True Christianity - Beliefs

summer 2010 series companion guide

written by eric dominguez edited by jake johnson & rebecca bostic

sermon audio content available at praxischurch.com

We struggled with titling this series. After bouncing around many ideas, we settled on True Christianity hop-ing this title would communicate our desire to challenge believers and non-believers regarding the founda-tions of our faith. We also hope this series serves as a venue for the Praxis congregation to continue to learn about what it means to be a lifelong disciple of Jesus.

Yet, we recognize that the title True Christianity may have a condescend-ing tone. It inherently implies that we have all of the answers, truth, and judgments regarding what Christianity is and is not.

The great Christian philosopher C.S. Lewis, in his preface to Mere Chris-tianity, commented on asserting the Christian truth by stating: People ask ‘who are you, to lay down who is, and who is not a Christian?’ or ‘May not many a man who cannot believe these doctrines be far more truly a Christian, far closer to the spirit of Christ than some do?’…

It’s not for us to say who, in the deepest sense, is or is not close to the spirit of Christ. We do not see into men’s hearts. We cannot judge, and are indeed forbidden to judge. It

would be wicked arrogance for us to say that any man is, or is not, a Chris-tian in this refined sense.

This series is not designed to judge, sort, or label. We’re humbled by the task that God has given us to teach His word and serve His Kingdom. Yet, the Apostle Paul warns us in Colossians to,

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Col. 2:8).

We live in a city and culture filled with philosophies, empty deceit, human traditions, and sprits of the world—all that would have you believe there are no absolute truths, that the Bible isn’t real, and that you don’t really need community or discipline to thrive.

As pastors, but even more so as Christians, we have a responsibility preach the Word in truth and address the various misconceptions, attacks, and lies that others may have regard-ing our Christian faith. This series will bring us back to truths some don’t know, some forgot, or some may not be living out. We have divided the series into three separate sections:

Beliefs

This section outlines the core theolo-gies of our faith. Understanding that the word theology has some signifi-cant connotations, Dr. Wayne Grudem reminds us in his Systematic Theol-ogy that we must study theology with rejoicing and praise. “The study of theology is not merely a theoretical exercise of intellect. It’s a study of the living God, and of the wonders of all his works in creation and redemption. We cannot study this subject dispas-sionately!” During this section we’ll examine the doctrine of the Trinity, the Revelation of Scriptures, how we’re created in the image of God, how that image is marred by the fall, and our redemption in Christ.

Identities

This section moves us from study-ing the beliefs that make us uniquely Christian to focusing on how those beliefs inform our identity, who we are as a community of believers on mis-sion, for we are not meant to live and practice the Christian life alone. Our Missional Communities are at the core of what we believe here at Praxis and the main catalyst for Praxis’ mission to have people hear the Gospel and be changed by Christ. Thus, we’ll study how we as Christians in Missional

Communities are family, missionaries, learners, and servants.

Behaviors

This section reminds us why Chris-tians must continually grow in relation-ship with God. Dallas Willard reminds us that while many claim Christianity, the fervor and impact that the Gospel should have on our life is truly lacking. “By modest estimate, more than a quarter of the entire population of the United States have professed an evangelical conversion experience. William Iverson wryly observes that ‘A pound of meat would surely be affected by a quarter pound of salt. If this is real Christianity, the “salt of the earth,” where is the effect of which Je-sus spoke?’” Our hope in this section is to examine the key Christian disci-plines of prayer, solitude and fasting, generosity, and corporate worship.

We hope that the next twelve weeks will challenge you, your faith, your commitment to God, His word, and His mission. We encourage you to dedicate yourself to the study of the topics at hand and engage Praxis pastors and leaders with your ques-tions, objections, and obstacles to these eternally important ideas.

The Praxis Pastors

introduction

true christianity introduction

Read: Matthew 3:16-17

And when Jesus was baptized, im-mediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

If we ever completely figure out God, we’ll be sincerely disappointed.

The all-powerful, all-knowing, all- present God shouldn’t be someone we “master” and know everything about. Yet He frustrates us when He doesn’t stay in the little box we con-tain in which Him for our enjoyment and understanding.

Today’s Scripture reading points to one of those mysteries of God: the doctrine of the Trinity. We see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit present in the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, which would lead to our eternal salvation. The basic assertions of the Trinity are:

1.Godisthreepersons. 2.EachpersonisfullyGod. 3.ThereisoneGod.

Although each person of the Trinity is present at Jesus’ baptism, we know from our Scripture that there’s only one true God.

So how can three equal one?

It’s easy to fall into heretical traps here. Modalism (the belief that God takes on different “characters” of His Trinity at different times), Arianism (the belief that Jesus isn’t fully God), and Tritheism (the belief that there are three separate gods) all arose because people couldn’t allow mys-tery to exist in God. They all focused on what they didn’t know about the Trinity, instead of what they did know. Examining the relationship God has in the Trinity we can learn how to be in humble, loving, worshipful, relational, unified and diverse, submissive, and a joyful community. The Trinity shows us that just because we don’t know everything about God, doesn’t mean He isn’t there, accessible, and loving.

This mystery of the Trinity creates two types of tension. Either we attempt to articulate theories in creative analo-gies about ice or eggs or shacks while trying to crack this Biblical code, or, frustrated, we blind ourselves to the practical applications to the Trin-ity. But, just because we can’t learn everything about God doesn’t mean

that we can’t learn from Him—and about Him.

Scripture commands us to love the Lord our God with all of our minds—meaning we should be constantly learning and searching for the truth in Him. Yet, we’re also called to give up some of our need to have mystery solved and trust that God is God, rejoicing in what we do know while using what God has revealed to us.

Discussion

What are some theories, metaphors, or explanations that you’ve heard about the Trinity? Why do each of these fall short of the full truth of the Trinity?

What has the Father accomplished? The Son? The Spirit? What role does each person of the Trinity play in your life?

Explanation

Why did Jesus want to be baptized? What was the purpose behind it?

What was the Father’s response to Jesus’ baptism?

What was the Spirit’s response to Jesus’ baptism?

Why was it important for all three per-sons of the Trinity to be present?

What roles did each one take at this event?

Application

The Trinity exemplifies perfect, God ordained community. Examine the following attributes we learn from the Trinity and consider how you’re living them out in your personal relation-ships:

• Humility Are you willing to serve those around you, even when you feel you shouldn’t?

• Loving How do you show love to others? How do you care for them?

• Worshipful Are you praising God together with those around you? Do you pray, study scripture, and attend services together with your friends?

• Relational Do you have friends or do you use friends? How often do listen to them and serve them? How often do you go out of your way to meet with them?

true christianity beliefs

• Unified and diverse Do you accept differences in others? Do you celebrate those differences? How do you use your eclectic gifts to glorify God?

• Submissive Do you fight to get your will and your way all the time?

• Joyful Do you delight in others’ company or are you miserable when you’re around people? Are you grateful for the people around you or do you grumble that you’re burdened with them?

Scripture to Examine

There’s only One God:

Gen. 1:1, Deut. 4:35, 39, 6:4-5; 32:39, 1 Sam. 2:22, 2 Sam. 7:22, 22-32, 1 Kings 8:59-60, 2 Chron. 15:3; Ps. 86-8-10, Isa. 37:20; 43:10, 44:6-8; 45:5, 12, 21-22; 46:9; Jer.10:10;

John 5:4:44; 17:3; Rom. 3:30; 16:27; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim 1:17, 2:5; 1 Thess. 1:9; James 2:19; Jude 25; 1 John 5:20-21.

Father is God:

John 6:27; 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 1:3; 1 Pet. 1:3.

Jesus is God:

Matt. 28:9; John 1:1-4, 14; 5:17-18; 8:58; 10:30-38; 12:37-41; cf. Isa. 6:9-11; 20:28-29; Acts 20:28; Rom. 1:3-4; 9:5; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:10-11; Col. 1:16-17; 2:8-9; 1 Tim. 6:15; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 1:8, 17-18; 17:14; 19:16; 22:13-16.

The Holy Spirit is God:

Gen. 1:2; Ps. 104:30; Heb. 9:14; Mic. 3:8; Acts 1:8; Rom. 15:13, 19; Isa. 40:13-14; 1 Cor. 2:10. Ps 139:7; Acts 5:3-4; John 14:16; 2 Cor. 3:16-18.


There are characteristics of God, like the Trinity, that we have a hard time understanding because we don’t share those attributes—they are beyond comprehension. For example, Scripture teaches that God is eternal, all knowing, and ever present—quali-ties which we certainly don’t possess and thus find difficult to relate to. Our devotions this week will examine some of God’s communicable at-tributes—the attributes that He does share with us—to remind us that although God is mysterious, He isn’t impersonal.

Monday: God’s Knowledge

God fully knows Himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act.

1 Corinthians 2:9-11

But, as it’s written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches every-thing, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

We live in our own little worlds. Aside from God, we’re the only person that fully knows our own thoughts. We carefully and strategically reveal ourselves to others. Yet we’re still frustrated that God does the same thing to reveal Himself to us. While we’ll never fully understand God, we should take great joy in His infinite knowledge of Himself and of us, rejoicing in His plan to show Himself to us in His time.

Today, spend some time in meditative prayer releasing what you don’t know (complex theologies, the deepest intri-cacies of God’s plan), and celebrating what you do know: that God is great, He loves you, and has wonderful plans for you that maybe you can’t yet see, but that will eventually be revealed.

Tuesday: God’s Wisdom

God’s wisdom means that God al-ways chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals.


For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who

are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weak-ness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it’s written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Our study of God can obscure our relationship with Him. We attempt to classify and fit Him into our under-standing, trying to impress others with the newest evangelistic technique, or the freshest, most analytical theologi-cal theory. However, today’s passage reminds us that flaunting our theologi-cal terminology often leads to foolish boasting. God’s plans are much, much better than our own and much more unexpected.

Reflect on a time when you didn’t know God or when you walked away from what He clearly set out for you to do. Were your choices wise? Were you effective? Were you joyful? Today, praise the Lord that He’s the one setting down your path, thanking Him

that He’s wise beyond anything we can compartmentalize.

Wednesday: God’s Faithfulness

God’s truthfulness means that God will always do what He said and fulfill what He has promised.

2 Samuel 7:18-29

Then King David went in and sat be-fore the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, ac-cording to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you estab-lished for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house,


and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue for-ever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

Despite a very long, turbulent road, David’s military victories paid off as he eventually became the rightful King of Israel. The various hardships he endured on the way to becoming king certainly warranted lost hope. How-ever, David clung to God’s unshakable promises.

What has God promised to do for you? How often do you study God’s prom-ises? Reflecting on the promises He has made to always love you and be with you, pray that God helps you cast all anxieties up to Him to search and serve the Kingdom in all that you do.

Thursday: God’s Goodness

The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good and all that God is and does is worthy of approval.

James 1:12-18

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has prom-ised to those who love him. Let no one say when He’s tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when He is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

William Shakspeare once said, “When sorrows come—they come not single spied—but in battalions.” Many know the adage in its simpler form: “When it rains, it pours.” When our life floods with difficulties, our view of God is muddled in the midst of our junk. We can’t fathom why God would put us through such a mess, and we wonder if He’s really there in the first place.

This week’s devotional lessons regarding God’s knowledge, wisdom, and faithfulness don’t mean anything if we’re not willing to put our theology in action. We must remember that God is good in everything He is and everything He does. We must remain steadfast during our tumultuous

seasons, trusting that He’s molding us, shaping us, and bringing us closer to Him.

Today, rejoice in your battles. Not in the pain that they cause but in the fact that God is good and will guide you, protect you, and lead you perfectly through all storms so that you may know and love Him more than you did before.

Friday: God’s Love

God’s love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others.

1 John 4:7-19

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have

come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judg-ment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There’s no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.

There’s an underlying motivation in all of the attributes we have exam-ined this week: love. Silly love songs have conditioned us to think that all we need is love, but this concept of love—denigrated through our notions of cinema, cupid, and comfort—has blinded us to what it truly means to love. We wrongfully assume that if we give just enough, we’re giving more than required. Yet, God gave up everything—the Father watched the Son brutally murdered, as the Son felt separation from the Father.

Why?

So that we too could fully feel the love that God has for us. He eternally gives of Himself to you; He bestows His goodness, faithfulness, wisdom and knowledge and for this, and today, we should rejoice in unashamed, vocifer-ous prayer.

Saturday: God’s Mercy, Grace and Patience

God’s mercy means God’s goodness towards those in misery and distress;


God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only pun-ishment; God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.

Exodus 34:6-7

The Lord passed before him and pro-claimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

This week’s devotions made us feel good. It’s comforting that God is pres-ent in ways we can relate to—and in ways we can’t possibly understand. However, we must continually reflect that God doesn’t have to give us any-thing. In fact, because of our sin, we should be punished in the harshest way. But because God is good, be-cause God is love, He chose to fix the problem through Jesus who suffered in the harshest way. Today, remember that although you’ll never fully under-stand God, you can understand the simplest facts: He has saved you from a life without Him and life with Him is filled with eternal goodness, eternal promises, and eternal love.

notes

Read: 2 Peter 1:16-21

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewit-nesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

A few years ago, many claimed a knockout blow to the heart of Chris-tian scripture. Riding the coattails of Dan Brown’s wildley popular The Da-Vinci Code, The Gospel of Judas re-emerged as another piece of ancient writing suppressed by the church, re-vealing the truth about Jesus. It’s very interesting that those who cheered,

supported, and believed the findings are the same people who reject the Bible based off of questions of its authenticity. It’s amazing what a little research can do to a flawed, illogical argument. How many ancient, reliable copies of the “Gospel” of Judas are in known existence? One. How many ancient, reliable copies of New Testa-ment scriptures do we have? Only about 14,000.

Too many people fall prey to these cleverly devised myths because they simply don’t want the Bible to be true. They shield their eyes, refuse to listen to Christian arguments, and do anything they possibly can to justify attacks on God’s word.

Today’s passage is a wonderful rebuttal to those who tried to explain Christianity outside of the truth; Peter simply tells them, “I was there, and I saw what the scriptures said.” He continues to give us an inside look as to how the word of God came to us. As Christians, we believe that God wrote Scripture “in concert with human authors whom He inspired to perfectly record His words [through the belief] called verbal (the very words of the Bible) plenary (every part of the Bible) inspiration (are God-breathed revelation).” Simply put: we believe the Bible that we have today

is the true, reliable, direct word of God, relevant and applicable to knowing God.

Yes, we’ve all taken that college class, read a “scholarly” article, or watched a convincing Discovery Channel special that challenges our belief in God’s word—there are certainly enough challenges to Scripture to keep us in study for quite a while. But if we have faith that Jesus died on the cross for our sins—that God Himself came down, humbled himself out of love for you and your life—if we have faith in that unbelievable miracle, then why do we panic in light of a “new discovery” or “different take” or even “the real truth” about Christianity?

No, our faith should not be blind. As Christians, we must know our Bible well, and also know about our Bible; we must research and be well informed in order to combat the faulty claims made by the world. Because research and facts don’t always convince others we must, like Peter, be eyewitnesses to what God and His word have done. Our story of faith, change, and newfound life is the ulti-mate argument, the ultimate rebuttal, and the ultimate testimony that God’s word is living and active, true and reli-able for everyone to hear.

Discussion

What are some of the attacks or oppositions you have heard about the Bible? How do you address these concerns?

When you hear of these concerns, what is your reaction? Are you more likely to second guess your faith in God or stand firm in your faith? What resources do you have to learn and research about these issues?

Many truth claims of Scripture come from Scripture itself. How does one address this circular argument?

Explanation

Even as Peter was writing this piece of Scripture, there were already at-tacks on his credibility, the credibility of the Bible, and the certainty of the Christian faith, just as there is today. What does this continued pattern of attack tell us?

Reread Matthew 3:16-17. How does Peter use this event to defend his faith in God?

Why does Peter refer to the scriptures as “to a lamp shining in a dark place?” How have you seen this play out in your life?


This passage gives a first hand, expe-riential inside look as to how Scripture was written. How does it exemplify verbal planetary inspiration?

Application

List the top three objections you have heard against the Christian scriptures. Spend some time during the next month researching these objections and talking to those who would de-fend those objections.

Spend some time studying what Scripture says and claims about itself. What is easy for you to accept? What is most difficult for you to accept?


Bible – Truth Claims

Deut. 4:2: 12:32; Isa. 7:14; Ps. 12:16; 19:7; 119:140; 119:160; Prov. 6:23; 30:5-6; Isa. 55:11; Mic. 5:2; Luke 16:29, 31; John 17:17; Acts 17:11; Rom. 16:25-27; 1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Cor. 7:10, 12; 1 Thess. 2:13; 1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Tim. 2:16; Heb. 4:12; James 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; 2 Pet. 3:15-16;

Bible – Poetics

Ps. 19:10: Ps. 119:105; Jer. 15:16; Jer. 23:29; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12; James 1:21; 1 Pet. 2:2.


God’s Word contains many promises and revelations, not just about Himself and His love for us, but also about His own word. This week we’ll examine various elements and promises that the Bible makes of itself to rejoice in our security that the Holy Scriptures are true, applicable, and relevant to our lives today.

Monday: The Canon of Scripture

The canon of Scripture is the list of all the books that belong in the Bible.

Hebrews 1:1-2

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Many wrongfully assume that that the Bible was maliciously or errone-ously arranged. With debates ranging from within the Christian community (Catholic Apocrypha) and outside of the Christian community (Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Mary), it isn’t difficult to have a muddled view as to how the scrip-tures were put together.

In his article The Cannon of the New Testament, F.F. Bruce rebukes:

The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and general apostolic authority… The approved books were then called the “canon” of Scripture, “canon” being a Greek word meaning “rod” or “ruler.” These books consti-tuted the standard rule of faith for all the churches. So we conclude that the canon of scripture was not practi-cally decided by a group of rulers or priests but by the people in the churches as each book proved itself effectual.

In other words, no one arbitrarily de-cided what to include in the Bible. Instead, rebuking heresies of their time, these councils simply affirmed what was already believed to be the direct word of God. Today’s passage leads us to rejoice in the books we have in the Bible. God has spoken to us in many ways through many peo-ple and it has been recorded for us in the Holy Scriptures. Today, praise Him for giving you His word, and pray that, if you don’t already have one, that

notes

the Holy Spirit inspire you with a Bible reading and study plan.

Tuesday: The Authority of Scripture

The authority of Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for train-ing in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

For many, authority is a bad word. We don’t want to be told what to do or how to do it. If we follow rules, it’s be-cause we find the regulations just, fair, and fit for our lives. But when some-one else tells us what should be done we rebel, sometimes aggressively.

Reading Scripture should intimidate our hearts—we’ll inevitably find some-thing our sinful heart doesn’t agree with and the Holy Spirit will convict us to change our ways.

Today, evaluate your heart and your view of Scripture—do you submit to the authoritative Word of God? Or do you pick and choose, highlight-ing the things you like, skipping the things you don’t understand, and crossing off the things you disagree with? Pray that the Lord will give you the wisdom and the courage to see

yourself through Scripture and that He helps you understand that the authority, reproof, and correction that He brings are out of love and in your best interest.

Wednesday: Inerrancy of Scripture

The inerrancy of Scripture means that Scripture in the original manuscripts doesn’t affirm anything that is contrary to fact.

Psalm 12:6

The words of the Lord are pure words,like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

Bart Ehrman made a fortune off of his book Misquoting Jesus, claiming that scripture was ignorantly or maliciously changed in order to advance political and theological beliefs. His mislead-ing arguments also ignore the fact that in comparison with most ancient manuscripts, asseeninthecharttotheright, the Bible is by far the most reliable text modern historians have.

Any textual variants (discrepancies be-tween different copies of manuscripts) with which Ehrman speaks of are all footnoted in your Bible, and none cont- radict or impact any major Christian doctrine. We generally struggle to see the Bible as a perfect piece of writing, mainly because we don’t under-stand how God Himself can be fully perfect. Yet, if we believe that God is all powerful why wouldn’t we be able to believe that He could create a perfect word for us. Today, rejoice in


the reliability of Scripture – that what you read is true and relevant to your life and pray that the Lord give you the faith and trust in His Scripture to fol-low His complete word completely.

Thursday: The Clarity of Scripture

The clarity of scripture means that the Bible is written in such a way that its teachings are able to be understood by all who will read it seeking God’s help and being willing to follow it.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

Homer ca. 850 BC 643 95%

Herodotus ca. 450 BC ca. AD 900 Appx. 1350 8 *

Euripides ca. 440 BC ca. AD 1000 Appx. 1500 9 *

Thucydides ca. 420 BC ca. AD 900 Appx. 1300 8 *

Plato ca. 380 BC ca. AD 900 Appx. 1300 7 *

Aristotle ca. 359 BC ca. AD 1100 Appx. 1400 5 *

Caesar ca. 60 BC ca. AD 900 Appx. 950 10 *

Catullus ca. 50 BC ca. AD 1500 Appx. 1600 3 *

Livy ca. 10 BC 20 *

Tacitus ca. AD 100 ca. AD 1100 Appx. 1000 20 *

New ca. AD 60 ca. AD 130 Appx. 100 Appx. 99.5%Testament 1400

* Not enough copies to reconstruct the original.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

We’re easily intimidated by big books. We justify our lack of Bible read-ing by claiming that it’s too hard to understand. However, our lack of understanding comes from laziness; our desire to attain greatness without putting in the great work often over-comes God’s command to know Him

better. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar, or elite intellectual in order to understand Scripture. Yes, it takes effort, effort that God demands of us in order to know Him better. Today’s passage reminds us to think and talk about God’s word all the time, every day. The Holy Spirit promises to guide our study, showing us exactly what Scripture means and how it applies to our life. Today, find that section of Scripture you struggle with – pray that the Lord give you the wisdom, resourc-es, and understanding to be able to apply His word to your walk with Him.

Friday: The Necessity of Scripture

The necessity of Scripture means that the Bible is necessary for knowing the gospel, for maintaining spiritual life, and for knowing God’s will, but isn’t necessary for knowing that God exists or for knowing something about God’s character and moral laws.

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the

temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

“‘He’ll command his angels concern-ing you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your Godand him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

We undeniably need Scripture. Jesus, after having fasted for 40 days, medi-ating on Scripture and nearing Himself to the Father, was confronted by the devil and his schemes. Every time Sa-tan tempted Jesus, Jesus responded with God’s word, rebuking the enemy with a powerful “it is written.” Jesus, as our ultimate example shows us that the Bible isn’t just a book full of applicable adages, but is a powerful tool to know God, and combat spiri-tual attacks. Without the Word of God we’re defenseless, left to our own sin-ful, flawed logic and desires which will ultimately fail us. Today ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you are miss-ing in your daily spiritual bread and


to fill that void; find a verse, passage, chapter, or even book of the Bible and commit to memorizing it.

Saturday: Sufficiency of Scripture

The sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contained all the words of God He intended his people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains everything we need God to tell us for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.

Psalm 119

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord!

Psalm 119 (the longest chapter in the Bible at 176 verses) is about rejoicing in God’s Word, His Law, and His regu-lations. This is a radical, outlandish idea – who praises God for… rules? The Psalmist, however, understood that God’s instruction and guidance is all we need for a truly rich and blessed life; following Him is our top priority as He’s the only one who satisfies. Yes, there are many books, Bible commen-taries, podcasts, classes, and videos we can use to get us closer to God. But the one and only thing we need is to walk in His word by His will.

Today, rejoice in prayer and worship that the Lord has provided a perfect word, a perfect law to guide us in our relationship with Him.

notes

Read: Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creep- ing thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The way that we treat others is highly selective.

If you are a parent, you can see your own personality and habits (good and bad) within your own child. Even if you’re not a parent, you can still see your own qualities in the people you choose to associate with. Yet, we’re quick to judge the rude strangers, dis-tance ourselves from those who harm us, and become enraged at anyone who gets in the way of our success. In short, we like the people who are like us and generally dislike or at most are indifferent to the people who are not like us. The Bible opens with today’s passage, showing how the Trinitar-ian God lovingly and carefully created everyone in His image, even those people whom you don’t like.

Earlier in this series we discussed God’s communicable attributes (characteristics of God that we can understand because we share those attributes) and incommunicable at-tributes (characteristics of God that are harder to understand because we don’t share those attributes). The topic of Imago Dei (Latin for Image of God) focuses primarily on those aspects that God gave to us as our Heavenly Father. We parallel Him in various moral, spiritual, mental, and relational, characteristics, a fact that can lead us down a bewildered philosophical path asking some pretty erroneous questions like: does God look like us? Does He have bad hair days? Is He grumpy in the morning when He wakes up, too?

While we can certainly get lost in the details, the implications of being made in God’s image are simple and profound. If you are a child of God, if He made you in His image – how much more will He be caring for you? If He made everyone around us in His image, how does that change the way that we view and treat ourselves and others? If we understand God’s original design for our lives, we can then see how far we have fallen, how broken we are.

We must always remember that our lives are not our own. They’re pre-cious gifts direct from God. Further-more, our new lives, our salvation, is a blessing bought at an incredibly painful cost. Knowing how much God has done to create us, love us, and redeem us we must live each moment for what He made us for: to give Him glory and to be more and more like Him every day.

Discussion

When do you have the lowest view of yourself? The highest? Why? If we’re created in God’s image, what implica-tions does this have on this view?

When do you have the lowest view of others? The highest? Why? If we’re created in God’s image, what implica-tions does this have on this view?

Explanation

Read all of Genesis chapter one. How were humans created unique in com-parison with other animals?

What were God’s commands to hu-mans (before the fall)? What were we responsible for? What does that say about God and His purpose for our existence?

Read Genesis chapter two. How does God give life to Adam? What does this say about God’s love for us as individuals?

What did God say was “not good?” What does this say about God’s love for us as families and communities?

Read Genesis Chapter 3. How did we ruin God’s initial design for us? What was the result of our sin?

Application

Evaluate your recent conflicts or judgments on people. How could you have handled those differently keep-ing Imago Dei in the forefront of the conflict.

Are you using the body that God gifted you for His glory? How well do you care for yourself? Evaluate your eating, sleeping, and exercise patterns and assess how well you are caring well for God’s temple.

Jesus, although fully divine, was fully human. Spend a few hours to read through the Gospel of Luke. What les-sons can we learn from Jesus about what it means to be an image bearer of God?



We’re made in His Image:

Gen. 1:26-27; 5:1-3; 9:6; 1 Cor. 11:7; James 3:9

Attributes that God shares with us (holiness, love, truth, righteousness, mercy, beauty):

Gen: 18:25; Ex. 3:5, 34:6-7; Lev 19:2; Num. 23:19; Deut. 32:4; Pss. 5:4-6, 27:4; 50: 2, 84:11, 99:5; Eccles. 2:12; Isa. 6:3, 8:13, 33:17, 57:15; Hab. 1:12-13; Matt. 18:23-35; John 3:16; 14:6; 17:17; Acts 17:31; Rom. 2:11; 12:8; 2 Cor. 1:20; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 2:4-7; 1 Pet. 1:14-19; 1 John 1:5; 4:8-16; Titus 1:2, 3:5.


Being made in the Image of God has significant applications to the way we live our lives. This week we’ll focus on how we view and treat ourselves and others, how we can use Jesus as our ultimate example, how we respond to our new life, and what we can hope for in God’s redeemed creation in Heaven.

Monday: Our View of Ourselves

Psalm 139-13-16

For you formed my inward parts;you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed sub-stance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

We’re fearfully and wonderfully made. The ESV Study Bible commentators eloquently elaborate on this concept:

The word translated “wonderfully made” (Hb. nipleti) has a slightly un-usual spelling (the expected spell-ing is niple’ti), which favors the esv footnote: “I am fearfully set apart.” This takes the word to be the term for God setting his people apart (Ex. 8:22; Ps. 4:3) or making a distinction between them and those who are not his people (Ex. 9:4; 11:7; 33:16). The faithful person singing this, who in the OT would be the child of faithful parents, can affirm that God set his special love upon him from the earli-est stages of his personal life (cf. Ps. 22:9–10; 71:5–6).

While this may be a strong memory verse for some of us, being a child of God isn’t something we apply very often. There’s always some physical, emotional, or intellectual flaw that we beat ourselves up about, stay con-sistently self-conscious, and yearn to change. Yet, the Lord created you just as you are for very specific reasons. Because of the cross, because of His sacrifice, He loves, not the person you are going to be one day, but the person you are today. Reflect on the fact that God made you just the way that He wanted to and that He set you apart for Himself – rejoice in this fact and respond by evaluating how you see and treat yourself as a child of God.

notes

Tuesday: Our View of Others

James 3:9

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

We have sharply trained tongues. Television news “debates,” talk radio rants, and even classroom discourses require us to be quick-witted, bit-ing, and damaging with our words. However, the Lord instructs us to use our speech only for building up; when our sinful, broken nature compels us to verbally berate someone, war-ranted or not, or even when we make that hurtful sarcastic side comment, we’re lashing out against one of God’s creations. Today, repent of the way that you have used your speech to, intentionally or unintentionally, lash out towards others. Pray that the Lord

remind you that even in your most heated of conflicts, you are convers-ing with an image bearer of God and that they should be treated with the dignity and respect that that title brings.

Wednesday: Our Treatment of Others

1 John 4:7-11

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is per-fected in us.

Sometimes we’re called to care for others that we simply don’t want to deal with. When we see others as image bearers of God, our response should be in love, even when (some-time especially when) that love isn’t reciprocated. Admittedly, not everyone makes it easy to love them which is when we must come to the heart of the gospel – there’s no reason why God should love us, but He does and He did when He died on the cross for those that so blatantly offended Him.


Today, spend some time reflecting on what God has done for you and how you, based on that fact, should sub- sequently respond and care for others.

Thursday: Our Ultimate Example of God’s Image

Colossians 1:15-20

He’s the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And He’s before all things, and in him all things hold together. And He’s the head of the body, the church. He’s the begin-ning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

It’s hard to learn something without an appropriate model. Good teachers not only disperse the information to their students but model for them an example of the final product. Jesus, fully divine and fully human showed us what it means to live as a child of God. His life reminds us of what relationship should have been like, of what God initially designed us to be. His majesty and power are certainly to be worshiped, but His life is also to be studied as a way for us to live. Today, reflect on the life of Jesus and exam-ine how He reacted to stress, conflict,

and provisions – how can you follow His example and lean on His lead?

Friday: Our View of Ourselvesas New Creation

Colossians 3:5-11

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetous-ness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, mal-ice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

We have not only been given life, but we have been given new life. Scripture tells us that because of the fall, we were once dead, slaves to our sin, chained by our own desires. Yet Jesus Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross has freed us from our bondage and has made us anew. No, we’re not perfect and the Lord is constantly working on us, sanctifying us and teaching us how to be more like Him, for Him. Today, evaluate how you are living – are you living as a new creation, or do you default to your old, dead way of life.

Pray that God would continue to re-new you and remind you of your new and eternal life with Him.

Saturday: Our View of Future Creations


So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it’s raised in glory. It’s sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it’s raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but

the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

We have more to look forward to than we know. One day the Holy Spirit will redeem and resurrect us into a new creation. God has not only cared for us before we were born, but He’ll continue to care for us for after our physical bodies die away. Today, re-member that the Lord has great plans for us beyond this life and reflect on what the implications of eternity have on how you live your life today.


notes

Read: Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called

to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The Lord God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,cursed are you above all livestockand above all beasts of the field;on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;in pain you shall bring forth children.Your desire shall be for your husband,and he shall rule over you.”

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wifeand have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat

of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground,for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

We’re broken, but we don’t want anyone to know about it.

The problem of sin is all around us – in the choices we make, in the relation-ships we have and break, and in the

pain and in justices of our societies. We individually and corporately find a way to intentionally or unintentionally mess things up pretty bad.

But, again, we don’t want anyone to know about it. Bombarded with self-help media and attacked by others’ unrealistic expectation of perfection, we do everything possible to deny our faults, cover up our mistakes, and justify our failures. We do this so often and so well we try the same tricks on God – putting on a facade of perfection and rationalizing our behaviors to Him.

Today’s scripture isn’t one we like to examine – it reminds us that we’re broken and sinful, fighting the consequences of our transgressions. Yet, without this important reminder we’ll continue to pretend that we have it all together.

We must remind ourselves of our sinful nature for two key reasons. First, if we deny that we sin (and sin often) we’re crowning ourselves as the ultimate authority in our lives; no one will be able to confront us on our mistakes and we’ll become arrogant, embittered, and overly defensive for anyone who calls us out…including God. There will be no room in our heart for repentance, and thus, no need in our heart for God.


Second, when we remind ourselves of our sinful nature, we also remind ourselves that God has a solution for our trespasses against Him. Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross not only cleanses and forgives us from our sins, but gives us a new heart to make war on the sins in our life.

Sin is an awful thing to deal with, and nothing that we should be proud of. But God, in His infinite love chose to sacrifice everything in order to deal with it. This week, let’s not seep into a stupor of self-loathing, but let’s name our sins and rejoice in our King who not only knows about our brokenness, but is there to help us combat it every moment, every day.

Discussion

What are the serpent’s rhetorical tac-tics in this passage? How do you see Satan using the same tactics in our world? In your life?

Adam and Eve have varying respons-es to the serpent and to God. Identify what those responses are. How do you see yourself responding in the same way to the temptations and sins in your life?

Explanation

Follow Eve’s process of justification for eating the fruit in verse six. How is this an appropriate pattern for the way we see temptations and justify our sins?

What was Adam and Eve’s response after they ate the fruit? What are the implications of knowing that they were naked?

Why do you think that the all-knowing God asked questions of Adam and Eve? What purpose did this serve?

Verse 15 is known as the protoevan-gelium – or the first time the Gospel of Jesus Christ is mentioned in the Bible. What does this say about God’s response to sin?

Carefully examine the curses God gave to the woman and to the man. How do you see the impacts of these curses in your own life? In your community? In your country? Around the world?

We read in verse 24 that man was exiled from the garden and the tree of life was guarded against anyone who would come near it. Read Revelation 22:1-4. How do we see God’s prom-ises fulfilled in this passage?

Application

Journal through the following:

What sins do you most struggle with? Do you have a plan of action and ac-countability to combat those sins?

Mark Driscoll and Gary Breshears cat-egorize the following sinful responses to sin:

• Minimize (it’s not that big of a deal)• Legitimize (it’s okay for me in this situation)• Rationalize (it’s okay for me because of my circumstances)• Shift blame (it was someone else’s fault I sinned)


• Divert sin (I was just joking or someone misunderstood me)• Partial confession (we only confess part of our sins) • Regret consequences (we regret the consequences of our actions, but do not truly repent)• Become victimized (I am powerless to stop myself)• Confession without repentance, (I name the sin, but don’t do any thing about it to change my heart or behavior) • Blame sin on disease (sin is because of my condition and I have not found a cure)

Which of the above are you most guilty of? Evaluate your motivation for responding to sin in these ways.

What sins (of others) are you most hurt by? How do you handle situ-ations where others’ sin directly impacts you?


The Book of Romans is the textbook behind the theology of sin - what it is, its consequences, how we deal with it, and how God deals with it. The following, taken from the ESV Study Bible’s Introduction on the Book of Romans is a valuable outline to under-standing sin and God’s solution to it:

All people are sinners, therefore all, without exception, need to be saved from their sin:

Rom. 1:18–3:20; 5:12–19The Mosaic law, though good and holy, cannot counteract the power of sin:

Rom. 2:12–29; 3:9–20; 5:20; 7:1–25; 9:30–10:8

Through the righteousness of God, sin is judged and salvation is provided:

Rom. 3:21–26; 5:12–19; 6:1–10; 7:1–6; 8:1–4

With the coming of Jesus Christ, the former age of redemptive history has passed away and the new age of redemptive history has begun:

Rom. 1:1–7; 3:21–26; 5:1–8:39

The atoning death of Jesus Christ is central to God’s plan of salvation:

Rom. 3:21–26; 4:23–25; 5:6–11, 15–19; 6:1–10; 7:4–6; 8:1–4

Justification is by faith alone:

Rom. 1:16–4:25; 9:30–10:21

There’s a certain hope of future glory for those who are in Christ Jesus:

Rom. 5:1–8:39

Those who have died with Christ and who enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit are enabled to live a new life:

Rom. 2:25–29; 6:1–7:6; 8:1–39

God is sovereign in salvation; he works all things according to his plan:

Rom. 9:1–11:36

New Christians and seasoned Chris-tians alike need to be reminded of our sinful nature. More importantly, we need to be reminded that we’re not alone in this fight. This week, we’ll walk through various steps in recognizing our sin and going to God for forgiveness.

Monday: Identifying Ourselvesas Sinners

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray;we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Romans 3:23

...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

It’s easy to exclude ourselves from un-likable company. We’re quick to point out the speck in others’ eyes and can spout off judgments of others’ sin in rapid fire fashion. However, no matter how awful others look, we’re not im-mune or innocent of sin. Regardless of how long we’ve walked with Jesus, there’s still lingering, present sins that our heart needs to deal with. Today, remember that you are not above sin

and that you need God to continue to teach you. List the habitual sins that plague you and rejoice that you have a wonderful savoir and friend who calls you out on your transgressions, and also helps you fight them.

Tuesday: Seeking God’s Help

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, accord-ing to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions,and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinnedand done what is evil in your sight,so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judg-ment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother con-ceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins,and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,and renew a right spirit within me.Cast me not away from your pres-ence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righ-teousness. O Lord, open my lips,and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sac-rifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem; then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt of-ferings and whole burnt offerings;then bulls will be offered on your altar.

God is our only solution. We can try self-help books, a vast regimen of accountability plans, and even an old-fashioned white knuckle approach to resisting sin. However, without God we can’t truly address the is-sues in our heart. Today’s Psalm is one of deep lament, begging God for

forgiveness reminding us that unless we come to Him truly repentant, truly broken for how we have offended Him, no amount of outside help will help. Today, ask the Holy Spirit to truly convict you of the sins you have named and come to Him with a heart of deep repentance and devotion to trust in Him.

Wednesday: God’s Solutionto Our Sing

Romans 5:12-21

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the tres-pass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one


trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteous-ness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Earlier this week we examined how sin entered the world. Today we joy-fully read God’s solution to sin. Jesus, fully human and fully divine humbled Himself from His Kingdom to come save us. We can’t have a discussion about sin without discussing how Je-sus died so that we may be forgiven for what we’ve done.

Today’s devotion is one of rejoicing and worship. Praise God that He would love us so much that He would send His Son to die in our place – live today as one totally forgiven, as one who has had their debt totally erased.

Thursday: Identifying the Battle

Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomitis a fool who repeats his folly.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions— is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Despite what others may preach, we’ll only reach total victory when we see Jesus face to face in Heaven. While our sin was nailed upon the cross, 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us that,

“Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”


We must be cognizant of the attacks of sin and prepared for battle. Today’s passage reminds us that we’re to set our minds on heavenly things and knowing that the things of this world never fully satisfy. Today, evaluate your greatest temptations– in what situations are you the most vulnerable to repeat your offenses? Pray that the Lord give you wisdom and safety within the battle.

Friday: Our New Heart

Ezekiel 36:26-27

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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

God has given us a new heart with new desires, filled with longings for Him, and His ways. Scripture consis-tently reminds us that when we put our faith in Jesus our motivations and actions change. Today, pray that God continue to fill your new heart with His laws and ask that He help you continue to crush the heart of stone you once had.

Saturday: Fruits of the Spirit

Galatians 5: 22-25

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;

against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its pas-sions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

Philippians 4: 4:-9

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about any-thing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Walking with Jesus demands immedi-ate action – you can’t be neutral to what He has done for you. Battling our sin not only brings us closer to God, but advances His Kingdom for a Gospel filled heart is one that all should be able to see. You have been forgiven! Today rejoice in that fact and pray that the Holy Spirit guide you to be fruitful, not just in your own life, but to effectively spread the Gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it.

We can’t have a discussion about sin without discussing how Jesus died so that we may be forgiven for what we’ve done.


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