Growing in Christ: A 13-Week Course for New and Growing Christians

Growing in Christ\ \ NavPress\ Copyright © 1980 The Navigators\ All right reserved.\ ISBN: 0-89109-157-2 \ \ \ Chapter One\ ASSURANCE OF SALVATION\ MEMORIZE 1 JOHN 5:11-12\ Assurance of Salvation\ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.\ 1 John 5:11-12\ The five verses you will memorize and study in Lessons on Assurance will equip you for your first encounters with the enemy. His first approach is often to cast doubt on the work God has done in your heart. Although you won't hear his audible voice, he will whisper this in your mind:\ "You don't think you are saved and your sins forgiven just by believing and receiving Christ? Surely that is not enough!"\ What will your answer be? Your only hope of successfully resisting such an attack is to resort to God's word. What does God say about the matter? That is the important thing for you to know.\ On the basis of this "testimony"-God's written word-you can be convinced you have the Lord Jesus Christ, and with him eternal life. You can thus overcome in this first test of your faith. The attack may recur, but now you can meet it with the word of God in your heart.\ EXPLORING 1 JOHN 5:11-12\ Who gives eternal life?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ Where is eternal life found?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ Who has eternal life?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ Who does not have eternal life?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ "THIS IS THE TESTIMONY"\ 1. What did John say in John 20:31 about why he wrote this book?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ "GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE"\ 2. According to Romans 5:8, how has God shown that he loves you?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 3. What results of man's sinfulness are listed in Isaiah 59:2?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 4. Read Ephesians 2:8-9. Why do human efforts always fail to reach God?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 5. In 1 Peter 3:18 how did Peter explain what God has done to bring men to himself?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 6. How did John say a person receives the gift of salvation in John 1:12?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ "HE WHO HAS THE SON HAS LIFE"\ 7. According to John 5:24, what three things are the result of hearing and believing?\ PRESENT ________________________________________________________ FUTURE _________________________________________________________ PAST ___________________________________________________________\ 8. What did Jesus promise his followers in John 10:27-29?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 9. What takes place when a person becomes a Christian, as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ Which of the following changes have you experienced in your life? (Check appropriate ones.)\ ____ Inner peace\ ____ New awareness of sin\ ____ Victory over sin\ ____ New love for God\ ____ Desire to read the Bible\ ____ Attitude changes\ ____ Sense of forgiveness\ ____ New concern for others\ WRITE OUT 1 JOHN 5:11-12 FROM MEMORY.\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ APPLYING 1 JOHN 5:11-12\ Meditate on 1 John 5:11-12 and consider how to apply it to your life.\ How do you know that you have eternal life?\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ Now take a few moments to thank God for all he has given you in Jesus Christ.\ Chapter Two\ ASSURANCE OF ANSWERED PRAYER \ Review 1 John 5:11-12, and check here __ after quoting it correctly from memory.\ MEMORIZE JOHN 16:24\ Assurance of Answered Prayer\ "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."\ John 16:24\ Another attack of Satan may be to cause you to doubt the effectiveness of prayer. He may whisper to you, "You don't think God is really personally interested in you? He's far away, and concerned about more important things. Surely you don't think he'll hear your prayers-much less answer them!"\ But with Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you have the unique privilege of speaking directly with your heavenly Father through him. God wants you to come confidently into his presence through Christ and to talk to him about everything (look up Philippians 4:6 and Hebrews 4:14-16). He is intensely interested in you and your needs.\ In the memory verse for this lesson, John 16:24, Jesus was speaking to his disciples the night before his crucifixion. He did not tell them they had never before asked for anything in prayer. But he said they had not asked in his name. You yourself have probably prayed many times, especially when in trouble. But as a believer in Christ you can ask in Jesus' name, because you belong to him. To ask in his name means to ask in his authority and on his merit. Just as the Father answered Jesus' every prayer, so he will answer you when you ask in Jesus' name.\ Memorize this promise, apply its truth, and experience the joy of answered prayer.\ EXPLORING JOHN 16:24\ What is prayer?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ In whose name should you pray?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ What results from prayer?\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ "UNTIL NOW YOU HAVE NOT ASKED FOR ANYTHING IN MY NAME"\ 1. What does Jesus teach about prayer in Matthew 7:7-8?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 2. What are some important conditions for answered prayer? John 15:7\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 1 John 5:14-15\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ "ASK AND YOU WILL RECEIVE"\ 3. What is characteristic of God's answers to prayer?\ Jeremiah 33:3\ ________________________________________________________________\ Ephesians 3:20\ ________________________________________________________________\ 4. Read Matthew 7:9-11. What kind of gifts does God give his children?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ How do you think God would respond to a request for something he knew would be bad for you?\ ________________________________________________________________\ What do you think God would do if he knew the answer would be better for you at another time?\ ________________________________________________________________\ 5. Read Philippians 4:6-7. What is the wrong reaction to have toward difficult circumstances?\ ________________________________________________________________\ What is the right response?\ ________________________________________________________________\ What is the result of this right response?\ ________________________________________________________________\ "YOUR JOY WILL BE COMPLETE"\ 6. From Philippians 4:7, what results from the peace that comes through prayer?\ ________________________________________________________________\ 7. Read Luke 1:13-14. What resulted when Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed for a son?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 8. What are some hindrances to answered prayer? James 4:3\ ________________________________________________________________\ Psalm 66:18\ ________________________________________________________________\ WRITE OUT JOHN 16:24 FROM MEMORY.\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ Four important areas of prayer are:\ ADORATION -reflecting on God himself. Praise him for his love, his power and majesty, and his wonderful gift of Christ.\ CONFESSION -admitting your sins to God. Be honest and humble. Remember he knows you and loves you still.\ THANKSGIVING -telling God how grateful you are for everything he has given-even the unpleasant things. Your thankfulness will help you see his purposes.\ SUPPLICATION -making specific requests, both for others and for yourself.\ The first letters of these four words form the word "ACTS." Use this as a mental guide for a balanced prayer life.\ APPLYING JOHN 16:24\ List four specific things you can pray about today. Pause right now and talk to God about them.\ ADORATION\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ CONFESSION\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ THANKSGIVING\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ SUPPLICATION\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ Chapter Three\ ASSURANCE OF VICTORY \ Review the following verses, and check them off after quoting them correctly from memory.\ 1 John 5:11-12_____ John 16:24_____\ MEMORIZE 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13\ Assurance of Victory\ No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.\ 1 Corinthians 10:13\ Still another attack from Satan may be along this line: He will whisper to you, "You have life, all right, but you are a weakling; you have always been a weakling."\ He will remind you of some sin which has gripped you for years. He will point to something of which you are keenly aware, and say, "You are weak, and you will not be able to stand against this temptation. You may be able to stand against others, but not this one."\ How will you answer him? Will you attempt to reason? Will you try to produce your own arguments? Will you run to see what other people say? Or will you resort to the invincible word of God?\ Knowing 1 Corinthians 10:13 will allow you to ward off this attack. God promises victory. It belongs to you as his child. Believe him, and you will see how God does things that are impossible with men. It will thrill you to see chains of lifetime habits broken by his mighty power.\ EXPLORING 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13\ What is true about every temptation you face?\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ Who can give you victory when you are tempted?\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ Does God remove temptation?\ ___________________________________________________________________\ What does God do for you?\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ "TEMPTATION ... IS COMMON TO MAN"\ 1. What is a major source of temptation that James described in James 1:13-14?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 2. Read 1 John 2:15-16. What are three primary areas of temptation?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ 3. According to Peter's statement in 1 Peter 5:8, what is the devil seeking to do when he tempts you?\ ________________________________________________________________\ What does this mean to you?\ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ "GOD IS FAITHFUL"\ 4. What does God do for you, according to 2 Thessalonians 3:3?\ ________________________________________________________________\ 5. What does Hebrews 4:15 tell you about Jesus Christ? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________\ "A WAY OUT"\ 6. What are some things you can do to keep temptation from leading into sin?\ Matthew 6:9,13\ ________________________________________________________________\ Psalm 119:9,11\ ________________________________________________________________\ 1 John 5:4-5\ ________________________________________________________________\ Hebrews 4:16 ________________________________________________________________ James 4:7\ ________________________________________________________________\ WRITE OUT 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 FROM MEMORY.\ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________\ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Growing in Christ Copyright © 1980 by The Navigators.\ Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. 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