God offers you, through His Son, Jesus, the most effective and productive life imaginable. Matthew 5:3-10
Realizing the full potential of the “Jesus Life” begins with the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). Jesus’ word for convict means “to expose and show to be guilty.”
- Convict of sin because they do not believe in Jesus. John 16:9
- Convict of righteousness because Jesus is no longer on earth but with the Father. 16:9
- Convict of judgement because the ruler of this world is judged. 16:9
The conviction of the Holy Spirit draws you to Jesus. John 12:32, John 3:14 Being drawn to Jesus and placing your faith in Him, God covers you with the blood of Jesus.
- Faith – Romans 3:22 – Blood of Jesus – Romans 3:25
- Righteousness – One root word in the Greek is given two different English word groups.
- In Greek the noun (righteousness), the adjective (righteous), and the verb (to declare and treat as righteous) are all various forms of the same root word.
- The two word groups used in English are right (righteous, righteousness) and just (justice, justify).
Why is God considered righteous in Romans 3:21?
- God always speaks and acts in accordance with His own pure, holy, and perfect nature.
- God always speaks and acts in accordance with His covenant.
What human being can always speak and act in accordance with God’s own pure, holy, and perfect nature and always in accordance with God’s covenant? Romans 3:9 says, “None are righteous, no, not one.”
Jesus is the only human being who is righteous and perfectly matches God’s righteousness. Our only option for righteousness is therefore faith in Jesus and His righteousness. Romans 3:22
Why then, are we commanded to put to death the misdeeds of the body? If I am declared righteous before God, why not let sin abound?
We discover the answer when we understand faith. In the Bible, faith is both the positions and the actions of belief.
- James 2:14 – A guy says he has faith but no actions of faith. “Can that faith save him?”
- James 2:17 – “So also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
- James 2:22 – “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works.”
Today may God grant to us both the positions and actions of completed faith in Jesus’ righteousness.
Listen – My Story
- Do you have an experience where someone acted in a way very differently than you expected? Different than what you knew to be their character?
- Just for fun…Do you think the “mild” winters in Anchorage, with lack of snow and cold, are a new character for Anchorage or a lack of alignment with the true nature of Anchorage?
Learn – Digging Deeper
- The weekend message opened with a review of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5. What is the most repeated word in the Beatitudes? Why is it so difficult for many people to believe that God loves to do these gracious acts for us today? What all is included in Ephesians 1:3-6?
- Condemnation and conviction are both ministries of the Holy Spirit. Do you agree? According to Romans 8:1 who stands condemned and who stands with no condemnation?
- According to 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, the conviction of the Holy Spirit often includes godly grief. What are some of the amazing results that flow out of that conviction (Vs. 10, 11)?
- Standing right (righteous) before God is only possible through faith in Jesus. Revisit the umbrella illustration. How important is the blood of Jesus? Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 10:19; Hebrews 13:20, 21; 1 John 1:7
- Please read James 2:14-26. Is it possible to have faith without works? What do works do to faith according to verse 22?
Life – Taking it Home
- What is God saying to you through this lesson?
- What could you do this week to complete your faith?
- What is your next step in response to this teaching?
Lift – Prayer
- Please thank God for His gracious gift of Jesus and His righteousness in whom we have hope!
- Please share the first names of three people you are praying for to receive Jesus through Heaven’s Gates and Hell’s Flames and through Burning Ice Alaska 2016
- Please pray for everyone in your Life Group.