Scripture:
Deut. 7.7-11; John 6.60-71; Rom. 9-11; Gal. 1.6-9; Gal. 2.15-21; Gal. 3.1-14; Eph.
2.1-10; 2 Tim. 1.9-10; Acts 4.8-12
Translation: Eph. 2.1And
you, who were dead in your rebellions and sins, 2in those sins you
lived at that time according to the age of this world, according to the ruler
of the authority of the air, the spirit of the one who is right now working in
the sons of disobedience, in those rebellions we all also lived at that time in
the desires of the our flesh, acting on the wants of the flesh and of the mind,
and we were innately children of wrath, just like everyone else. 4But
God Who is He is rich in mercy because of His abundant love that He loved us
with, 5and us who were dead in rebellions He made alive with
Christ—by grace you really are saved—6and He raised us with Him and
seated us with Christ Jesus in the heavenly places, 7so that He
could prove in the coming ages the infinite riches of His grace via His
benevolence on us in Christ Jesus. 8You see, by grace you really are
saved through faith. And this is not from you, it’s God’s gift. 9It
is not from actions, so that no one can boast. 10You see, we are His
work, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prearranged, so that we would walk in them.
2 Tim. 1.9[God] Who saved us and called us
to a holy calling—not because of our actions, but instead because of His Own
plan and grace, given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10and
revealed now through the arrival of our Savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed
death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.
Gal.1.6I’m shocked that you have turn away
so quickly from the One Who called you by grace to another gospel, 7which
isn’t another gospel, although some are commanding you and wanting to change
the Gospel of Christ. 8Instead, even in we or an angel from heaven
evangelizes you away from what we have evangelized to you, may he be cursed to
hell. 9As we already truly told you and now I am telling you again:
If anyone evangelizes you away from what you’ve received, may he be cursed to
hell.
Gal. 2.15We, Jews by nature and not from
the nations are sinners, 16and knowing that a person is not made
righteous by actions of the Law, only by faith in Jesus Christ, and we have
believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made righteous by faith in Christ
and not by actions of the Law, because all flesh is not made righteous by
actions of the Law. 17Moreover, if by seeking to be made righteous
in Christ we are found also [to be]
sinners ourselves, then is Christ a servant of sin? NO WAY! 18You
see, if what I build back up exactly the same things as I destroyed, I am
making myself deceived. 19You see, I am died through the law to the
law, so that I could live for God! I’ve truly been crucified with Christ! 20Moreover,
I no longer live, but Christ lives in me! And what I live the flesh now, I live
by faith that is in the Son of God Who loves me and gave Himself up for me! 21I
won’t nullify the grace of God! You see, if righteousness was through the law,
then Christ died for nothing.
Gal. 3.1O you stupid Galatians! Who has
cast a spell on you, to whom Jesus the Messiah was already written before your
eyes as truly crucified? 2I just want to find this out from you: did
you get the Spirit from actions of the Law or from hearing from faith? 3You
are so stupid! Will you who began by the Spirit no finish by the flesh? 4Did
you learn all that stuff in vain? If indeed it is also in vain. 5So,
the One who provided the Spirit to you and worked miracles among you, was He
from actions of the Law or from hearing from faith?
John 6.60Then, many of His followers who
heard said, “This message is tough. Who can listen to it?” 61And
Jesus, knowing in Himself that His followers were grumbling about this, said to
them, “Is this tripping you up? 62SO, if you look at the Son of Man
coming up where was He before? 63The Spirit is the One Who makes
everything alive; the flesh is not able to do anything. the words that I’m
really speaking to you are Spirit and are life. 64But some of you
are those who don’t believe.” (You see, Jesus knew from the beginning some were
those who wouldn’t believe and who His betrayer was.) 65And He was
saying, “because of this I’m telling you that no one is able to come to me
unless it is granted to him by the Father.” 66Because of this many
of His followers left for the things they left behind and no longer walked with
Him. 67So, Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go too, do
you?” 68Simon Peter responded to Him, “Lord, who will we go to? You
have the words of eternal life! 69And we really do believe and know
that you are the Holy One of God!” 70Jesus responded to them,
“Didn’t I choose you Twelve? And one of you is a devil.” 71And He
was talking about Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, because this one was about to
betray Him—one of the Twelve!
Deut. 7.7It was not because your greatness
was greater than all the peoples that Yahweh loved you. And He chose you,
because you were smaller than all the peoples. 8Instead, it was
because Yahweh loved you and He kept the promise that He made to your
forefathers. Yahweh brought you out by His strong hand and rescued you from the
house of slaves from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9You know
that Yahweh your God—He is God, the Faithful God, Who keeps the covenant and
loyalty to those who love and who keep His commands for a thousand generations.
10And Who personally repays the person who hates Him by destroying
him. He won’t hesitate against the person who hates Him. He will personally
repay him. 11So you should keep the command and the rules and the
judgments that I am commanding you to do today.
Acts 4.8Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Spirit, said to them, “Leaders of the people and elders, 9if we are
being judged today on a good deed for a sick man, Who is this man really being
saved by? 10It must be known to all of you and to all the people of
Israel that in the Name of Jesus the Messiah the Nazarene, Who you crucified,
Who God rose from the dead—by This Person this man stands before you healthy! 11This
Person is the Stone, the One rejected by you the builders, the One Who became
the Cornerstone! 12And there is salvation in no other name, because
there is not even any other name under Heaven that is really is being given
among them, by which it is necessary that we be saved!”
Interpretation
Themes
a.
Grace
b.
Faith
c.
Christ
d.
Salvation
e.
Works/effort/actions/law
f.
Holy Spirit
g.
Past vs. Present
h.
Justification/righteousness
i.
Choosing/election
j.
Predestination
k.
Life vs. Death
l.
Sin, rebellion, failure
Doctines
a.
Salvation is by grace alone
through faith alone in Christ alone
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
We are by grace alone
through faith alone in Christ alone
i.
We are saved (Eph. 2.1-10)
ii.
We are saved by grace alone
(Eph. 2.8-9; Rom. 9-11; Gal. 1.6-9; Gal. 2.15-21; Gal. 3.1-14; Deut. 7.7-11; 2
Tim. 1.9-10)
iii.
We are saved by grace alone
through faith alone (. 2.8-9; Rom. 9-11; Gal. 1.6-9; Gal. 2.15-21; Gal. 3.1-14)
iv.
We are saved by grace alone
through faith alone in Christ alone (Acts 4.8-12; Eph. 2.1-10; 2 Tim. 1.9-10;
Rom. 9-11; Gal. 1.6-9; Gal. 2.15-21; Gal. 3.1-14)
b.
Why does it matter that we
are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone
i.
It matters because we
ourselves as well as everyone else need to be saved
1.
We need to be saved: so
respond in faith now if you haven’t yet
2.
Others need to be saved, so
bring the Gospel to the lost every chance God gives you
ii.
It matters because we must
embrace the grace of God
1.
by giving up our attempts
to earn salvation
2.
by giving up the attitude
or mindset that says
a.
“I earned it. I deserve to
be saved.”
b.
“I need to earn it. I need
to deserve it.”
3.
By giving up the fear of
failure
4.
By welcoming the new
identity grace gives: “I am saved by grace”
5.
By welcoming the true
freedom grave gives: “I am saved. I don’t have to earn it.”
6.
By welcoming the Spirit of
Love, power, and clear-thinking
iii.
It matters because we must
trust in Christ as the only source for our salvation
1.
By relying only on the
grace of God not our effort
2.
By relying only on Christ
as our Savior
a.
This means we can’t rely on
good works
i.
Our good works
ii.
Others’ good works
b.
This means we can’t rely on
Christian rituals or experiences
i.
Baptism, circumcision,
communion, etc.
ii.
speaking in tongues,
miracles, etc.
iii.
feelings, such as feeling
the presence
c.
This means we can’t rely on
knowledge/intelligence
d.
This means we can’t rely on
false messiahs
i.
Money
ii.
Fame
iii.
Power
iv.
Sex
v.
Drugs
vi.
Idols
vii.
False religions
2.
Discussion Questions
a.
Do you think people feel
normally feel like they need saving? Why or why not?
b.
Talk about when you
realized you needed to be saved. What happened? What made you want to be saved
by God?
c.
Do you ever feel like you
have to earn God’s favor? Why or why not?
d.
How much of your
relationship with God comes out of faith and how much comes out of your
achievements?
e.
How do you think faith and
works work together in the Christian life?
f.
Where is your identity most
grounded? In your relationship with God, in school, in family, in grades, in
good works, in achievements, in friends, in popularity, wealthy, or somewhere
else?
g.
Name some things people you
know try to find salvation in. what are they trying to be saved from? And do
you think what they look to for salvation will work? Why or why not? Is there
any area of their life that would not be saved by the kind of salvation they’re
looking for?
h.
Do you think it is possible
for someone to trust more in a Christian ritual or experience than in Christ
for salvation? If so, what would you say to that person?
Illustrations/Explanations
1.
That salvation is by grace
through faith in Christ is illustrated as follows. Grace is that God has
provided a door in the wall, so that it is even possible to come to Him. Faith
is like the key that gets you through to the other side of the door. Jesus is
the door. See if we had faith, the key, but God was not a gracious God, there
would be no door. We could attack the wall with the key all we wanted, but it
would never get us through the wall. See if God provided the door, but no key,
not matter what we tried to do to open the door, it would never open. And Jesus
is the door, because if we took the key to a different door, the key would not
work. That is what people do when they combine faith with the wrong door. Lots
of people trust false messiahs, but no matter how much they trust them, they
will never become real doors. They are like doors on theater sets that don’t go
anywhere and don’t even open, they are just painted on the background.
2.
We need to be saved—sometimes
people think they don’t need saving that they can handle life and death on
their own, sometimes we think like that. But that’s like a person drowning in a
pool. They are struggling and choking on water and sinking more and more. the
lifeguard jumps in to save them, but as they fail about choking and chugging
water they scream, not “Help! Save me!” but “Back off! I’m fine! I don’t need
saving!” So funny story, do you know what they teach you to do in lifeguard
training when you come to a person like that all wild and crazy? You just wait
for them to fail, to sink, and stop struggling. You basically wait for them to
drown and give up trying to work so hard at saving themselves, you wait till
they are as good as dead, then you go in and rescue them and get them on to dry
land. That is what it is like for the person who keeps trying to save themself.
They keep thinking that they can do it, but of course they can’t. and God won’t
save someone trying to save themselves, He will wait until they are out of energy
to try and lost and dead in the water, and then He swoops in and saves them.
Because salvation is all of God and not all from human effort. It is all by
grace.
3.
Salvation by grace is the
opposite of how most people choose a romantic partner. When people are looking
for a husband or wife, they usually decide who they want based on all the
things that make that person desirable or attractive. So a guy says, “man she’s
hot and she can cook. I think we would make a good match. And I feel like she
would say yes if I asked her out.” And a girl says a very similar thing: “He’s
so cute and kind. He’s always so thoughtful. He has a good job. I think he
would be able to provide for me and any children we could have. I think if I
flirt with him a little, he will ask me out.” But that is NOT how God makes His
choices. He did choose you because you were smart, or beautiful, or
hardworking. He didn’t choose you because you were more Godly, more trusting,
or more deserving in any way. He did not look down through time and think, “I
think that person would believe in My Son if I gave them the chance.” God never
thought anything like that! He said, “I pick him and her, not because they will
one day be the kind of people who are likely to love Me or trust me, but
because I love them, and I love them because I love them. They are the ones I
choose to love. I picked them even though they deserved it least! I picked them
not because one day they would deserve it, but because I love them in Christ!”
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