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9. Christian Faith and Works 1. HOW DO WE RECEIVE SALVATION FROM JESUS? 1FW John 3:16, 17. We receive salvation through believing in Jesus. In English there are two words that describe various aspects of our acceptance of God's grace—belief and faith. In Greek there is only one—pistis. The Greek word pistis, here translated as "believe," is often rendered by the word "faith." 2. WHAT DOES FAITH BRING TO THE BELIEVING PERSON? 2FW Ephesians 2:8, 9. The grace of God saves us, but faith brings grace to us. With the hand of faith we reach up to accept the grace of God. Nothing that we can do can earn salvation for us. 3. WHY CAN'T WE EARN OUR OWN SALVATION? 3FW Romans 3:23; 6:23 Even if we could keep ourselves from sinning from this day on, and even that would be an impossibility, we would still have to pay for all the sins we've already committed. And the "wages of sin is death," . . . well, there is just no way we can earn our own salvation. We discovered in another lesson that sin is breaking God's law. 4. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND SIN? 4FW Rom. 14:23. If we do not live by faith, we are living in sin. There is no way to live the Christian life without faith. Faith is the warp and the woof of salvation. There is no way to receive salvation except by faith. 5. HOW DO WE GET FAITH? 5FW Rom 12:3 God gives us a measure of faith to begin with, so that we may believe. Everyone has been given faith; it's what we do with that faith that decides our ultimate destination. 6. WHAT IS FAITH ANYWAY? 6FW Heb. 11:1. Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of things that we know are true—even though we do not see them with our physical eyes. 7. NOTICE SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF FAITHFUL PEOPLE IN HEBREWS 11. WHAT DID FAITH CAUSE THESE FAITHFUL PEOPLE TO DO? 7FW Heb. 11:4 Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain • Heb. 11:7 Noah built an ark to save his family.
• Heb. 11:11, 12 Abraham and
Sarah gave birth to a son • Heb. 11:17 Abraham sacrificed
his son in obedience to Hebrews 11:24 Moses gave up Egypt's throne to lead God's people to the promised land. Hebrews 11:30 The Israelites marched around Jericho until its walls fell. 8. IF WE ARE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, THEN WHAT RELATIONSHIP DOES FAITH HAVE WITH WORKS? 8 FW Ephesians 2:8-10. Faith makes it possible for us to do good works. Good works are of utmost importance for the Christian. God expects us to do good works. But we cannot earn salvation by doing things, or trying our best to bribe God with good conduct. Good works are a result of our receiving grace—salvation by faith. Good works are simply the end result of this experience. 9. WHAT DOES GOD USE AS A GAUGE TO SEE WHETHER OR NOT WE SHOULD BE SAVED? 9 FW Eccl 12:13, 14 God uses the ten commandments as the standard, and judges our lives according to those laws. God isn’t interested in what we do as much as He is interested in why we do it. That’s why Jesus told us that we are to keep the commandments because we love Him. (John 14:15) 10. IF WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE, THROUGH FAITH, THEN WHY WOULD GOD JUDGE US BY OUR WORKS? 10 FW James 2:18-26. The things we do demonstrate whether or not our faith is genuine. That's why God judges us by our works. Our deeds show whether or not we really believe. Works prove that the faith we profess is the real thing, and not just hypocrisy. 11. JESUS GIVES US A CALL TO COME TO HIM. IF WE REALLY BELIEVE IN HIM AS OUR SAVIOR, WHAT DOES HE PROMISE HE WILL GIVE TO US? 11 FW Matthew 11:28-30 When we believe in Jesus and come to Him, He will give us eternal rest, the peace that passes understanding—peace in a chaotic world. And the only way we can have that peace is through faith in the salvation that Jesus provides for us. This kind of faith could be described as "trust." Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isa 26:4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
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