CC203/503/703 – Living the Faith
Lesson Exposition Assignment Questions
Unit 1 – Lessons 1 through 14
Lesson 1 – Doctrine
1. What is meant by “doctrine in context?”
2. How does the Church of God qualify as a Pentecostal movement in doctrine?
3. Identify the four emphases in Wesleyan Holiness and Holiness Pentecostalism.
4. Describe the Word of God as living Word. How is it still living today?
5. Explain the statement “Doctrine is meant to be experienced.”
6. Why was the 20th-Century Pentecostal Charismatic Movement considered to be the most significant since the Reformation?
7. How does knowing God affect one’s interpretation of doctrine?
8. How is God personal? Give examples.
9. How does knowing God personally affect preaching?
10. It has been said that worship is “not a means to an end, but an end in itself.” Explain.
11. According to Dr. Gause, the following statement is one of the foundational points of early Pentecostal preaching and of current Pentecostal theology: “God as Father has sent His Son and witnessed to His Son by His Holy Spirit.” Explain how this statement is foundational to Pentecostal preaching.
12. Identify and discuss the three characteristics of divine worship.
Lesson 2 – Doctrine of Divine Revelation, Part 1
1. Explain how God reveals Himself to us. Give examples.
2. What kind of covenant did God enter into with all creatures? Explain the covenant.
3. Who and/or what are the agents of Biblical revelation?
4. How do God’s actions explain His words? Explain and give examples.
5. Explain the following statement: “We do not really know who we are until we know who God is.”
6. Explain and support with examples the following statement: “A fundamental quality of personhood is the act of self-disclosure.”
7. List at least four names of God and discuss how they reveal God’s person.
8. Why are God’s names fundamental to our understanding of God? Explain.
9. How do some people profane God’s name?
10. How has God revealed Himself to you?
Lesson 3 – Doctrine of Divine Revelation, Part 2
1. Define Jehovah.
2. How does God’s name represent His person, presence, and power? Explain.
3. Discuss the “I Am-ness” of God. Give examples.
4. Identify and discuss the extensions by which the I Am may be applied.
5. How is the name Jehovah applied to us? Explain
6. Explain the following statement: “There is an equivalency between the meaning of love and the being of God.”
7. Explain how the character of God’s existence is in holiness. Give examples.
8. Define and discuss the word glory as it pertains to God.
9. Describe how our worship should be transformed by God and His glory. Give examples.
10. How have you personally been transformed by God’s glory?
Lesson 4 – Doctrine of Divine Revelation, Part 3
1. Identify and discuss the two presuppositions of theological study.
2. Identify and discuss the agents of divine revelation.
3. Describe the character of the divine Word.
4. Who were the agents of the speech of God?
5. Explain how God speaks today.
6. Name the speech gifts of the Holy Spirit. Are they still operable? Explain.
7. Identify and explain the first article in the Church of God Declaration of Faith.
8. Explain the following statement: “The Word of God has its own ability to demonstrate its own integrity. It is self-affirming in character and quality.”
9. How would you explain to a nonbeliever that God exists?
10. Explain a time when God personally revealed something to you.
Lesson 5 – Doctrine of the Trinity, Part 1
1. Discuss the Trinity as a way in which God has revealed Himself.
2. Discuss examples from the Scripture which illustrate the Trinity.
3. What are the differences in Monotheism, Polytheism, Dualism, Unitarianism, and Pantheism?
4. Explain how the doctrine of Trinity is a process of divine worship.
5. Discuss first, second, and third persons as they relate to the Trinity.
6. List some observations of the Trinity.
7. How would you explain the Trinity to someone who does not understand?
Lesson 6 – Doctrine of the Trinity, Part 2
1. Discuss how the doctrine of the Trinity is fundamental to the doctrine of redemption.
2. Describe how the following scenes from the life of Christ reflect the doctrine of the Trinity.
a. Baptismal scene
b. His proclamation of anointing (Luke 4:18)
c. Meeting with the disciples after His resurrection (John 20)
d. Christ’s prayer life (various examples)
e. Crucifixion scene
3. Explain the continuity from Creation to Redemption as divine action of the Trinity.
4. Discuss how the doctrine of adoption is also an illustration of the Triune relationship.
5. Explain how all our worship assumes divine Trinity.
Lesson 7 – Doctrine of Divine Decrees
1. What is the singular decree of God?
2. Explain the plural decrees by which God fulfills His one ultimate decree.
3. Discuss how the decree of God reflects His personal nature.
4. Explain how the decree of God reflects the moral perfections of God.
5. Discuss the doctrine of divine providence in the following aspects:
a. General Providence
b. Special Providence
c. Ordinary Providence
d. Extraordinary Providence
6. Explain how the life of Christ is a microcosm of the character of divine providence.
Lesson 8 – Doctrine of Creation, Part 1
1. What is the purpose of Creation? Explain.
2. Explain how the doctrine of Creation rejects the following philosophies:
a. Pantheism
b. Dualism
c. Polytheism
3. Identify and describe the five results produced by the order of Creation.
4. Give a brief summation of the order of Creation and show how each step represents a purposefulness of God.
5. What is the purpose of the Sabbath? Explain.
6. Explain how redemption is modeled after the Creation.
7. What are the different kinds of angels? Explain the purpose of each.
Lesson 9 – Doctrine of Creation, Part 2
1. Who or what is considered the climax of the order of Creation? Why?
2. Discuss the meaning of the following statement: “Man was created in the image of God.”
a. Was this image lost in the Fall?
b. Is the image simply a quality like reason?
3. What is the Covenant of Life? Explain.
4. Explain the significance of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
5. What does it mean in terms of redemption to say that we are restored?
Lesson 10 – The Fall of Humanity
1. What caused the Fall of man? Explain.
2. What are the consequences of sin?
3. Describe the character of sin.
4. Discuss the nature of sin.
5. Identify several specific points of sinful violation.
Lesson 11 – Divine Providence
1. What are some of the great evils of the 20th & 21st centuries?
2. What is the problem of God’s providence?
3. Where do we find the answer, and what are the two bases for this answer?
4. Explain how Christ’s life is a microcosm of the ways of God’s providence in the world.
5. How did Mary suffer?
6. How did God suffer?
7. How did Christ suffer?
8. How have Christ’s sufferings become a paradigm of our sufferings?
9. Do any good things come from our sufferings? Explain.
10. How would you answer the following question: Why do bad things happen to good people?
Lesson 12 – The Doctrine of Jesus Christ, Part 1
1. How is Jesus Christ revealed as the eternal Word of God? Explain.
2. How is Christ shown as the Son of God in the Incarnation? Explain.
3. Discuss the person and work of Jesus Christ in the following aspects:
a. His virgin birth
b. His humanity
c. His crucifixion
4. How does Christ fulfill the role of the Kinsman-Redeemer? Explain.
5. How does the name Immanuel reveal Christ as “God with us”? Explain.
Lesson 13 – The Doctrine of Jesus Christ, Part 2
1. Explain how Christ’s life was a display of the character of God.
2. Explain how Christ’s life fulfilled the law of God.
3. Explain how Christ fulfilled the following roles:
a. High Priest
b. Prophet
c. King
4. How did Christ bring about Atonement? Explain.
5. What makes the doctrine of Jesus Christ unique when compared to other religions?
Lesson 14 – The Doctrine of The Holy Spirit, Part 1
1. Identify Old Testament and New Testament references to the Holy Spirit.
2. Explain how the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament. Give examples.
3. Explain how the Holy Spirit was at work in the New Testament. Give examples.
4. Describe how the work of John the Baptist and the work of the Messiah compare.
5. How would you explain the work of the Holy Spirit to someone who is unfamiliar with this doctrine?
Unit 2 – Lessons 15 through 28
Lesson 15 – The Doctrine of The Holy Spirit, Part 2
1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
2. Describe His relationship to the Father and the Son within the holy Trinity.
3. Discuss the divine nature of the Holy Spirit.
4. Identify reasons for using the term Spirit when referring to the Holy Spirit.
5. What is the consequence of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Why? How would you define blasphemy against the Holy Spirit?
6. Do we need the Holy Spirit in our lives? Why?
Lesson 16 – The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 1
1. Discuss salvation by grace.
2. How is the grace of God linked with the love of God? Explain.
3. How does one generate the love of God in others?
4. Explain prevenient grace.
5. Discuss salvation by faith.
6. Explain the following statement: “Faith is never alone.”
Lesson 17 – The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 2
1. Identify terminology associated with the doctrine of salvation.
2. How is the Exodus from Egypt a paradigm of salvation? Explain.
3. How is Jesus’ calling of His disciples to follow Him a paradigm of the journey of salvation? Explain.
4. Discuss the character of confession.
5. Relate the analogy of one’s relationship to God being like one’s relationship to his family.
6. Describe the transformation of the heart which occurs when one experiences salvation.
Lesson 18 – The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 3
1. What is meant by “perfection of the heart”?
2. Discuss the following aspects of the Christian’s journey:
a. What gives us direction?
b. What gives us motive?
c. What gives us power?
3. Define sanctification.
4. Discuss sanctification from the following aspects:
a. Separation
b. Cleansing
c. Filling out our lives with the graces that identify Jesus Christ
5. What scriptures would you use in an explanation of sanctification to someone who is trying to learn about this doctrine? Why?
Lesson 19 – The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 4 (Santification)
1. Discuss various theories of sanctification. Do you personally agree with any of these? Which one? Why?
2. Discuss Christ’s high priestly prayer in John 17 in the following aspects:
a. Oneness with Christ
b. Joy fulfilled
c. Kept from evil
d. Our sanctification
e. Christ’s sanctification
f. Preparation for the infilling with the Holy Spirit
3. How does the doctrine of holiness become the heart of evangelism? Explain.
4. What is the distinction between sanctification and being filled with the Spirit?
5. Considering Jesus’ prayer in this chapter, how are your prayers for others like and unlike Jesus’ prayer?
a. Do your prayers reflect the short-term urgent, or the long-term important needs people have? Why?
b. If Jesus had prayed only for the urgent needs of his disciples, how would this prayer be different?
Lesson 20 – The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 5 (Baptism in the Holy Spirit)
1. Explain the difference between baptism into the body of Christ and baptism with the Holy Spirit.
2. Explain the parallel between the experience of believers and the experience of Israel as they were called out of Egypt.
3. Identify and discuss the various speech gifts of the Spirit.
4. Why are believers ordered to be witnesses?
5. Using scriptures for justification, explain speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
6. How does the infilling with the Holy Spirit cause a change of lifestyle for the believer?
7. Why is speaking in tongues considered praise to God? Explain.
8. When was the last time you seized an opportunity to witness for Christ? What happened? Was this incident any different from your witnessing a year ago? How?
Lesson 21 – The Doctrine of the Church
1. Discuss the church on the following three bases:
a. The church exists in response to divine revelation.
b. God entered into covenant with those who would form His church.
c. God provides redemptive experience.
2. How does the Old Testament church in the wilderness compare to the New Testament church? Explain.
3. Explain how the church is the instrument God is using to testify to Israel that Christ is their Messiah.
4. Discuss the church in terms of the following metaphors: (Find scriptures to justify your explanations.)
a. The body of Christ
b. The bride of Christ
c. The temple of God
5. What is a believer doing to himself when he separates from other believers and no longer attends church?
Lesson 22 – The Doctrine of the Church: Signs of a Healthy Church
1. What are the five vital signs of the church’s health? Name and discuss each one.
2. How does the New Testament church compare to the Old Testament church in the wilderness in the way of worship? Explain.
3. Discuss the church’s life in the following two aspects:
a. The church is the home of the believers-both weak and strong.
b. The place of the church within the world.
4. Dr. Land concludes this lesson by making the following statement: “Believers should be prepared to be the persecuted community; that community that loves until it hurts.” Does this statement describe your church? Explain.
Lesson 23 – Ordinances of the Church
1. How can the ordinances of the church be seen as a part of the continuing metaphor of the Christian’s journey? Explain.
2. List three functions of the ordinances.
3. Describe how the Church of God is committed to a pattern of worship in the following three ordinances:
a. Baptism
b. Communion
c. Foot washing
4. Discuss thoroughly the following ordinances:
a. Baptism
b. Communion
c. Foot washing
5. How does God bless us through these sacraments? Explain.
6. Does your church participate in all three of these ordinances? To what extent? Would you advocate changing the way your church administers these ordinances? Why?
Lesson 24 – Polity and Discipline of the Church
1. How does the Kingdom manifest a rulership model more exact than the church? Explain.
2. How does the Kingdom manifest an ownership model?
3. Explain how the church is represented as an organic metaphor.
4. How do church and Kingdom contrast in their completions?
5. How do church and Kingdom compare?
6. What two marks of the church did Augustine establish? What mark did Calvin add?
7. Explain the following statement: “The church is formed out of suffering.” How does this apply to us?
8. Is the church perfect? Explain.
9. Define and explain church polity.
10.When is church discipline necessary and how should it be carried out?
Lesson 25 – Doctrine of Eschatology, Part 1
1. Give a brief definition of the term eschatology.
2. Describe how the name Jehovah reveals some fundamental aspects of the doctrine of eschatology.
3. How is the word end used to mean “fulfillment,” especially when referring to end times?
4. Identify and discuss the Church of God’s basic chronology of the end times.
5. Discuss the Kingdom as it is referred to in the Lord’s Prayer.
6. How will God bring about the events that will close this world order? Explain.
Lesson 26 – Doctrine of Eschatology, Part 2
1. Define the term rapture and give its origin.
2. What is the Church of God’s view of the chronology of the Rapture? Explain.
3. What does it mean, practically, to be ready for Christ’s return if we do not know when He will come? Explain.
4. Describe the events which have become the paradigm by which we are to interpret the nature of the Tribulation.
5. Read Luke 21:36. How well does your everyday life reflect this verse?
6. What is the purpose of the Tribulation? Explain.
7. If you were leaving instructions for your family that you feel is not ready for the Rapture, what would you include?
Lesson 27 – Doctrine of Eschatology, Part 3
1. Define the word millennium and give its origin.
2. What is the fundamental basis and purpose of the doctrine of millennium?
3. Discuss the following three views of millennial theology:
a. Post-millennial
b. Amillennial
c. Pre-millennial
4. Describe the advantages of the pre-millennial view.
5. Discuss the millennial reign of Christ as prophesied by the Old Testament prophets and as described in the New Testament.
6. Pretend to be a “man-on-the-street” reporter. Describe the society of the millennial reign of Christ in modern terminology.
7. Discuss the theology of the two resurrections.
8. Compare the believer’s death to Christ’s death.
9. Which motivates you more and why?
a. The longing to be with Christ
b. The fear of the Judgment
Lesson 28 – Doctrines of Heaven and Hell
1. What is the Church of God’s view of eternal punishment and judgment?
2. Describe the nature of hell.
3. Describe the Great White Throne Judgment.
4. What is heaven like? Use scripture references in your description.
5. If you had to convince an unbeliever that heaven and hell are realities, what would be your argument?
