The Life Of Faith

FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH 2. The Life of Faith This week’s Bible Reading Memorise 2 Corinthians 5:7 Sun. Mon. Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri. Sat.

Psalms 76-77 Luke 7 Luke 8 Luke 9 Luke 10 Luke 11 Psalms 78

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Galatians 3:2 “Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?”

Christianity is a life of faith from first to last. This sets Christians apart from almost all other world religions and philosophies. The Jewish religion is a relationship with God on the basis of the Law, not of faith. Islam is very similar to Judaism – a religion based on following rules and laws. Remember that the Old Testament is a Jewish Book and that Jesus and the apostles were all Jews. They were all brought up to respect and obey the Law. And that is true about most other religions: obey the rules and you will please God; break the rules and God will be angry. But Jesus and His apostles showed that there is a better way. Salvation is not to be found in keeping the Law; it is to be received by faith. And the Christian life is not a life of keeping laws, but of living by faith. Our relationship with God is not dependent on keeping the commandments, but on walking by faith. To be a Christian is to live an adventure of faith! That is what we want to study in this lesson. 1. What is wrong with the Law? God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. You can read them in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21. God gave these basic commandments in order to teach His people what was good and what was bad – what pleased Him and how He wanted His people to live. Now read what Moses said to the people after he had given them this Law. Read Deuteronomy 5:32-33 How strictly should the people observe the Laws?___________________________________ What was God’s reward for those who obeyed His laws?_____________________________ Have you kept all of God’s laws? (If you answered YES, read Romans 3:11-12. Answer the question again: have you kept all God’s Laws? What hope is there for those who think they must keep all God’s Laws in order to please Him and go to heaven?

There is no chance that we – or anyone – can keep all the Law. But the Law is not a bad thing, even if it has never given salvation to anyone! The Law of God is good and we should study it carefully. It may not give eternal life, but it still shows us the things that please God. What did Jesus say about the Law in Matthew 5:17-19? If we want to please Him we will take His laws seriously. It gives us clear guidelines by which we can know what is right and what is wrong. See how much the apostle Paul respected the Law! Read Romans 7:7 and 12 How does Paul describe the Law? He uses three words in verse 12 _____________________ _________________________ _________________________ What did the Law do for Paul? (see what he says in verse 7) How would we know what is right and what is wrong if we had no Law?

But Paul then discovered a problem. He knew what he ought to do – and he wanted to do it – but he found in his heart that he did it anyway, and so he broke the Law. Read on in Romans 7:8-10 Paul knew that the Law was good, but what did it do to him? What was the end result in Paul’s life?

The ugly reality is that the Law (which is good) will always condemn us when we break it. It is impossible to keep every Law all the time. So how can we ever please God? The answer is that, by trying to keep the Law, we will never be able to satisfy God. But the Good News is that, because Jesus kept the Law and then died to take away the curse of our failure, we are saved by FAITH in Him. Read Ephesians 2:8-9 “By ______________ you have been saved through _______________; and this is not your own doing, it is the __________________________ -- not because of _____________, lest any man should boast.” • •

Were you saved by being good (keeping the law)? _________________________ How were you saved? By _____________________________________________

To learn more about faith for salvation, please turn to Study Volume 1, Lessons 3 and 4. They deal with Faith for Salvation, Grace and Mercy.

2. How can we live by faith? We receive salvation by faith – like receiving a free gift, we reach our hands in faith and take what God has given us. • • • • • •

Forgiveness for all our past sins A new and clean heart Eternal life in Jesus Christ The promise of resurrection and future glory Power to live a new life A new family of brothers and sisters in Christ

All of that is ours and we receive it by faith. But then what happens? This was a problem faced by the early Christians in Galatia. Some teachers had come to Galatia and started telling the Christians: ‘You were saved by faith. Now you have to keep the law. You must be circumcised.’ Circumcision was the outward sign that someone was a Jew and therefore under the Law of Moses. This made Paul very angry! He was angry because these teachers were not teaching the Truth. And he was angry because he knew that no one could ever keep the Law, and that true Christians should live by faith. Read Galatians 3:1-5 See how angry Paul is in verse 1! What did Paul then ask the Galatian Christians? Verse 2: “Were you saved (received the Spirit)... ________________________________ or ______________________________” Verse 3: “Did you begin your life as a Christian__________________________ ? Will you now continue your life _______________________________?” Verse 5: Does God give you the Holy Spirit and miracles _________________________ or_________________________________________?” Paul is quite clear. We are to live our Christian lives ______________________________ NOT ______________________________ Some people find this very confusing. Surely God wants us to do the right thing – to keep His laws in order to please Him! If Paul says we should not live by the law, does that mean we can break the law? Can we do whatever we like, and God will forgive us – because we can no longer be judged by the law? No, of course not! “By no means!” says Paul in answer to this very question in Romans 6:1. Why “How can we who died to sin (by faith in Christ) still live in it (by breaking the3 law)?” Do you find this difficult to understand? Here is an illustration.

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Before you were saved, God was your Judge. He gave you laws by which you should live – good laws – and when you broke them you had to be punished.

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You became a child of God by faith in Christ when you came to the cross and He took away your sin. At that moment, God became your Father – you became His adopted son.

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Because He is now your Father and not your Judge, you love Him and you trust Him – living by faith in His goodness. God has changed your nature and your heart. Now you want to listen to Him and keep His laws. You live by faith in Him – not under the threat of His law.

3. Faith and faithfulness The great chapter on faith is Hebrews 11. This chapter is a history of great men and women, who walked not by sight but by faith. In our desire to walk by faith, we have much to learn from them. As we close this lesson, let us study just one person – Abraham. Read Hebrews 11:8-12 What did Abraham do by faith? (verse 8) ________________________________________ What did God command him to do? _____________________________________________ Is it possible to live by faith without obedience to God’s will?_________________________ Abraham obeyed and went into the desert. Why did he do it? (see verse 10) ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ • • • •

Abraham knew God’s will (he listened to His voice) He believed God’s promise (he trusted in His Word) He obeyed God’s orders (he was faithful to God’s command) Such is the proof of his faith

Can we be people of faith without believing His promises?____________________________ Can we be people of faith without obeying His commands?__________________________ Read Hebrews 11:17-19 Notice again that Abraham knew God’s will, believed His promise, obeyed His command. He was rewarded for his faith. Some may believe that “living by faith” means looking to God for all our needs, including money for food and clothing. Is this the meaning of living by faith? ____________________ If so, on what promise of God do you base this trust? Give Bible references: __________________________________________________________________________ There are promises in Scripture that God will meet all our needs and that He, as our Father, can be trusted. If He care for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, He can surely look after you. Read Matthew 6:25-34. How many promises are there in this passage that guarantee that He cares for you? List them here:

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ But there are other teachings in Scripture that exhort us to work for our living. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:10-11 and Ephesians 4:28. What do these passages teach about living by faith? ____________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ Read Acts 18:3 Was Paul living by faith’? ______________________________________ To live by faith is an attitude of constant trust in the goodness of our heavenly Father. This may lead some people to trust Him for specific things like food and clothing. More normally, God expects us to work our living and to trust Him for every provision, both material and spiritual, both temporal and eternal. This is how the heroes of faith lived their lives. Read Hebrews 11:13-16. Let us live like them. ♦ Apply this lesson to your life 1. How did you come to Christ? Was it by keeping the Ten Commandments? No, of course not. Was it by asking Christ for forgiveness through the blood of the cross – by faith? Surely, yes! Did you have to do anything to earn your salvation? 2. If you began by faith, have you continued to live by faith? Examine your own relationship with God. Do you sometimes feel you are not worthy to be his child? Do you think you are a failure because you still cannot keep all the commandments? Does this mean that perhaps you are still struggling to keep the Law. Rather than trusting in His love and forgiveness? 3. Do you know God’s will? Have you heard Him speak to you? Have you obeyed? Are you faithful to His command? Only if you answer Yes can you be a person of faith. A Prayer while you study this lesson: Lord, you have saved me, because I trusted in you. I could do nothing to please you, except to come as a sinner to the foot of the cross. I can still do nothing to please you, except to draw strength from you day by day, and to walk by faith in your love and your power. Help me to rejoice that you have set me free to live for your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen ♦ Team group study questions: 1. Discuss the meaning of “living by faith”. Sometimes we think it means simply trusting God for our daily food and finances, but this wrong. We are all called to live by faith, even if we have a good salary. So what does it mean to live by faith? 2. How do we understand the place of the Law in the life of a believer? Should we love the Law? Ignore the Law? Try to keep the Law? Are we free to break the Law?

3. The Law is a curse for those who are condemned by it (Galatians 3:10). Do you sometimes feel under the curse because you cannot keep the Law? What should you do about that feeling? 4. Share your personal experiences of living by faith.