God Stuff

God Stuff

By Bill GiovannettiSociety & CultureReligion & SpiritualityChristianityPhilosophy
Download on the App Store

God Stuff episodes

  • Know What You Believe - 12 - Heaven and Hell (065)

    What We Believe About Heaven and Hell

    Know What You Believe —12 — Heaven and Hell

    Today’s podcast episode is the completion of the series “Know What You Believe”, and here we talk about heaven and hell.At some point in our lives, I’m pretty sure we’ve come to ask ourselves what happens when Earth and history is complete? Is there life after death? Or do we go back to nothingness — oblivion?

    This is one of the hot topics that seems to come up all the time, hence the need to clarify according to what is really said in the Bible. What does the Bible tell us about heaven and hell? Why does it matter?

    Find out about it’s truth in this episode. Enjoy!

    We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.

    “No one who is ever in hell will be able to say to God, you put me here. And no one who is in heaven will ever be able to say, I put myself here.” - John Hannah

    Episode Highlights:

    1. Introduction [0:00]
    2. The end is nothing but a new beginning [2:46]
    3. What is hell and why is there hell? [4:11]
    4. Do people get a second chance after they die? [6:21]
    5. What is Heaven? [8:13]
    6. What does heaven offer you? [8:17]
    7. Mansion Over the Hilltop by Ira Stanphill [11:20]

      8. Biblical References:

      ● Isaiah 65:17

      ● 2 Peter 3:13

      ● Revelations 21:1

      ● Matthew 25:46

      ● Matthew 23:33

      ● Hebrews 9:27

      ● Matthew 8:12

      ● Revelations 21:4

      About Our Host:

      Dr. Bill Giovannetti is the Senior Pastor of Pathway Church in Redding, California and the founder of Veritas School of Biblical Ministry, offering online theological training for everyday Christians. Bill has always had a passion to bring the deep things of God’s Word to the everyday people of God.

      Resources:

      ● Free Download: Know What You Believe by Bill Giovannetti https://veritasschool.life/know-what-believe

      ● Veritas School Online Theological School https://www.veritasschool.life/

      Connect with Bill Giovannetti:

      ● Visit the website https://www.veritasschool.life/

      Thanks for tuning in! Please don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!

      15 min
    8. Know What You Believe – 11 – The Second Coming (#064)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial1 return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.
      Jesus promised his followers “I will come again” (John 14:3). When he ascended to heaven, two angels said, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). 
      Jesus is coming again. 
      We still await the fulfillment of that promise. 
      The Second Coming of Christ gives shape and definition to all of world history. 
      We can think of Christ’s return as a series of related events. Each event fulfills numerous prophecies of Scripture. Each event fulfills the long-developing purposes of God, and finalizes all the wonderful promises of God. 
      Like many important doctrines, reasonable, Bible-believing Christians disagree on certain details. While all believe that Jesus will come again, not all agree on the sequence or timing of end-time events.
      The reason for these disagreements can be found in the nature of biblical prophecy. Much of end-times prophecy overflows with imagery and metaphor. For example: 
      Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. (Revelation 4:2-5)
      Old Testament prophecies can be equally loaded with imagery:
      The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time. (Daniel 7:24, 25)
      I am by no means suggesting that these texts are impossible to correctly interpret. I am suggesting that they are tougher than most, and that reasonable, faithful Bible scholars can disagree, even after they have done the hard work of biblical interpretation.
      As long as we agree that Jesus is coming again, we might not agree on the details, and we might not agree on the exact sequence. But we can still love each other. We can still work together on the all-important mission of helping people find and follow God. 
      Here are some of the main events related to the second coming of Christ. As we go through them, we will mention where Christians might have differing interpretations.
      The Rapture
      There is a lot of discussion around the Rapture. There is significant debate on whether or not there even is a Rapture. 
      The Rapture is the event in which Jesus Christ returns, not to earth, but to the sky, to gather up believers from the earth, and to escort them back to heaven. 
      For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in...
      47 min
    9. Know What You Believe – 10 – Angels & Demons (#063)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that God created an innumerable company of sinless, spiritual beings, known as angels; that one, “Lucifer, son of the morning”—the highest in rank—sinned through pride, thereby becoming Satan; that a great company of the angels followed him in his moral fall, some of whom became demons and are active as his agents and associates in the prosecution of his unholy purposes, while others who fell are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” ~Dallas Theological Seminary
      There is more to this world than we can see with our eyes, view through telescopes, or explain through science and math.
      We are living in a profoundly spiritual universe—something most of the world takes for granted, but the Western world has often forgotten.
      It is as if a veil separates the material realm we can access through our five senses from a spiritual realm we can only discover through Scripture. Unless God reveals these things to us, we have no way of knowing about them.
      While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)
      The spiritual realm is alive with realities to stagger the imagination. God and the devil, angels and demons, heaven and hell, truth and deception—these things are as real as the ground on which we walk.
      There is a great deal of superstition around the spiritual realm. Folklore, visions, prophetic utterances, seers, and seances must never be used to learn about this realm. These sources are deceptive. They create confusion and fear. God’s Word is all we need, and God’s Word is all we should seek.
      The spiritual realm is greater than the material realm. The eternal truths of heaven undergird everything in our temporal experience. It is God who makes all things real. From God’s nature and character flow the laws that govern everything in space and time—everything science, philosophy, and math might ever discover comes from him.
      And [Jesus Christ] is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
      One of the more startling revelations of Scripture is the existence of angels and demons. These are powerful spiritual beings, possessing intelligence and will.
      God’s Word tells us the struggles of our everyday lives involves them.
      Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12)
      The principalities and powers refer to fallen spiritual beings. Let’s think through who these beings are and how this matters for our lives today.
      Angels
      God created angels. As we learned in Knowing God (Grace Pathway 3.1), God is omnipotent—infinite in power. Neither angels, nor demons, nor the devil are omnipotent. Their power doesn’t come close to God’s. Nor are they omniscient like He is.
      Angels are spiritual beings, meaning they do not occupy bodies made of matter, like ours. Because they are spiritual, they are normally invisible to us. However, the Bible records many times when they appeared to people in visible, and sometimes human, form.2
      Though they are not omnipotent, they are still very powerful. Peter says “they are greater in power and might” than humans (2 Peter 2...
      37 min
    10. Know What You Believe – 9 – Sanctification (#062)
      Veritas Online Seminary
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that God’s justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.
      The Grace Pathway is God’s plan to lead you through all the stages of spiritual growth. The end result is that the incredible life of Christ would be reflected through you. 
      To achieve that end result, God brings you through a process called sanctification. 
      What is sanctification?
      Sanctification is the grace-filled work of God in unburying you from the avalanche of sin, and enabling you to live every day with the holiness, joy, and love of Christ flowing through you. 
      Sanctification is the grace-filled work of God in unburying you from the avalanche of sin, and enabling you to live every day with the holiness, joy, and love of Christ flowing through you.
      Sanctification is God, rewiring the circuits of your mind, instincts, and emotions so they align with his reality and truth. 
      Sanctification is God strengthening you to be like Christ. 
      Sanctification is God setting you free from addiction, dysfunction, self-absorption, and every form of bondage. 
      Sanctification is God lifting you to new levels of holiness in your words, thoughts, and actions. 
      You could say that to sanctify is to “saint-i-fy.” The words sanctify, saint, and holy are different forms of the same word in the biblical languages. 
      On the day you were saved, God named you a Saint. Saint means holy one. This is your true identity in Christ, no matter how you behave. From the moment of salvation onward, you are a holy one forever. 
      Hello, Saint ____ [insert your name here].
      But, if a friend followed you around for a week, would they actually describe you as a holy one? Would they say you were pure and good in all your words, thoughts, and deeds? 
      Odds are low. 
      It is super important to understand that no matter how you behave, you are already a saint in God’s eyes.1 He sees the deepest truth about you, and the deepest truth is that there is no flaw in the truest, deepest you. 
      Just like salvation, there is a past tense, once for all, finality to your position of holiness before God. 
      However, your everyday practice might not reflect that reality. 
      This is where sanctification comes in. 
      In salvation, God calls you a saint—this is a fact about your life in Christ. 
      In sanctification, God begins to make you saintly—this is to become the fact of your lifestyle of Christ-in-you (Galatians 2:20). 
      In salvation, you believe Jesus as Savior. 
      In sanctification, you increasingly respond to Jesus as Lord. 
      Justification is instantaneous—it happened the nano-second you first believed in Jesus. Sanctification is a process—it happens over time as you grow along the Grace Pathway. 
      Justification is perfect—you can’t be more justified than you already are in Christ. Sanctification is imperfect—there is always more spiritual maturity for us to experience. 
      Justification is a birth. Sanctification is a lifetime of growth in grace (2 Peter 2:18,19).
      34 min
    11. Know What You Believe – 7 – Salvation (#060)
      Veritas Online Seminary
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.
      Jesus came to save. That was his main thing. Nobody understands Christianity without not only understanding salvation, but receiving it too. 
      Any group or denomination or church or preacher that does not communicate and prioritize salvation is missing the main reason Jesus came. 
      “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
      Salvation is non-negotiable. It is definitional of being a Christian. There is no such thing as a Christian who has not yet been saved! Salvation is a clear dividing line. 
      It is not optional. 
      Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). 
      Peter said, “We must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 
      Paul said, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9).
      Christianity is not like a coat you pull on top of your clothes. It is a radical transformation of your status and being. You literally become “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In your relationship with God, there is nothing more important than salvation (Galatians 6:15). 
      Of all the big deals in your life, salvation is by far the biggest deal of all. 
      What Is Salvation?
      Salvation is the free gift of God, based on the sacrifice of Christ, by which God welcomes an undeserving  sinner, now called a saint, into his family forever through faith alone in Christ alone. 
      Salvation is the free gift of God, based on the sacrifice of Christ, by which God welcomes an undeserving  sinner, now called a saint, into his family forever through faith alone in Christ alone.
      1. Salvation is Step One. 
      The Grace Pathway begins with “God Saves You.” That’s the first step. God cannot bless you, grow you, or use you until you are saved. 
      If life with God is a palace, then salvation is the threshold. It is an absolute dividing line. You have either stepped across the threshold or not. In or out. 
      Every person is either saved or not saved. There are no gray areas here. 
      This is not a matter of getting involved in a church or being a good person. It is completely about what you have done with Jesus Christ. 
      Who is Jesus to you? 
      Where is your hope for eternity? 
      Is Jesus part of your trust or is he all? 
      Are you saved? 
      2. Salvation is pure grace. 
      There is no part of salvation that we earn. No part that we deserve. No part that we merit. No part that we pay for. All the burden rests on God’s shoulders. All the cost is paid by him. Salvation is one hundred percent grace. The biggest mistake anyone can ever make is to add costs, conditions, and fine print to the wonderful gift of salvation. 
      For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8, 9)
      A free gift is a free gift. 
      Our job is to guard the gospel from all sorts of legalistic (duty-based) additions. 
      It is a gigantic mistake to load people with duties and obligations they simply cannot bear. What a tragedy when church people turn the good news of an utterly free gift into the bad news of sweating for a paycheck!
      Jesus is no partial Savior.
      33 min
    12. Know What You Believe – 8 – The Church (#061)
      Veritas Online Seminary
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God’s grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.
      If Jesus is the hope of the world, then the Church is the dispenser of that hope. Since the church is made up of people, however, we dispense that hope imperfectly. 
      Many people criticize the church—in many cases, rightly so.
      But God loves the Church. To God, the church is beautiful, even with her imperfections. She is the Bride of Christ and the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:26,27 and 1 Corinthians 12:27). God is always working on his church that he might work through the church to summon a lost world to himself. 
      Jesus said, 
      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. (Matthew 16:18)
      Peter, whose name means “little rock,” has just confessed that Jesus is the “Messiah, the Son of the Living God” (v. 17). This confession is the rock—the giant boulder—on which Jesus will build his church.
      What Is the Church?
      When we think of the Church, the first thing we have to do is separate the idea of the church from its buildings. The place and buildings do not make up the church.
      The people make up the church. 
      In fact, the New Testament word for church is ecclesia, which gives us words like ecclesiastical, and ecclesiology. Ecclesia means “called out.” Christians are people who have been called out from the world and into the family of God. 
      That is why we think of the church in two main ways: the Universal Church and the local church. 
      The Universal Church
      The Universal Church is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ, past, present, and future, living and dead, wherever they may be in creation. This is sometimes called the Invisible Church or simply the Church. 
      All people who confess Jesus Christ as their Savior are part of this one, holy, universal, and apostolic—meaning resting on the biblical teaching of the early apostles—church. 
      For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
      It’s incredible to think that we are one in spirit with believers on other continents, in other socio-economic groups, who speak other languages, and express their faith within other cultures, than our own. We are even one in spirit with those who have already gone to heaven!
      This is the marvelous diversity of the body of Christ. We are brothers and sisters with believers from every tongue and tribe and nation around the world and across the millennia. 
      The devil is afraid of the Universal Church. He resists it with all his might. 
      The Local Church
      The Local Church is made up of believers in Jesus who gather regularly to worship God, grow in grace, and be equipped to serve him in the world.
      Local churches are the churches that will gather in buildings on street corners and in homes and shops.
      33 min
    13. Know What You Believe – 6 – Human Nature (#059)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.
      The story the Bible tells of humankind rings true to experience. This story is the exact opposite of the story being told by the spirit of the age, by the philosophies of the world, and by the presuppositions of non-objective science. 
      One story says humans are evolving. We are improving physiologically, intellectually. We are even improving morally. The human race is ascending. This is the spirit of evolution. 
      But the Bible’s story smashes that story in the face. Not evolution, but devolution. We are not stepping up. What we are today is a massive step down from what we once were. 
      Which story rings true to experience? Which story better explains the world? Your world? Does history show us being less brutal? 
      No. 
      Technology has improved, but we are the same brutes we’ve been since the Fall revealed in Genesis 3. Thank God for the redeeming grace of the Cross.
      Adam and Eve
      The original parents of our race were created by the hand of God. Adam and Eve were utterly perfect. They possessed the unlimited capacities of a perfect and true human nature. Having been created in God’s image, they were sacred to God in ways unlike any other being. 
      And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
      They were real. They were ideal. 
      As humans, Adam and Eve possessed a body, soul, and spirit. 
      Their bodies were perfect. 
      No pains, no diseases, no process of death was at work in them. Whatever is the ideal age for a human, that’s how old they were. They were healthy, vibrant, and strong. They didn’t need glasses. They didn’t lose any hair. They didn’t need pain-killers. Their bodies were formed by the hand of God with utter and complete perfection. Physically, Adam and Eve could live indefinitely, without ever showing signs of age. 
      Their souls were perfect. 
      Consisting of mind, will, and emotions, their souls possessed astounding capacities. Their minds were completely awake, functional, and of mega-genius I.Q. Their wills were completely and utterly free, with no internal temptation to sin. Their emotions were pure joy and boundless love. No sadness, no depression, no neediness, and no dysfunction marred their inner worlds. 
      Their spirits were perfect. 
      The spirit is the part of a human that interfaces with God. God’s Spirit connects with our human spirit. Every day, Adam and Eve enjoyed the company of God in the Garden of Eden. He walked and talked with them “in the cool of the day” (Genesis 3:8). There was nothing between them and God.
      Perfect in body, soul, and spirit. Dwelling in the perfect environment of the Garden of Eden. This is the profile of Adam and Eve before the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day called the Fall. 
      The Fall
      Everything changed the day Adam and Eve invited sin into the world....
      To continue reading, please...
      Order the book here on Amazon....
      36 min
    14. Know What You Believe – 5 – Creation (#058)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. -The Nicene Creed
      As we study the basics of our faith along the Grace Pathway, it is important to make sure we are on solid footing. There can be no more solid footing than knowing that the universe and everything in it—including our lives—are the creation of God. 
      You can look at society as not only a clash of cultures, but also as clash of stories about who we are. 
      I grew up in two worlds—the world of church, and the world of the Chicago public school system. 
      In the world of church, I learned the story I was created in the image of God. 
      In the world of the public school system, I learned the story that I evolved from lower forms of life. 
      My church taught me I was body, soul, and spirit, with a spark of life lit by the breath of God. The universe was God-centered. It was created by him, and existed for his glory. I had an eternal soul and would live forever, either with or without God. 
      In my church, I learned all creation was infused with the presence of God, and every day of my life was supercharged with transcendent value. 
      My school told me a different story. I was a matter and energy molecular machine plus nothing. The universe was an accident, and had no purpose. I was an accident too, bound by time, and when my chemical machine wore out, I snuffed out like a candle, and that was it. There was nothing after death. 
      In my school, I learned that the space-time continuum was all there is, and every day of life was defined by the survival of the fittest. 
      The world of church lifted the veil of existence and showed me the face of a Creator God upholding and redeeming all things. It taught me a story in which I am the epitome of creation. 
      The world of school showed me a mechanical universe with no soul. I am the product of evolution.1
      The message of creation resounds from Scripture with undeniable power and logic. 
      In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
      The whole creation tells of the majesty of God. It is a testament to his creative power and genius, a monument to his love. Whether the beauty of a flower, or the wonders of a baby’s hand, or the glories a vast cosmos, all-that-is testifies to an Infinite God whose mind imagined and whose hand created all things. 
      While Christians may hold a variety of viewpoints as to the precise dating and methodology by which God created all things and outfitted earth for our habitation, all Bible-believing Christians see the cosmos as sitting in the hand of the God who made it.
      “He’s got the whole wide world in his hands…” 
      The issue is bigger than creation alone. Your view on creation reveals something deeper about you. Will you submit your beliefs and life to the authority of God’s Word or not? Where will you find your truth? 
      If you find your truth in the Bible, you will discover the wonderful blessings of a universe created by God from nothing. 
      There are plenty of excellent apologetics-type books that demonstrate the truthfulness of the Genesis account. This is not a book on apologetics, so I will save some of that discussion for book 4.3 in the Grace Pathway. However,
      32 min
    15. Know What You Believe – 4- The Holy Spirit (#057)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.
      As we have already seen, God is a Trinity. The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit. In some older Bibles, you may sometimes read Holy Ghost, though Spirit is the preferred translation of the underlying Hebrew and Greek words. 
      The Holy Spirit is God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Son. 
      He is not simply an impersonal force. He is not some kind of energy pervading the cosmos. He is not an “it.” Nor is he some kind of junior God. 
      The Holy Spirit is a fully divine person, with all the qualities of divine personhood. 
      • The Holy Spirit possesses the divine mind, able to teach God’s people: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” (John 14:26)
      • The Holy Spirit possesses the divine will, able to give spiritual gifts to God’s people according to his own will: “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11)
      • The Holy Spirit possesses divine emotions, able to be grieved and vexed in a uniquely divine way: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)
      Since the Holy Spirit possesses the divine mind, will, and emotions, he is far more than an impersonal force in the universe. 
      He is fully God. In fact, Scripture calls him the Lord.
      Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
      It is the Spirit of God who inspired the writers of Scripture: 
      For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
      This is one reason why Scripture is called “the sword of the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:17). 
      The Spirit of God brings God’s truth to bear on your life, illuminating the gospel and causing you to be saved in the first place. This is why every inch of your Grace Pathway journey is by grace. Your power is never going to be enough for your salvation or life, so God swoops down with his own power in the person of the Spirit. 
      Here is a quick summary of how God the Holy Spirit works in the life of a believer in Jesus. We’ll break it down into the Spirit’s pre-salvation, at salvation, and post-salvation ministries. 
      To continue reading, please...
      Order the book here on Amazon....
      48 min
    16. Know What You Believe – 3- Jesus Christ (#056)
      Today's podcast continues the series, Know What You Believe... In this series, we're looking at the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. I hope you enjoy. 
      Please share GodStuff, and click "subscribe" so you never miss an episode!
      We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel’s promised Messiah—was conceived through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.
      Everything in your faith rises and falls on Jesus. Who is he? What do you make of him? What do you do with his claims? 
      You probably wouldn’t have made it this far into the Grace Pathway without having believed in him as your Savior. That moment is like stepping through a doorway into a breathtaking palace. Having Jesus as your Savior first makes it possible to begin experiencing Jesus in all his other titles and roles too. 
      When we organize all the wonderful truths the Bible tells us about Jesus, we wind up with two main sub-topics: his Person and his Work. 
      The Person of Christ tells us who he is and what he is like. 
      The Work of Christ tells us what he did for us, focused mainly on his saving work in the Cross and Resurrection. 
      For example, in the doctrinal statement at the beginning of this chapter, there are three sentences. The first two sentences talks about the Person of Christ. The third sentence talks about the Work of Christ. Take a look.
      In a short chapter like this, we can only study a tiny tip of a gigantic iceberg about the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. The Bible affirms the immensity of his Person and Work: 
      And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. (John 21:25)
      But it has never been truer of a person to say that to know him is to love him. The more you learn about Jesus, the stronger your love for him will grow. And the stronger your love for him grows, the more you begin to think, believe, live, and choose a life that honors him. 
      * * *
      The Person of Christ: Fully Human / Fully Divine
      Just as the Trinity puts God in a class by himself, the Person of Christ puts Jesus in a class by himself too.
      Jesus is the only person who pre-existed his own birthday. Long before that first Christmas, long before Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem, and the Virgin gave birth to a child, the Son of God enjoyed the glories of heaven, since the ages of eternity past. 
      The first, most important, non-negotiable truth to understand about Jesus is that he is fully human and fully divine. Jesus is the God-Man in ways utterly unlike any of the hybrids of ancient religion. 
      Jesus is fully God. He is co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is not a junior god, as we’ve already seen. Some verses that affirm the deity of Christ include:
      • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
      • Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” (John 8:58) 
      • Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
      This is not the place to defend doctrine as much as to just lay it out, so I’ll not add the overwhelming Scriptural teaching that Jesus Christ is truly, fully, and eternally God Most High. At the same time…
      Jesus is fully Human. In his human nature, the only difference between Jesus and everybody else is the complete absence of sin from hi...
      28 min

    About God Stuff

    From the publisher's feed

    Practicing your faith isn't always easy these days, and making sense of the Bible can feel like rocket science. Veteran professor, pastor, and author Bill Giovannetti blows the cobwebs off the Bible,…