Introduction: Logic was an important class in college. It
taught me that certain kinds of arguments were fallacies –
defective ways of thinking. Logical fallacies can be
recognized by patterns of arguments. This week we consider
one of the great religious fallacies: that discrimination is
a bad thing. We know this is a fallacy because we
discriminate all the time regarding important and
unimportant things. When you chose your spouse did you
discriminate? How about when you applied for a job? What
about this morning when you decided what to wear? Central to
Bible-based thinking is discrimination and central to the
gospel is that God discriminates when it comes to eternal
life. But does God discriminate to exclude humans from the
opportunity for salvation? How can we be sure? Let’s dive
into our study of the Bible to explore the truth!
I. Only One Path
A. Read 1 John 5:9. What is the most important source
of truth? (The testimony of God. It is “greater”
than the views of humans.)
B. Read 1 John 5:10. Can the testimony of God be
given by humans? (Yes! This is not a God versus
humans issue, this is a “do you believe in God’s
word” issue.)
1. What testimony of God are we talking about
here? (That Jesus is the Son of God.)
C. Read 1 John 5:11-12. What does God say to us about
the Son and eternal life? (That we receive eternal
life in Jesus. If we do not have Jesus, we do not
have eternal life.)
1. Is this a binary matter? That is, do we have
only two choices? (Yes, it is binary. If we
have Jesus we have life, if we do not have
Jesus, we do not have life.)
D. Read 1 John 5:13. How do we receive Jesus? (We
have eternal life by believing “in the name of the
Son of God.”)
E. Read Genesis 3:2-4. How old is the lie that Jesus
is unnecessary to eternal life? (It is the first
deception.)
F. Read John 6:40. If you are someone who thinks
there should be no discrimination, you probably
don’t care whether people discriminate on the
issue of what color shoes they wear. Why? Because
it is unimportant. How important an issue is
eternal life? (Issues do not get any more
important than eternal life.)
1. What does “looks on the Son and believes in
Him” mean? (It means to contemplate Jesus and
decide that He is the God who saves us. This
sounds like a two-step process.)
G. Read James 1:22-24. How does James describe this
two-step process? And is it really two steps?
(Whether you really “looked” and believed is
proven by whether you did anything as a result of
the look. It is not actually two steps. It is an
affirmation of the belief.)
H. Read James 1:25. Do you have a problem with
forgetting? How do we resist it? (We all know that
by developing “muscle memory” (repetition) we can
protect against forgetting. Acting on our belief
shows that we truly believe it.)
I. Read John 14:6. When Thomas wanted to learn the
directions to heaven, how did Jesus answer? (Jesus
is the only way to heaven. He is “the way, the
truth, and the life.”)
J. Read Acts 4:12. What does this text say about the
path to salvation? (There is only one name that
saves us.)
1. What have we learned so far about eternal life
and discrimination? (There is only one path to
eternal life. That path is believing in Jesus.
That is discrimination concerning the most
important issue in life!)
II. Discrimination and Hope
A. Most people think that if you live a reasonably
good life you should go to heaven. Discriminating
against good people is the worst kind of
discrimination! Read John 3:16-18. What is our
default state when it comes to eternal death? (We
were condemned from the very beginning of our
life. When Eve believed Satan’s lie about God and
eternal life, when Adam and Eve rejected God, we
were all condemned to eternal death.)
1. When you read John 3:17-18 can you formulate
an argument that God does not discriminate?
(Yes. We were all uniformly subject to eternal
death. We all have the opportunity to choose
Jesus. Why? Because He came to save and not to
condemn. We all have an equal opportunity to
be saved. We all have hope.)
B. Read Romans 3:20. What does this say about saving
wonderful people who do not accept Jesus? (Keeping
the law of God and being a good person is great!
But, it does not cause you to escape the penalty
of eternal death.)
1. What does the statement that the law teaches
us about sin add to the justice of allowing
good people to die eternally? (The implication
is that if you are really interested in living
a good life, the law will reveal what a bad
person you are and that will propel you on a
journey to seek Jesus.)
2. Let’s explore how this applies to our life as
a Christian. We must discriminate between good
and bad. We should reject the modern theology
of non-discrimination. But, what happens when
a sinner enters the church and sits down among
the rest of us sinners? What should we say
about sin? (We should make clear that we
discriminate against sin. The rules of the
“law” should be clearly stated.)
a. What happens next? (The opportunity to
freely choose Jesus – an opportunity
provided without discrimination – should
also be made clear.)
b. If you mute your voice about sin, what is
the natural result? (It is only through
the knowledge of the law that we realize
our need of Jesus. Failing to clearly
discriminate against sin deprives others
of an essential aid to salvation.)
C. Read John 16:7-10. Details are important. When we
are clear about sin, does that mean we should be
accusing others in the church about their personal
sins?
1. Who is being convicted of sin? (The world.
This does not suggest you should be
confronting fellow members about their sins.)
2. What is the nature of the sin being discussed?
(The world does not believe in Jesus. They do
not believe that He is the Messiah. This is
not about how we act, this is about the most
fundamental question of life – who is Jesus?)
3. What does it mean to be convicted “concerning
righteousness?” Is it our righteousness?
(Notice that verse 10 supplies the context –
Jesus is going to the Father where we will see
Him no longer. Only unrighteous people would
be crucified. Jesus is saying that the Holy
Spirit will vindicate His name and show Jesus
to be the Righteous One.)
4. What “judgment” is referred to here? (Read
John 12:31. Satan was the “ruler” of the world
until Jesus cast him out (judged him) at the
cross.)
5. As you think about these actions of the Holy
Spirit, does this say anything about
discrimination? (Yes. We accept Jesus and we
reject Satan. Jesus won, Satan lost.)
a. If you believe this, does it make a
difference in the way you live?
III. Confirmation of Victory
A. Read John 6:56-57. Is Jesus asking us to be
cannibals? (Read John 6:58. If you look at this
chapter you will find that Jesus just performed a
miracle and fed thousands of people with bread and
fish. Jesus explains the miracle by saying that He
is spiritual bread, He came down from heaven and
He provides to people the bread of eternal life.)
B. Read John 6:60-62. Jesus’ listeners were having
trouble understanding “eating” Jesus as bread.
They were not cannibals! Why does Jesus comment
about seeing Him ascending to heaven? (Jesus is
arguing that His resurrection is the ultimate
proof of what He is saying.)
C. Read John 6:63-65. How is Jesus going to heaven
proof about eating Him? (Jesus explains that He is
speaking of spiritual matters. Jesus is the
Messiah who came, lived, died, and will be
resurrected to make it possible for them to have
eternal life.)
D. Read John 6:66-69. What did Peter believe and what
does that have to do with Jesus being bread?
(Jesus is the key to eternal life. Jesus’
resurrection proves that we can be resurrected.)
E. Friend, will you accept Jesus’ offer of eternal
life? Will you discriminate in favor of Him and
against Satan?
IV. Next week: Contrary Passages?
Copr. 2022, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
