What makes a belief system? That term may sound odd. But they exist in many parts of life. A football coach, for instance, can have a belief system that says running or passing is more important. What are some you can think of for different things?
Life in general has important parts. That’s why the truth of the Bible is vital, and why we must make the Bible our foundation in everything, so we don’t get deceived.
When we stand for truth, there are 5 things any belief system about life has. I’ll share some verses, you can find others and share them as you witness. 1. Deity: The Godhead - One God in three manifestations – God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. (Deut. 6:4, John 10:28-30, Col. 2:9, etc); 2. Human condition: Sin. It means to miss the mark, to be imperfect, to fall short, to rebel on purpose. (Rom. 3:10,23; Is. 64:6,Titus 3:5,etc.); 3. Source of truth: The Bible in both the entire Old and New Testaments, it is above every other writing (2 Pet. 1:19-21,John 17:17, etc.); 4. Way of salvation: We are completely unable to earn salvation. Jesus has done it for us. His perfect life, sacrificial death and resurrection from the dead opened the way into a relationship with a perfect, just & holy God and given us a passport into heaven. Salvation is by grace through putting one’s faith in Jesus, calling on Him to save them from their sin and make them new inside. (Rom. 6:23, 1 Pet. 2:24, Eph. 2:8,9; 2 Cor. 5:21, etc.); 5. Concept of an afterlife: Heaven for those who receive the gift of salvation. Eternal separation from God and all that is good for those who do not take the gift of salvation. (Rev. 20 & 21, Luke 16:19-31, Heb. 9:27, etc.,)
Other important things come from this. By Jesus living a perfect, sinless life, we get His virgin birth; God is His Father so He had no sin nature. (Sin nature passes down from the man.) Son of Man is one of His titles. It doesn’t mean He was just a man like the Old Testament uses it. Jesus is God in flesh. Baseball star Babe Ruth was not a Middle Eastern sultan, he was called Sultan of Swat for his command of long home runs. Son of Man is poetic. It means Jesus is the perfect man, the chosen one. It’s another term for Messiah. (Daniel sees Jesus in a vision and also uses this term for Jesus in Dan. 7:13.)
It’s easy for the devil to twist Scripture like in Matt. 4 & Luke 4 - so you must know it. Jesus used it in the right way (He’s the author) and the devil fled.
See how you can start discussions about each of the 5. It is best to use the 2 diagnostic questions. But, these 5 parts of a belief system – also called a worldview – can give you talking points with someone from a very different background.
When you do, remember you’re not trying to win an argument. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts. Take #1. You can argue logically and cause an agnostic to say, “Okay, sure, there is Intelligent Design to the universe.” But if they don’t believe He died to take the punishment for their sins and rose from the dead and then call on Jesus to save them, it doesn’t matter. You can also turn people off if you argue too much. We must let the Spirit guide us.
The diagnostic questions are still the most helpful tool. Only the Bible promises we can know we’re going to Heaven, just as only Jesus took the punishment for our sin. The leaders of every other world belief system died not knowing for sure if they were “good enough,” because we can’t be. There is also delusion about God choosing who can be saved. But, the Bible says anyone can be saved from their sin by trusting Jesus to save them. 1 John 5:13 and other verses show we can know for sure we have eternal life.
Talk about those 5 parts of a worldview with other believers in Jesus to grow your faith and help you to defend it better.
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