Bible Study August 30, 2012

Hey Gang,


We continue this week in our study of Apologetics with our series of lessons entitled The Case for Jesus. This week we try to make sense of this thing we call faith. 

What does Indiana Jones teach us about Faith?

A Leap of Faith 
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In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harrison Ford and others are in pursuit of finding the Holy Grail that will give eternal life, but Indy must pass 3 challenges to what he believes to reach the Holy Grail.


Fill in the answers to the three challenges:


1. Only the penitent man will pass – kneel before God.

2. Proceed in the footsteps of the Word.

3. Path of God is a leap of faith – you must Believe.

It’s time to ask yourself what you believe?

Our study this week is asking each of us – what do you believe? What is my faith really in? Is my faith a biblical faith? Is there evidence of my faith? Do I really understand my faith?


This week we are going to break down what faith really is - both the faith that saves and the faith that remains loyal to Christ. The former addresses what happens the moment a person believes in Christ and is based on passages from Romans 4:1-3, 23-25 and 10:9-13; and the latter concerns what kind of lifestyle God expects from those who have received Jesus as God's Son and Messiah, and is based in the Book of Hebrews 12:1-2.

1. Saved
2. Lifestyle

I. TRUST IN THE RELIABLE – ROMANS 4:1-3, 23-25

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

……………………………………………………

23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.


Indiana’s Dad said Elsa never really believed in the Grail, she thought she’d found a prize? She didn’t trust in the reliable. What do you really believe will save you? Is it a law you must keep, or a prize you must attain? Is it a church you must attend or certain acts you must follow? Maybe it’s whether or not you give your tithe to the church?



There are people at times that have said, “In the Old Testament people were saved by keeping the law. In the New Testament we are saved by grace.” What does verse 1-3 have to say in response?

• Abraham believed God.
• If there is any doctrine that Satan desires to undercut and distort the most, it is the doctrine of salvation.
• Every false religion of the world—is founded on some form of salvation by works. Without exception, they teach that, by one means or another, man can become right with deity by attaining righteousness in his own power.
• Abraham was credited righteousness by believing in God.

Why was it important that Paul use Abraham in his message of salvation by faith and not works?

• The Jewish people viewed Abraham as their spiritual ancestor.
• Jewish readers would accept something that was true for Abraham.
• Abraham’s relationship with God was founded on faith, not on anything he had done.
• When Paul wrote that “Abraham believed God,” he quoted Genesis 15:6. When God called Abraham, he moved his family to a new location and committed his life to the true God. Abraham likely had faith in idols before God called him. But his faith was without power until put in the right object – God. Faith is only as good as the one we place it in.

Is faith what differentiates Christianity from other religions?

• No, people of all religions and worldviews have faith.
• Even an atheist has faith that God does not exist.
• What differentiates Christianity is who we put our faith in – the object of our faith.

What is it about the idea of salvation by works that is so appealing?

• Because we like to be in control.

Can you be saved, then with no works at all?

• James 2:14-26 (NIV) 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

How would you explain, then the role of faith and works in salvation?

• We are saved by grace through faith. This faith results in works in the same way that if someone said, “I believe in exercise” you expect them to exercise. Faith in exercise will make you healthy, but only the kind of faith that leads you to exercise.

So how do we receive this righteousness? Romans 4:23

• Whether we are mature Christians or immature ones, old or young, the New Testament writers call us “saints,” “set apart ones,” and “holy ones.” Hebrews 10:10 tells us that “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
• At the moment of our salvation, God declared us holy and perfect because of the justifying work of Christ. It was as if God looked down from the judge’s bench and declared us “not guilty” because the penalty for sin was paid. Nothing can change our positional holiness—not even our subsequent behavior or our fears of God’s displeasure. We are holy because God has declared it so and His Son has assured it by His death.
• We are holy in our standing before God, but we are only progressively becoming holy in our thinking, our actions, and our dispositions as we struggle with sin each day. It is almost as if the biblical writers are telling us, “Be what you are. You are holy, now be that way.” It is like one of the Rockefellers saying to a rebellious son, “You are a Rockefeller. That will never change. Now act like a Rockefeller.”

II. FAITH IS AN ACT OF THE WILL – ROMANS 10:9-13

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”


Why is confessing with our mouth so important?

• We are changed more from what we say than what we hear. It is important to salvation and it is important to discipleship. It is important to justification and it is important to sanctification. Jesus said it is what comes out of a man that changes him.

Is this saying you have to make a public confession—come forward—to be saved, as some teach?

• There are many folk who maintain that a believer has to make a public confession of faith. That is not what Paul is saying here. It does not mean to go forward in a public meeting. Paul is not saying that you have to make a public confession.
• Paul is saying that man needs to bring into agreement his confession and his life. The mouth and the heart should be in harmony, saying the same thing. It is with the heart that you believe. Your “heart” means your total personality, your entire being. You see, there are some folk who say something with their mouths -- they give lip service to God -- but their hearts are far from Him. When you make a public confession, you be dead sure that your heart is right along with you; that you are not just saying idle words that mean nothing to you personally. If there is confession without faith, it is due either to self-deception or to hypocrisy. If there is faith without confession, it may be cowardice. It seems to me that Paul is saying here that James is accurate, “...faith without works is dead” (James 2:20).

If you are going to work your mouth, be sure you have faith in your heart, my friend.

III. FAITH IS A WAY OF LIFE – HEBREWS 12:1-2

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


Our faith has to become a way of life. Like Indiana Jones, it’s a pursuit of something or someone? Like young Christian in “The Pilgrim’s Progress” it’s a journey. And like Hebrews tells us it’s a race before us that we must run with perseverance.



Who is this cloud of witnesses?

• Believers find encouragement in being surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses as the saints mentioned in Hebrews 11. Their triumph gives evidence of the possibilities of a life of faith. The figure of a cloud suggests a massive host of these exemplary servants. We receive much encouragement from knowing that others have faced obstacles in the Christian life and have gloriously triumphed.

What are some things we should throw off in our pursuit or journey?

• The first step of preparation to run the race requires that the racers strip off every weight that might slow them down. Christians must be “spiritually trim” and able to run the race unencumbered (see 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 2:3-4). Many “weights” may not be necessarily sinful acts, but could be things that hold us back, such as use of time, some forms of entertainment, or certain relationships. But it is especially important to strip off the sin that so easily hinders our progress. Sins such as greed, pride, arrogance, lust, gossip, dishonesty, and stealing can cause believers to drift off spiritual course. Then they must run with endurance the race that God has set before them.

Indiana almost lost his life in an effort to hang on to something? What was it and what did his father tell him to do? 

• Let it go

What did Indiana’s Dad find in his pursuit of the Holy Grail? 

• Illumination

What should we hope to find in our faith pursuit?

• A greater understanding of Christ
• To be Christ like

Hope that everyone is having a blessed week and we'll look forward to learning something special from Indiana Jones this Thursday as we try to make some sense of this thing we call faith.

See you on Thursday!

In His Love,

David