Lesson 3

Answer each question by looking thoughtfully at the passage indicated. Resist the tendency to answer with an opinion you or someone else may hold. Look at the passage itself. What does it say? Consider carefully.

Read: Isaiah 59:1,2.

According to this passage: Are we told who is responsible for man’s separation from God?

For further study: Ezekiel 18:20; Romans 3:23; 6:23.

2. SALVATION FROM SIN. What provision did God make for man to be saved from sin?

Read: Luke 19:10.

According to this passage: Is there someone who came to seek and to save the lost?

For further study: John 3:16; Romans 1:16.

3. MAN’S NEED FOR THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. For whom was the gospel intended?

Read: Mark 16:15,16.

According to this passage: Was the gospel to be preached to only a certain segment of the human race?

According to this passage: Did Jesus say anything more than belief was going to be required for salvation?

According to this passage: Has God stated the consequences of disbelief?

4. THE PURPOSE OF BAPTISM. What happens when we are baptized in obedience to the gospel of Christ?

Read: Acts 2:36–41.

According to this passage: When Peter’s hearers asked what they must do, had anything happened in their hearts?

According to this passage: When these people asked what to do, were they told what they must do to receive the remission of sins?

According to this passage: Did those who gladly received Peter’s words do anything about it?

5. THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. What would be our condition if we refused to be baptized in obedience to the gospel?

Read: Acts 22:16.

According to this passage: Can we know whether Saul was saved before or after his baptism?

Read: 1 Peter 3:21.

According to this passage: Are we told whether baptism saves us?

For further study: Ephesians 1:3; Galatians 3:27.

6. THE ACT OF BAPTISM. What is the action that takes place when one is baptized?

Read: Acts 8:35–39.

According to this passage: Are we told what prompted the eunuch to ask about being baptized?

According to this passage: Did this man confess anything before being baptized?

According to this passage: Do we learn anything about the action of baptism from Philip and the eunuch both going down into the water?

7. BAPTISM AS A BURIAL WITH CHRIST. How is our baptism like the burial and resurrection of Christ?

Read: Romans 6:3,4.

According to this passage: Does this passage tell us when we are “buried” with Christ and “raised” to walk in newness of life?

According to this passage: Can we learn from this passage whether sprinkling or pouring are acceptable substitutes for baptism?

For further study: Colossians 2:12.

8. ONE BAPTISM, ONE BODY. Might there be more than one valid baptism?

Read: Ephesians 4:4–6.

According to this passage: Are we told how many baptisms there are by which a person may receive the forgiveness of sins?

According to this passage: Are we told how many Lords there are?

According to this passage: Are we told how many bodies the Lord has?

Read: Ephesians 1:22,23.

According to this passage: Are we told whether the Lord’s body is the same as His church?

9. ADDITION TO THE LORD’S CHURCH. When do we actually become members of the Lord’s church?

Read: Acts 2:41,47.

According to this passage: Are we told who adds people to the Lord’s church and when this takes place?

10. UNITY IN THE LORD’S CHURCH. What is the Lord’s will concerning division among those who believe in Him?

Read: John 17:20,21.

According to this passage: Did Jesus pray for anything concerning the unity of His disciples?

11. THE SIN OF SECTARIANISM. What is sectarianism and what is wrong with it?

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:10–13.

According to this passage: Was the Lord pleased with the fact that the Christians in Corinth were (a) speaking different things and (b) calling themselves after other men?

According to this passage: Is Christ pleased with the division of the denominational system today?

For further study: 1 Corinthians 3:4,5; Colossians 1:18.

12. THE WAY INDIVIDUAL DISCIPLES WERE DESIGNATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. What “name” should be worn by those who wish to follow Christ?

Read: Acts 11:26.

According to this passage: Is there a term that described the Lord’s people, beginning at Antioch?

According to this passage: Today, is the Lord pleased when we identify ourselves as certain “kinds” of Christians?

For further study: Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16.

13. THE WAY LOCAL GROUPS OF DISCIPLES WERE DESIGNATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. What “name” should be worn by congregations of Christians?

Read: Matthew 16:18.

According to this passage: Can we know who promised to build the church?

Read: Acts 20:28.

According to this passage: Can we know who purchased the church and what the price was?

For further study: 1 Peter 1:18,19.

Read: Romans 16:16.

According to this passage: Is there a way that local congregations of Christians were designated?

According to this passage: Is there a scriptural designation for a local congregation that Christians should be able to unite on today?

14. THE HISTORY OF DENOMINATIONALISM. How did the present divided state of so-called “Christendom” come about?

Read: 1 Timothy 4:1–3.

According to this passage: In regard to “the faith,” was a prediction made about what some would do?

For further study: Acts 20:28–31; 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4; 2 Timothy 3:1–9; 4:3,4.

15. WHAT THE LORD ADDS PEOPLE TO. What is it that the Lord makes us a part of when we obey the gospel?

Read: Acts 2:36–41,47.

According to this passage: Did the Lord save these believers who repented and were baptized?

According to this passage: Are we told whether they were added to anything?

According to this passage: Were they added to any man-made denomination?

According to this passage: If we today do just what these 3,000 individuals did, will we be just what they were?

16. THE INSUFFICIENCY OF “FAITH ONLY.” Can one become a member of the Lord’s church by just believing in the Lord?

Read: James 2:24.

According to this passage: Does this passage tell us why one who had “faith only” would not be added to the Lord’s church?

For further study: Acts 2:47; 10:34,35.

17. THE INSTITUTION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER. What did Jesus say when He instituted the Lord’s Supper?

Read: Matthew 26:26–29.

According to this passage: Were there two elements the Lord instructed His disciples to partake of?

According to this passage: Did Jesus say what these elements stood for?

According to this passage: Did Jesus say anything about a “kingdom”?

For further study: Matthew 16:18; Mark 9:1; 14:22–25; Luke 22:19,20; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 1:9.

18. OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER BY THE CHURCH. Is it God’s will that we partake of the Lord’s Supper today?

Read: 1 Corinthians 11:23–26.

According to this passage: Concerning the Lord’s death, did Paul say Christians are to do something “till He comes”?

19. THE DAY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER. On what day of the week, and how often, is the Lord’s Supper to be observed?

Read: Acts 20:7.

According to this passage: Was there a particular day the disciples came together to “break bread”?

According to this passage: As Christians, would we please God if we failed to observe the Lord’s Supper on this day or changed it to another day?

For further study: John 4:23,24.

20. THE FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE LORD’S WORK. How is the work of the Lord to be supported financially?

Read: 1 Corinthians 16:1,2.

According to this passage: Was there a particular day Christians were to give of their means to the Lord’s work?

Questions for Review

1. Does sin alienate us from God?
2. Has God provided a way for us to be saved from our sins?
3. When we obey the gospel of Christ, are we baptized for the remission of our sins?
4. Are we baptized into the body of Christ, His church?
5. Can those who obey the gospel have unity based on the authority of Christ’s word?
6. Should those who obey the gospel become members of any sect or denomination?
7. Are Christians to observe the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week?
8. Are Christians to give of their means every first day of the week?