Faith and the Light

Prayer:  But my righteous one will live by faith.  And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him (Hebrews 10:38).  Lord, help us to live each day in faith, the faith that You gave us.  Amen.

Main Scripture: Read 1 John 1:1-10.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you (1 John 5a).

Associated Scriptures:

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

What fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial (the devil)? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?  (2 Corinthians 6:14-15).

Correlative Quotes:

And this is the sum of the message which we have heard of him - The Son of God. That God is light - The light of wisdom, love, holiness, glory. What light is to the natural eye, that God is to the spiritual eye. And in him is no darkness at all - No contrary principle. He is pure, unmixed light.[1] – John Wesley

To be justified, is to be approved of God as a proper subject of pardon, with a right to eternal life. Therefore, when it is said that we are justified by faith, what else can be understood by it, then that faith is that by which we are rendered approvable…[2] Jonathan Edwards

What James is saying (James 2:18-23) is this: If a person says he has faith, but he gives no outward evidence of that faith through righteous works, his faith will not justify him.[3] – R. C. Sproul

Study:

Introduction

Grace is when we do get what we don’t deserve.  God gives us what we don’t deserve, grace.  He gives us the faith needed to believe in him.  That faith, which is also a gift of the grace of God, allows him to present us with the second gift which is His grace.  Salvation is the result of God’s grace. 

The benefits of faith

1. Eternal Security in God: “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Our faith allows us to receive salvation which is the act of cleansing us from all sin (Psalm 51:2). Since we have been cleaned from sin, we have become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  This new creation is now eternally secure in Christ.  2 Timothy (1:12, NKJV) explains this guarantee when it says, “For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Believers are saved solely by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. As a result of the acceptance of this grace by faith, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantor of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13-14). When God seals a person, it is a permanent seal.  No one is able to break the seal of the Spirit; not the world system, not the devil or any of his demons, and not the believer themselves (Romans 8:29-31).  What God has sealed, man cannot break.

2. Peace with God: “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). Before we were saved, we were at war with God. “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God” (James 4:4).  Now that we are His children, we are no longer at war with God but at peace in peace.  Jesus gives us His peace (John 14:27).
3. Fellowship with God: For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:18). Our salvation opens the door to a direct relationship with God. That relationship is initiated and maintained by God’s Spirit.  We now have access to God through the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

You now have direct access to God. You don't have to pray through anybody else. You don't have to confess through anybody else. You don't have to fellowship with God through anybody else. Read your Bible, talk with the Lord, and fellowship directly with him.  The Bible says that when Jesus died on the cross, there was a veil in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies, where God's Spirit was, from where mankind was. Only priests could go behind that veil once a year. When Jesus died on the cross, God ripped that veil about, 70 feet from top to bottom, symbolizing that there is no longer a barrier.[4] – Rick Warren

4. The Power of God: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you” (Acts 1:8). All power belongs to God and that power is in His word. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

The power that made the universe is available to us through His Spirit.  To tap into that power, we only have to act in His will and according to His plan for our lives. 

Summary Statement:

Faith comes to us as a Gift from God.  He opens our eyes so that we might see His light.  The light is the truth, eternal life.  Faith and light are inexorably linked since faith has its foundation in the truth of God and the truth of God is His light.

God’s light shines in us to allow us to grow spiritually and through us as beacons of truth.  That light has benefits.  It keeps us eternally secure in Him, guarantees us peace with Him, gives us eternal life in Him, it includes fellowship with Him, and it guarantees us His great power.  What a wonderful Lord. 

You are to be, above all things, students of the Word of God; this, indeed, is the main point of your avocation. If we do not study Scripture, and those books that will help us to understand theology, we are but wasting time while we pursue other researches. We should judge him to be a foolish fellow who, while preparing to be a physician, spent all his time in studying astronomy.[5] – Charles Spurgeon

Lesson within the Lesson:

Explain how we are saved by faith.  Read Ephesians 2:8-10.

What is grace and how is it related to faith?

What does it mean that we are “sealed” with the Holy Spirit and what happens when we sin after salvation?

How does our salvation connect us to God?

[1] John Wesley, Ibid. P. 484.

[2] Jonathan Edwards, Justification by Faith Alone, © A Puritan’s Mind, apuritansmind.com/justification/justification-by-faith-alone-by-jonathan-edwards/

[3] R. C. Sproul, Does James 2:24 Deny Justification by Faith Alone, © Ligonier Ministries, ligonier.org/blog/faith-and-works/.

[4] Rick Warren, You Have Direct Access to God, © 2012 by Rick Warren, rickwarren.org/devotional/english/you-have-direct-access-to-go.

[5] Charles Spurgeon, Light, Fire, Faith, Life, Love, Public Domain, biblebb.com/files/spurgeon/aarm06.htm., P. 3.