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What's So Great About the Restored Gospel?

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What's So Great About the Restored Gospel? What’s So Great About the Restored Gospel? Copyright © 2016 by Robert R. Bobbitt. Unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Robert R. Bobbitt is strictly prohibited. Life's Profound Questions • Who has the best answers for life’s profound questions? • Where do I go to find those answers? 2 Life's Profound Questions • Where did I come from, and is my life just a cosmic accident? • Is there any meaning or purpose for being here? • Why is there evil and suffering? • Isn't the idea of God just a crutch to help ignorant people limp through life? • Don't all religions basically teach the same things? • When we reach the end, do we simply cease to exist? 3 Worldview A “worldview” is a concept of this existence that attempts to answer life’s profound questions. A worldview has no value unless it can explain: • Origins – Where did we come from? • Meaning – Is there any purpose in this life? • Morality – What principles should we live by? • Destiny – What does the future hold? 4 Christians in the World To get some sense of proportion: Catholics – 1.28 billion Protestants – about 900 million o Evangelicals –about 600 million (most are Pentecostals and Charismatics) • Charismatics – believe spiritual gifts continue today. • Pentecostals – speaking in tongues is THE sign of conversion. LDS - 15 million Restoration – a few thousand 5 "Fullness"? "Restored"? • If someone asked you these questions, what would you say to them? o What is the "fullness" of the gospel? o What do you mean by "the gospel was restored"? "How full is it? Well, it's about this full!" 6 "Fullness" and "Restored"? • Why does this gospel give you hope? • What do we mean by “fullness” of the gospel and “restored” gospel? 7 Is The "Restored Gospel" Important? “One must keep on pointing out that Christianity [the restored gospel] is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.” C.S. Lewis God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics 8 Existing Creeds: Some Degree of Error “My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right that I might know which to join. No sooner therefore did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personage who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right, (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong,) and which I should join.” 9 Existing Creeds: Some Degree of Error “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong, and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those professors were all corrupt, ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.’ He again forbade me to join with any of them....” Joseph Smith, Jr. Times and Seasons (vol. 3 & 4) Nauvoo, Illinois, 1839- 1846 10 UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH 11 The Rock of the Revelation of Jesus Christ Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God . Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven . Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:16-18 12 Rock? Prevail? 1. When Jesus said this, What did he mean by “this rock”? 2. What did he mean by “prevail”? 13 COMMON GROUND: Same Jesus Restoration: The object of our faith is the same as other Christian denominations. We believe in the same Jesus: For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven, among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay . And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. Mosiah 1:97 & 102 14 Common Ground Catholic, Protestant and Restoration 1) We worship the same Jesus (Mosiah 1:97). 15 WE ARE SAVED BY CHRIST ALONE 16 Common Ground: Christ Alone Restoration: We are saved by Christ alone. And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask, if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far, save it were by the word of Christ, with unshaken faith in him, relying WHOLLY upon the merits of HIM who is mighty to save. 2 Nephi 13:27-28 . relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith. Moroni 6:5 17 Common Ground: Christ Alone And if ye believe on his name, ye will repent of all your sins, that thereby ye may have a remission of them through HIS merits. Helaman 5:67 And now my son, I have told you this, that ye may learn wisdom, that ye may learn of me that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, ONLY in and through Christ. Alma 18:11 18 Sharing the Gospel Every witnessing opportunity should begin by establishing common ground. For our evangelical friends: 1) We worship the same Jesus (Mos. 1:97). 2) We are saved by the merits of Christ alone (2 Ne. 13:27-28). 19 WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE ALONE 20 Common Ground: Grace Alone Restoration: We are saved by grace alone. And remember after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is ONLY in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. 2 Nephi 7:42 14 Sharing the Gospel Christian Belief: 1) We worship the same Jesus (Mos. 1:97). 2) We are saved by the merits of Christ alone (2 Ne. 13:27-28). 3) We are saved by his grace alone (2 Ne. 7:42). 22 "GRACE”: THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS GOD’S POWER IN OUR LIVES 23 Grace: Unlocking God’s Power What is grace? Most Protestants say grace is: “unmerited favor.” Strong’s Concordance gives a literal definition: Charis means “the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life.” We need to look at 1 Corinthians 15:10 to derive an operational definition of grace: “the desire and power to do God's will.” 24 Grace: Desire/Power - Do God's Will The definition of "grace" that says it's "the desire and power to do God's will" is derived from the following verse: But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10 25 Grace: Desire/Power - Do God's Will . continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13 26 What is Grace? 1) We worship the same Jesus (Mos. 1:97). 2) We are saved by the merits of Christ alone (2 Ne. 13:27-28). 3) We are saved by grace alone (2 Ne. 7:42) . 4) Grace is the desire and power to do God's will (1 Cor 15:10). 27 WHAT IS “JUSTIFICATION”? 28 Two Types of Grace Justifying Grace and Sanctifying Grace D & C 17:6 a-c: a. And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God. b. And we know that justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true; c. And we know, also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength. 29 Justifying Grace What is Justification? The Restoration View of “Justification” “Justification” is BOTH an event and process initiated by “God’s grace” in which the righteousness of Christ that we don’t deserve is credited to our account: • by a forensic declaration at initial belief as described in John 5:24 and Romans 8:1, 33-34 (an “event”), and • as we allow “God’s justifying grace” to accomplish repentance, faith and baptisms as described in Hebrews 6:1-3 and James 2:24 (a “process”). Justified by “Christ alone” (2 Ne. 13:27-28) through “grace alone” (2 Ne. 7:42). Rather than only two possibilities of condemnation or justification, there are THREE POSSIBLE SCENARIOS: condemnation, justification or ignorance (Romans 5:13, Romans 4:15, James 4:17, Romans 10:14, Luke 12:47-48, 2 Nephi 6:51-53). 30 Sanctifying Grace Restoration View Restoration View of “Sanctification”: Sanctification: the process of becoming more like Christ. It is the gift of God’s sanctifying grace, that gives us the desire and power to do God’s will (1 Corinthians 15:10, D&C 17:6c).
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