How are we saved?

Discussion

What was your biggest take away from the Pre-Work this week?

Updates from Assignments

Read Soteriology statements

Read Ephesians 1:3-14. How many times do you hear the phrase “in Christ” or “in Him?” Why is this repeated so frequently?

Read Romans 6:1-11. In light of last week’s session on resurrection, what is the significance of verse 5? How does Christ’s resurrection become ours?

Main Point: We are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. All of God’s saving blessings are received in union with Christ.

Read Ephesians 2:1-9

Ephesians 2:1–9 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

In the atonement, we have been made “[at][one]” with God [Doctrine of justification]

When the Holy Spirit brings us to life in Christ, we are given the gift of faith from God as a gift [Doctrine of regeneration]

Faith is a gift from God and not something we can brag about, but something we worship God for.

We were hopelessly dead in sin, and made alive by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Once made alive in Christ, we are adopted into God’s family as God’s child [Doctrine of adoption]

We are not naturally born as God’s children. We are born into Adam.

We must be born again, as a new creation, in Christ.

We are made right before God, and adopted into His family.

Finish these statements

“Because I was born in Adam, I was a slave to…”

Because I have been born again in Christ, I am free from…”

When you think about God’s salvation in Christ, do you this of His salvation primarily as forgiveness or fellowship? Explain.

How does union with Christ relate to the Kingdom of God?

Where is the “place” of God?

According to salvation, where do the people of God belong? In Christ.

In the New Covenant, Christ is the place of God. He is the fulfilment of the promise of where we are to be.

Regardless of geographical location, Christians are in Christ.

John 4:21–24 ESV

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

He is the place that true worshippers worship.

Union with Christ is not just an individual endeavor—It requires the entires church.

Union with Christ does create a new me, but it also creates a new we.

The Church is not just an individual, but a collective people who God has chosen for Himself.

In the Old Testament, God chose the people of Israel to set apart for His own.

It was tied to lineage of Abraham and adherence to the Law.

In the New Testament, God chooses individuals who make up the body of Christ.

It is tied to union with Christ alone.

Can Christians lose their salvation?

Union with Christ creates a new me, a new we, in a new way.

This changes how we practice, proclaim, and perform in God’s new world.

Now in Christ, we can live and walk through God’s world in God’s ways without risking the loss of home.

We will always be in Christ.

We will never lose our position in Christ [Doctrine of assurance]

John 10:27–30 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

What about Christians who sin? [Doctrine of sanctification]

Sanctification is long and hard, and there are times when you ask “am I really a Christian?”

Read Romans 7:13-25

Sin may affect your communion with affect, but your union cannot be severed.

Paul explains that he doesn’t do the godly things he wants to do, but the ungodly things.

He feels himself to be a wretched man (v. 24) He recognizes his position with God through Jesus Christ (v. 25)

There are times where I don’t “feel” communion with Christ.

There are times where I don’t “feel” like a Christian.

But the Scriptures and the Spirit testify to me that I am.

We need to trade the question: “How do I feel?” for “What does God’s Word say to me and about me?”

Union with Christ is not a feeling, it is a position before God.

Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and in Christ through the Spirit, we are too.

That is our position.

Under the OT, we could not draw near but in Christ, we can draw near.

The assurance in union is that we have positional holiness. The assurance in communion is we are attaining practical holiness.

Positional holiness means we have the righteousness of Christ.

You are already perfect in Christ.

Practical holiness means we are striving for the righteousness of Christ.

You are being made perfect.

Perfected holiness will be when Christ returns and we are the righteousness of God perfected with Him [Doctrine of glorification]

This is the already/not yet kingdom.

Discussion

What is your main takeaway from this session?

How does union with Christ reshape the way we live as God’s people in God’s presence?

What is the difference between union with Christ and communion with God? How does this distinction between union with Christ and communion with God empower your worship, obedience, and mission?

Pre-Work 2.25.26

Turn and Tell: With whom can you share something you learned in this session? What do you plan to share with them?

Continue working on the “Story of Scripture” and “Practicing Mission” assignments

Write a paragraph doctrinal statement on what you believe about the Holy Spirit.

Read John 7, Acts 1-2, Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 12, Galatians 5, 1 John 4.

Read “What Has God Done? (Part 2)” From You Are A Theologian.

Read “The Spirit and the Church: The King and His People” (Chapter 11) From Remember and Rehearse.

Take five minutes and pray through Romans 11:33-36. Read it once out loud then use it to shape your prayer.

Next Big Idea question: “Who is the Holy Spirit, and what does He do?”

Theological focus: Pnuematology “Doctrine of the Spirit”