Christ and the Samaritan Woman

This article is an exposition of John 4:1-42, by Mark Perkins, Pastor, Front Range Bible Church, Colorado

To read/download the article: CHRIST AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN.

Grace Notes Topics Library

Substitution

God’s righteousness and justice demand that he execute the sentence He has decreed upon sin. ”The soul that sinneth it shall die . . .” (Ezekiel 18:20) ”The wages of sin is death . . .” (Romans 6:23) This means that judgment must fall on every human being, because we are all sinners. However, the word of God tells of that our judgment has, in fact fallen on another person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the fact of Christ’s taking the punishment that was meant for us that is known as the doctrine of substitution.

You can see a simple example of the idea of substitution in Mark 15:7. Barabbas was guilty of several crimes, including murder and insurrection. The Roman government had already condemned him to death by crucifixion. But Barabbas never saw his cross! Because Jesus took his place on the cross. In fact, Christ was Barabbas’s substitute both physically and spiritually.

To read/download the article: SUBSTITUTION.

Grace Notes Topics Library

The Essenes

The Essenes were a Jewish religious community which was first mentioned in history in the writings of Josephus (Antiquities, XIII, 5, 9), who mentions them as flourishing in the time of Jonathan Maccabaeus, in about 150 B.C., where he speaks of Judas, an Essene.

The Essenes were an extremely ascetic group of men in Palestine and Syria, and they are thought to have formed the first cells of organized monasticism in the Mediterranean world, setting the pattern for the various holy orders which proliferated during and after the time of Christ. It is still not clear whether the Essenes proceeded from some sect of Judaism or whether elements of Greek and other foreign philosophies had an influence in their origin. Their main colonies were near the northern end of the Dead Sea and around the town of Engedi. The study of the Dead Sea Scrolls has produced a considerable body of knowledge of the early Christian sects; and the Essenes may have been the group which produced the scrolls. The bibliography of this article provides references for further study.

To read/download the article: The Essenes.

Grace Notes Topics Library

Self Deception

by Paton James Gloag, minister of the Parish of Dunning, Blantyre and Galashiels, early 20th century

The greatest care and caution are necessary in examining the evidences of our conversion. We ought to exercise a holy jealousy over ourselves, and to avoid arriving at any definite conclusion as to the safety of our condition, except on sure and scriptural grounds.

To read/download the article: Self Deception.

Grace Notes Topics Library

Pontius Pilate

The link below is to an extensive article about Pontius Pilate and his place both in the Roman government's control of Palestine and in Rome's relationship to the Jews of Christ's time.

Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea. His rule began in 26 AD and lasted until early in 37 AD.

Nothing is known of Pilate prior to his arrival in Judea. Advancement at the time depended on patronage; a man's chances of promotion to public office depended on connections and influences in the imperial court. In all probability, Pilate was helped to office by powerful patrons, perhaps even Tiberius himself or his powerful friend Sejanus.

To read/download the article: Pontius Pilate.

Grace Notes Topics Library

Antioch

Antioch, where followers of Christ were first called Christians, is located some three hundred miles north of Jerusalem, on the west bank of the Orontes River. In ancient times it was called “The Queen of the East,” because of the beauty of its surroundings, the importance of its commerce, and its strategic location on intersecting caravan routes between the east, west, north, and south.

To read/download the article: Grace Notes Topics Library.

Grace Notes Diploma Courses

Ministry Training Using Grace Notes

Pastor – you can use Grace Notes Bible College course materials to conduct your own ministry training in the context of your local church and community. All Bible study materials and services are FREE of charge.

Grace Notes has conducted an online Bible teaching ministry since 1995. Thousands of people have studied books of the Bible, along with doctrinal, topical, and historical studies that support the Bible exposition. Lessons are administered by email or in person by a teacher in a local church.

Grace Notes issues a certificate of achievement. You can use the courses to instruct an individual student or in classes of any size.

The courses are divided into academic Units, each approximately equivalent to one trimester of Bible college. There are 12 academic units, with a total of 68 individual courses, including verse by verse studies of 50 books of the Bible.

Three diplomas are offered for completing Grace Notes Units.

Associate in Bible Teaching – Units I to IV

Senior Bible Teacher – Units V to VIII

Master Bible Teacher – Units IX to XII

To read an extended article: MINISTRY TRAINING WITH GRACE NOTES.

Grace Notes Diploma Courses

The Glory of God

The word "glory" is used to describe the essence of God: Romans 3:23; Ephesians 1:17; Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5; Matthew 16:27: Luke 2:9.

The grace of God is described as his glory: Ephesians 1:6.

To read an extended article: THE GLORY OF GOD.

GN Topics Library

AUGUSTUS

After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C., Mark Antony (Caesar’s chief lieutenant), Octavian (Caesar’s 18 year old nephew), and Lepidus (governor of Spain), formed a triumvirate to avenge the death of Caesar and to continue his policies. They hunted down the leaders of the Senate, including Cicero. While he had no part in the killing of Caesar, the triumvirs feared his oratorical and literary brilliance and wanted him out of the way. Three hundred senators and 2,000 equestrians (middle class government officials and merchants) were condemned to death. Brutus and Cassius, the actual leaders of the plot to kill Caesar, fled east to raise an army and fight the triumvirs for control of Rome.

Antony and Octavian defeated the legions of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, and the Empire was divided between Lepidus (Africa), Antony (the East), and Octavian (Italy and the West). There was the inevitable power struggle among the triumvirs, and Octavian defeated Lepidus in Africa and took over.

To read the full article: AUGUSTUS.

GN Topics Library

Dealing with Your Enemies

Every Christian has enemies. These range from those who merely do not like us to those who actively try to harm us.

Every Christian is “in Christ” and is a member of the family of God. Therefore, enmity toward a child of God is enmity toward God Himself.

To give us guidelines about the proper attitude we are to maintain toward our enemies, the Word of God makes numerous comments on the subject. In this article are some representative Bible statements and references.

To read the full article: DEALING WITH YOUR ENEMIES.

GN Topics Library

The Jewish Religious System

The religious life of the Jews in the time of Christ was controlled by the members of the Jewish priesthood, composed of the high priest and his family, the members of the supreme council, the Sanhedrin, and the local priest, or rabbi, who presided over the synagogue. Among the religious leaders there were many factions; and these factions had grave and fundamental differences in doctrine and practice.

This paper contains a description of each of the main elements of the Jewish religious hierarchy, namely: the Scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin. There is also a discussion of the doctrinal differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees; and there is a description of the Jewish Talmud, which comprised the written and oral scriptures and traditions of the Jews.

To read the full article: JEWISH RELIGIOUS SYSTEM.

GN Topics Library

The Doctrine of Privacy

Compiled from transcriptions of recorded teachings of R. B. Thieme, Jr. and Chester McCalley

Privacy is that principle of freedom whereby an individual of the human race has the right to retire from the company of others, remaining in seclusion from the knowledge or observation of others.

Privacy, property, and life are the basic concepts of happiness and freedom.

Read the rest of the article here: THE DOCTRINE OF PRIVACY.

GN Topics Library

NICODEMUS AND CHRIST

by Pastor Mark Perkins, Front Range Bible Church, Denver, Colorado

Nicodemus is a Greek name that means 'Victor of the People'.

Information about Nicodemus is found only in John's Gospel, in John 3:1-10; 7:37-52; and 19:38-42.

John 3:1 names him as a man of the Pharisees and a ruler of the Jews, which means that he was member of the Sanhedrin.

Read the rest of Mark's article here: NICODEMUS AND CHRIST.

GN Topics Library

ADAM

by Pastor Mark Perkins, Front Range Bible Church, Denver, Colorado

It is fitting that we start with Adam, because Adam was the first head of the human race. By looking at Adam's life we can discover the beginnings of our problems... and solutions. Adam is perhaps the one man in these genealogies with the greatest connection to Christ.

Rom 5:12-21, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned"

When God created Adam, He gave him the legitimate authority to rule planet earth When God created Adam, He created him body, mind, and spirit.

Read the rest of Mark's article here: ADAM.

GN Topics Library

The Soul

Man is aware of his own existence and is able to relate to both animate and inanimate life on earth.

Animals have consciousness, but not self-consciousness. Self-consciousness requires mentality.

Mentality is the thinking part of man and is itself composed of two parts. (1) The mind of the soul; (2) the heart of the soul which contains the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, norms and standards, all of which for a launching pad for application of Bible knowledge to life.

The Doctrine of the Soul.

GN Topics Library

Study Ephesians - verse by verse

Grace Notes has a comprehensive course on Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians. There are 20 lessons, with expository notes on every verse. There are more than 60 categorical, topical, and historical studies that support the study. I also urge you to memorize the book as you go along; more than 60 Grace Notes students have memorized the book. It is hard work but a wonderful blessing.

EPHESIANS COURSE description and list of topics.

GN Topics Library

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer at the moment of salvation, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, 3:16. This indwelling provides the divine power to offset the continued presence of the sin nature which also indwells the body after salvation. In addition to the indwelling Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit is required to provide the control and power for Christian living.

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit

GN Topics Library

Godliness

This is a study of the Greek word eusebeia, used in the New Testament to express the idea of inner piety, spiritual maturity, or godliness.

In Titus 1:1, the apostle Paul states that he is "an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the criterion of the faith of the chosen people of God who have a full and applied knowledge of the truth which is the standard for godliness". 

Godliness

GN Topics Library

Philip the Evangelist

In the sixth chapter of Acts, we read that the Apostles commissioned seven men in the congregation at Jerusalem to supervise the church's ministry to the needs of its widows and other poor.  Two of these men have gained lasting fame. One was Stephen, who became the Church's first martyr. The other was Philip, whose story we find in Acts 8:5-40; 21:8-9.

Philip the Evangelist

GN Topics Library

Occupation with Christ

This article deals with the subject of a Christian's involvement with the Lord Jesus Christ, under the following headings.

•     What is Occupation with Christ 

•     Why a Christian Needs to be Occupied with Christ 

•     The Bible Commands Regarding Occupation with Christ 

•     Mechanics - How to be Occupied with Christ 

•     The Results of Occupation with Christ

Occupation with Christ

GN Topics Library

5 Features of the Plan of God for Your Life

Grace Notes doctrinal studies: Topics Library

Your Christian life began the moment you believed the Gospel, putting your complete confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.  At that moment, God provided you with a great number of unique and permanent blessings.  "...and hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."  (Eph. 1:3)  These blessings are a part of your inheritance as a Christian; they are the doctrines and promises upon which you may draw during the remainder of your lifetime.

You are in the eternal plan of God, sharing the destiny of the Lord Jesus Christ. As such you are:

Foreknown 

Acts 2:23.  this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.

Romans 8:29.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

1 Peter 1:2.  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Elect 

Romans 8:33.  Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

Colossians 3:12.  So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

1 Thessalonians 1:4.  knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you;

Titus 1:1.  Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,

1 Peter 1:1, 2.  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

Predestined 

Romans 8:29, 30.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:5.  He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will

Ephesians 1:11.  also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,  

Chosen in Christ

Matthew 22:14.  For many are called, but few are chosen.

1 Peter 2:4.  And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God

Called 

1 Thessalonians 5:24.  Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

4 Reasons the Law Cannot Get You

Christians are free from the law.

Romans 6:14.  For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 7:4-6.  Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

2 Corinthians 3:11.   For if that which fades away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

Galatians 3:25.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor [the Law].

Grace Notes doctrinal studies: Topics Library

4 Steps from Death to Life

You have been made dead to the old life and alive unto God.  You are:

Crucified with Christ 

Romans 6:6.  knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

Galatians 2:20.  I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Dead with Christ

Romans 6:8.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

Colossians 3:3.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

1 Peter 2:24.   and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

Buried with Christ

Romans 6:4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:12.  having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

Risen with Christ

Romans 6:4.  Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Colossials 3:1.  Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Grace Notes doctrinal studies: Topics Library