|
| |
Transforming Grace
Discussion Guide, Chapter 8b: Appropriating God’s Grace (God's Word)
Central Idea: God’s grace is applied to our lives and made real in our
experience through prayer, the Bible, submission to His sovereignty, and the ministry of
other believers.
Warm-Up Question: Share a time when God used a particular Scripture passage in your
life to speak directly to you.
Appropriating God’s Grace through His Word
- What are some ways Scriptures are brought to our attention
?
- Friends, sermons, Bible study, Bible reading, Christian books, Bible memorization,
Christian radio and television
- What do all these things have in common
? They all require the attention of our
minds.
- Quote (TG, pg 177): "The grace we receive from God … is the aid of the Holy
Spirit. We do not understand just how the Holy Spirit interacts with our human spirit, but
we do know He most often uses His word. That is, He brings to our mind some
Scripture or Scriptures, particularly appropriate to the situation."
- Rom 12:2. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will
is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
- SG # 1.a. Which of these are a part of a typical week for you?
- SG # 1.b. Which of these areas do you feel you need to give more of your attention?
- How does the Word of God describe itself
?
- The Word of God is different from any other writings. It is directly from God, and is
perfect.
- 2 Tim 3:16a. All Scripture is God-breathed.
- Prov 30:5a. Every word of God is flawless
- The Word of God is described as a living entity.
- Deut 32:46b-47a. Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this
day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47
They are not just idle words for you--they are your life.
- 1 Jn 2:14. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the
beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in
you, and you have overcome the evil one.
- 1 Pet 1:23. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of
imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- The Word of God is active. It changes people.
- 1 Pet 2:2 (NASB). Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it
you may grow in respect to salvation.
- 1 Thess 2:13. And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word
of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it
actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.
- Heb 4:12. For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged
sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
- The Word of God is a weapon of warfare, spiritual warfare. Eph 6:17. Take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- How can a physically lifeless book full of pages and ink, which is made from dead trees actually
be what is described here
?
- Actually, the Bible is not really the Word of God, in the physical sense. Jesus
is the Word of God, and the physical book just points to Jesus. So there’s nothing
wrong with calling the Bible the Word of God, as long as we are understanding it to be
somewhat metaphorical. That is, the Bible points to, or represents the Word
of God, who is King Jesus.
- [Side note: It is unnecessary to venerate the physical Bible over any other writings. I
probably take better care of my Bible than any other book, not because it has special
powers, but because it points to Christ, who does have special powers.]
- Jn 1:1, 14. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God…. 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Rev 19:11-13. I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose
rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no
one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the
Word of God.
- What are some hinderances to getting the Word of God into my life
?
- We must battle sins of unbelief.
- If we truly believe that the Bible is really God speaking directly to us,
then wouldn’t we come to it more often to find out what God is saying to us about
Himself?
- If we truly believe that the Bible is God’s primary means of giving us His
grace, then wouldn’t we come to it more often with our needs, applying the Word of
God to our particular situation?
- We must battle the sins of business and laziness.
- Maybe we are too consumed with our own life agendas. We have to be so enraptured by our
chief purpose in life, to glorify God, that it’s not even a question that we would be
getting the Word into our minds and hearts. We should never categorize God in our lives!
- With the above Scriptures in mind, how do we now understand what it means to appropriate
God’s grace through the Word of God
?
- Ac 20:32. Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you
up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
- Quote (TG, pg 177): "[Paul] referred to ‘the word of his grace, which can
build you up.’ The reference here is to the ongoing use of Scripture in our daily
lives to build us up in the Christian faith. But Paul specifically called it ‘the
word of his grace,’ the word through which we come to understand and appropriate
God’s grace in our daily lives…. If we are to appropriate the grace of God then,
we must become intimate friends with the Bible."
- R. C. H. Linski said, "God and the Word of his grace always go together; God lets
his grace flow out through that Word."
- Rom 15:4-5. For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so
that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May
the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves
as you follow Christ Jesus….
- In verse 4, what gives us endurance and encouragement
? The Scriptures
- In verse 5, who gives us endurance and encouragement
? God
- What does this say about the relationship between God and Scriptures
? God
doesn’t just use the Word to inform us, or to just reveal who He is; He uses the
Scriptures as a means of grace to us. God is a source of power and strength through the
Scriptures.
- So when we have a healthy intake of the Bible, we are appropriating life (grace) into
our own lives because in a sense, Christ comes alive in our human spirits through normal,
mundane words and language that we use every day.
- What are some practical ways I can get the Word of God into my mind
?
- The Bible Mind Model (Three concentric circles)
- The inner circle contains those verses I’ve memorized. These are the verses I can
recite perfectly with topic and references.
- The middle circle contains those verses that I can find right away in the Bible, but I
don’t necessarily have them memorized.
- The outer circle contains concepts that I know are found somewhere in the Bible, but I
can’t necessarily find them right away.
- We should seek to broaden all three circles of biblical knowledge.
- This model is somewhat (but purposefully) limited. It only demonstrates categories of
methods for learning what the Bible says.
- More than just getting biblical information into our minds, we should seek to understand
the Scriptures. Meditate on them. Act on them. Obey them. Sink them down into our hearts.
See God in our lives and in the lives of others using the rule of life: The Word of God.
- We can "pray with our eyes open." That is, we can pray over Scriptures as we
read through them. This completes the circle of communication. God speaks to us. Then we
respond by speaking to Him.
- Quote (some preacher): "You will serve the kingdom you see."
- Ways to get the Word of God in front of us:
- Scripture memory systems (i.e., TMS)
- Placing post-it notes containing verses in conspicuous places
- Write key words on your hand.
- Etc….
- The closer we can get the Word of God to our minds, the more opportunities we will have,
practically speaking to appropriate God’s grace, given through His word, to our
lives.
- Read Mt 4:1-11. Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the
devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to
him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and
had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God,"
he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels
concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your
foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.'" 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 "All this I will
give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." 10 Jesus said to
him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve
him only.'" 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
- How did Jesus appropriate God’s grace in the desert of temptation
? He quoted
Scriptures.
- Deut 8:3b. …man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from
the mouth of the LORD.
- Deut 6:16a. Do not test the LORD your God
- Ex 23:25a. Worship the LORD your God,
- Ex 20:3. You shall have no other gods before me.
Application
- Now that we’ve studied some aspects of the sheer power of God through the
Scriptures, one nagging question comes to mind: Why do I not get myself in the Bible every
day? Why do I not hunger for God through the Scriptures
?
How are you going to make sure you’re in a position to appropriate God’s grace
through His Word this week?
Conclusion
- God speaks to us through His Word, the Bible. He may bring Scriptures to mind in many
different ways, but God’s primary means of communication to us is the Bible.
- The Bible describes itself as:
- God-breathed and perfect
- Living and active
- Something that transforms people
- A weapon of warfare: The Sword of the Spirit
- The Word of God is actually Jesus, but we refer to the Bible as the Word of God because
it points directly to Jesus. It’s the story of God’s redemptive purposes in
Christ for His people.
- We must identify, confess, and overcome hindrances that keep us from the Word of God.
- Some ways we can get the Word into our minds:
- Mind Model:
- Verse Memorization
- Verse Familirization
- Concept Familiarization
- Casual Reading
- Rigorous Bible Study
- Use techniques to make Bible verses more "visible" to us
Closing Verses
Let’s appropriate God’s grace through Scriptures right now.
- This passage speaks of God’ delight in doing His children good. Jer 32:38-41. They
will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and
action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children
after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good
to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41
I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my
heart and soul.
- This passage speaks of the depth of God’s love for us. Eph 3:16-21. I pray that
out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your
inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that
you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the
saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know
this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the
church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
|
