Alternate Tuesday
7.00 pm to 8.00 pm
Bible Study Time
Our Identity in Christ
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...”
A smart way to make someone ineffective or unproductive is to confuse them about their identity. It is also the easiest way to dominate or control others. The devil has used this trick from the beginning of time and continues to do so today.
Our Identity is very fundamental to our relationship with God. We cannot relate to him the right way if we do not know who we are in him or who he is to us.
Our Identity in Christ
John 1:11-13 (New Living Translation)
11 ”He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Grace has made all these possible!
What did Grace do for us?
8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…”
Redeemed: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
Forgiven: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
Chosen: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last" (John 15:16).
A new creation: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Raised to life: "Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians 2:5
Loved:
1. “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”.
2. “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39)
What Grace is not?
Ephesians 2:8,9 (ESV); Romans 5: 15- 20; Romans 6: 1-2;14
Not Works: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.…” Ephesians 2: 8 - 9
Not Self-Righteousness: “For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction]. Isaiah 64:6 AMPC
Cannot be exhausted: "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,” Romans 5:20
Does not Condemn: "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification”. Romans 5:15-16.
Does not accept sin: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:1-2;14
2. ”So that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness, leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Romans 5:21)
Discussion: Is grace the only thing that is needed for us to make heaven?
Discussion: Is grace the only thing that is needed for us to make heaven?
Titus 2:11-14 (New Living Translation)
11 ”For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”