disciples of jesus christ

www.thebereanapproach.comThe Berean Approach


Understanding Bible Basics

• The Bible is 66 different books• Written by 40 different people• Written over a period of about 2,000 years• Consist of 2 volumes called the Old Testament and

the New Testament• Although spread out in 66 different books, the Bible

is a single message• Written in 3 languages: Hebrew, Aramaic & Greek• You CANNOT truly learn the depths of the Bible

without accepting Jesus Christ and help from the Holy Spirit (John 14:25, 1 Corinthians 2:11-14)


Scripture Lesson• John 8:31-32

• 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”


Scripture Lesson• John 8:31-32• 31 Then Jesus said to those

Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Jesus Christ of Biblical Revelation


Warning from the Holy Spirit• 2 Corinthians 11:4

• For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!


• Galatians 1:6-9

• 6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Warning from the Holy Spirit


The Jesus of Biblical Revelation

• I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).

• He who has seen Me has seen the Father (John 14:9).

• I and My Father are one (John 10:30).

• Most assurely, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58).

• I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death (John 8:51).

God the Father and the Holy Scriptures testify about Jesus


The Jesus of Biblical Revelation• 37 “And the Father Himself, who sent

Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:37-40).


The Jesus of Biblical Revelation

• 37 “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. 39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:37-40).


The Jesus of Biblical Revelation• 15 He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Col. 1:15-18)


Therefore, this is the same Jesus…• 13 who said to Noah….“The end of

all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch” (Genesis 6:13-14).


Therefore, this is the same Jesus…• who said to Abram: 1“Get out of your

country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).


Therefore, this is the same Jesus…• who said to Moses: “I am the

God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Exodus 3:6).

• “I AM WHO I AM. “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:14 compare to John 8:58).


Therefore, this is the same Jesus…• who said to Zechariah “And I will

pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn (Zechariah 12:10).


Therefore, this is the same Jesus…• who said to Malachi, “Behold, I

send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of Hosts (Malachi 3:1).


Scripture Lesson• John 8:31-32

• 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”


Scripture Lesson• John 8:31-32• 31 Then Jesus said to those

Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

• Disciples

• Truth

• Free

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• To remain (or abide) habitually in Jesus’ words

• To hold fast, obey, and practice Jesus’ teachings

• To persevere in obedience to Scripture, in good times, and bad times, when convenient, and when not convenient

Matthew 28:18-20 - 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.


John 5:24 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”

Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.


Matthew 13:23 – “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”


John 3:18 – “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”


John 14:23 – “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.


John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”


John 3:3 - Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

unless one is born again


unless one is born again

born again

A Clear and Present Change in a Person

A new creation now living for Jesus Christ

Old self was crucified with Christ

The Church is a Group of Born Again Believers

born again

born again

born again


18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Greek Reference Number 1577: Ekklesia, a calling out of people who have been set apart for a particular purpose. In Christianity, it means a group of called out people who have been set-apart by God.


The Ekklesia• Metanoeo (met-an-o-eh-o):• To perceive afterwards (or to receive then

have an understanding), followed by a total change in your thinking and behavior

• For example, see Acts 2 (pay attention to the attitude of the people in verse 13 in comparison to verse 37)

• Metanoeo in the Christian Bible means to undergo a total change in attitude, thinking, and behavior that is motivated by total commitment to God– to become someone new – a new creation in Christ Jesus


The EkklesiaMetanoeo Metamorphous



• 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


7 Now therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated? 8 No, you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do these things to your brethren! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.




Our old self: unrighteous, fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, sodomy, thievery, covetous, drunkenness, revilers, extortion – have been crucified with Christ and no longer lives in us!


18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Greek Reference Number 1577: Ekklesia, a calling out of people who have been set apart for a particular purpose. In Christianity, it means a group of called out people who have been set-apart by God.


The Ekklesia• Hagiazo (hag-ee-ad-zo):• to make holy• to make a person or a thing opposite of

common (Greek Reference #2839)• to set apart for God, or be set apart by God• (the same word is used for Hallowed in the

Lord’s Prayer)


• 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).A disciple of Jesus Christ must have the image of Jesus Christ


• 4 A Christian suffers long and is kind; a Christian does not envy; a Christian does not parade himself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek his own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).


• John 14:15-24: 15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

• 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”


• 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

• 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.


• Matthew 5:14-16 - 14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

• 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”


In Closing…

• A word of encouragement from 1 Peter 3:8-12• 8 Finally, all of you be of one mind, having

compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; 9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. 11 Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”


In Closing…

• The final message from Jesus Christ to the church

• to the wounded and to the hurting,• to the persecuted and to the afflicted• to the sick and to the dying• to those who are persevering

through trials and tribulations at home and abroad


• 12 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

• 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

• 16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

• 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come.

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