(The Fifth Column - Part 1 | Part 2)
In the first part of this study we showed the totally helpless condition unsaved man finds himself in. In this part, we show God’s solution to the problem.
The Flesh - Our Enemy Working From Within
The Scripture: Ezekiel 11:19-20
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws. They will be My people and I will be their God.”
1. What was God’s promise to Israel?
God was promising that the day would come when He would take that old dead heart, that sinful center of man, and replace it with a living heart.
2. What would this new heart cause them to do?
The Scripture: Jeremiah 31:33
“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.’”
3. What would be different about God’s new covenant?
God was looking forward to a day when His people would no longer be just external followers of His laws. He was looking forward to a time when their heart would desire to follow after God.
The Scripture: Galatians 4:4
“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
4. When did this happen?
The Scripture: Romans 7:24-25
“Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
5. What does Jesus do for us when He saves us?
Discussion Question:
If this is true, why don't we always experience it?
We don’t always experience it because we don’t always cooperate with the Spirit of God within us. According to the Bible, every man, woman and child has a new heart provided by God Himself, one that wants to be obedient to God. We have the Spirit of God, resident within us, a Spirit that moment by moment urges us toward a fuller, more complete realization of the new nature God has given us. This process is called sanctification. In order to realize this new nature, we must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at some of the ways we can do this.
The Scripture: Romans 6:13-14
“Offer yourselves to God,...and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”
6. What should we do with our bodies?
We remember that in the Old Testament period, the people of God were instructed to kill and sacrifice an animal. Under our new covenant, the acceptable sacrifice becomes the offering of our total lives.
The Scripture: Ephesians 4:22
“You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires.”
7. What should we do?
Group Discussion:
How do we put off our old self?
Does Romans 6:11 help?
Some good news
The Scripture: Colossians 3:10
“Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
8. With what do we replace the old self?
9. Describe the new self.
The Scripture: 2 Peter 1:3-4
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us through His own glory and goodness.”
10. What has God given us?
Personal Question:
Are you willing to believe this with no reservations, that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness? If not, why not?
11. How is this given?
Personal Question:
How do we gain true knowledge of God?
True knowledge of God is gained through reading and studying the Bible, and being obedient by praying and meditating, by praising and worshiping God and fellowshipping with other believers. Also by letting the Holy Spirit reveal Jesus, who reveals God to us. Gaining true knowledge of God then becomes an important weapon in our war against Satan and his lies.
The Scripture: 2 Peter 1:4
“He has given us His very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires.”
12. Why has God given us His wonderful promises?
The Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-8
“Make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge,
self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and non-productive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
13. What should we do?
14. If we practice these things what will they keep us from?
Refitting Time
The Scripture: Colossians 3:10-11
“Put on your new self which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
15. What is happening to this new self?
16. What kind of renewal is it?
The Scripture: Ephesians 4:22-24
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”
17. Specifically, where are we renewed?
The Scripture: Romans 12:2
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the 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.”
18. Why should we be renewed in our minds?
19. What does this renewing of the mind replace?
The Scripture: 1 John 2:15
“Do not love the world or anything in the world.”
20. What should our attitude toward the world be?
The Scripture: I Timothy 6:10
“The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
21. What are we specially told not to love?
22. What is the love of money?
23. What has it caused?
Some have called materialism the sin of our culture. Materialism is the love and desire for the world’s goods. Each of us needs to ask the Holy Spirit to search our heart and tell us whether or not we are guilty of this sin.
The Scripture: Galatians 5:16
“Live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
24. How can we keep from carrying out the desires of the sinful nature?
The Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11
“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
25. What are we to pursue?
The Scripture: Hebrews 12:1-2
“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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
26. To what does Paul compare the Christian walk?
27. On whom should we fix our eyes?
When we keep our eyes on Jesus, our problems diminish. We must walk in the Spirit, keeping our eyes on our Commander in Chief, to see what His instructions for us are.
The Answers
- That He would give them a new heart and a new spirit
- To follow God’s decrees and keep His laws
- His laws would be written in His people’s hearts and minds
- When Jesus was born
- He rescues us from this body of death.
- Offer them to God as instruments of righteousness
- Put off our old self
- The new self
- Created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness
- Everything we need for life and godliness
- Through our knowledge of Him who called us through His own glory and goodness
- So we may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires
- Add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love
- being ineffective and non-productive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
- It is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
- A renewal without distinctions in Christ - He is all and in all
- In the attitude of our minds
- So we can test and approve what God’s will is
- The pattern of the world
- We should not love it.
- Money
- The root of all kinds of evil
- Many have wandered from the faith.
- By living by the Spirit
- Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness
- A race
- Jesus
All scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version
(unless otherwise indicated)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, New International Bible Society
Copyright © 2008 by JoAnne Sekowsky