9.24.17
"Fullness of Spirit, Received by Faith"
TEXT: Gal. 3:2-29, 5:16-26
TRUTHS:
1. During our worship service we walked through Galatians 3 using a question and answer structure. Using this text, we saw that Spirit fullness does not come as a result of our righteous performance. God gives His Spirit to us based on Jesus' sacrificial death. But this reality does not wipe out our need to perform and live righteously. The Bible teaches us that we will reap what we sow. So, although we are not earning anything from God based on our performance, we are determining what our futures hold by our choices now.
2. Who works miracles? He who supplies the Spirit--God. Given the length of Scripture and just how many miracles occur, we can conclude that miracles are not something that take place all that frequently. We cannot be poor stewards of all that God has entrusted to us and then expect Him to miraculously reverse our poor stewardship for our comfort.
3. What is the blessing of Abraham? Justification. God removes the debt sinners owe Him through the cross of Christ. Humanity's greatest need is to have their sins forgiven; all other needs become secondary in light of this truth. Human ingenuity and intelligence may allow us to obtain a lot of earthly success, but we are unable to have our sins forgiven based on anything we can do.
4. Who is under a curse? Those who try to self-righteously use the commands of God to obtain righteousness, forgiveness, and God's acceptance. Based on the sacrifice of Christ, the Father loves us equally on our best and worst days. Understanding the impossibility of obtaining God's acceptance based on our performance does not push us towards living morally corrupt lives--it moves us away from disobedience. The more we focus and meditate on God's character and His grace extended to us in the gospel, the more freedom we will experience from sin. Focusing on sin and self will often cause believers to repeat a certain sin or get to a place where they begin to justify it.
5. When did faith come to us? When Christ came to earth and when Christ revealed His goodness to us individually. Faith is not trying to get something from God. Faith is rightly understanding Jesus, the cross, sin, forgiveness, and the need for a new heart.
6. Believers are sons of God. What do sons of God do? They pursue holiness and the joy that is found in knowing, loving, and serving Christ. Sons of God resist selfishness, pray for other believers' sins, and stay away from things we should not do. Make no mistake, the Bible speaks clearly that there are behaviors and attitudes that Christians should stay away from. Rather than spend their time being a part of those things, sons of God focus on living out how the Scriptures teach us to treat one-another.
7. Freedom is defined by what? Freedom is trusting in God, walking in the Spirit, and overcoming sin. Living this way leads us to the deepest joy we can experience in this life.
TALK TO EACH OTHER:2. Who works miracles? He who supplies the Spirit--God. Given the length of Scripture and just how many miracles occur, we can conclude that miracles are not something that take place all that frequently. We cannot be poor stewards of all that God has entrusted to us and then expect Him to miraculously reverse our poor stewardship for our comfort.
3. What is the blessing of Abraham? Justification. God removes the debt sinners owe Him through the cross of Christ. Humanity's greatest need is to have their sins forgiven; all other needs become secondary in light of this truth. Human ingenuity and intelligence may allow us to obtain a lot of earthly success, but we are unable to have our sins forgiven based on anything we can do.
4. Who is under a curse? Those who try to self-righteously use the commands of God to obtain righteousness, forgiveness, and God's acceptance. Based on the sacrifice of Christ, the Father loves us equally on our best and worst days. Understanding the impossibility of obtaining God's acceptance based on our performance does not push us towards living morally corrupt lives--it moves us away from disobedience. The more we focus and meditate on God's character and His grace extended to us in the gospel, the more freedom we will experience from sin. Focusing on sin and self will often cause believers to repeat a certain sin or get to a place where they begin to justify it.
5. When did faith come to us? When Christ came to earth and when Christ revealed His goodness to us individually. Faith is not trying to get something from God. Faith is rightly understanding Jesus, the cross, sin, forgiveness, and the need for a new heart.
6. Believers are sons of God. What do sons of God do? They pursue holiness and the joy that is found in knowing, loving, and serving Christ. Sons of God resist selfishness, pray for other believers' sins, and stay away from things we should not do. Make no mistake, the Bible speaks clearly that there are behaviors and attitudes that Christians should stay away from. Rather than spend their time being a part of those things, sons of God focus on living out how the Scriptures teach us to treat one-another.
7. Freedom is defined by what? Freedom is trusting in God, walking in the Spirit, and overcoming sin. Living this way leads us to the deepest joy we can experience in this life.
1. What does it mean that Jesus become a curse for us?
2. How does God justifying us through the cross of Christ move us away from sin rather than towards it?
3. How does the biblical principle of sowing and reaping work?
TALK TO GOD:
3. How does the biblical principle of sowing and reaping work?
TALK TO GOD:
Pray as you feel led concerning the following area(s):
That you, your family, and your church would focus on treating one-another in a God-glorifying manner.
That the unsaved in our community would experience the freedom that is found in Christ!
That the unsaved in our community would experience the freedom that is found in Christ!