Study 6. The Church, Forgiveness and Eternal Life. Ephesians 4:1-13.

Study 6. The Church, Forgiveness and Eternal Life. Ephesians 4:1-13.

Leader’s Notes

MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU. (2 COR 12:9)

Leading a Bible discussion can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. But it can also be scary—especially if you’ve never done it before. If this is your feeling, you’re in good company. When God asked Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he replied, “Please send someone else” (Ex 4:13)! It was the same with Solomon, Jeremiah and Timothy, but God helped these people in spite of their weaknesses, and he will help you as well.

You don’t need to be an expert on the Bible or a trained teacher to lead a Bible discussion. The idea behind these inductive studies is that the leader guides group members to discover for themselves what the Bible has to say. This method of learning will allow group members to remember much more of what is said than a lecture would.

These studies are designed to be led easily. As a matter of fact, the flow of questions through the passage from observation to interpretation to application is so natural that you may feel that the studies lead themselves. This study guide is also flexible. You can use it with a variety of groups—student, professional, neighborhood or church groups. Each study takes forty-five to sixty minutes in a group setting.

There are some important facts to know about group dynamics and encouraging discussion. The suggestions listed below should enable you to effectively and enjoyably fulfill your role as leader.

Preparing for the Study

1. Ask God to help you understand and apply the passage in your own life. Unless this happens, you will not be prepared to lead others. Pray too for the various members of the group. Ask God to open your hearts to the message of his Word and motivate you to action.

2. Read the introduction to the entire guide to get an overview of the entire book and the issues that will be explored.

3. As you begin each study, read and reread the assigned Bible passage to familiarize yourself with it.

4. This study guide is based on the New International Version of the Bible. It will help you and the group if you use this translation as the basis for your study and discussion.

5. Carefully work through each question in the study. Spend time in meditation and reflection as you consider how to respond.

6. Write your thoughts and responses in the space provided in the study guide. This will help you to express your understanding of the passage clearly.

7. It might help to have a Bible dictionary handy. Use it to look up any unfamiliar words, names or places. (For additional help on how to study a passage, see chapter five of How to Lead a LifeGuide Bible Study, Inter­Varsity Press.)

8. Consider how you can apply the Scripture to your life. Remember that the group will follow your lead in responding to the studies. They will not go any deeper than you do.

9. Once you have finished your own study of the passage, familiarize yourself with the leader’s notes for the study you are leading. These are designed to help you in several ways. First, they tell you the purpose the study guide author had in mind when writing the study. Take time to think through how the study questions work together to accomplish that purpose. Second, the notes provide you with additional background information or suggestions on group dynamics for various questions. This information can be useful when people have difficulty understanding or answering a question. Third, the leader’s notes can alert you to potential problems you may encounter during the study.

10. If you wish to remind yourself of anything mentioned in the leader’s notes, make a note to yourself below that question in the study.

Leading the Study

1. Begin the study on time. Open with prayer, asking God to help the group to understand and apply the passage.

2. Be sure that everyone in your group has a study guide. Encourage the group to prepare beforehand for each discussion by reading the introduction to the guide and by working through the questions in the study.

3. At the beginning of your first time together, explain that these studies are meant to be discussions, not lectures. Encourage the ­members of the group to participate. However, do not put pressure on those who may be hesitant to speak during the first few sessions. You may want to suggest the following guidelines to your group.

Stick to the topic being discussed.

Your responses should be based on the verses which are the focus of the discussion and not on outside authorities such as commentaries or speakers.

These studies focus on a particular passage of Scripture. Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible. This allows for everyone to participate in in-depth study on equal ground.

Anything said in the group is considered confidential and will not be discussed outside the group unless specific permission is given to do so.

We will listen attentively to each other and provide time for each person present to talk.

We will pray for each other.

4. Have a group member read the introduction at the beginning of the discussion.

5. Every session begins with a group discussion question. The question or activity is meant to be used before the passage is read. The question introduces the theme of the study and encourages group members to begin to open up. Encourage as many members as possible to participate, and be ready to get the discussion going with your own response.

This section is designed to reveal where our thoughts or feelings need to be transformed by Scripture. That is why it is especially important not to read the passage before the discussion question is asked. The passage will tend to color the honest reactions people would otherwise give because they are, of course, supposed to think the way the Bible does.

You may want to supplement the group discussion question with an icebreaker to help people to get comfortable. See the community section of Small Group Idea Book for more ideas.

You also might want to use the personal reflection question with your group. Either allow a time of silence for people to respond individually or discuss it together.

6. Have a group member (or members if the passage is long) read aloud the passage to be studied. Then give people several minutes to read the passage again silently so that they can take it all in.

7. Question 1 will generally be an overview question designed to briefly survey the passage. Encourage the group to look at the whole passage, but try to avoid getting sidetracked by questions or issues that will be addressed later in the study.

8. As you ask the questions, keep in mind that they are designed to be used just as they are written. You may simply read them aloud. Or you may prefer to express them in your own words.

There may be times when it is appropriate to deviate from the study guide. For example, a question may have already been answered. If so, move on to the next question. Or someone may raise an important question not covered in the guide. Take time to discuss it, but try to keep the group from going off on tangents.

9. Avoid answering your own questions. If necessary, repeat or rephrase them until they are clearly understood. Or point out something you read in the leader’s notes to clarify the context or meaning. An eager group quickly becomes passive and silent if they think the leader will do most of the talking.

10. Don’t be afraid of silence. People may need time to think about the question before formulating their answers.

11. Don’t be content with just one answer. Ask, “What do the rest of you think?” or “Anything else?” until several people have given answers to the question.

12. Acknowledge all contributions. Try to be affirming whenever possible. Never reject an answer. If it is clearly off-base, ask, “Which verse led you to that conclusion?” or again, “What do the rest of you think?”

13. Don’t expect every answer to be addressed to you, even though this will probably happen at first. As group members become more at ease, they will begin to truly interact with each other. This is one sign of healthy discussion.

14. Don’t be afraid of controversy. It can be very stimulating. If you don’t resolve an issue completely, don’t be frustrated. Move on and keep it in mind for later. A subsequent study may solve the problem.

15. Periodically summarize what the group has said about the passage. This helps to draw together the various ideas mentioned and gives continuity to the study. But don’t preach.

16. At the end of the Bible discussion you may want to allow group members a time of quiet to work on an idea under “Now or Later.” Then discuss what you experienced. Or you may want to encourage group members to work on these ideas between meetings. Give an opportunity during the session for people to talk about what they are learning.

17. Conclude your time together with conversational prayer, adapting the prayer suggestion at the end of the study to your group. Ask for God’s help in following through on the commitments you’ve made.

18. End on time.

Many more suggestions and helps are found in How to Lead a LifeGuide Bible Study.

Components of Small Groups

A healthy small group should do more than study the Bible. There are four components to consider as you structure your time together.

Nurture. Small groups help us to grow in our knowledge and love of God. Bible study is the key to making this happen and is the foundation of your small group.

Community. Small groups are a great place to develop deep friendships with other Christians. Allow time for informal interaction before and after each study. Plan activities and games that will help you get to know each other. Spend time having fun together going on a picnic or cooking dinner together.

Worship and prayer. Your study will be enhanced by spending time praising God together in prayer or song. Pray for each other’s needs and keep track of how God is answering prayer in your group. Ask God to help you to apply what you are learning in your study.

Outreach. Reaching out to others can be a practical way of applying what you are learning, and it will keep your group from becoming self-focused. Host a series of evangelistic discussions for your friends or neighbors. Clean up the yard of an elderly friend. Serve at a soup kitchen together, or spend a day working on a Habitat house.

Many more suggestions and helps in each of these areas are found in Small Group Idea Book. Information on building a small group can be found in Small Group Leaders’ Handbook and The Big Book on Small Groups (both from InterVarsity Press). Reading through one of these books would be worth your time.

Study 1. I Believe. Genesis 12:1-8; 15:1-6.

Purpose: To expand our understanding of what it means to “believe” in God.

Question 2. At this point Abraham did not have a theological statement of faith setting forth who God was. He knew only that God had spoken to him and that God had great plans for him not only in the short term but also far into the future. Based on this knowledge, Abraham obeyed and set out for an unknown destination. His bare-bones knowledge and experience were enough to put him on the road in obedience.

Question 3. A surprisingly large number of people who think of themselves as Christians never get further than accepting the truth of Christianity. They believe that God is there, but they have never met him. They believe that God is able to forgive sins, but they have never allowed God to forgive their sins. They believe that God is reliable, but they have never relied on him. In eighteenth-century America, people like this were called “halfway” believers. They are on their way to faith, but they have yet to arrive. For such people, “I believe in God” can mean little more than “I think there may be a God somewhere.” The richness and depth of the gospel remains unknown to them.

Question 6. Faith is saying yes to God. Faith involves knowledge but cannot be equated with knowledge. It is not a cold and cerebral idea that enlightens the mind but leaves the heart untouched. Faith is the response of our whole person to the person of God. It is our joyful reaction to the overwhelming divine love we see revealed in Jesus Christ. It is the simple response of leaving all to follow Jesus. It is a decision, an act of will to trust God.

Study 2. God the Father. Isaiah 40:21-31.

Purpose: To more deeply trust our almighty Creator and Father.

Question 2. The doctrine of creation allows us to feel at home in the world. It reminds us that we, like the rest of creation, were fashioned by God. We are here because God wants us to be here. We are not alone but are in the very presence of the God who made and owns everything, and who is also a friend who knows us and cares for us. Behind the apparently faceless universe lies a person.

Still, there is a limit to what can be known about God from nature. Christianity points to the biblical record culminating in Jesus Christ, especially his death and resurrection, as the supreme demonstration of the existence and character of God. The biblical witness to God both confirms and extends any knowledge of God available from nature. The ultimate demonstration of God’s continuing concern for and involvement in his creation is his act of redemption in Jesus Christ. Creation is the theater in which the great drama of redemption is played out.

Question 6. The word almighty causes problems for some. It is helpful to consider several points. First, all power and authority in this world derive from God. Rulers, governments and Christian leaders all derive authority from God (Romans 13:1-2) and are responsible to him for the way they exercise it. Second, things that seem impossible to us are perfectly possible for God. The angel who came to Mary reminded her of this truth (Luke 1:37). It is very easy for us to underestimate God; the creed reminds us that he is able to do far more than we imagine. Finally, almighty does not mean capricious or whimsical. Scripture stresses the reliability of God; having made a promise, God stands by it (Psalm 19:7-10). The fact that he is almighty doesn’t mean that he can or will suddenly change his mind about this. In his power and wisdom, God has chosen to achieve our salvation and has committed himself to us in this way.

Question 7. When the creed speaks of God, it means “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3). It is not dealing with some philosophical ideas of God but with the God who revealed himself in Scripture and supremely in Jesus Christ. It does not refer to some abstract idea about God but to the living and personal God whom Christians worship and adore. This enhances our approach to God in prayer.

Question 8. Most human fathers, despite their weaknesses and shortcomings, wish the best for their children. How much more does God desire the best for us! But every now and then a child may ask his or her father for something that is totally inappropriate. The father’s failure to give this to the child does not mean that he did not hear the request or that he has ceased to care for the child. Rather, it means that his care and concern for the well-being of the child prevents him from fulfilling that request. He may give something else instead, something more helpful and appropriate. Perhaps we could say that God answers the prayers that we ought to have prayed!

Question 9. First, notice how often Scripture compares God to a human mother. The love of God for his people is often compared to the love of a mother for her child (Isaiah 49:15; 66:13). Second, the analogy of God as Father also indicates what human fathers ought to be like. The same care, compassion and commitment God shows toward us are meant to be reflected in the attitude of human fathers toward their children. Third, remember that the best way to think about God is to think about Jesus Christ. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Think of the love, care and kindness you see reflected in the face of Jesus. That is what the love of God for you is like.

Study 3. God the Son: His Identity and Birth. Philippians 2:5-11.

Purpose: To allow the lordship of Christ to lead us into worship.

Question 1. The Apostles’ Creed identifies a number of key beliefs that allow us to understand why Jesus matters so much to Christians. First, it identifies that Jesus is the “Son of God.” Although all believers are children of God in some sense of the word, Jesus is singled out as the Son of God. In the creed, saying that Jesus is the “Son of God” amounts to saying that Jesus is God. It is obvious that the first Christians worshiped and adored Jesus Christ—a practice that continues today. If Jesus were just another human being, a creature like the rest of us, then the New Testament writers would be guilty of worshiping a creature! But Jesus ought to be worshiped and adored precisely because he is God.

The name Jesus literally means “God saves.” Christ is a title, not a surname; strictly speaking, the name should be written as “Jesus the Christ.” Christ is the Greek version of the Hebrew word Messiah (see John 1:41). Messiah literally means “the anointed one”—in other words, one who has been anointed with oil and therefore singled out by God as having special importance. The basic sense of the word Messiah is “the divinely appointed King of Israel.” The Messiah was the long-awaited deliverer of the people of God, promised in the pages of the Old Testament.

Question 4. The creed makes explicit reference to the virgin birth. This belief is important for three reasons. First, it makes important connections with Old Testament prophecy (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). Here, as elsewhere in his career, Jesus brings to fulfillment great Old Testament hopes. Second, it stresses that Jesus was divine by nature, not by adoption at a later date. Third, it provided an ­important defense against early Jewish opponents of Christianity who suggested that Jesus was the illegitimate child of Mary (possibly hinted at in John 8:41). Such hostile critics suggested that Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier, thus insinuating collaboration with the foreign army of occupation. The New Testament has a rather different—and much more exciting—understanding of who the real father of Jesus was!

Questions 10-11. The creed does not refer to Jesus as the Lord but as our Lord. Jesus Christ has the right to lordship over our lives. This amounts to a demand for personal obedience and loyalty to him as our Lord and Savior. It is possible to pay lip service to Jesus as Lord yet deny him as Lord by the way we act (Matthew 7:21-22). To recognize that Jesus is Lord is to seek to do his will. But Jesus Christ is not merely the Lord of our personal lives; he is also the Lord of the church. The church owes its faithful obedience to Jesus Christ and to no one else. The church cannot and must not substitute anything or anyone for Jesus. If the church ever loses its faithful obedience to its Lord, it has lost its life and its soul.

Study 4. God the Son: His Death and Resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:1-28.

Purpose: To emphasize that Jesus’ death and resurrection are central to the gospel.

Question 1. The reference to Pontius Pilate in the Apostles’ Creed firmly anchors the creed to history. The gospel affirms that God himself entered into history in order to meet us and redeem us. God came down to meet us where we are, in time and space. The gospel is not just about ideas; it is about God acting, and continuing to act, in history.

Question 2. The gospel is not merely about the fact that Jesus died, nor even that he was executed, nor yet that he was crucified. He died for us. Christianity is about the astonishing and thrilling truth that he died in order that we might be forgiven. Paul makes a clear distinction between the event of the death of Christ and the significance of this event. That Christ died is a simple matter of history; that Christ died for our sins is the gospel itself.

Question 5. When the creed says that Jesus “descended to the dead,” it is a statement that Jesus really did die. For the New Testament writers, Christ was not raised “from death” (an abstract idea) but “from the dead.” The Greek term literally means “out of those who are dead.” He did not merely seem to die; he really did die and joined those who had died before him. And in the glorious act of resurrection, God raised him from the dead!

Question 7. Try to imagine what it must have been like to watch Jesus die on the cross. His suffering seemed utterly pointless. Where was God in all this? It was enough to make anyone doubt whether God existed in the first place. All those doubts were resolved through the resurrection. The apparently pointless suffering of Jesus was revealed as the means through which God was working out the salvation of sinful humanity. God was not absent from that scene; he was working to transform it from a scene of hopelessness to one of joy and hope. God’s love was demonstrated, not contradicted, by the death of his Son (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

Study 5. God the Son: His Present Activity and Future Role; God the Holy Spirit. Colossians 1:15-20; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

Purpose: To become more aware of the presence of Christ in the world through his Spirit.

Question 2. Thinking about the ascension is a helpful way of making sure that our outlook on life is right. It helps us recall that our destiny does not lie on this earth but with the ascended Christ, who has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us. He is waiting for us now. This gives us a new perspective on the chores of everyday life. It sets before us a vision that keeps us going. It is like an oasis in the desert—vital refreshment in the midst of the heat of life.

Question 3. Many people find the idea of judgment deeply threatening. Three points may be helpful. First, we are judged by someone who knows us totally. We need not fear a superficial judgment based on inadequate knowledge of us and our situation. We can be honest about ourselves with God in a way that is impossible with other people. Second, we are judged by someone who is passionately committed to us. The cross reveals God’s love for us as well as his judgment on us. Jesus himself was condemned by biased judges, hostile crowds and an indifferent public prosecutor; we, on the other hand, will be judged by one who cares deeply for us and is sympathetic toward us. Third, we are judged by someone we know and trust. We are already judged by our attitudes toward Jesus. Thus we are not judged on the basis of something unknown but on the basis of our response to Jesus Christ. We have already been judged and know the outcome of that judgment; what remains is the confirmation and enactment of that judgment. Only God can save—yet, on account of his divinity, Jesus saves. In the same way, only God can judge us—yet, on account of his divinity, Jesus judges us.

Question 9. The trinitarian structure of the Apostles’ Creed is now completed. Having dealt with faith in God the Father and God the Son, the creed turns to the Holy Spirit. In the two languages of the Bible, Hebrew and Greek, the words for wind, breath and spirit are the same. Two ideas help us gain insight into the vitality of the biblical understanding of the Spirit of God. First, the Spirit brings life. Just as God brought Adam to life by breathing into him, so God is able to bring individuals and his church to life through his Spirit today. Second, the Spirit brings power. The Spirit of God is like the wind—an unseen force that acts upon things and people. The Spirit can be thought of as God in action.

Question 10. We have only enough space to hit the high points of the richness of the Christian understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit.

Study 6. The Church, Forgiveness and Eternal Life. Ephesians 4:1-13.

Purpose: To strengthen our commitment to the fellowship of believers.

Question 3. The disunity of churches does not deny the fact that the church is one. There are many different churches or denominations, yet to the extent that these are genuinely Christian, they are all part of the one church. And the church’s message is valid and relevant to every age. It is not as if there were one church with a message suited to the second century and another with a message suited to the twenty-first. The same church, throughout all ages and across the world, seeks to apply the same gospel in any situation it may happen to meet.

Question 5. To declare that we believe in “the communion of saints” does not mean that we believe in a holy club; it means that we believe in a holy God who has called us as individuals into a community, within which his work of renewal and regeneration can take place. Communion is the old English word for fellowship, and it identifies a key role of the church. Among its many functions the church is there to support its members. At one level it means “sharing joys and sorrows.” But fellowship operates at another level as well, the level of material goods and wealth. It is a reminder of the need for mutual commitment within the Christian fellowship. The word saint just means “someone who is holy.” Christians are holy not because of anything they are in themselves but because of the One who has called them. God’s holiness can be reflected in our lives, even if we ourselves are sinners.

Question 6. Forgiveness of sins is perhaps the most powerful and familiar concept used to explain the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection for believers. Forgiveness of sins may be regarded as a legal concept involving the remission of a penalty or debt. Whatever penalty was due for human sin has been fully met by the obedient death of Christ on the cross. Forgiveness is also closely related to the idea of reconciliation. Forgiveness is what is necessary for a personal relationship to be restored to its former state after a hurtful disagreement or misunderstanding. Our sin separates us from God. The creed, however, affirms a central and joyous insight of the New Testament—this barrier can be and has been broken down by God.

Question 8. The Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, has two words for life. One (bios) means “mere biological existence”; the other (zoe) means “life in all its fullness.” What we are being offered is fullness of life (John 10:10), which not even death itself can destroy. We are not being offered an endless extension of our biological existence but rather a transformation of that existence. Eternal does not mean “throughout all time”; it means “outside time.” Eternal life means life with God, outside the confines of space and time. Eternal life is not something that lies totally in the future. We can begin to experience it now. While eternal life in all its fullness is something we can only hope to gain in the age to come, we are able to gain a foretaste of it now. Eternal life is inaugurated, though not fulfilled, in our present life as believers.

Alister McGrath is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University. He has authored many books including I Believe, The Passionate Intellect and Doubting and coauthored The Dawkins Delusion, all with InterVarsity Press.

Dale and Sandy Larsen are writers living in Rochester, Minnesota. They have authored over thirty Bible studies, including more than ten LifeGuide® Bible Studies.

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