunday. Could you or I explain to the nearly 98% non-Christians in Papatoetoe (that’s 49 out of 50 people you see in the street) the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that helped them to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and gave them reason to change what they do on a Sunday morning? This course will equip you for the task.
We are now at Study 4. In the first 3 studies we established the 3 essential foundations to being a true Christian.
The belief that Jesus is the Son of God with all authority including final judgment over us, that his death on the Cross was the only way to forgive our sins and that after 3 days he rose back life, proving he really is the Son of God with even authority even over death itself. These are the 3 foundations to the well known scripture
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Christianity answers the most important question that we can ever ask. What must I do to be saved? Today we’re going to cover a very important topic - grace not works !
How can we be sure that we are going to Heaven? This is the very question the rich young lawyer had when he came to Jesus
Matthew 19:16-26
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
The question the rich young ruler had was what did he need to DO. As human beings we are taught from a very young age that in order to get something, we must do something first. At home, at school, at work we have it drilled into us that we must work to earn our reward. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So Jesus tells him exactly what he would need to do to go to Heaven, emphasis on the word do, which is what the rich young ruler wanted to know.
So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
The rich young ruler was an exceptional human being. He had lived an exemplary life and had done plenty of good things. A lot of people see themselves as a good person and they think they will go to Heaven because they are good. Jesus gives him one more thing he needed to do. Sell all his possessions, give it all to the poor and come follow Jesus. But this was something that he couldn’t do and Jesus knew it. He could see inside his heart the same way he can see inside my heart and yours. He can see the things that we simply wouldn’t sacrifice. It might not be the same thing for each one of us as it was for the rich young ruler. The point is, he couldn’t do it.
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that it is impossible to please God by our good deeds but that with God, all things are possible.
There are only 2 religions in the World. The first depends on us, on what we need to DO. The second is Christianity which depends on God alone who grants salvation only because of our faith as Genesis 15 first tells us.
Genesis 15:1-6
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
All the other religions teach what we need to DO to go to Heaven. The Gospel message is the opposite. It’s grace over Ant works we can do. Today we’re going to let RC Sproul explain that better than I can. RC Sproul is a great teacher, you even get the chalk on blackboard. So apologies if this reminds you of school, get out your pens and paper and take notes because he uses some words you might not have heard before.
For further explanation by the Apostle Paul, read Romans 4:1-25
