Scripture: Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Summary: Our conscience is "our God-given inner voice, an internal witness that testifies to the level of our personal obedience ...." It warns us when we are about to sin and reminds us of our guilt when we do sin. When we repeatedly ignore our conscience, it becomes desensitized and no longer functions as God designed it to. On the other hand, when we listen to a guilty conscience and focus on our sin and failure—without remembering that God sees us clothed in the the righteousness of Christ—persistent guilt can incapacitate us. When we are justified by faith in Christ, God views us just-as-if we had always obeyed. The only way to escape persistent guilt is to acknowledge our sin and turn to the cross and remember the mercy, freedom, and peace that Christ provides by his righteousness.
Discussion: What have you used in the past to attempt to escape the voice of your conscience? Is this sinful? Why or why not? (55)
Explain how a healthy remembrance of our sin can be a blessing. (58, last paragraph; 59)
October 5 (week off because of NANC)
Redeemer Logo2
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
September 21 Chapter 3 Gospel Enemy #1: Self-righteousness
Scripture: Romans 10:3-4 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Summary: We are guilty of self righteousness any time we judge or measure ourselves on the basis of our own performance. There are two kinds of self-righteous Christians: 1) those who take pride, satisfaction and comfort in their Christian lifestyle or "goodness," and 2) those who are discouraged with themselves and struggle with a burden of persistent guilt. In both cases, the believer is focusing on his own performance rather than on the righteousness of Christ. Self-righteousness will eventually rob a Christian of the joy and assurance of salvation that comes from resting in the righteousness of Christ alone.
Discussion: Describe the self-righteous moralistic believer. Based on your answers to the ten questions, do you tend to fit in this category? (47-49)
Why is persistent guilt actually a form of self-righteousness toward God? (50-51)
Summary: We are guilty of self righteousness any time we judge or measure ourselves on the basis of our own performance. There are two kinds of self-righteous Christians: 1) those who take pride, satisfaction and comfort in their Christian lifestyle or "goodness," and 2) those who are discouraged with themselves and struggle with a burden of persistent guilt. In both cases, the believer is focusing on his own performance rather than on the righteousness of Christ. Self-righteousness will eventually rob a Christian of the joy and assurance of salvation that comes from resting in the righteousness of Christ alone.
Discussion: Describe the self-righteous moralistic believer. Based on your answers to the ten questions, do you tend to fit in this category? (47-49)
Why is persistent guilt actually a form of self-righteousness toward God? (50-51)
Monday, September 14, 2009
September 14 Chapter 2 The Motivation of the Gospel
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
Summary: This chapter presents three examples of people who were profoundly motivated by the gospel: the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet, the prophet Isaiah, and the apostle Paul. Each of these people had a powerful experience in their relationship to God, and their experiences had three elements in common with each other: 1) an acute awareness of their sinfulness and God's holiness, 2) an understanding and assurance that their sins were forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross, and 3) gratitude, love and commitment to God. All believers should respond in the same way to the mercies of God, with deep gratitude and lives of committed service to God. We should remind ourselves daily of the love and grace God has poured out on us, so that our gratitude and love for God grows, and does not diminish.
Discussion: None of us loves Christ the way he deserves to be loved. Discuss the two reasons for this identified in the first paragraph on page 34.
What were the three steps common to both Isaiah's experience and that of the sinful woman of Luke 7? (36, paragraph 2) When you think of the last paragraph in the section on Isaiah (37, paragraph 1), what can you do to grow in your experience of the motivating power of the gospel?
Summary: This chapter presents three examples of people who were profoundly motivated by the gospel: the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet, the prophet Isaiah, and the apostle Paul. Each of these people had a powerful experience in their relationship to God, and their experiences had three elements in common with each other: 1) an acute awareness of their sinfulness and God's holiness, 2) an understanding and assurance that their sins were forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross, and 3) gratitude, love and commitment to God. All believers should respond in the same way to the mercies of God, with deep gratitude and lives of committed service to God. We should remind ourselves daily of the love and grace God has poured out on us, so that our gratitude and love for God grows, and does not diminish.
Discussion: None of us loves Christ the way he deserves to be loved. Discuss the two reasons for this identified in the first paragraph on page 34.
What were the three steps common to both Isaiah's experience and that of the sinful woman of Luke 7? (36, paragraph 2) When you think of the last paragraph in the section on Isaiah (37, paragraph 1), what can you do to grow in your experience of the motivating power of the gospel?
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Fall Schedule for 2009
Sept 7 Chapter 1 The Righteousness of Christ
Sept 14 Chapter 2 The Motivation of the Gospel
Sept 21 Chapter 3 Gospel Enemy #1: Self-righteousness
Sept 28 Chapter 4 Gospel Enemy #2: Persistent Guilt
Oct 12 Chapter 5 Leaning on the First Bookend
Oct 19 Chapter 6 The Power of the Holy Spirit
Oct 26 Chapter 7 Dependent Responsibility
Nov 2 Chapter 8 The Help of the Divine Encourager
Nov 9 Chapter 9 Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance
Nov 16 Chapter 10 Leaning on the Second Bookend
September 7 - Chapter 1 The Righteousness of Christ
Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."
Summary: Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. He never sinned and he always obeyed fully and perfectly, in spite of being confronted with the most intense temptation. The epitome of his obedience was his willing sacrifice on the cross, in which he endured separation from his Father. Jesus endured the cross to take the guilt and punishment for our sin, so that we could be forgiven and credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. That is justification. Once we are justified, God always sees us to be as righteous as Christ himself.
The righteousness of Christ is the first bookend of the Christian life. But sometimes we don’t live as though we have this bookend in place; instead, we act as though we have to earn God’s blessings by our obedience—or we think we’ve forfeited God’s blessings by our failure to live a good life. Both those attitudes are wrong; instead, we must continually, by faith, renounce any trust in our own performance as the basis of our acceptance before God, and we must rely entirely on the righteousness of Christ as the basis of our standing before God.
Discussion: Faith involves both a renunciation and a reliance. In terms of the first bookend, what kind of renunciation is required of us? (p. 28, paragraphs 1-2)
What does it look like when we stand in the present reality of our justification every day? What difference will it make in our day-to-day, moment-to-moment lives? (p. 27-30)
Sept 14 Chapter 2 The Motivation of the Gospel
Sept 21 Chapter 3 Gospel Enemy #1: Self-righteousness
Sept 28 Chapter 4 Gospel Enemy #2: Persistent Guilt
Oct 12 Chapter 5 Leaning on the First Bookend
Oct 19 Chapter 6 The Power of the Holy Spirit
Oct 26 Chapter 7 Dependent Responsibility
Nov 2 Chapter 8 The Help of the Divine Encourager
Nov 9 Chapter 9 Gospel Enemy #3: Self-reliance
Nov 16 Chapter 10 Leaning on the Second Bookend
September 7 - Chapter 1 The Righteousness of Christ
Scripture: Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."
Summary: Jesus lived a perfectly righteous life. He never sinned and he always obeyed fully and perfectly, in spite of being confronted with the most intense temptation. The epitome of his obedience was his willing sacrifice on the cross, in which he endured separation from his Father. Jesus endured the cross to take the guilt and punishment for our sin, so that we could be forgiven and credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ. That is justification. Once we are justified, God always sees us to be as righteous as Christ himself.
The righteousness of Christ is the first bookend of the Christian life. But sometimes we don’t live as though we have this bookend in place; instead, we act as though we have to earn God’s blessings by our obedience—or we think we’ve forfeited God’s blessings by our failure to live a good life. Both those attitudes are wrong; instead, we must continually, by faith, renounce any trust in our own performance as the basis of our acceptance before God, and we must rely entirely on the righteousness of Christ as the basis of our standing before God.
Discussion: Faith involves both a renunciation and a reliance. In terms of the first bookend, what kind of renunciation is required of us? (p. 28, paragraphs 1-2)
What does it look like when we stand in the present reality of our justification every day? What difference will it make in our day-to-day, moment-to-moment lives? (p. 27-30)
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