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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

What makes Florida Bible College Unique?

Why the Clarity of the Gospel was and still is “The Uniqueness of Florida Bible College”

Many thousands of people pass through the doors of various colleges and universities that are virtually the same. However, FBC was not the same as any other Bible college; it was unique.
•    Our clarity of the gospel is unique. We really believed that when God’s word says “Not of works” it meant not of works before salvation or after salvation.
•    Our consistent presentation of the gospel is unique.We were taught to present it at every occasion.
•    Our defense of the gospel is unique. We exposed every terminology or person that erred from the truth of the gospel. Phil. 1:7
•    Our method of presenting the gospel is unique. The wallet illustration was taught to every student. It was the seven steps and in order. (shown below)
•    Our unity that is determined by our fellowship in the gospel is unique. We discerned all schools, preachers, evangelists, and churches by their position on the truth of the gospel. (Phil 1:5)
•    Our gospel is the gospel. It was not the work of any man or school, but by the Word of God itself. We were right and we knew it. Our confidence produced boldness to share with everyone.
o    One way is unique        (John 14:6)
o    One name is unique        (Acts 4:6)
o    Grace is unique (no religion can match it)
o    Faith alone is unique
o    Eternal security is unique (We really believed that salvation was free and you could not lose it. No amount of good works gave us assurance and no amount of bad works caused us to doubt. We were not ashamed of the gospel and that made us unique.
o    We knew that we could trust Christ as our Savior and live anyway we pleased.  We understood that, as a child of God, we had choices to make.
  •     We could now choose to love the Lord, dedicate our lives to him, and seek to please Him as an obedient child of God. We would receive his blessings now and rewards later.
  • We could now choose to love this world and seek to please ourselves as a disobedient child of God. We learned that our rebellion to God will bring the chastening hand of God.
  • Our choices have consequences. We may choose the sin to commit, but the Lord chooses the appropriate response (sickness, weakness, death, etc.)
These are the seven basic minimum principles we were taught at Florida Bible College to explain the gospel to a lost man.The lost man only needs to believe the message.
We would probably all agree that there could be too much information that we might share with a lost person. But at the same time, too little information will not get the job done. Which one of these seven points of truths do you think is not necessary for a lost person to understand in order to be saved?
The first four points are bad news and the last three are the good news.
1. We have all sinned     Romans 3:23
    “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
    Don’t you believe that this is an important truth? I believe that a person needs to know that he has sinned because the second truth is based upon this truth.
2. The wages of sin is death     Romans 6:23
    “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In context, this verse refers to the believer, but the principle is still true. Wages are something that we earn as a result of our sins. We have earned the right to die physically. We have also earned the right to be eternally separated from God in a literal fire burning hell. Due to the fact that we were born with a sinful nature, we were born spiritually dead (separated from God). Just to die physically will not make a payment for our sins. Even Christians die physically, and this will nor pay for our sins. No! I don’t think we can leave this point out.
3. Must be perfect to go to Heaven    Revelation 21:27
    “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”
    How can a sinful person go to a perfect place and be with a perfect God? This is our problem. God requires perfection to enter heaven. Don’t you agree that a lost person needs to know this?
4. Man cannot earn his salvation    Ephesians 2:8-9
    “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
    If God says that a person cannot earn his way to heaven, wouldn’t that help him to see that he needs a Savior? There is no way you can leave this one out.
5. Christ died for our sins    II Corinthians 5:21
    “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
    Rom. 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”
    Now that he know we need a Savior, doesn’t it make sense to tell them about the only one there is and what he did to make it possible? This is why we believe on him.
    As you can see, we can’t leave this out of the gospel presentation. It’s the foundation for our belief. This is where we inform the lost as to who Jesus is. He is God in the flesh. He died, was buried, and rose again from the dead.
6. Only believe    John 3:16, John 6:47
    “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    John 6:47 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”
    Since this is the only requirement for us to appropriate the payment to our account and to apprehend the free gift of Eternal Life, we must definitely include this truth.
7. You can know you have Eternal Life    I John 5:13
“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Since this is what we are after (Eternal Life), we ought to know that if we did what we are told do to get it, then we ought to know that we have it. Why would we leave this truth out of the gospel message?

A poor presentation of the gospel is better than no presentation. But a concise, clear, and thorough presentation will greatly enhance your productivity.

If these seven principles are presented in this exact order and each step is clearly explained to the lost person, it will greatly increase the possibility of their understanding of the gospel for salvation.

If these seven principles will be faithfully given and in order, you cannot help but always give a clear presentation of the gospel. Remember, the gospel is not clear just because we understand what we said, but when the lost man understands what we said.

    If you neglect to cover every point, you jeopardize a lost person's ability to fully comprehend the need and the means of Salvation.  Do not reduce the Gospel to two or three points and believe you have made it easy to understand.

A full explanation of these seven truths will produce a saved soul with a better understanding of his salvation. They will have greater assurance, peace, and stability of their salvation. They should know what they  believes and why. The less a person understands, the more susceptible they will be to doubts and insecurities about their salvation. A child of God never matures as long as there are doubts about their salvation being eternally secure.


This was the Gospel that was taught at Florida Bible College and is still taught at the Florida Bible College of Tampa. PRAISE THE LORD FOR THE GOSPEL!

I truly thank the Lord for allowing me to attend the the Florida Bible College 50 years ago this month. NO REGRETS!!!! YANKEE

Florida Bible College of Tampa
At Calvary Community Church * 4811 George Road, Tampa

If you like what we are doing, I would love to hear from you. Contact Me. I do covet your prayers.


Do you have a question about Florida Bible College? Most of your answers may be found at our new website at www.floridabiblecollege.ushttp://www.floridabiblecollege.us

Contact Bob Gilbert for all your college questions at 813-884-8182.