Life Mission Group

Introduction (10 Minutes): begin with the discussion question on the last page of this session. Give them five or more minutes to write down their answers. Then have them tear it out of the notebook and hand it in. Comfort their fears by telling them you will shuffle their papers before you read them aloud.

session 4
the biblical gospel

Introductory Discussion
On the last page of this session you will find a sheet entitled, What is the Gospel to you? Take about five minutes or more and write down anything that comes to mind. When youre finished, tear the sheet out of your notebook, fold it once, and hand it to your Group Leader, who will shuffle them before reading the answers aloud.

Read Ephesians 2:1-10 Together

WHY IS THE GOSPEL GOOD NEWS?

1. The Old Way a. For the Jew: A system of daily, weekly, and seasonal sacrifices to atone for sin and foster a right relationship with God. Required slaughtering an animal and sprinkling its blood on the altar. b. For other religions: Various rituals including sacrifices of both animals and sometimes people, cutting oneself, special dances and chants. This was all designed to appease the gods and keep them from punishing the people. 2. Gods Solution (the Good News) b. For the Jew: God sends his Son to be the sacrifice for sin for all time. A permanent right relationship with God is restored for all. c. For other religions: God includes them in the promise. No longer must they make futile attempts to please multiple gods but instead the son of the only true God works on their behalf.

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OUR LIFE BEFORE JESUS

1. We Were Dead The reason we need a Savior is not just that we are in the doghouse with God and need to be forgiven for a few offenses. We need a Savior because we are in the morgue. In the doghouse you might whimper. You might say you are sorry. You might make some good resolutions. In the doghouse, you might even decide to cast yourself on the mercy of God. But what can you do if you are in the morgue? John Piper 2. Dead in Transgressions and Sins (vs. 1 & vs. 5) Transgression literally means to go beyond a limit or to deviate. Sin is a hunting word meaning to miss the mark. If you were out in the woods trying to kill an animal with a bow and arrow and you would miss, the word they would use is a sin. Paul isnt talking about two different ways of sinning, but is talking about the width and the depth of sin.

3. Sinful by nature (vs. 2-3) Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

4. Enemies of Spiritual Life. This passage outlines three enemies of spiritual life: a. The World: Sensualism, Materialism, and Worldly Ambition (the systems and values the world operates insee 1 John 2:15-17) b. Satan c. Us (our flesh or bodies) But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. (James 1:14) When spiritually dead people try to live they simply make idols out of everything that they love. So while youre dead in sin, you are alive for sin. Question: What do you love? Could these be idols in your life?

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HOW SHOULD A JUST GOD RESPOND TO SIN?

Question 1: Is it OK to say that God would be angry with Satan? Question 2: Is it OK to say that God would be a little upset with the worlds system and values of injustice and lying and cheating? Question 3: Well what about this. Is it OK to be angry with us for our sin? Question 4: Should God let us off the hook because we are good people? Being a good person isnt enough. God doesnt look at good and bad. He looks at perfect and imperfect. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, I want you to be perfect just as my heavenly faith is perfect. (Matt. 5:48).

WHAT DO WE DO?
1. Stop being dead! 2. Be made Alive in Christ! The process of being made alive is a. God initiates (He calls us to Himself) Question: What did Jesus say God was doing in John 4:23?

b. God saves (He regenerates us) Read the New Covenant passages and circle the Is in each passage. Jeremiah 31:31-34. 31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

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Ezekiel 36:26-27. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

c. We are to repent and believe. Question: What commands must be obeyed in order to be saved, according to Acts 2:38? Question: What commands must be obeyed, according to Acts 16:31?

Question: What does it mean to repent? And what does it mean to believe? o Repent. The Greek word is metanoeo, from the Greek prefix meta, meaning to change, and from the Greek noun nous, which means mind. To repent then means to change your mind. It means to change your thinking about sin. o Believe. The Greek word is pisteuoi, meaning to place faith in something, or to trust in something. Question: According to James 2:19 and its context, is there a kind of belief that does not save us? If so, what kind of faith is that? Question: According to Romans 4:20, what kind of belief or faith CAN and WILL save a person?

3. Receive Grace a. Grace describes ones attitude toward another, which is unilateral, one-sided, not depending upon what another does.

b. Grace isnt about merit or deserving, but about an unexplained love and generosity. God has given us freely what we absolutely do not deserve.

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c. God has always been gracious The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.... (Exodus 34:6-7)

d. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). i. We sin, but we dont die. Were the guilty party, yet we get to walk out of Gods courtroom of righteousness scot-free. ii. Jesus didnt sin, but He did die. Jesus was the innocent party, yet He submitted Himself to Gods full, all-out anger and wrath and punishment on the cross. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). e. If you are a Christian, you will never have to pay for your sins. The difference between Christianity and every other religion is that in other religions they say we need to do something so that we can be acceptable to god, or gods, or goddesses. Christianity says were unacceptable, but God makes us acceptable.

NOW WHAT?
1. What we WILL WANT to do is a. To Respond. Thats called worship. i. God initiates, loves, forgives, saves, changes, puts in a new heart. ii. What do we do? Respond. Worship is responding to the living God. b. To Believe Gods Promises. Thats called faith. i. Question: According to Romans 4:16-21, how did Abraham demonstrate faith in God? ii. Question: According to Romans 4:22, why did this faith save Abraham? iii. Question: According to Romans 4:23-25, how does this apply to our faith today?

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2. What we DONT do is boast. Question: According to Ephesians 2:8-9, why should we not boast? Question: According to Titus 3:3-7, why should we not boast? Question: According to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, we should we not boast?

3. Live a life of good works Question: What does Ephesians 2:10 say about us and good works?

Question: What does Titus 2:14 say about us and good works?

Session Four Assignment:

Pray and think through whether or not you have really understood the biblical gospel before. Then spend time below writing a testimony of where you think youre at right now at this point in your life with respect to what you learned today. Do you think what you learned today is true of you? If so, why? If not, why not? Use the back of this page for more space if necessary. Read Appendix Four: The Gospel in Summary Read Romans 3:9-26; James 2:8-26

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Introductory Discussion

What is the gospel to you?

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