1. Read Genesis 3:1-6 and Romans 5:12. What entered the world through Adam?
2. Read 1 John 3:4. How does the Bible define sin?
3. Read Isaiah 59:2. What does sin do?
4.Read Romans 3:23. Are we all participants in the problem of sin? YES or NO
5. Read Ephesians 2:1 and 1 Timothy 5:6. While we are in sin we are ________________.
Let's examine the promise God made here. After Adam and Eve had sinned by eating the fruit which God had forbidden, God punished them for their sin. However, He made a promise that He would some day undo the terrible effects of sin by sending someone who is here called the "seed" (offspring) of woman. That person, the "seed," would come and bruise Satan on the head, which means he would deal a crushing blow to Satan. However, in the process of dealing this crushing blow to Satan, the "seed" himself would be bruised on the heel, which is a way of indicating a minor injury compared to that which Satan would receive.
7. Read Genesis 12:3 and 22:18.
Here is another promise, made to Abraham. On the two occasions recorded in these passages of Scripture, God promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. Abraham is one of the most significant characters in all the Bible. What stands out about him most was that he was a man of faith. He believed what God told him, he trusted that what God said was true, and he lived his life according to that trust.
God thus promised that He would bless all the families or nations of the earth through this man. Through Abraham God brought the Israelites into existence. From the Israelites (later called the Jews) came Jesus, who makes salvation possible for every person of every nation. It is important to note that in Genesis 22:18 God uses the word "seed," the very word He had used in Genesis 3:15. Through this "seed" who would crush Satan would come the blessing of salvation from the consequences of sin.
What is a key word in these promises? ______________
8. Read Romans 3:20 and Galatians 3:11, 19. What was the purpose of the Law of Moses?
Was the Law of Moses designed to save man? YES or NO
9. Read Galatians 3:10. The Law put man under a _______________.
10. Read Galatians 3:17. Did the giving of the Law nullify God's promise? YES or NO
11. Read Galatians 3:19. How long was the Law to last?
12. Read Galatians 3:16. Who is the fulfillment of God's promise?
13. Read Romans 3:21-26. Let's examine the following terms from this passage and see how they all relate:
Justified -- this word means "forgiven."
Gift and Grace (see also Titus 2:11-12 and Ephesians 2:8-9 in your Bible) -- why have we been forgiven (justified)? Not because we earned it or deserved it, but as a gift from God. God gives us this gift because of His grace. God's grace is His kindness. God gives us the gift of salvation because He is being kind to us.
Redemption (see also 1 Peter 1:17-19 in your Bible) -- redemption is when someone has lost something and he pays to get it back. This is figurative language when it is used of God, but it makes an important point. God had lost us, as it were, because of our sin. Our sin had separated us from God (remember Isaiah 59:2 above?), but God was not content to leave things that way. So God executed a costly plan to restore our relationship with Him. It was costly in that it cost the life of His Son, Jesus. Since Jesus died for our sins, we can be forgiven of our sins and have fellowship (relationship) with God again.
Propitiation (see also 1 John 2:2 in your Bible) -- this word is unfamiliar to us in modern times, but in ancient times it denoted a sacrifice that was offered to appease the wrath of God. You see, when we sinned we cut ourselves off from God and had nothing but His wrath (as punishment for our sin) to face. The death of Jesus was a sacrifice that abates the wrath of God against us. How? Because Jesus died for our sins, making forgiveness possible. Once we have been forgiven of our sins, God is no longer angry at us.
Blood (see also Matthew 26:28 and Romans 5:9 in your Bible) -- the word "blood" in the Bible is often synonymous with "life." Jesus gave His life on the cross. He died there not because He deserved it, but because He was taking the punishment we deserved. He died for us, He died instead of us. This is the wonderful news of the gospel. We were guilty of sin and were under the sentence of death as a consequence, but Jesus stepped in and died for us. Thus the law of God that demanded death for sin was satisfied, but the good news is that we did not have to die because Jesus died for us.
14. Read Romans 5:8. Why did God send Christ to die for our sins?
15. Read Romans 1:16-17. What is God's power unto salvation?
Thought Question: If the gospel is God's power unto salvation, can a person become a
Christian and be saved apart from the gospel? YES or NO
16. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. Does the gospel save us? YES or NO
17. Read 2 Thessalonians 1:8. What will happen to those who do not obey the gospel?
Genesis 3:1-6 -- Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die."' The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
Romans 5:12 -- 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
1 John 3:4 -- Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
Isaiah 59:2 -- "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear."
Romans 3:23 -- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Ephesians 2:1 -- And you were dead in your trespasses and sins
1 Timothy 5:6 -- But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.
Genesis 3:15 -- "And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."
Genesis 12:3 -- "And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
Genesis 22:18 -- "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
Romans 3:20 -- because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Galatians 3:11, 19 -- because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. . . . Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
Galatians 3:10 -- For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them."
Galatians 3:17 -- What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
Galatians 3:19 -- Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.
Galatians 3:16 -- Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.
Romans 3:21-26 -- But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 5:8 -- But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 1:16-17 -- For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "but the righteous man shall live by faith."
1 Corinthians 15:1-5 -- Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
2 Thessalonians 1:8 -- dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.