Three Introductory Studies for new Christians

'Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.' 2 Cor. 5:17,18.

Jesus taught that we have to enter the kingdom of God; we are not part of it already by any aspect of our being - see Mark 10:15 and 23,24

But where is the kingdom of God? Look up Luke 17:20,21....... so we belong to it spiritually.

- by ....................................... which is being sorry for our sins and turning from a life to please ourselves and to turn to a life in which we seek to please God.

Look up Acts 26:18 and list the five aspects of the message God gave to Paul. These are, in fact, the changes that happen when a person becomes a Christian

1. ........................................... 2. ....................................................

3. ................................ 4. .......................................... 5. ........................................

Each of these is of tremendous significance: discuss them. How far reaching they are and what are going to be their consequences?

Let's hear Jesus Himself in John 5:24 and 6:40. So what is true of the Christian?

Now I want you to turn to a very interesting encounter between Jesus and a young man in Mark 10:17-27. We don't need to go into the detail of what the man's problem was, but please note the following:

v.17 - what does the man ask Jesus for? .....................................................................................

v.23 - what does Jesus say it is hard for the rich to do? ..............................................................

v.26 - what do the disciples ask? ...................................................................................................

So these three expressions all speak of the same thing. Gaining eternal life, entering the kingdom of God and being saved each refer to the same outcome of repentance and faith in Christ. But when we put them together they amount to an enormous response from God. Discuss the implications of each and their sum total.

Who brought us to spiritual life? Did we do it ourselves? See Ephesians 1:7-8 and 2:4-6.

In fact, every member of the Trinity (see a comprehensive article on the Trinity on the Doctrine for Everyone web page) is involved in bringing someone to faith - see Titus 3:4-6 which describes the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What are those works?

So we did not earn our salvation and we did not bring ourselves to spiritual life; it was a ............................... Ephesians 2:8,9.

The question 'Have I done enough?' does not apply because we must depend on what Christ has done, not on anything we have done. We just hold out empty hands to receive God's gift. That's the big point about the Christian faith: it does not say 'do' it says 'done'. Nevertheless we might still wonder if we have really repented and believed.

We know that we are imperfect and we can only say "to the best of my intentions and the ability to know my own heart I have put my faith in Christ. God please help me to mean it: I rely on your promise to receive me." In John 6:37 Jesus says 'whoever comes to me I will never drive away' and speaking of the inner conviction that Christians have Paul says in Romans 8:16 'The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

Can we expect to feel any different? That rather depends on the circumstances of our coming to faith. We could feel intense relief and joy that our stand before God has so wonderfully been resolved. Some feel a sober sense of re-assurance. But we do not need to rely on feelings; lack of emotional feelings does not mean that we haven't become a Christian.

But gradually we will begin to realise that there are new intentions stirring in our souls. In John's first letter (1 John*) he tells us that we can expect to experience a desire to live more and more as God wants us to. So we will want to read the Bible more and increasingly understand our faith. We will want to mix with other Christians and enjoy their companionship (we call it 'fellowship'). These are the healthy signs that we should look for.

* The references in 1 John are (1) 2:3-6 - a desire for holy living (2) 2:20-27 - learning and holding-on to biblical truth (3) 4:7-12 - loving our fellow Christians.

(a) In our previous study we have seen that whole of the Trinity (see article on the Trinity on the Doctrine for Everyone web page) is involved in our becoming a Christian in the first place. Re-read Titus 3:4-7. What does it say the Holy Spirit has done?

1. ................................................. 2. .........................................................

(b) In John 14:16,17 Jesus tells us some important facts about the Holy spirit: what are they? [The word 'another' means 'of the same nature as me'. The word 'Counsellor' translates the Greek word 'paraclete' which means 'one who is called to stand alongside' ]

Ephesians 1:13,14 tell us of two more things that the gift of the Holy spirit means. What are they?

We have, of course, seen some of this already in the scriptures we have read but now let's concentrate on His work of 'sanctification' (a big technical word we will now explain). Sanctification has two allied meanings:

1. "to set apart for God"; in this sense all Christians have been sanctified at the time of coming to faith and acceptance by God. In the Greek, the words for 'sanctify' and 'saint' have the same root. All Christians are saints -see the beginning of most of Paul's epistles where he addresses his readers as saints. [There is no connection with the practice of some churches to confer the title of saint on a person who is believed to have performed a miracle. ]

2. 'the life long process of moral transformation by which the believer becomes more like Christ in character and daily living'. In this sense Christians are being sanctified but the process will never be complete because perfection is not achievable in this life.

1 Corinthians 1:2 has both meanings - 'to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy'.

God wants us to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 19:2 and 1 Peter 1:15,16.)

In Romans, Paul having spent 11 chapters fully expounding how God justly forgives us and accepts us, says in 12:1 'Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship.'

But note how he goes on in v.2 'Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.' Here there is both (a) the instruction to us to do something ('Do not be conformed') and (b) the idea that we will 'be transformed'. This latter is a reference to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

So the work of sanctifying us is a joint effort by the Holy Spirit and ourselves - Galatians 5:16 and 25 'So I say live by the Spirit' ...... 'keep in step with the Spirit'. And Galatians 5:22,23 tells us what the result should be - please read them.

Because of our ingrained human nature the process of becoming holy is hard work! We have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus (Colossians 3:1-4): we must get to know the Bible better and better (Colossians 3:16a); and we need the support and encouragement of other Christians (Colossians 3:16b).

A final word about sanctification: there will always be a tension in the Christian life between what we might expect NOW and what is in store for us THEN, in heaven. We belong to the Kingdom of God but we still experience the earthly regime of decay and corruption, of sin, suffering and physical death. But we are not alone, as those who do not believe and have no hope: we have a future with God 'I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.' (Romans 8:18)

'Scripture knows nothing of solitary religion. No one can be reconciled to God without being reconciled to the people of God among whom his experience of God's grace has immediately set him' Bruce Milne in 'Know the Truth' IVP.

The Church began with Abraham: see Genesis 12:2. Who was that great nation? Now see what God says to them in Exodus 6:7 'you will be my ........ I will be your ..........' As the Bible progressively reveals God's plan of salvation on into the New Testament, it becomes clear that Jesus Christ and believers in Him are to be the New Israel - the new 'church' of God.

The OT word for the people of God is 'qahal' which means 'a gathering in response to God's call'. This meaning is carried through in to the NT, see 1 Corinthians 1:2.

The NT Greek word is 'Ecclesia' which means simply a meeting or assembly. It is used in the NT to refer to a local gathering of Christians and the worldwide age-long company of God's people. It is never used to describe a building or an organised group of churches. While any local company of believers is part of the whole church (in every place and in every age) it is itself a complete expression of 'the church'.

Article 19 of the Church of England states 'The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful people, in which the pure word of God is preached, and the Sacraments duly administered.'

1 Peter 2:9 .....................................................................................

1 Cor. 12:27 ....................................................................................

1 Cor. 3:11,16 ...................................................................................

Eph.2:19 .......................................................................................

1 Peter 5:1,2 ..................................................................................

John 15:5 .......................................................................................

Nowhere in the Bible is worship used to describe what the Christians did when they gathered together. See Acts 2:41,42 and Romans12:1.

What we do together in church should be designed to respond to God's 'worth-ship'. We confess our sins, praise God for who He is and what He has done, read the Bible and hear it explained and applied to our lives. How does each of these reflect an attribute of God? And we encourage one another (Ephesians 5:19).

Holy Communion is a service of remembrance of Christ's death for us on the cross for our redemption. We do not sacrifice Christ again. The one who presides is not a priest. It is not an altar: it is a meal table where we enjoy a token meal, remembering the original Last Supper. We receive real bread and wine - they do not change - which are important symbols, but only symbols. We feed on Christ by faith and we do it together as the disciples did.

Fellowship is not just a chat over a cup of coffee after church (important though that may be). The book of Philippians tells us of four fellowships:

4. fellowship in giving (4:14-19). Discuss what these might mean for your church fellowship.

*Understanding the Bible*
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