Study The Church

10 Theological Questions Texting Class

--This class is intended to last for 2 weeks; Monday-Saturday, no class on Sunday
--You can always feel free to email me at marknickens@gmail.com
--This is a free class.
--I only have two requests: (1) If you use this class please let me know, and (2) Let me know any comments people make about this class (since I try to improve the class).
--Feel free to share this with other leaders in your church or other churches.
--Each text (except for the first and last days) is set up like this:

Answer from previous day's question
Lesson for that day
Question, with answer given the next texting day

Back to Contents

1: Mon
Lesson: This ends the Bible portion of the texting class. We will have two more weeks in the texting class & tomorrow we will switch to talking about theology questions, which means questions about God. I hope you have enjoyed these past 13 weeks of looking at the Bible. I hope you feel more comfortable with the Bible & can locate different books more easily. / Refresher Q about the whole Bible: How many books are in the Bible?

2: Tues
A: 66: 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT./ For the last two weeks, we will discuss questions about God, also known as Theology. A strong Christian will understand the Bible plus different ideas from the Bible. But we will focus only on ideas about God. Over the two weeks, I will give you 10 statements. You will answer true or false on each. Do not feel bad if you miss a question, or think you are not a Christian. Instead, this is a good time to make sure that you are not confused. / Q1: True/False: Jesus is God.

3: Weds
A: True / The Christian idea of the Trinity states that there is one God but that one God has three roles or responsibilities. The scholarly word for this is “persons.” One God in three persons. Many people have given examples of the Trinity, such as water. Water (or H2O) comes in three forms: ice, water, and steam. One substance but three different forms. Or an egg has three parts: the shell, the yolk, and the white part. One egg but three different necessary parts. Both of those examples are incomplete or not exact examples, but they do point in the right direction. / Q2: True/False: The Holy Spirit is God.

4: Thurs
A: True. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all God. / L: They are not part of God but are each fully God. Think about it this way: you are Kenyan. Kenya has many citizens, but you are not part Kenyan just because there are many Kenyans, instead you are fully Kenyan. Whatever it means to be Kenyan, that is you. The same with God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all fully God. They each have their own roles or “jobs” (which we will talk about later), but they still are all fully God. / Q3: True/False: God the Father created Jesus, who is the Son of God.

5: Fri
A: False. / L: Many people get this answer wrong, but it is easy to see why. If I say that I have a son, that means I lived or existed before my son did. But instead Jesus has always existed, just like the Father and the Holy Spirit has always existed. Whenever the Bible mentions God the “Father” and “Son,” the best way to think about that is like an ideal (which doesn’t exist on earth) Father and son relationship: The Father is always right, and the Son is totally obedient. Therefore, God the Father decided what to do, and God the Son was totally obedient. / Q4: True/False: Jesus was married.

6: Sat
A: False. / L: We do not know much about Jesus’ life. Matthew and Luke describe his birth & early years, & Luke describes when Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem at age 12. Nothing else until he is baptized around 30 years old. But why did Jesus wait that long? The answer: Jesus waited until people would respect his opinion, which, for a Jewish man, was at age 30. Several places in the OT (one is Numbers 4:1-3) state that priests did not serve in the Temple until age 30. So, Jesus waited until people would respect him as a spiritual leader. / Q5: True/False: Christianity teaches karma.

7: Mon
A: False. / L: Karma is the Hindu and Buddhist idea that whatever action you do will come back on you later. If you are really mean to someone, you will be punished in a way that balances out how mean you were. Instead, the Bible teaches that once someone is a Christian, then if he or she does something wrong but is truly sorry for it, which is called “to repent,” then God will forgive the person without any punishment. This is true because Jesus took our punishment on himself on the cross. / Q6: True/False: Grace means “not getting the punishment you deserve.”

8: Tues
A: False. / L: Mercy and Grace are two words that many Christians confuse. Mercy means “not getting the punishment you deserve” and grace means “getting the gift or reward you don’t deserve.” For example, we deserve to be punished for our sins, but God has mercy on us & does not do so since Jesus took our punishment. On the other hand, we each do not deserve to have different abilities or spiritual gits (meaning we did not work for them), but we receive grace from God when he gives us those abilities or spiritual gifts. / Q7: True/False: Baptism washes away someone’s sins.

9: Weds
A: False / L: Baptism is a symbolic act. That means we do it because we follow the example of Jesus plus Jesus told his followers to baptize believers. But being in the water does not bring forgiveness. Instead the choice a person makes to follow Jesus is where forgiveness happens. Think about it this way: after someone becomes a Christian, he or she will continue to sin. But that does not mean that you are continually baptized for forgiveness of your sins. Instead we pray and ask forgiveness. So baptism does not wash away your sins. / Q8: True/False: Since Jesus was raised from the dead, that means he was a zombie.

10: Thurs
A: False / L: A zombie is someone who is brought back to life but is a different person than when alive and is usually under the control of someone else. It is important to remember the idea of the incarnation: Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human. Jesus’ human body died but the God-part of Jesus did not die. Later the body was brought back to life and the God-part of Jesus came back into the body and was still God. So, Jesus was not a zombie because he was the same before death and after death. / Q9: True/False: Christians believe in 3 gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

11: Fri
A: False / L: (This one is a little longer because it is more complicated.) The Bible teaches 1 God with 3 roles or responsibilities. The technical term is “persons”: 1 God in 3 persons. It is helpful to understand the roles or “jobs” of those three parts: The Father is the creator of everything & the one who decides what holy is. The Son is the one who does all the action for the Father: for example, the Father decided that salvation required coming to earth & dying on a cross, and so sent the Son. That is why Jesus said multiple times that he was only to do the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit’s job is to be the connection between us and the Father and Son. Jesus provided a path or way for us to connect to the Father, and the Holy Spirit guides, teaches, inspires, and comforts us. / Q10: True/False: Jesus was baptized so that he could become a Christian.

12: Sat
A: False / L: Being a Christian means being a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus did not need to become a Christian since he is God; people do need to become Christian so they can have a relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ and be led by the Holy Spirit. But why was Jesus baptized? To show that He was beginning his ministry and to give an example to others of how to show they have faith. / Q: No question this time, because you have finished with the 2-week course. Congratulations! I have enjoyed this time studying about God. If you have questions now or in the future, you can contact me through my website: www.studythechurch.com. I also have plenty of information there about the Bible and Christianity, which is your next step if you want to continue this type of biblical training. Dr. Nickens