Being a Christian (1)

Introduction

- Prayer requests/Announcements

- Psalm 34:4-8

Psalm 34:4–8 CSB

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant with joy; their faces will never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them. 8 Taste and see that the Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him!

“Being a Christian” – 10 chapters (1 each of the next 10 weeks)

In the introduction section Dr. Jason Allen from MBTS talks about renovating a house whenever he first came to the seminary. There was a lot of work that went into this renovation process in nearly every aspect of the house. He compares this process to our lives whenever we become a Christian. The Holy Spirit comes inside of us and changes our entire lives from the inside out! This study is going to focus on how the Gospel changes every aspect of our lives.

Allen says that Christian life is more than attending church activities because Christ doesn’t want to merely be included on our calendar, He wants to be our calendar!

Why do you think some people view Christianity as attending a few events a week rather than living a completely different life?

We like to hold on to some things in our life before Christ. We have been taught that Sunday is the Lord’s Day and the rest of the days are “ours” in some capacity.

In the opening video which we didn’t watch, Dr. Allen talks about his testimony and how Christ completely changed His life. Why is it so important to share our testimony with others?

Allen talks about his life before Christ, he was a good kid and went to church but he didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. He then talks about his conversion story and how Jesus completely changed his life and how something finally clicked. He concludes by showing what Jesus has done in his life since and how all of his life has changed.

Sharing our testimony is extremely important because it is our story – no one can take your testimony away from you. Also, your testimony showcases the power of God in changing your life.

- Question #3: How has the Gospel changed your life?

Lesson Video

Chapter 1 Discussion

- What is the Gospel? What does it mean to be saved?

o Question #4: On page 12 we see a good definition for “the Gospel”. Please read this definition and what would you include when sharing “the Gospel” with someone else?

The Gospel is the “good news” that Jesus Christ died for sinners. The Gospel is more than just a message that Jesus taught, but the Gospel also includes His life, death and resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 comes to mind here. Think of last week’s discussion!

- Sometimes people get caught up with the term “Gospel” because we know that there are 4 Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and that the Gospel is only talked about in those 4 books and nowhere else. As Allen notes on pages 12-15, though, the Gospel story is found all the way back to the Old Testament and before creation itself in eternity past! Genesis 1-2 talk about this idea. God (Trinity – as we discussed in the past) created and spoke all things into existence. It is perfect!

As we talked about last Sunday, the fall impacts us today. What are some ways we see the Fall in our daily life?

We see the fall with disappointment, sin, evil, wickedness, and failure every single day. We see people wrong others and disrespect us. We also experience the fall in our own body every day as things break down and as we battle with our fleshly desires!

- Genesis 3 shows us the devastating effects of sin. They disobeyed God’s command and there is a consequence – all of humanity is thrust into sin. We still feel the ramifications of this today. There is a fracture – spiritual death – but we also see a redemptive arc all the way back in Genesis 3. There will come one of the seed of woman who will crush the head of the serpent – He is the Messiah and the prophets talk about Him. We’ll study this more in depth on Sunday morning as Jesus redeems us.

Why do we need to be redeemed?

Because of our sin and separation from God. We need to be redeemed in order to be restored to Him. This is exactly what Jesus does!

- Whenever Jesus came, what were the Jews expecting from the Messiah? They wanted a military leader who would lead them out of Roman oppression and establish a Jewish kingdom once again. Jesus didn’t deliver them from the Romans, what did He do instead? He delivered them from the punishment of their sin!

Please read Romans 5:6-9. Why is the Gospel good news?

Romans 5:6–9 CSB

6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. 8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 How much more then, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath.

Later this year we’ll begin going through the book of Hebrews and whenever we do that we’ll study in depth about the sacrificial system in the Old Testament and how Jesus is greater. He is a greater priest and He offers a greater sacrifice. Romans 5 gives us some comparisons and contrasts of Adam and Jesus and we looked at these last Sunday when looking at the severity of our sin. This is called a Typology – Romans 5:14 tells us that Adam is a tupos in Greek or type in English of Christ. We have talked about this comparison. We are all in Adam as humans – the consequences of his sin spread to all humanity. The good news, though, is that as Christians, we are in Christ.

This quote by Robert Mounce in his commentary on Romans 5 is helpful:

No matter how devastating the sin of the first, the redemptive work of the second reverses the consequences of that sin and restores people to the favor of God. Only by grasping the seriousness of the first is one able to appreciate the remarkable magnanimity of the second.

Part of understanding what Jesus Christ has done for us means that we must first understand Genesis 3 and how severe our sin is in the eyes of God.

Sometimes we use words like “saved” when we talk about being a Christian. Many people talk about being saved but what does that look like in Scripture? Why is this such a big deal?

We are delivered from impending judgment and salvation from the wrath of God! More than that, though, we gain Jesus!

Page 18 mentions 3 different aspects of salvation: We are saved from the penalty of sin, we are saved from the practice of sin and we are saved from the pain of sin. Penalty, practice and pain. Which of these aspects of salvation do we focus more on as Christians in America?

I think more Christians focus on the penalty of sin – we are saved from hell/separation from God. We don’t think as much about what salvation does for us right now! We are saved from the practice of sin because we have the Holy Spirit inside of us and we are able to fight against that temptation and desire. We are also saved from the pain of sin and the guilt/regret that can follow it!

Allen shares that all eyes were on Jesus and everyone knew that He was a good guy - but many failed to worship Him as Lord. Many people do the same today. Why do you think this is the case?

Concluding thoughts:

- In our culture many Christians think of sharing the Gospel as a daunting task. Many do not feel like they can do this accurately. We all must be able to share the Gospel and share our testimony. You don’t have to have a Ph.D. level understanding of these things, but as a Christian you have to be able to tell this to others.

- The Gospel changes every aspect of our lives. Think right now about your life and ask, how has the Gospel changed me?

- The Gospel is good news, but it’s only good news for people who accept Christ as Lord. Before we proceed with this study, ask yourself if Christ is your Lord or if you have viewed your faith as doing things like attending church. Again, the law says do, the Gospel says done.