1. Introduction and Ice Breaker exercise.
   1. The Christian student athletes of the University of Maryland Men’s Soccer Team meet each Thursday evening for Christian Bible Study. There are normally eight of them and each session is an hour. This curriculum would be spread over multiple sessions if needed.
   2. Ice Breaker – Separate into three person teams and identify three things they all have in common (Hobbies, Vacation Spots, etc.).
2. Course Outline of Content
   1. Work of Christ (Three Functions)
      • Revealing
      • Ruling
      • Reconciling
        1. Intercession
        2. Atonement
           • Sacrifice
           • Propitiation
           • Substitution
   2. Brief overview of Sin
      • Students provide examples
   3. Soteriology
      • Conversion
      • Regeneration
      • Union with Christ
        1. Characteristics
           • It is Judicial.
           • It is Spiritual.
           • It is Vital.
        2. Implications
           • Christians are Righteous.
           • Christians Live in Christ’s Strength.
           • Christians will Suffer.
           • Prospect of Reigning with Christ.
        3. Justification
        4. Adoption
        5. Sanctification
   4. Gospel
      • God Loves You.
      • Sin Separates You.
      • Jesus Rescues You.
      • Will You Trust Jesus?
   5. Role Playing Exercise
   6. Create Action Plan
   7. Conclusion

1. Content to be Provide to Team
   1. Work of Christ – Jesus is an important part of the Trinity for humanity. He has three important functions for saving humanity from eternal death because of sin. He became incarnate to accomplish this task.^[1] Each of the three functions are equally important and they do have some overlap as they are not completely separate actions. The three important truths are that Jesus reveals God to humanity (Revealing), reconciles God and humanity to one another (Reconciling), and rules and will rule over the whole of the creation, including humanity (Ruling).^[2]
      • Revealing – Christ and many others within the Bible state that He was a prophet. Some of the examples are from the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 13:57, 21:11, 21:46), the Gospel of Luke (Luke 24:19), and the Gospel of John (John 6:14, 7:40, 9:17). Jesus being a prophet was a fulfillment of prophecy as explained by Peter in Acts 3:22 regarding Deuteronomy 18:15 with Mose’s prediction. His revealing work covered a long duration in multiple forms.
        1. Christ’s revealing work began even before his incarnation as the Logos (The Word).^[3] John 1:9 states that Christ is the Light that gives light to everyone coming into the world.
        2. He had revealing work during His prophetic ministry during His stay on earth. Erickson states, “Here two forms of revelation come together. He spoke the divine word of truth. Beyond that, however, he was the truth and he was God, and so what he did was an exhibition, not merely a proclamation, of the truth and reality of God.”^[4]
        3. The third is His revealing ministry through His church. Christ promised to be with them always, even to the end of ages (Matt. 28:20). Jesus sends a helper, the Holy Spirit, in His name, to help teach His followers and bring remembrance of Jesus (John 14:26). A more detailed explanation is found in the Gospel of John (John 16:13-15).
        4. The most complete revelatory work lies in the future at His second coming. Then we will see clearly and directly (1 Cor. 13:12) and as He is (1 John 3:2).
      • Ruling – After reading the Gospels, it is easy to conclude that Jesus is a king, ruler over the entire universe. Other parts of the Bible that reinforce this conclusion or expand on it include Isaiah 9:7, Psalms 45:6-7, and Hebrews 1:8.
      • Reconciling – Christ’s work as a reconciler covers a lot of topics. This will be limited to Christ’s intercessory ministry and atonement as salvation will be in the next section. Christians are reconciled to God as He plays the active role and reconciles Christians to Himself. Supporting Scripture includes Matt. 5:23-24, and Rom. 11:15.
        1. Intercessor – Jesus interceded for His disciples for joy (John 17:13), kept from the devil (John 17:15), those that believe through their word (John 17:20), and that they all be one (John 17:21). Jesus still intercedes today at the right hand of the Father (Rom. 8:33-34). Erickson explains the focus of His intercession, “On the one hand, it is justificatory. Jesus presents his righteousness to the Father for our justification. He also pleads the cause of his righteousness for believers who, while previously justified, continue to sin…Christ beseeches the Father that believers might be sanctified and kept from the power of the evil tempter.”^[5]
        2. Atonement ­­– Christ’s active work of atonement has made salvation possible for mankind.^[6] This is where the doctrines of God, humanity, sin, and the person of Christ come together to outline the human need and the provision that had to be done for that need.^[7] Mankind is unable to satisfy God’s requirements, and something needed to be done on mankind’s behalf to satisfy Him. Erickson explains, “Christ died to satisfy a principle in the very nature of God the Father. Not only was the atonement not primarily directed at humanity, but it also did not involve any sort of payment to Satan.”^[8]
           • Sacrifice – Christ’s sacrifice is unique because He is both the victim and the priest who offers it. What were two parties in the Levitical system are combined in Christ. The mediation Christ began with his death continues today in the form of his priestly intercession for us.^[9] Biblical examples include Hebrews 9:6-15 and 10:5-18.
           • Propitiation – Paul’s writings explain the need for propitiation, appeasing God, along with the Old Testament (Lev. 4:35). Christ’s atoning death is not simply that it covers sin and cleanses from its corruption (expiation), but that the sacrifice also appeases a God who hates sin and is thoroughly opposed to it (propitiation).^[10]
           • Substitution – Christ substituted Himself for Christians. He bore mankind’s sins—they were laid on him or transferred to him. Because he has come to be sin, Christians have ceased to be sin or sinners.^[11] Supporting Scripture includes (Isa. 53:6, 12), (John 1:29), (2 Cor. 5:21), (Gal. 3:13), (Heb. 9:28), and (1 Pet. 2:24)
   2. Sin – A brief overview of sin as this was covered in depth in previous training. Sin is the nonconformity to the divine standard set by God. Sin originates in the person through a voluntary choice in response to temptation.^[12] This is what God judges’ humanity against. Any failure to meet that standard is considered sin.^[13] Humans are responsible for their actions.^[14] (Students provide modern examples of sin.)
   3. Soteriology – This will be an overview on the Doctrine of Salvation as it fits within this scope of training on the message of Christ. Salvation is the application of the work of Christ to the lives of humans which creates a total change in the human that progresses through sanctification toward glorification.^[15] Salvation is needed because of two human problems with sin. Sin created a broken relationship with God and the nature of a person is spoiled because of the deviation from God’s law. Every person has sinned (Rom. 3:23) and the consequence of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). This means that each person must change their status from guilty to not guilty to have a good status with God. Erickson states, “This is a matter of one’s being declared just or righteous in God’s sight, of being viewed as fully meeting the divine requirements.”^[16] Here are some key terms and phrases to assist with understanding and discussion:
      • Conversion is the first step and the personal act of turning from sin in repentance to Christ in faith. These two aspects are inseparable (repentance and faith).
      • Regeneration, or new birth, is the change in the direction of a person’s life from a tendency toward sin to a positive desire to live righteously from an infusion of a positive spiritual energy (Holy Spirit). This is completely God’s doing with no action from the believer.
      • Union with Christ – Christians are united with Christ and is an inclusive term for the whole of salvation and depicts the believer and Christ being “in” one another. Supporting Scripture of believer in Christ includes 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 1:3-4, Eph. 1:6-8, and 1 Cor. 1:4-5. Supporting Scripture of Christ in believer includes Col. 1:27, Gal. 2:20, and John 15:4-5.
        1. Characteristics of the union:
           • It is judicial in nature as God always sees the Christian in union with Christ and measures the two of them together.^[17]
           • It is spiritual where the union is impacted by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13, Rom. 8:9-11) and is a union of spirits where both the person and the Holy Spirit unite without extinguishing each other.
           • It is vital as His life flows into the Christians which renews the person’s inner nature (Rom. 12:2, 2 Cor. 4:16) and provides spiritual strength and fruit (John 15:4).
        2. Implications of the union with Christ include:
           • Christians are accounted as righteous (Rom. 8:1).
           • Christians now live in Christ’s strength (Phil. 4:13, Gal. 2:20, 2 Cor. 12:9).
           • Christians will suffer (John 15:20, Phil. 3:8,10, 1 Pet. 4:13)
           • Christians have the prospect of reigning with Christ (Mark 10:35-39, Luke 22:30, 2 Tim. 2:12).^[18]
      • Justification is fully meeting the divine requirements. A person is justified only by a legal union with Christ and is God’s action pronouncing sinners righteous in His sight.”^[19]
      • Adoption is the transfer from a status of alienation and hostility to one of acceptance and favor.^[20] It is necessary because the remission of guilt is not enough and a certain level of intimacy regarding the relationship with God is needed. Adoption restores favor with God and provides the person with all the benefits provided by Him.
      • Sanctification, making holy, is the maturation process of a person who spiritually matures as a Christian and continues to become more holy. “Holy” in this context is meant by “bearing an actual likeness to God.”^[21]
   4. Gospel – “We will now go through the Gospel from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) training and see how the message of Christ is embedded into the good news Christians are to share with everyone.” This is where all the training assists with knowing the different aspects of the Gospel and helps with answering common questions while delivering the Gospel. The delivery is from the FCA training and found at www.thefour.fca.org.
      • God Loves You (Gen. 1:27, John 3:16). “God made you and loves you! His love is boundless and unconditional. God is real, and He wants you to personally experience His love and discover His purpose of your life through a relationship with Him.”[22]
      • Sin Separates You (Rom. 3:23, Rom. 6:23, Isa. 59:2). “Sin damages your relationships with other people and with God. It keeps us from experiencing the fulfilling life that God intends for us. The result: you are eternally separated from God and the life He planned for you.”[23]
      • Jesus Rescues You (1 Pet. 3:18, 1 Cor. 15:3-8, Rom. 5:8). “Jesus died, but He rose to life again. Jesus offers you peace with God and a personal relationship with Him. Through faith in Jesus, you can experience God’s love daily, discover your purpose and have eternal life after death.”[24]
      • Will You Trust Jesus (Rom. 10:9-10, John 1:12, Rev. 3:20, Eph. 2:8-9)? “You can place your trust in Jesus by faith through prayer. Prayer is talking with God. God knows your heart and is not concerned with your words as much as He is with the attitude of your heart.”[25]
   5. Role Playing Exercise
      • Students break up into groups of three. One person gives the Gospel, one person receives the Gospel with a question about one of the areas discussed in the training, and one person observes to give feedback afterwards. Repeat two more times taking turns on roles. Example questions include:
        1. Why is Jesus the only one that can save me?
        2. Why did Jesus do this?
        3. I am a good person, is that not enough?
   6. Create Action Plan
      • Each student commits to sharing the gospel with a friend over the course of the next month. This person should be close to the student but far from God. They should pray before sharing the Gospel and then again afterwards in private.
   7. Conclusion
      • Students come back together and share one take away that they learned.
      • Closing prayer that asks for each student to trust God completely to assist with delivering the gospel to others.

Bibliography

Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “The Four.” Last accessed April 13, 2024. https://thefour.fca.org/#home.

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^[1] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 696.

^[2] Ibid., 697.

^[3] Ibid., 699.

^[4] Erickson, Christian Theology, 699–700.

^[5] Erickson, Christian Theology, 703.

^[6] Ibid., 714.

^[7] Ibid., 714–715.

^[8] Ibid., 727.

^[9] Ibid., 741.

^[10] Erickson, Christian Theology, 741.

^[11] Ibid., 742.

^[12] Ibid., 840.

^[13] Ibid., 515.

^[14] Ibid.

^[15] Erickson, Christian Theology, 825.

^[16] Ibid., 840.

^[17] Erickson, Christian Theology, 881.

^[18] Ibid., 883.

^[19] Ibid.

^[20] Ibid., 891.

^[21] Erickson, Christian Theology, 897.

[22] “The Four,” Fellowship of Christian Athletes, April 13, 2024, https://thefour.fca.org/#home.

[23] Ibid.

[24] “The Four.”

[25] Ibid.