DISCIPLESHIP-ASSURANCE part 2

I want to encourage each of you to read every scripture reference for yourself and let God speak to you.

How I Know I am Saved....

1.I Believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 16:31
2.I have the Son. 1 John 5:12
3.I have a love for the brethren. 1 John 3:14
4.I desire to keep God's commandments. ! John 2:3
5. I desire to turn from the world and all it's sin. 1 John 2:15
6.I am overcoming the world. 1 John 5:4
7. I have the witness of the Spirit within. 1John 5:10
8. My life is evidencing good fruit. Matthew 7:17,18
9. I hear the Lord's voice through the Word of God and desire to follow Him. John 10:27

We all may have doubts about our salvation but we must remember that satan is a LIAR. John 8:44 reminds us satan is a liar. Genesis 3:1 is his first recorded words in the Bible and what was he doing then? Casting doubt on God's word. Here are some ways to deepen your assurance in what God has done for you.

1.Learn the Word of God. Read and study your Bible for yourself. Salvation is based upon what God has said not how you feel or what someone else thinks. Read 2 Timothy 3:14,15
2.Thank God for His Gift of Salvation. Thanksgiving is evidence of faith. Romans 6:23 says you have received the GIFT of eternal life. Thank God for the GIFT He GAVE. read 2 Corinthians 9:15
3.Make a public testimony before others. TELL SOMEBODY! Let others know you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a relationship between confessing Christ to others and your assurance. One way to confess Christ is to go forward during the church's invitation and speak with the pastor. He will gladly assist you. read 1 John 4:15 Matthew10:32 Romans 10:9,10
4.Attend church as much as possible. Fellowship with other believers is encouraging. Many of them may have experienced the same doubts. read Hebrews 10:22,25
5.Live a righteous life. Isaiah 32:17 tells us the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. When God sees us living for Him, He will bring assurance to us.

What happens if I sin?

Can Christians sin? YES-1 John 1:8
Does God want us to sin? NO-1 John 2:1
When we do sin, what should we do about it? Confess it to GOD-1 John 1:9
1 John 2:1 tells us that when we sin, Jesus Christ the Righteous appears before God the Father on our behalf.
Read 1 John 1:6,7 and answer for yourself...What do I lose if I sin?

Can you Lose Salvation?

1.John 10:28 says we shall NEVER perish.
2.John 10:29 says no man is able to remove us from God's hand.(that would include yourself)
3.John 6:37 says God will in no wise cast out those who come to Christ.
4.John 6:39 says the responsibility of keeping us saved is the Lord's, not ours,and that Christ can lose nothing.
5.John 5:24 says the kind of life I now have is everlasting.
6.Romans 8:38,39 says that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
7.1 Peter 1:5 says we are Kept by the power of God.
8.Jude 24 says Christ is able to keep us from falling.
9.Philippians 1:6 says that Christ will continue his good work in us until the day of Jesus Christ.
10.Ephesians 1:13 says our salvation has been sealed with the Holy Spirit.
11.Ephesians 2:8 says that our salvation is a gift of God. (a gift is not a gift if it is taken back.)
12.Ephesians 2:9 says we have done nothing to gain salvation. If we do nothing to gain it- we can do nothing to lose it.
13.Ephesians 2:2,3 and 1 John 3:10 tells us before we were saved we were in the control of satan but after salvation we have a new relationship with God.
God is our heavenly Father(Romans 8:15).
Christians are the Sons of God(1 John 3:1).
Just like in our own families, when a child does wrong, his parents will correct and chasten their son but he is still their son. He is not cast out of the family.
When a Christian sins, he is not cast out of the family of God. He does not lose his salvation. Hebrews 12:6 tells us that God will Chasten an erring Christian-just like any loving father does.

Reading assignment is the Gospel of John and then 1st John.

DISCIPLESHIP-ASSURANCE part 1

Satan often tries to get Christians to doubt our salvation. The assurance of salvation study is to show us that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you can KNOW for sure you are saved forever. Salvation is not based on a feeling. After you get saved you do not always "feel" saved and especially when you sin again(because ALL men do-saved or not!). Doubts will come but the Lord does not try to trick us. He wants us to know and he shows us how we can in His word.
Assurance of salvation is the intellectual and spiritual certainty that you have eternal salvation, that you are a child of God forever.

2nd Timothy 1:12 says ".....I am not ashamed: for I KNOW whom I have believed, and am PERSUADED that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

1st John 5:13 says"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God"

God tells us right there that we can KNOW we have eternal salvation and not only that but he WANTS us to know. It is not something we have to guess at. He then tells us why we need the assurance of our salvation. Read 1st John 1:4 1st John 3:19,21 Colossians 2:2 and James 1:8.

These versus tell us that assurance brings us JOY, CONFIDENCE BEFORE GOD, COMFORT OF HEART AND STABILITY. Well that makes perfect sense!! When we are SURE of anything, we have joy, confidence, comfort and stability in regards to the thing we are sure of. It only makes sense that God would provide us a way to have each of these things in our life in regard to our walk with Him. When we have an assurance of our salvation it also enables us. Read 1st John 5:4,5 John 1:40,41 John 4:28,29 and acts 16:10. Assurance enable us to overcome the world and effectively serve the Lord by telling family, friends and strangers about Jesus. So we do not have to guess about our salvation-it is not something that we feel, our feelings can change daily, hourly and sometimes every minute but our salvation does not! God gave us His word and we can find the answers to anything he has for us to know. The Bible is His word-straight form Him to us and it is UNCHANGING. What was in there yesterday is still there today and IT STILL APPLIES!!
1st John 5:11,12 says "and this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life."
There are 3 grounds for our assurance...
1.God-God said it so that settles it! read Titus 1:2 and it tells us that God CAN NOT lie. It doesn't just say that He wont lie but that he CAN'T. He is a Holy and Righteous God so He is not ever capable of telling a lie.
2.The promises of God-read John 5:24 John 6:37 and Romans 10:13. God promises that I have everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, Because I came to Jesus Christ, He will in no wise cast me out and the who ever calls upon the name of the Lord SHALL be saved. He says I HAVE everlasting life-I posses it, own it, it is mine to keep and he will not ever cast me out and anyone else that calls on his name SHALL, not might, not could but SHALL BE SAVED.
3.The presence of God-read Romans 5:5 and Romans 8:16. God tells us that when we are saved he gives us His Holy Ghost to dwell in our hearts and the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are in fact God's child. God gives us His Holy Spirit. He does not loan it to us or send it to us sometimes to check in-He gives us His Spirit and it dwells(stays, lives) in our hearts.

DISCIPLESHIP LESSON-PRELIMINARY STUDY

taken straight from our worksheets-we filled in the blanks using the Bible verse provided. I encourage everyone to read each Bible verse for themselves!!

WHAT I WAS?
1. I was spiritually dead in trespasses and sin-Ephesians 2:1
2. I was condemded already-John 3:18
3. I had the wrath of God abiding on me-John 3:36
4.I was a servant of sin-Romans 6:17
5. I was headed for the Lake of Fire-Revelation 20:15
6.I was Lost, yet sought by Jesus-Luke 19:10

What God Promised Me
1. The gift of eternal life- Romans 6:23
2. The forgiveness of sin-Colossians 1:14
3. Salvation through His grace-Titus 2:11
4.To dwell in my heart-Ephesians 3:17 and John 14:23
5. The Love of Christ which passeth knowlege-Ephesians 3:19
6.The Joy of Jesus Christ-John 15:11
7. The Peace of God which passeth all understanding-Philippian4:7

What I Did to Recieve Salvation
1.I called upon the name of the Lord-Romans10:13
2.I believed in my heart-Romans 10:9
3.I received Him (Jesus Christ)-John 1:12
4.I repented of my sins-Acts 17:30

What God did
1. Justified me freely-Romans 3:24
2.Washed me from my sins-Revelation 1:5
3.Secured my name in the Lamb's book of life-Revelation 21:27
4.Adopted me as a son of God-Romans 6:14,15
5.Accepted me in the Beloved-Ephesians 1:6
6.Sanctified me-1 Corinthians 6:11
7.Made me a new creature-2 Corinthians 5:17

What God expects of me
1.read John 3:1-8 The Bible calls becoming a Christian is to be Born Again. read John 3:6
2.read 1 Peter 2:2-Scripture says new Christians are like a newborn babe.
3.read 2 Peter 3:18 God expects us to grow in grace.
4.read 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 The Lord calls christians that down grown spiritually carnel.
5.read Ephesians 4:13-15 answer in your own words-What does the Lord want His children to grow into?

DISCIPLESHIP LESSON-INTRODUCTION

Monty and I(and about 20 other church members) are currently taking a discipleship class at church. We are going through "The ABC's of Christian Growth-an A to Z guide to Christian maturity". Each week we have a lesson with one lesson for each letter of the alphabet. These classes have already been greatly beneficial to us and I thought I would share the knowledge I am gaining. We are only a few weeks in, but Monty has commented on how much better he can find things in his Bible and I can see how these classes are really clarifying a lot of what God's word tells us. I will give an overview of each lesson here and would be more than willing to answer any questions I can. Let's all grow together in the Lord!