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Ten Truths Every Christian Must Believe

We were privileged to have Dr Jay Sedwick from Dallas Theological Seminary as our guest speaker at our Graduation Service on Tuesday, 25 February. Here is Dr Sedwick’s message from the evening in full.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Greetings from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Top Ten Lists are popular. I have selected what I think to be the Top Ten Truths Every Christian Must Believe. For the graduates, these are probably reminders of what you learned during your time at BST. For those of you here in support of these graduates, I hope this will encourage you to renew your commitment to the Lord Jesus.

Ten Truths Every Christian Must Believe

2 Timothy 4:1-5

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 

1. The Bible is trustworthy.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

    • Why do I start with the Bible?…without a verifiable and trustworthy source of information no one can know Truth.
    • The entire Bible (Old and New Testaments) must be studied and understood in its proper context.
    • Archeology (every time they dig a hole in Israel…) continues to confirm everything that is written in the Bible, no contradictions have been proven.
      1. Pontius Pilate
      2. King David inscription
    • We all need to be students of the Bible, able to defend and support its veracity and reliability while also sensitively using the Scriptures in the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives.

 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy 2:15)

2. Truth is absolute.

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth. (John 17:17)

    • The world around us is pushing a different perspective, that what is true is what you personally think is true. (Judges 17:6 “and everyone did what was right in his own eyes”)
    • The culture around us says that truth is “relative” to the situation, that the situation determines what is true at that moment.
    • Without an objective standard, we will always be lost in confusion.
    • Because we have all been created by God and bear His Image, everyone knows inherently the basics of right and wrong.

“For when Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…” (Romans 2:14-15)

3. Jesus is the only way to God.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” (John 14:6)
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

    • Jesus made this claim, not someone about Him. He leaves no room for other faith traditions. The world believes we are all climbing up the same mountain to heaven and will discover that others around the world with different faith beliefs will also be at the top.
      • Islam
      • Judaism
      • Hinduism
      • Buddhism
      • Spiritism
      • Every other ISM
      • If there was another way, why did Jesus have to die?“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39)Why do we do evangelism or send missionaries? What would be the point if there were other ways to get to heaven?
      • Every Christian has a serious lifelong calling…to tell as many people about Jesus as possible.“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:18)

    4. Christ’s resurrection is pivotal.

    “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith is in vain…. and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins….If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17, 19)

      • Christ’s resurrection is the most important event in all of history. By conquering sin and death through rising from the dead, He proved that He was God.
      • No other world religion has a leader that predicted His own death and resurrection…and then ACTUALLY DID IT!
      • If the resurrection happened, then the Bible is all True. If it didn’t happen, then we are all fools for believing it.
      • We have a living Savior who is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us so we can boldly come before the throne of God and receive mercy and grace.

    5. God loves you unconditionally.

    “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

        • Every world religion or faith tradition is based on performance. In other words, whether or not we are accepted by God in all of these religions depends on what we do and how we behave.
        • Christianity is the only faith tradition where God Himself solved our sin problem. He knew that we could never be good enough to make it to heaven. How good is good enough? No one could ever know.“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
        • Our proper response is to love Him back through obedience.“If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

    6. God created you on purpose for a purpose.

    “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

          • The world teaches that humans evolved, starting with some primordial soup long ago and over billions of years we eventually became intelligent human beings. I firmly believe that is not true! More and more scientists are abandoning the theory of Darwinian evolution because Science doesn’t support it.
          • You are not an accident! You were created to be a Child of God, to worship Him and to enjoy Him forever.
          • We are all descendants of Adam & Eve, who were created fully formed and human in His image in the Garden of Eden as Genesis tells us. As a consequence, we are all image bearers who represent the creativity of God.

        “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 1:27

        7. God blesses obedience and punishes disobedience.

        “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way I am commanding you today…” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)

          • The Lord disciplines those He loves. If you know Christ as your Savior then you should expect Him to complete the work He began in you when you trusted Him for your salvation.“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful: yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” (Hebrews 12:11)“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
          • Can we keep on sinning and blaming others, blaming our circumstances, blaming the devil? No, we must choose to obey!“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1)

        8. Satan is real and wants to destroy you.

        “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

          • You are in a spiritual battle for the hearts and souls of your families, your neighbors, and for your nation.

        “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

          •  Satan is deceptive and crafty. He seeks to confuse and misdirect people away from the truth.

         “For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. “ (2 Corinthians 11:14)

        9. The world hates you and most of what you stand for.

        “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” (John 15:18-19)

          • The Christian life is not easy. Following Christ can be incredibly challenging.
          • Satan has been given limited influence and control over the world, and you represent a threat.

        “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1-2)

         “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
        (2 Timothy 3:12)

        10. Tolerance will be expected of you, but not given to you.

        “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

          • The current world philosophy teaches everyone to be tolerant of all people and viewpoints. However, everyone is granted tolerance except for Christians.
          • Tolerance is the ability to accept others who have different opinions and viewpoints with which you disagree and you still love and care for them. However, it does not mean you have to embrace their opinions and condone viewpoints!
          • Christianity is narrowminded. There is only one way. That is not tolerant as the world would have you believe. But being right is never tolerant of being wrong.

        Bonus: Christ wins in the end.

        “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

        Theological education is a privilege. I believe you have a responsibility to give your education away to those God puts under your influence. Just as Paul instructed Timothy in his second letter, his last will and testament shortly before his execution in Rome, you and I have a responsibility to preach the word, do the work of an evangelist, and instruct in sound doctrine.

         May the Lord bless your efforts to bring many to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

        2 Timothy 4:1-5

         “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

         Let’s review: 

        1. The Bible is trustworthy.
        2. Truth is absolute.
        3. Jesus is the only way to God.
        4. Christ’s resurrection is pivotal.
        5. God loves you unconditionally.
        6. God created you on purpose for a purpose.
        7. God blesses obedience and punishes disobedience.
        8. Satan is real and wants to destroy you.
        9. The world hates you and most of what you stand for.
        10. Tolerance will be expected of you, but not given to you.

        Bonus: Christ Wins in the end!