Irmela

Q28. (Hebrews 4:16) Why is approaching God's holy throne in prayer intimidating to some people? Why do we sometimes fear judgment and condemnation when we approach God. In what ways is God's throne the place where He dispenses "mercy and grace"? In what ways is your home a place where grace is given out? The thought , in the beginning that one is approaching the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, is quite daunting. Also the fact that one's thoughts are an open book before Him, there is nothing hidden and then of course our guilt-ridden self. These are obstacles we first have to lay aside and get to the point of accepting The Grace of forgiveness, which He so freely offers. Once we get past that and accept God's offer, we can approach the throne of grace freely. It is because of our own actions, which are so often judgement and condemnation of our fellow human-beings, that we expect the same treatment. Sometimes it is unconfessed or unpardoned sin, which comes in the way, and then we tend to shy away from, or be intimidated about approaching God. We can picture Jesus as sitting at the right hand of the Father and through Him we have forgiveness and are found to be righteous as we are clothed in His righteousness., and that is why we can picture the dispensing or giving of "mercy and grace".

Q27. (John 10:27-30; Jude 24-25; Romans 8:38-39; 2 Timothy 4:18; Philippians 1:6; 1 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Peter 5:10-11) Why do you think there are so many assurances of faith in the New Testament? What is your favorite promise of God's role in keeping you in Christ to the end? How does your favorite promise give you powerful assurance of salvation? Life's journey is varied. One assurance can be used for one experience in life and another one for another experience. In this way there are many assurances that cover different aspects. It is for real and we are reassured that we truly are safe and secure in our assurance of salvation. I love the picture portrayed in John 10:27-30 that indeed no one can pluck us out of His Hand. Nothing and absolutely nothing can pluck us out of His hand. Just read the ominous list of things that can try, (Romans 8:38 &39), but praise God, none will succeed, to pluck me out of His hand.

(1 Peter 1:4-5) How does our faith function alongside God’s protection to keep us to the end? How does this show God’s grace? I will try to explain a picture that has come to mind about this. I see a father walking on a road with his child. The child walks where the father leads, just trusting him to guide and reach the end of the journey. The child can veer off to the right or left (it has a choice), but trust in its father keeps it close to his side, for he knows which path to take on this perilous journey. Just so if we stay close to God we trust in His protection which is given by God's grace, and so we can walk on our life's journey knowing He will keep us to the end.

Q25. (John 16:8; 6:44; 6:65) Why is it impossible for people to come to Christ without God's action to convict, draw, and enable them to come? How does God's preparation illustrate His grace? He convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgement. The sin is unbelief. "They believe not on Me" There is no trusting God. To be able to come before God we need to be righteous. Christ died for us and rose again to pardon us and to clothe us with His righteousness. So He subtracts sin and adds righteousness. When we are forgiven of sin we can still not come before the Father unless we have Christ's righteousness. So we come before Him "in Christ" as it were. The world has already been judged and found guilty. Our own righteousness is as filthy rags. By His grace once convicted we are drawn or dragged to choose to come to Christ. Still it is a choice. (see below about divine election) We are enabled to come because He clothes us with His righteousness, once we have accepted His gift of pardon, which we do not deserve, it is truly by grace and grace alone. Words by Vernon McGee: I can't explain it (divine election). I just know that you have a free will and you can exercise it. God holds you responsible for it, and you know you are responsible. you can come or not. It's up to you.

Q24. (Romans 8:28-30; Ephesians 1:4-6) How does predestination function with God’s grace? What is gracious about predestination? Why is his grace “glorious”? From the way I understand things at the present time, God knows the actions we will display, He knows our responses to any and everything, He knows the choices we will make and yet in it all He loves us and He has prepared a way out for us , by sending the Messiah and right in Genesis we already read that a plan was formed to crush satan who had deceived Eve and then caused both Adam and Eve to doubt God. It was man's choice to choose to believe God or doubt Him. In spite of man's devastated choice, God , in His grace and mercy still predestined a glorious future for man, for those who He knew would choose to make the right choice and believe and follow Him.

Dear Guitar Jim, Praying for you, that God's peace and love will fill your heart and life. His instruction given in THE LORD'S PRAYER is ". . . forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us'. This includes all that your father said and did to you. Plus all the rest. May you experience and offer God's grace in this situation. May you find healing in your brokenness. Dear Jen, may you experience God's calm and comfort in your pain also. Praying for you

Q23. (Romans 8:28-30; 1 Peter 1:1-2) I realize that this is a mystery, but how do you see God's foreknowledge working alongside His ability to predestine? If all this is by grace, how might faith and/or good works fit into this predestination? God sees the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. He also knows how we will use what we have in hand to complete a necessary task etc. It is only by His grace that we can accomplish the task and He knows beforehand if we will make use of that grace or neglect it. At the same time it is by faith we are making use of time and doing things without having a full picture of what it will end up like. I think by trying to explain it one just talks in circles. Then again if one truly understood everything 100 percent, surely then God would not be God. I praise Him for Who He is and am grateful for the grace He has given so freely and one can do things knowing full well that He knows the end from the beginning, Everything is safe and secure in His Hand.

Q22. (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12-13; James 2:17) How does the Spirit work in us after we are saved to form Christ in us? In what ways is this a process of "working out" our salvation? Why should you expect a person's life to change when they put their faith in Jesus? What is happening if there is no discernable change? The Spirit transforms or renews us. Those used to using bad language will find that their vocabulary has changed. The Fruit of the Spirit will start being visible in these lives. We need to put our salvation into action. If we truly are saved our lives will reflect it. The old has passed away, behold all has become new. There is now a different person behind the "steering-wheel" of that life. That is why the lives will change. You have someone else accompanying you into places now, viz., the Holy Spirit; it is no longer the devil. If there is no change then one must truly investigate as to have the keys of that life really been handed over or was it not real salvation. Do a self-evaluation and then you will see that self is still residing as chief. Christ was not really given that place.

Q21. (Acts 18:27; Matthew 16:16-17; John 6:44) How does the Holy Spirit work in our lives to prepare us for salvation? In what sense is the Spirit's revelation important to faith? In what ways have you seen the Father "draw" people to Christ? What is the role of "free will" in salvation? The Holy Spirit uses others who have already responded to the message of salvation, their lifestyle draws us and maybe convicts us. They can also by their direction / talk which will of course be the Holy Spirit leading them, cause the seeking soul to learn more of salvation. He even uses negative things that make us realize whereto we are headed if we do not turn to Him. God reveals things to us also by working in our thoughts. God draws us in different ways, even dreams. Different instruments or conduits are used, but ultimately it is the Father that draws people through those ways, to salvation. Without the Spirit's revelation of our need to have faith that we are indeed saved, we will be plagued by doubts, alternately we will think we are good enough and it can all be accomplished by works. I have seen people being drawn to Christ by hearing the Word. I have seen them desiring the same peace others have found upon living for Christ. The person still has to make that final choice of accepting or rejecting that "pull". God does not force it. His arms are open wide ready to accept us into His fold and ready to change us, to make us into His image.

Q20. (Ephesians 2:8-9) How does the idea of earning salvation by being good enough for God distort the essential gospel? If we can earn salvation by something that we do, then why did we need Christ to die in our place. The gospel is the good news that our sins have been paid for and we have salvation as a gift. We need just accept and allow Christ to change us into His image With that scenario, what is the need for the cross? If it was by works then the cross was not needed. Then Christ died in vain. The question that would come up then is, when is works good enough? How does it affect a sense of self-righteousness? Of pride? Of looking down on others rather than loving them? Very quickly the ideas would flourish that one set of works was better than another set. No surety whatsoever. Pride, jealousy, malice etc., would rule over these issues. No love for the next person but rather fear that one was not good enough or alternately the thinking of I am much better than you. So there would come the pride and looking down on the next person. Why is this kind of works-righteousness so ingrained in people? We need to feel that we had something to do with it. We feel we cannot just accept a gift, so easily we take it to be begging and that is a pasttime frowned upon by most people. Here we don't need to be dependent on the giver. By nature being, self- centered, works-righteousness has an appeal to it that one can gain it oneself. We don't need to rely on anyone. How does an understanding of salvation by grace change this picture? It is the same for everyone. Works has nothing to do with it. One cannot outdo the other one in earning salvation. No one has earned this salvation, it is completely and utterly a gift, for kings and paupers alike. Christ died for all. He took our place. It is by grace and grace alone . . . unmerited favour.

Q19. (Ephesians 2:8) From what have we been rescued by God's grace? From sin and (death) eternal damnation. We have literally been saved from the devil's clutches. Sin causes spiritual deadness, and we have been saved from this. We have been saved from being followers of the ways of this world. We have been saved from conforming to satan, from unknowingly being followers of him. We have been saved from indulging in the desires of the flesh and the mind . We were under the sentence of God's wrath. How has God personally rescued you from your situation before Christ? By the richness of His mercy By His great and wonderful love By making us spiritually alive with Christ By raising us up with Christ and seating us in heavenly places with Him (because we are in Him) By showing us the richness of His grace by providing for our salvation What did God's favor have to do with your salvation? I did not deserve to be saved, it was all His doing, it was unmerited favour (grace). It was a gift from God.

Q18. (Romans 3:24; John 1:29; Mark 10:45; Isaiah 53) "[They] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement (Romans 3:24-25a) The Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. The Son of Man gave His life as a ransom for many. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6) In what sense is Jesus a sacrifice for our sins? For sins to be forgiven, there had to be (atonement) a sacrifice. It had to be blood offering of a spotless lamb. Why is He punished for our sins instead of us? The sacrifice had to be spotless. We are tainted with sin. Christ was the only One Who had lived a life free from sin. Why is He called the Lamb of God? He was the One Who was sacrificed instead of a lamb. Beforehand it was done again and again, whereas Christ took all our sin upon Him. Never again is a sacrifice necessary. He has paid the price and we are set free . In that way He is the Lamb of God Who took away the sin of the world.

Q17. (Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 1 Peter 1:17-19) Being justified freely (without a cause), by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. . . . you were bought with a price . . . . . . . you were redeemed from the futile way of life . . . not with perishable things . . . with precious blood like that of a lamb without defect or spot, the blood of Messiah In what sense have we been redeemed from slavery? A ransom has been paid for us. What slavery have we been freed from? The futile life of sin, ultimately leading to death and hell. What was the price of our manumission (emancipation) or freedom? The precious blood (like that of a lamb without defect or spot,) of Messiah. Christ paid that price by offering His life (blood) on the cross. He was the sacrificial LAMB that paid the ultimate price - once for all - In what sense are we free? The price for our sin has been paid, so now it means we are set free from that penalty, which is forever separated from God. In what sense are we still slaves? We have been bought and so we are not our own, we belong to Him Who bought us.

Q16. (Romans 3:22-23; Romans 5:12-14; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9) Is humankind basically "good" because of the image of God in us? Because of sin that image has been tainted. Or basically evil because of deceitful hearts and our corrupt nature ("flesh") that is "bent to sinning"? Much has been said about this. Romans 3:23 states clearly that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one reaches the place where he is good enough to still be called good, without the righteousness of Christ. [Our own righteousness, is like a filthy garment . . . it is repulsive.] This righteousness of Christ can be seen as a garment, which is available to all but only comes on those who believe. It is needed by everyone, for all have sinned . . . This righteousness comes to us through our faith in Christ.

Q15. (Luke 18:18-27) How does the story of the rich young ruler show the impossibility of salvation without a miracle of God? Why does Jesus use a rich and outwardly righteous man to make this point? Where does grace show through? Then as even now many are under the false belief that salvation can be bought or alternately they believe that a rich person is the one favoured by God and he will thus receive eternal life. Jesus pointed out quite clearly that the young ruler could not buy his way to eternal life. His treasure was in the wrong place. When he told the young man to sell all he had and give to the poor and then to come follow Him. The ruler turned away sadly for he had great wealth. Jesus then states an impossibility, viz,. that a camel cannot go through the eye of a needle. He adds that what is impossible with man is possible with God. So by a miracle of God, by His grace, it is possible for this to be so, it is possible to love God and not be greedy for earthly riches. Nothing that we do can buy us salvation, it is completely grace and grace alone whereby salvation is attained.

13. (Luke 15:11-31) What does the Parable of the Prodigal Son teach us about God? About repentance? About grace? Just as that father gave the son a choice, so God allows us to choose. Nothing is forced on us. The prodigal son chose to go into the world. The father let him go, albeit with a heavy heart. I am sure God's heart too is aching after the many who choose so foolishly to take the wrong path. And He too eagerly waits with a longing heart for the repentant sinner to come back. The prodigal son wasted his living by his own choice and then, when down and out, he was forced to work with animals that he had been taught were unclean. Total degradation. Then his eyes opened and he realized where his choices had led him to. He repented and returned home, acknowledged that he had sinned against God and against his father. He acknowledged that he was not worthy to be called a son. He was willing to work as a hired help. This was repentance, where he chose to turn away from his sinful lifestyle, where he gave himself over and was willing to 'pay' for his choices, by being degraded from son to worker. Having decided to do this he returned home and the father who had been looking out for him, ran to welcome him back, forgive and restore his position as son. This was truly (undeserved favour) grace shown to the prodigal son.

Q14. (Luke 23:39-43) How does the story of the thief on the cross illustrate salvation by faith? How does it show the triumph of grace over sin to those who don't deserve it? The evildoers on either side of Yeshuah, heard all that was said by the mockers that were standing around and watching the crucifixions. They saw the inscription on the cross just as the others did. The one evildoer even mocked with the others suggesting that if Yeshuah was really the Messiah surely He could set them all free. The second evildoer obviously feared God and realized that very soon they would be standing before Him to be judged, so he called out to him and basically told him to think carefully what he was doing. The two of them were getting the punishment they deserved, but Yeshuah was innocent and just and certainly did not deserve to die in this manner. (This was him acknowledging his sinful actions and being sorry that he had lived this kind of life). Then he turned to Yeshuah and asked to be remembered by Him, when He came in His Kingdom. This showed that He believed that Yeshuah was indeed the Messiah. He entrusted his future beyond the grave to Yeshuah. Yeshuah's answer confirms that this faith showed by the repentant evildoer, assured him, that he would indeed be with Yeshuah in Paradise that very day still. The repentant evildoer realized too that he did not deserve this grace because of the life he had lived.

Q12. (Matthew 18:21-35) In what way does the king show grace in this parable. How does the forgiven servant withhold grace? Can we call ourselves Jesus' disciples if we withhold grace according to Matthew 18:35 and Matthew 6:12-15? The king cancels or absolves the debt owed to him. The forgiven servant does not allow another servant time to pay off a debt owed him, much less than the amount that he had owed the king. He demands it as in now and thereby chokes and genuinely mishandles the fellow servant. No, We need to follow Christ's example and forgive as He forgave and live as He lived, treating our fellow neighbours as He did.

Q11. (Luke 10:25-37) Why do you think Jesus sets up the hero of the parable as a Samaritan? How does the Samaritan show undeserved favor? In your community, who are the "neighbors" that are resented? In what ways can you and/or your Christian community show God's grace to them? In general the Samaritans and Jews despised each other. They had been enemies for a long time. If it was just an every day Jew that showed mercy, the effect of 'loving your enemies' or 'showing mercy' would not have been so poignant. In fact the priest and Levite who were Jews that were looked up to in the community, showed no mercy at all. The Samaritan who was usually looked down upon by the Jews, he was the one that helped the hurt man. He cleaned the wounds and did all he could to get the Jew comfortable and then still took him to the inn to be further looked after, until he was better. It did not stop there, he also paid the innkeeper and promised to pay whatever extra needed to be paid , on his return, just so the man could get better. This was favour he showed to a man from an enemy tribe. I think the beggars who get given money or food and then trade it for drugs or alcohol. This makes it very hard to distinguish the genuine poor from the ones that choose to be in that situation. It is best to give through an organisation to the ones that have been found to be in need than just randomly give. It is not an easy job unless you know someone in the community of choice, who genuinely cares and knows the people. In spite of this one can still show kindness and give as you feel prompted to give. To my way of thinking, the best way is to work with and among them. Earn their trust and "live Jesus", so that they too may find Him.

Q10. (John 3:16) How does John 3:16 display "favor that is neither earned nor deserved" without using the word 'grace'? What is the relationship between grace and giving? What motivates the gift in this verse? How does this relate to grace? Our (the human race) just desert is to perish, that is what we all deserved. But God because of His great love towards us, gave His only Son to save us. We did not deserve this favor. Grace is a favour that is undeserved. Bestowing a favour is bestowing a gift that is undeserved. To put it plainly "Grace is a gift that is given to an undeserving recipient". God's great love motivates Him to GIVE. This is true grace because the world did not deserve this favour, viz., to be saved.

Q9. According to Bonhoeffer, what attitudes cheapen the understanding of grace in Christians? Justification of sin without the justification of the sinner The grace we bestow upon ourselves The preaching of forgiveness without repentance Baptism without church discipline Communion without confession Grace without discipleship Grace without the cross Grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate Does "costly grace" mean we have to work for it? No, for then it is not grace. You do not work for a gift, for then it is no longer a gift but something earned. Grace is a gift that has not been earned, but freely given. What is costly about grace? It cost God the life of His Son. We were bought at a price. 'It is costly because it condemns sin and grace because it justifies the sinner."

Q8. (Jeremiah 17:9) Is there good in humankind? Are humans basically good or basically bad? Or both? What are some of the ways a "deceitful heart" shows up in our lives and motivations? If the heart is the innermost person, how does a "deceitful heart" corrupt us in a pervasive way? Yes, there is good in man. We are formed in the image of God (Genesis 1:27, 31). That part is what is good. Man is basically good because of the remnant of God's image in us. But we are basically evil since the heart, the very center of our being, is corrupt and cannot be trusted. Our whole being is at least somewhat corrupt and, therefore, even the "good" in us cannot be completely trusted. We are a mixture of good and evil. That paragraph is very clearly put in the notes "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean.'" (Matthew 15:18-20a) Consciously we might know that going with the crowd and doing something morally wrong, is not what we should do. But the desire of the heart is to be part of the crowd and then we go ahead and do it anyway. So the heart has the upperhand and we get more and more corrupted. In fact it pervades our whole being, our whole life. It makes sense then to hand over our HEART to Christ, for Him then to do the make over of the deceitfulness and corruption, so that the right thoughts and actions are forthcoming in our lives.

Q7. (Ephesians 2:1-3) What do these verses teach us about humankind's fallen nature? The fallen nature is spiritually dead. Far from God. In fact, cut off from Him. The standards of uprightness are non-existent. It tries to gratify its own desires. What motivates our actions before we come to Christ? Which of these motivations might be conscious? Which might be unconscious? The ways of this world motivates our action, in short it is satan who is behind it all. "In our deadness we lack discernment. Our lives are filled with the cravings of our sinful nature (verse 3) -- desires, lusts, thoughts, jealousy, envy, strife, selfishness, you name it -- which the Tempter inflames." When we are ignorant of something being wrong and do that, then the motivation to do it is unconscious.

Q6. (Romans 5:6-8) What do verses 6-8 say about humankind's situation? We were helpless, in no ways able to stand on our own. We were powerless to stand or get out of the moral degradation which we found ourselves in. We were ungodly and rebellious. We were outright sinners, falling far short of living by the law, in fact utterly lawless. What is so remarkable about Christ's death for us? He took our place while we were yet sinners (undeserving of His love), to die for us. He died for (on behalf of) us. What motivates that sacrifice? God's love resulting in grace. "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is a gift of God."

Q5. (Romans 5:1-2) What does it mean to be in a state of grace? According to the text, what is the role of faith in this? What is the opposite of "peace with God"? Dear Krissi, by writing out the verses using the Amplified Version, it was less confusing. Maybe it will help you also. Therefore, since we have been justified [that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us grasp the fact that], we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] GRACE in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power]. Romans 5:1&2 To be in the state of Grace means that we remain in this condition (if I can call it that). I am constantly in this place of grace, i.e. where I have received undeserved favour of being reconciled to God. It remains that way, it does not get taken away. We have been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. We also have access by faith into this state of grace. Opposite of peace with God, is enmity with God.