Adult Mentor: 2nd Quarter 2017

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corp.

Adult Mentor (ages 36 & older).This book is for the adult learner, ages 36 and older. It is designed to increase Christian faith and biblical understanding using a variety of learning methods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Jan 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781681672489

Book preview

SALVATION THROUGH THE GRACE OF GOD

QUARTERLY THEME:

What It Means to Be Saved!

Lesson Scriptures:

Ephesians 2:1–10;

DISCIPLINES LEARNED

I. HUMANITY WAS DEAD IN TRESPASSES AND SINS

II. HUMANITY IS SAVED FROM SIN VIA DIVINE GRACE

III. HUMANITY IS SAVED TO GLORIFY GOD

KEY VERSE:

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

(Ephesians 2:4–5, NRSV)

INTRODUCTION

In this quarter, we will delve more deeply into the wonder and the mystery of divine salvation. How often do we stop to consider what a blessing God’s salvation truly is? The joy we feel when we are saved is akin to the joy of the prophet Simeon who, when he saw the child Jesus, praised God, saying, ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’ (Luke 2:28–32, NRSV). This study examines the various aspects of divine salvation to show it is a gift from God that requires human participation and response to the divine initiative.

Three things are important in this particular lesson. First we will examine what it means for humanity to be dead in trespasses and sins. Second, we will examine humanity’s salvation via divine grace. Finally, we will look at the purpose of humanity’s salvation, which is to glorify God. Salvation as the gift of God is undeserved. In spite of human rebellion against Him, God graciously offered humanity a way out of its self-imposed destruction, and that is the true definition of grace.

THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS:

1 Humanity was made perfect, but rebelled against its Creator.

2 God graciously moved to save humanity through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ.

3 The human response to God’s salvation must be to glorify God.

EXPOSITION:

I. Humanity Was Dead in Trespasses and Sins

As we begin our study this quarter, it is essential that we understand that salvation is a gift. Indeed, everything is a gift for us: our lives, our bodies, and everything we possess in this life. All of it comes from God, the Creator of the universe. In the same way that our lives here on earth are a gift, so too is our eternal salvation.

There is nothing that we can do on our own to reverse the results of the Fall of humanity. The Fall was the result of humanity’s own doing. Humans dishonored their Creator by listening to a lying serpent. There is nothing we can do of ourselves to restore our broken relationship with the Father and restore the honor of our Creator and Benefactor. Left to ourselves, Paul writes, we are dead through the trespasses and sins in which [we live], following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient (Eph. 2:1–2, NRSV). In other words, apart from God, we are enslaved to sin and under the power of Satan. In that condition, we live in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses . . . by nature children of wrath (v. 3, NRSV).

This is a hopeless situation. We cannot extricate ourselves from the coils of sin and death. Who can do it? Who can save us? Paul’s answer is emphatic: But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us . . . made us alive together with Christ (vv. 4–5, NRSV). Only God could do this. Only His love for His creation and His mercy toward our desperate condition could save us. Our salvation is entirely the gift of our merciful Creator.

ACTIVITY:

MAKING IT STICK

Salvation is the free gift of God. Humanity can do nothing to earn it. Read James 2 and consider: If it is free, what does James mean when he says that faith without works is dead?

II. Humanity Is Saved from Sin via Divine Grace

The church in Ephesus to which Paul wrote was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Its Gentile members had lived completely outside of the covenant community. They had lived according to the predominant notions of morality in the Greco-Roman world. In other words, they gave themselves over to every sort of pleasure available to them in their worship of false gods. Now that they had come into the Kingdom of God, they were called to a new life of communion with the one true God and to fellowship with others.

This is what God’s grace does for us as well. It restores us to fellowship with Him. But it is about more than that. God’s grace also empowers us to live a life of holiness and purity. Grace, in other words, is not just about a free gift we carelessly receive from God without any further obligation on our part. Grace is empowerment for the discipline that the Christian life entails. When we struggle with temptation, discouragement, suffering, or pain, God’s grace is given to us to help us carry on. When we are tired of withstanding the sins that constantly beset us, God’s grace gives us strength.

But how does this work? How is it that God, through grace, does these things? In one sense, this is a great mystery, beyond our ability to fully explain