Module 06
Doctrine I — God, Christ & Spirit.

1. Purpose & Place in the Arc

Phase I gave the pastor the whole story of God and the shape of the gospel. Module 05 taught him to hear and handle the Book for himself. Now he must say, plainly and truly, who the God of that Book is — for a pastor cannot lead people to a God he cannot name. In every region ENDS serves, the name of God is already claimed by other voices: the spirits of the village, the teacher who says the ultimate is impersonal, the mosque that says God has no Son, the many gods of the temple, the imported group with a new book and a smaller Christ. This module trains the pastor to confess the true God against those live distortions without heat and without error.

Module 06 is the first half of the doctrinal spine — the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Module 07 follows with sin, salvation, and the church. All of it is built so an oral learner can hold it: a few load-bearing texts, stories mastered by mouth, and a confession the pastor can say and sing in his own tongue. The aim is not that he wins an argument, but that his people will worship the God who is really there.

2. Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module:

1. The pastor can state, in his own words, that there is one God in three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — without collapsing the three into one or splitting God into three gods.
2. The pastor can show from at least three passages that Jesus Christ is fully God, and from three that He is fully man, and explain why both natures are needed for the gospel to save.
3. The pastor can tell the cross and resurrection two ways — the penalty He bore in our place, and the victory He won over sin, death, and the evil one.
4. The pastor can teach that the Holy Spirit is God and a person, not a force to be used.
5. The pastor can name the Spirit's work (new birth, indwelling, assurance, fruit, power) and test a claimed sign against Scripture.
6. The pastor can recite the module's confession from memory in his mother tongue, and lead his people to say it.
7. The pastor can answer, gently and truly, the most common local objection to the Triune God and to Christ.

3. Session Plan

The module runs as fourteen 2-hour sessions in four units.

Unit A — The One God in Three Persons (Sessions 1–4)

Session 1 — There is one God.

• Aim: Fix the first stone: God is one, personal, and good.
• Core texts: Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:5–6; 1 Corinthians 8:4–6.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) Israel's daily cry — the LORD our God, the LORD is one. (2) One means one — not the strongest god among many. (3) This God is personal, good, and near: He speaks, names, and loves; He is not an empty silence or a distant force. (4) Hold the tension we will resolve: one God, yet Father, Son, and Spirit are each called God.
• Practice: In pairs, each trainee says back the one-God confession and names one local voice that says otherwise. Mentor listens for "one" and "personal."

Session 2 — Three who are named as God.

• Aim: Show the three persons from the text before naming the doctrine.
• Core texts: Matthew 3:16–17 (the baptism); Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) At the Jordan, see all three at once — the Son in the water, the Spirit descending, the Father's voice. (2) The one name of baptism holds three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (3) The blessing joins the three as one gift. (4) So the Bible names one God, and names each — Father, Son, and Spirit — as that God.
• Practice: Trainees retell the baptism scene by mouth, pointing to each person as they name Him.

Session 3 — One God, not three; three persons, not one.

• Aim: Guard the confession from the two ditches, in plain speech.
• Core texts: John 1:1; John 10:30; John 14:9–11.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) The Word was with God, and the Word was God — with, and was, together. (2) Refuse two errors: the three are not three masks on one face (the Father sends the Son, the Son prays to the Father — not one person talking to Himself); and they are not three separate gods (God is one). (3) Say it plainly: one God, three persons; the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, yet each is fully the one God. (4) We do not fully comprehend Him, but we confess Him truly.
• Practice: Mentor states a wrong sentence ("Jesus is just God wearing a mask"; "there are three gods"); trainees correct it in their own words.

Session 4 — Why the Trinity is good news.

• Aim: Move from guarding to worship.
• Core texts: 1 John 4:8–10; John 17:24; Ephesians 1:3–14.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) Because God is three-in-one, He was love before the world was made — the Father loved the Son. (2) He did not create out of loneliness or need, but out of fullness. (3) Salvation is the work of all three — the Father plans, the Son buys, the Spirit applies. (4) A God who is only one, alone, could not be love in Himself. Ours is.
• Practice: Each trainee finishes the sentence aloud: "The Trinity is good news for my village because…"

Unit B — The Person & Work of Christ (Sessions 5–9)

Session 5 — Fully God.

• Aim: Establish the deity of Christ from Scripture.
• Core texts: John 1:1, 14; Colossians 2:9; John 20:28; Isaiah 9:6.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) The Word who was God became flesh. (2) In Christ the whole fullness of deity lives in a body. (3) Thomas touches the risen Jesus and says, My Lord and my God — and Jesus receives it. (4) The promised child is named Mighty God. (5) So we do not honor Jesus as a great prophet only; we worship Him as God.
• Practice: Each trainee gives two passages that show Christ is God, from memory.

Session 6 — Fully man.

• Aim: Establish the true humanity of Christ.
• Core texts: John 1:14; Hebrews 2:14–17; Hebrews 4:15; Luke 2:52.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) He was born, grew, hungered, wept, slept, bled, died — real flesh, not a costume. (2) He shared our flesh and blood so He could stand in our place. (3) He was tempted in every way as we are, yet never sinned. (4) He is not half-and-half; He is fully God and fully man, one person.
• Practice: Trainees name five human things Jesus did, from memory, and why each matters.

Session 7 — Why both natures carry the gospel's weight.

• Aim: Tie the two natures to salvation.
• Core texts: 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:24–26; Philippians 2:6–8.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) A mediator stands between two parties and touches both. (2) Because He is man, He can stand for men and die a man's death. (3) Because He is God, His one death is worth more than all our lives, and death cannot hold Him. (4) Take away His deity and the cross cannot save; take away His humanity and He cannot stand for us. (5) Both, or no gospel.
• Practice: In threes, trainees teach a new believer why "just a good teacher" cannot save. Mentor listens for both natures.

Session 8 — The cross: He bore our penalty.

• Aim: Teach substitutionary atonement.
• Core texts: Isaiah 53:4–6; Romans 3:23–26; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) Our sin earns death and God's just anger. (2) On the cross the sinless One took the place of the guilty — the punishment that brought us peace was on Him. (3) God is both just and the one who justifies — He does not wink at sin; He bears it Himself in His Son. (4) Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised. This is the gospel handed down.
• Practice: Each trainee states the substitution in one plain sentence, no borrowed words.

Session 9 — The cross and empty tomb: the victory won.

• Aim: Teach Christ's triumph over sin, death, and the evil one, held with substitution.
• Core texts: Colossians 2:13–15; Hebrews 2:14–15; 1 Corinthians 15:20–26; 1 John 3:8.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) The same cross that paid our debt also broke the enemy's grip. (2) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and shamed them, triumphing over them. (3) Through death He defeated the one who holds the power of death, and frees those enslaved by fear of it. (4) The empty tomb is the proof: death is a beaten enemy, and Christ is Lord over every power — life for people who live under fear of spirits and the dead.
• Practice: Trainees tell the resurrection as good news to someone afraid of the spirits of the dead. [MENTOR: local example of that fear, named carefully.]

Unit C — The Holy Spirit (Sessions 10–13)

Session 10 — The Spirit is God, and a person.

• Aim: Refuse "the Spirit is a power I can use."
• Core texts: Acts 5:3–4; John 14:16–17; 1 Corinthians 2:10–11.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) To lie to the Spirit is to lie to God — so the Spirit is God. (2) He is a "He," not an "it": He teaches, grieves, wills, and abides. (3) He is another Helper, of the same kind as the Son. (4) So we do not master the Spirit like a charm; we walk with Him and obey Him.
• Practice: Trainees correct the sentence "I use the Spirit's power to get what I want," and say it rightly.

Session 11 — The Spirit's work: new birth, indwelling, assurance.

• Aim: Show what the Spirit does inside a believer.
• Core texts: John 3:5–8; Titus 3:4–6; Romans 8:9–16.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) No one enters the kingdom without new birth, and the Spirit gives it. (2) He is not a guest for feast days; He dwells in the believer always. (3) He bears witness with our spirit that we are God's children — this is how a trembling believer knows he belongs. (4) If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not Christ's.
• Practice: Each trainee names one mark the Spirit is truly at work in a life, from these texts.

Session 12 — The Spirit's power and fruit.

• Aim: Set power under holiness, and name the fruit.
• Core texts: Acts 1:8; Galatians 5:16–25; Ephesians 5:18.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) The Spirit gives power — for witness and endurance, not for show or for gain. (2) The surest sign of the Spirit is not a wonder but a changed life. (3) Name the fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (4) A tree is known by fruit, not by noise.
• Practice: Trainees recite the nine fruit in order, then each names the one his own heart most lacks.

Session 13 — Testing the spirits: true and counterfeit signs.

• Aim: Give a plain test so the pastor is not deceived.
• Core texts: 1 John 4:1–3; Matthew 7:15–23; 2 Thessalonians 2:9–10; Deuteronomy 13:1–4.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) Not every wonder is from God — the enemy also works false signs. (2) Two tests: What does it say about Jesus? (Does it confess Christ come in the flesh, fully God and man?) And what fruit does it grow — holiness, or pride and money? (3) A sign that draws people away from the true Christ is a warning, not a wonder. (4) Some will do mighty works and hear, I never knew you. (5) Test everything; hold the good; refuse the counterfeit. [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED: the region's specific counterfeit-sign practices — name them with the partner, do not invent.]
• Practice: Mentor describes a claimed sign; trainees run it through the two tests aloud.

Unit D — The Confession (Session 14)

Session 14 — The confession, mastered and led.

• Aim: Bring the whole module into one confession the pastor owns.
• Core texts: the module confession (Section 4); 2 Corinthians 13:14.
• Oral teaching outline: (1) Say the confession together, line by line, call-and-response. (2) Walk each line back to its texts, so it is understood, not merely repeated. (3) Practice leading it — the pastor calls, the people answer. (4) Send them to teach it at home.
• Practice: Each trainee leads the whole confession from memory. This doubles as assessment rehearsal.

4. Story Set & Memory Work

Passages to be mastered orally (reference + handle):

• Matthew 3:13–17 — The Jordan: all three at once.
• John 1:1–14 — The Word who was God became flesh.
• Philippians 2:5–11 — He emptied Himself; every knee will bow.
• Isaiah 52:13–53:6 — The Servant wounded for us.
• Luke 24:1–12 — The empty tomb.
• John 3:1–8 — Nicodemus: born of the Spirit.
• Acts 2:1–4, 37–41 — The Spirit poured out; three thousand turn.

Memory verses:

5. Discussion Questions

1. Our neighbors say there are many gods, or many spirits. How do we say "one God" without saying our neighbors are simply fools?
2. If God is one, how can the Father, the Son, and the Spirit each be God? Say it in your own words.
3. Why is it wrong to say the three are only three masks worn by one person? What in the Gospels breaks that idea?
4. A respected elder says Jesus was a great prophet, nothing more. What do you show him, and how do you honor him while you disagree?
5. Why must the Savior be truly man? Why must He also be truly God? What is lost if we drop either one?
6. In our culture, who carries shame and who carries honor at a public death? How does the cross turn that upside down?
7. Tell the cross to a person weighed down by guilt, then to a person weighed down by fear of the spirits. What changes, and what stays the same?
8. Some treat the Spirit as a power to be used for success or protection. Where does that come from, and how do we gently turn it toward the true Spirit?
9. How does a frightened believer come to know he truly belongs to God? What does the Spirit do here?
10. A teacher in our area works signs and draws a crowd. What two questions do we ask before we call it God's work?
11. When someone asks a question about God we cannot fully answer, what do we say — and what do we not pretend?

6. Between-Sessions Field Practice

Each assignment is done in the pastor's own village and reported at the next session.

1. Teach the one-God confession to one household; report how they received it and the first objection you met.
2. Retell the Jordan baptism (Matthew 3) to a small group by mouth, pointing to each of the three persons.
3. Ask five people: "Who was Jesus?" Bring their answers — do not correct them yet; we will build on what you hear.
4. Tell the cross both ways — penalty borne, victory won — to two different people, and notice which lands for each.
5. Watch for the Spirit's fruit in one believer over the weeks; bring one concrete example of change (no names if it shames anyone).
6. Say the memory verses aloud each morning; have a family member check you at the module's end.
7. Begin memorizing the confession in your mother tongue, a section at a time. [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED: the approved text.]

7. Competency Assessment

A pastor passes Module 06 by demonstration, verified by his mentor, not by attendance.

What must be demonstrated:

1. Confess the Trinity — in his own words, unprompted: one God in three persons, each fully God, the three not confused and not divided. He must avoid both errors when the mentor probes ("So is Jesus just God wearing a mask?" / "So are there three gods?").
2. Christ, fully God and fully man — at least three passages for each, from memory, and why both are needed for the gospel to save.
3. The cross, two ways — substitution and victory, each in plain speech a farmer would follow, without borrowed technical words.
4. The Holy Spirit — state that He is God and a person, name at least three of His works, and run one claimed sign through the two tests.
5. The confession — recite it from memory in the mother tongue and lead the group call-and-response.

How the mentor verifies: by ear, in a live oral examination, and by watching the pastor teach one point to a real group during field practice. The mentor works from a simple checklist, asking follow-up questions until satisfied the understanding is the pastor's own, not a memorized surface.

What "not yet" looks like: collapsing the persons into one, or splitting God into three; saying Jesus is God but not why His humanity matters (or the reverse); telling the cross only as victory or only as penalty; treating the Spirit as a force; reciting the confession without being able to walk any line back to a text. Remediation: the mentor names the one gap, assigns the texts that close it, and re-examines only that point after further field practice. There is no shame in "not yet" — a pastor sent out half-sure of who God is passes that uncertainty to a whole village.

8. Mentor Notes

Common errors to expect and correct:

• Modalism by accident. Many reach for "one person, three forms" (water, ice, steam). Gently retire that picture — it teaches the error we refuse. Prefer the plain formula and the Jordan scene.
• Tritheism by accident. Others drift into "three gods who agree." Return to Deuteronomy 6:4.
• A small Christ. Watch for the pastor who says Jesus is God but treats His humanity as a disguise, or honors Him as prophet but not Lord. Both cut the gospel.
• The Spirit as power for gain. This drifts toward prosperity teaching and charm-trading. Keep power under holiness and mission (Acts 1:8), never under profit.
• Winning the argument, losing the person. These doctrines are confessed among neighbors, not scored against them. Model warmth.

Contextualization flags — regional, for the partner, not for us to invent:

• [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED] The regional distortion map. With the partner (SLMIF / Mission Impact India / Dr. Yupho / David Livingstone), name the live local distortions the pastor actually meets and the kindest true answer to each. In general, well-established terms only: animist — many spirits appeased, a high God felt far → the one personal God who is near, Lord over every power; Buddhist — no creator, an impersonal ultimate reached by self-effort → a personal God who comes in grace; Muslim — one God honored but His Son and the crucifixion denied → patient work from the Sonship texts and the cross; Hindu — Jesus welcomed as one god among many → the one Lord who will not be shelved; imported cults — the Trinity or Christ's full deity denied, a new book added → Scripture's sufficiency and the deity texts. Never go beyond general knowledge; never caricature a neighbor's faith.
• [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED] The specific counterfeit-sign practices named in Session 13 — describe them with the partner; do not invent villages, teachers, or incidents.
• [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED] Honor-shame framing. Where the cross's shame and the resurrection's vindication are best told in the culture's own honor language — shape this with the partner (see Questions 6–7).
• [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED] The mother-tongue confession text and any sung setting. Structure is given below; the translation and tune belong to the partner.

9. Doctrinal Anchors

This module serves and is bound by the ENDS Statement of Faith (Articles I–VIII, /beliefs):

• Article I — The Scriptures (authoritative, sufficient). Every claim rests on the text; against imported cults, Scripture is enough and needs no added book.
• Article II — The Triune God. Unit A: one God in three persons, without modalism or tritheism.
• Article III — Jesus Christ (fully God, fully man; substitutionary atonement and victory). Unit B in full — the two natures, and the cross as penalty borne and triumph won. We refuse any Christ who is only prophet, only man, or a created being.
• Article IV — The Holy Spirit. Unit C: the Spirit is God and a person, His work named, His counterfeits tested.
• Article VI — Salvation. Christ's person and work ground the justification and new birth Module 07 develops.

Guardrails against the named counterfeits:

• Prosperity teaching: the Spirit's power is for witness, holiness, and endurance (Acts 1:8; Galatians 5), never for wealth or manipulation.
• Syncretism: the one Lord will not be shelved beside other gods or spirits (1 Corinthians 8:4–6; Isaiah 45:5–6).
• Ritual transfer and charm-trading: the Spirit is a person to obey, not a power to work; holy things are not charms (Acts 5:3–4; 8:18–23).
• Doctrinal novelty: test every teaching and sign by what it says of Christ and what fruit it grows (1 John 4:1–3; Matthew 7:15–23).

Confession structure (translation is [PARTNER INPUT REQUIRED]): a short Trinitarian confession in four call-and-response movements — (1) One God: one God, personal, holy, and good; (2) The Son: Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, who became man, died in our place, rose victorious, and is Lord; (3) The Spirit: the Holy Spirit, God with us, who gives new birth, dwells in us, and makes us holy; (4) Response: to this one God be glory forever. Short enough to memorize, plain enough for a child, shaped for singing.