What We Believe As Baptist
Week #6 What We Believe About Man
- Anthropology— is the doctrine of man.
- It is important to realize from the outset that the Bible is Theocentric, not anthropocentric (Isaiah 43:7, 1st Cor. 10:31).
- It’s important for us to realize that the Bible is Theocentric not Anthrocentric… that means that it is God centered not man centered.
Article 3: Man
Man is the special creation of God, made in His own image. He created them male and female as the crowning work of His creation. The gift of gender is thus part of the goodness of God’s creation. In the beginning man was innocent of sin and was endowed by his Creator with freedom of choice. By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God. The sacredness of human personality is evident in that God created man in His own image, and in that Christ died for man; therefore, every person of every race possesses full dignity and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
Genesis 1:26-30; 2:5,7,18-22; 3; 9:6; Psalms 1; 8:3-6; 32:1-5; 51:5; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 17:5; Matthew 16:26; Acts 17:26-31; Romans 1:19-32; 3:10-18,23; 5:6,12,19; 6:6; 7:14-25; 8:14-18,29; 1 Corinthians 1:21-31; 15:19,21-22; Ephesians 2:1-22; Colossians 1:21-22; 3:9-11.
- The Origin of Man
- Where we did not come from.
- The Theory of Evolution.
Romans 1:20
- We are the creation of God.
Genesis 1:27
- We are made in the image of God.
- We are created Male and Female.
- We are created with free will.
- The Nature of Man.
- We are created with personality.
- We have been created with eternality.
- We are created in God’s morality.
- We bear the image of God in that we were created with responsibility.
III. The Fall of Man
Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3, Jeremiah 17:9
- The Response of Man
- Understanding His Purpose
Isaiah 43:7, 1 Corinthians 10:31
- Embrace His Principles
- Advance His Priorities