Faith Baptist Church
05/17/26 Dwell Richly Bible Study
  • What are the four words that help us summarize the essentials of the gospel?

    God, Man, Christ, Response

    What are the four questions we are seeking to answer?
    What is the first question that relates to God?

    1. Who made us, and to whom are we accountable?

    2. What is our problem? In other words, are we in trouble and why?

    3. What is God’s solution to that problem? How has he acted to save us from it?

    4. How do I come to be included in that salvation? What makes this good news for me and not just for someone else?

    Response—Faith & Repentance

    Illustration of a child jumping into a pool. He is too scared to jump in on his own, but he is willing to jump into the outstretched arms of his daddy. Daddy’s promise- “I will catch you, I will not let you go.”
    Then they started to worry that their child would not respect the danger of the water, that he would jump in on his own.
    “Over the next few days we watched him around the pool, and what we saw both comforted me as a parent and touched me deeply as a father. Never once did my little boy think about jumping into the water—at least not unless I was standing underneath him with my arms out, promising to catch him. And then he would fly!
    You see, despite all his apparent successes, my son’s trust was never in his own ability to handle the water. It was in his father, and in his father’s promise, ‘Come on, kiddo. Jump. I promise I’ll catch you.’”
    What does this illustration teach us about faith?

    Introducing Faith & Repentance

    Mark 1:15 ESV
    15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

    Faith is Reliance

    What is the biblical idea of faith?
    “Faith is not believing in something you can’t prove, as so many people define it. It is, biblically speaking, reliance. A rock-solid, truth-grounded, promise-founded trust in the risen Jesus to save you from sin.” —Greg Gilbert
    Romans 4:20–21 ESV
    20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
    This is what the gospel calls us to do. We must be fully convinced that God is able to save us through His Son, Jesus Christ. We must rely on him, and trust him to do what he has promised.

    Faith for a Righteous Verdict

    What exactly are we relying on Jesus for?
    We are relying on him to secure a righteous verdict from God the Judge, rather than a guilty one.
    Hebrews 9:27 ESV
    27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
    One that judgement day our greatest need is to be found righteous in God’s sight, rather than wicked.
    We need God the righteous judge to pronounce us to be “righteous” rather than “condemned.” That is what the Bible calls being “justified.”
    Justification is God’s declaration that we are righteous in his sight, rather than guilty.
    How do we secure this righteous verdict?
    Do we secure God’s righteous verdict by asking God to look at our own lives?
    Why not?
    If God is ever to count us righteous, he will have to do it on the basis of something other than our own sinful record. He’ll have to do it on the basis of someone else’s record, someone who is standing as a substitute for us.
    Who is that One? That’s were faith comes in. When we put our faith in Jesus, we are relying on him to stand as a substitute before God, in both his perfect life and his penalty-paying death for us on the cross.
    We need God to substitute Jesus’s record for ours, and therefore declare us righteous.
    Romans 3:21–22 ESV
    21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
    When we trust in Jesus a magnificent exchange happens.
    All of our sin, rebellion, and wickedness is imputed (or credited) to Jesus, and he dies because of it.
    1 Peter 3:18 ESV
    18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
    2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV
    21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
    At the same time, the perfect life Jesus lived is imputed to us, and we are declared righteous. God looks at us, and instead of seeing our sin, he sees Jesus’ righteousness.
    Romans 4:5 ESV
    5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
    Zechariah 3:4–5 ESV
    4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.
    His Robes for Mine:

    Faith Alone

    Does salvation really come through Jesus alone?
    How does imputed righteousness help us realize that salvation must be dependent upon Jesus alone?
    Galatians 2:16 ESV
    16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
    How does this understanding of self-reliance help our understanding of faith?
    Putting your faith in Christ means you utterly renounce any other hope of being counted righteous before God.
    I trust in Jesus, but I also want to add my good works to the equation—just in case...
    Faith means admitting that my good works are woefully insufficient, and trusting Christ alone.
    I trust in Jesus, but I also believe that I am a good person...
    Faith means acknowledging that your heart is not good at all, and trusting Christ alone.
    “To put it another way, it means jumping off the edge of the pool and saying, ‘Jesus, if you don’t catch me, I’m done. I’ve no other hope, no other savior. Save me, Jesus, or I die.’”—Greg Gilbert
    That is faith.

    Repentance, the Flip Side of the Coin

    Mark 1:15 ESV
    15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
    What is faith? We must say faith is turning to Jesus and relying on him for salvation.
    What is the flip side of that coin? What is repentance?
    Repentance is turning away from sin, hating it, and resolving by God’s strength to forsake it, even as we turn to Christ in faith.
    Acts 3:19 ESV
    19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
    Acts 26:20 ESV
    20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
    Repentance marks out those who have been saved by God from those who have not.
    What about the individual that says, “I believe in Jesus, I’ve asked Him to save me. Nothing can change that, so I’m going to go on living my life in sin.” What would you say to that individual?
    Luke 13:3 ESV
    3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
    Acts 11:18 ESV
    18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
    2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV
    10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
    For someone to have faith in Jesus, means at its core, that they believe that Jesus really is who He claims to be—the crucified and risen King who has conquered death and sin, and who has the power to save.
    Now, how could a person believe all that about Jesus, and at the same time say, “But, I don’t think Jesus is King over my life. I will trust Him for salvation, but I don’t want to follow Him with my life.”
    Does that make sense?
    “Faith in Christ carries in itself a renunciation of that rival power that King Jesus conquered—sin. And where that renunciation of sin is not present, neither is genuine faith in the One who defeated it.” —Greg Gilbert
    Matthew 6:24 ESV
    24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
    To put your faith in Jesus is to renounce his enemies.

    Repentance, Not Perfection but Taking Sides

    Repentance does NOT mean that we will never sin again.
    We are still fallen sinners even though God gives us new spiritual life, and we will continue to struggle with sin until we are glorified with Jesus.
    Galatians 5:17 ESV
    17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
    1 John 2:1 ESV
    1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
    But, even if repentance doesn’t mean an immediate end to our sinning, it does mean that we will no longer live at peace with our sin. We will declare mortal war against it and dedicate ourselves to resisting it by God’s power on every front in our lives. That’s repentance!
    Yet, we sometimes genuinely struggle with the idea of repentance. Why? We thin that sin will go away and temptation will stop.
    What happens when that isn’t the case? Despair, questioning our salvation.
    It is true that in salvation God gives us the power to overcome sin.
    1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
    13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
    But we will continue to struggle with sin for the rest of our lives. How does that truth help us to think about repentance? If repentance is not perfectionism, then what is it?
    It is a matter of our heart’s attitude toward sin, and not merely a change of behavior.
    Do we hate sin? Are we waring against it? Or do we cherish it? Do we defend it?
    “The difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God, and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.” —William Arnot

    Real Change, Real Fruit

    When a person genuinely repents and believes in Christ what happens to that person?
    Ephesians 2:1 ESV
    1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
    Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
    4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
    A genuinely saved person is given new spiritual life. How will that new spiritual life manifest itself?
    Our lives change. Not immediately, not quickly, not even necessarily steadily. But our lives change. We begin to bear fruit.
    Acts 26:20 ESV
    20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
    What are deeds in keeping with repentance?
    Christians are to be marked by the same kind of love, compassion, and goodness that characterized Jesus Himself.
    Luke 6:44 ESV
    44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
    What does this mean about a repentant life?
    When people are given new spiritual life, they begin to do the kinds of things that Jesus did. They begin to live like Jesus lived and bear good fruit.
    What is the danger for us when we think about bearing good fruit?
    “One thing we must be constantly on guard against is any thought that those fruits are the cause of our salvation. There is always a danger that when we begin to see fruit in our lives, we’ll suddenly begin to rely on that fruit for our salvation, instead of on Christ.” —Greg Gilbert
    How do we guard against this? Where does the good fruit come from? A good tree. How did the tree become good? How did we change from a thornbush to a fig tree? Only by God’s grace through Christ.
    To rely on your own Christian fruit to secure God’s favor is ultimately to shift your faith from Jesus to yourself. And that is no salvation at all.

    Where will You Point?

    When you stand before God at the judgement, I wonder what you plan to do or say in order to convince him to count you righteous and admit you to all the blessings of his kingdom?
    Will you point to some good deed or godly attitude that you hope will impress God?
    Will you pull out your church attendance? Your family life? Your spotless thought life? All the sins that you stopped doing in your life?
    What will you hold up before God and say, “God, on account of this, justify me!”
    “Here is what every true Christian will say when they stand before God their righteous judge. They will simply and quietly point to Jesus. And this will be their plea, “O God, do not look for any righteousness in my own life. Look at your Son. Count me righteous not because of anything I’ve done or anything I am, but because of him. He lived the life I should have lived. He died the death that I deserve. I have renounced all other trusts, and my plea is him alone. Justify me, O God, because of Jesus.” —Greg Gilbert

      • Mark 1:15ESV

      • Romans 4:20–21ESV

      • Hebrews 9:27ESV

      • Romans 3:21–22ESV

      • 1 Peter 3:18ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 5:21ESV

      • Romans 4:5ESV

      • Zechariah 3:4–5ESV

      • Galatians 2:16ESV

      • Mark 1:15ESV

      • Acts 3:19ESV

      • Acts 26:20ESV

      • Luke 13:3ESV

      • Acts 11:18ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 7:10ESV

      • Matthew 6:24ESV

      • Galatians 5:17ESV

      • 1 John 2:1ESV

      • 1 Corinthians 10:13ESV

      • Ephesians 2:1ESV

      • Ephesians 2:4–5ESV

      • Acts 26:20ESV

      • Luke 6:44ESV

Faith Baptist Church
faith@fbcocon.org
262-567-0040
http://www.fbcocon.org
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