paulcrf

In what sense does baptism bring about our union with Christ? Answer: Baptism involves incorporation into Christ. We become one with Him. All of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. In what sense does baptism symbolized our union with Christ? Answer: Baptism by immersion symbolized burial and resurrection of Christ just as we buried our old sinful nature. Coming up from the water symbolize living a new life just as Christ resurrected from the dead defeating the power of satan over death.

Question (Romans 6:2-5) According to this passage, at what point do we move from being under the headship of Adam to the headship of Christ?[/b] Answer: By baptism. Death ruled because of Adam's offense. By burying our sin by immersion and coming up with a new life with the resurrection of Jesus Christ we become one with Jesus Christ who is without sin. Question: Is there anything we must do to bring about this change in headship? Answer: Yes. Through faith that Christ Jesus died for our sins. We are now united with Christ through his resurrection. What are the implications of us having died with Christ? Answer: Dying with Christ is dying to sin. By his resurrection I live a new life.

Romans 5:13, 20: The devil was already in the world before man was created. Hence sin was already in the world. There was sin even without law but there was no record of it because there is no basis, which is the law. When the law was established by God, violations was now noted because there is a point of reference.

Adam represents the death of the spirit of humankind. Christ resurrection brings abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness. If Christ is not our representative to God the Father, his death is useless because it was through his death that we were washed away of sins.

Q1. What kinds of circumstances in modern life can you think of where a single person acts for an entire group? Answer: 1) The headship of the Family belongs to the father. His decision influences the family specially when the children are still young. When the father is not a believer of Christ his decisions may be contrary to God's plan. It has tremendous impact on the social and spiritual development of the children. 2) The political leadership. For example the City Mayor. The City Mayor is charge to lead the City to prosperity. He can comply with the bureaucracy of the government but it doesn't mean he lead the city well. 3) The church leadership. The pastor, specially in small churches like ours usually decides some important and urgent issues. His leadership has a big impact on the direction of the church. In what ways are members of the group tied to this person? Answer: The members tied to this person follows unless the order or the mismanagement is very obvious. Most of the time the effect of the leadership (good or bad) is not felt immediately.

Reconciliation means to restore previous peaceful relationship. Reconciliation is necessary because God's wrath will be upon us if we continue to be His enemy. We are saved because we have been declared righteous through the blood of Jesus. We are being saved by Jesus because he is continually interceding for us.

Christ died for the sinners. He came to earth to save the lost. We have to embrace this truth that all of us were sinners in the eyes of God before Jesus Christ shed his blood to wash away our sins. He died on the cross so that we may also die with our sins in Him. While we were still sinners, our best was not good enough in the eyes of God. We were self righteous, full of covetousness and pride. The devil does not want us to leave him. He wants us to remain defeated, helpless and weak. He will see to it that we don't even think of going back to God.

[b] We should rejoice in our sufferings because through it we can share Christ suffering. It also reminds us that we need Christ to strengthen our faith and reliance of his grace during the times of trials. For a man without Christ, suffering is something unthinkable. We do anything not to experience suffering. But when we have Christ in our lives, we consider suffering as a test of faith hence we rejoice. Good or bad, thanks be to God. Perseverance increases faith. It strengthens our reliance on God. A faith to be alive should have experience testing. Without it Faith is anchored on sandy soil. God has tested Abraham before he considered him righteous. Abraham persevered and passed God's tests. Tried Character is a character that has passed satan's lies. It has overcome the world. It is a character of integrity and dignity. Hope gives us the sure assurance that God will fulfill his promises to us if we keep his words. We rejoice our christian walk because of expectation.[/b]

Abraham's Faith is our model. God accounted him righteous because of this. For us, to become righteous as Abraham we have to have the same Faith as his. This kind of faith will justify our access to the grace of God. To be justified is to acquire/avail the same favorable verdict based of the previous decision. God decided that the Faith of Abraham considers him righteous. Our righteousness through the same Faith of Abraham justifies our access to the grace of God. --

A faith that bears fruit is the faith that God wants. The only way to live is to have FAITH in Jesus Christ (John 11:25). The restoration of the damaged relationship we have with the Father is only JUSTIFIED by believing in Christ Jesus. For me Justification is the reason why God the Father will accept us back. It is something which gives us credibility to say to the father " I am your lost sheep. recognize me because your Son know me.