Human nature and the need for Regeneration

Intro:

Introduce in the time that you have the purpose of the study...

This study title is called “Marks of a true believer”.

The reason I want to do this study is because I wanna attack the notion of merely “im saved only the basis that i made a profession of faith” and instead I want to highlight what a true believer looks like.

More than ever now do I believe lost souls are deceived into believing they are saved. While at the same time I see many believers struggle with assurance of their salvation.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:5 says this...“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.”

He says to a church in which many are in serious, unrepentant sin and his standard for testing their Faith is not on the basis of a profession they made, but rather if their lives measured up to the teachings of Jesus.

So im gonna be going through mainly what salvation actually is and the true life change it produces.

Warn them not to judge themselves by perfection, but not check out out of pride.

Todays lesson is about human nature and why we need regeneration.

Read Ephesians 2:1–10 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

What sticks out here?

What do we see about the condition of our hearts before salvation?

What does it mean to be spiritually dead?

What examples does this passage give us about spiritual deadness?

*walking in line with the world (What does this insinuate about the world? *That it too is dead spiritually)

*Our desires and inclinations of our hearts was fully towards the world and the spirit of the World, not of God.

What does our spiritual deadness mean for our relationship with God? (Refer to verse 3)

How does this view of the human condition change our view on salvation?

(emphasize how it doesn’t say sick)

Read verse 4-5

What does the term “made alive” insinuate about salvation?

(Emphasize the term Made)

So if the condition of our hearts is spiritual deadness, and the only way to be saved is God actively changing your heart, then how can someone come to Christ?

*You cant! John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

So since salvation is only an active work of God, what should that mean about your life post salvation?

*that if you are saved, and it is a work of God only, then the only possible outcome is to reflect the one who worked in you.

What misconceptions do you think our culture has on what it means to be Christian?

Why cant good enough simply cut it?

How do you think this understanding of salvation raises the standard of what it means to be Christian?

Explain why the idea of spiritual deadness being the disposition of our hearts and works based salvation can’t co-exist?

With all this and this passage in mind, why can’t we just modify our behavior for salvation?

Exhort the group that behavior modification wont suffice, and because of the deadness of your soul, you will never be saved unless God completely changes your soul, and because this is the case, then there is no way you can be saved and unchanged in every aspect because God is the one who worked on you

So How does this understanding of salvation change how you examine your heart?

(It makes you look for, am I a new creature and do I genuinely look like God, not just have I once believed and do my occasional good)

How can this understanding of salvation give a believer assurance in their salvation?