Explore the Bible: Students - Info Guide

STUDENTS

EXPLORE THE BIBLE ®

STUDENTS

STUDENTS

HOW will this

03

RECEIVE HIS GRACE

HELP?

Galatians 3:1-14

This week’s

FOCUS

We’ve all received gifts from our parents or caretakers that we will never be able to fully repay—love, care, provision, support, and so on. It is our human nature to think that we can repay anyone for anything. Our pride, which is at the heart of our sin nature, tries to convince us that the way to success is to make it on our own and to work so hard that we don’t owe anyone anything.

While hard work is certainly a wonderful thing, the Bible is crystal clear that no one can earn God’s love and acceptance. It is a gift that must be received by faith. The gospel centers on the grace of God in Jesus Christ—His love cannot be earned, only received.

Central TRUTH

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Talk it o

The gospel centers on the grace of God in Jesus Christ—His love cannot be earned, only received.

03

PSG

16 // Explore the Bible: Students

CENTRAL TRUTH

How does this apply to your life?

The gospel centers on the grace of God in Jesus Christ—His love cannot be earned, only received.

NOW WHAT?

.11 WHY IS IT HARD FOR US TO BELIEVE THAT WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH AND NOT BY THE GOOD THINGS WE DO?

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Ask God oth .12 HOW MIGHT BELIEVING THAT SALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH ACTUALLY HELP US DO GOOD WORKS? EXPLAIN.

.13 HOW ARE YOU TEMPTED TO TRY TO EARN GOD’S LOVE? WHAT IS ONE STEP YOU WILL TAKE THIS WEEK TO STOP TRUSTING IN YOUR WORKS?

.14 HOW CAN WE HELP EACH OTHER ROOT OUR FAITH IN JESUS ON A DAILY BASIS RATHER THAN IN OUR SOCIAL STATUS, FRIENDS, ACHIEVEMENTS OR POPULARIT Y?

20 // Explore the Bible: Students

If you were to spend one hour a week in intentional Bible study with a group of students from the time they start 6th grade until they graduate high school, you would spend roughly 15 days. That pales in comparison to the amount of time your students spend at school, playing sports, or watching TV. Knowing this, we strive to help you make the most of your time with your students by seeking to determine the essential elements of faithful Bible study and incorporating them into Explore the Bible: Students.

EXPLORATION

4

s e

Begin by reading through the passage.

Galatians 3:1-14

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? 4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing? 5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law?

Or is it by believing what you heard— 6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness? 7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith. 10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. 14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.

03

.07 WHAT POINT WAS PAUL MAKING BY REFERRING TO ABRAHAM? WHAT DOES THAT TELL US ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT?

CONVERSATION

Galatians 3:1-5

Take notes here.

.08 HOW WAS ABRAHAM BLESSED? HOW CAN WE BE BLESSED TODAY?

.03 WHY DID PAUL MENTION JESUS’ PUBLIC CRUCIFIXION? WHY DID THE GALATIAN CHRISTIANS NEED THIS REMINDER?

THEOLOGICAL CONTEXT The gift of the Holy Spirit is powerful evidence of our salvation (Rom. 8:16) and God’s guarantee of eternal glory (Eph. 1:13-14). Therefore, the presence of the Holy Spirit and the reality of the new birth are inseparable.

Believers receive the Holy Spirit the moment they place their faith in Christ. Paul knew, as did the Galatians, that they had received eternal life as a gift, not by human effort or merit. Only the power of the Holy Spirit can transform a spiritually dead person into a person who is spiritually alive and knows the living God.

.04 WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE QUESTIONS PAUL ASKED IN VERSES 1-5? WHAT POINT WAS HE TRYING TO MAKE WITH THESE QUESTIONS?

Galatians 3:10-14 .09 WHAT DO WE DESERVE FROM GOD AS A RESULT OF OUR SIN? WHY CAN’T WORKS SET YOU .05 WHY DID PAUL ASK THE GALATIANS IF THEY WERE TRYING TO FINISH BY THE FLESH ( V. 3)? ARE YOU TEMPTED TO DO THIS? HOW SO?

FREE FROM SIN’S CURSE?

Talk it out

Galatians 3:6-9

.01 ASIDE FROM FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SIN, WHAT’S THE KINDEST THING SOMEONE HAS EVER DONE FOR YOU?

.06 WHAT DID ABRAHAM BELIEVE GOD ABOUT? WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH ARE ABRAHAM’S SONS?

.10 HOW DOES JESUS SOLVE THE PROBLEM THAT NO ONE CAN EARN RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD?

Journal your response here.

.02 WILL YOU EVER BE ABLE TO REPAY THIS KINDNESS? HAVE YOU TRIED TO? EXPLAIN.

Session 3 // 17

Personal

CHALLENGE

Reflect & dwell on this.

Dwell

We live in a world filled with people who are obsessed with success. The gospel is not at all like this. Jesus’ love cannot be earned, only received. Think about this and spend some time reflecting on God’s grace that is evidenced in Jesus Christ.

Memorize

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Session 3 // 19

6 Distinctives of Explore the Bible: Students 1. Worship

Galatians 3:11

Pray

Ask God to change your thinking if you have fallen into the trap of thinking you can earn God’s love by your own means. Pray that God will help you receive Christ’s love and show others in your life His unconditional love.

The goal of Bible study is never merely to know the Bible. The ultimate goal is worship. We want students to catch a vision of the glory, greatness, and goodness of God.

2. Gospel In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer shares that “cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace.”1 • Discuss what this means and the price that was paid on the cross for grace.

• Rather, our grace was very costly—our forgiveness cost Christ’s life. How should we live in such as a way as to reflect and value this costly grace?

1

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/99184-cheap-grace-is-the-deadly-enemy-of-our-church-we

Session 3 // 21

Every session of Explore the Bible: Students points students to their need for Christ. We are not interested in producing good Pharisees but disciples who see their need for Christ and seek Him daily.

3. Community

It’s not enough for students to study the Bible on their own. God saves us individually but calls us to work out our salvation in the context of community by studying, applying, and wrestling with Scripture together.

4. Family

Parents are called to disciple their children. We recognize this and promise to provide opportunities for parents to exercise this calling.

5. Mission

God has given us a mission that begins where we are and extends to every nation on the globe. Explore the Bible: Students promises to help students to see their part and actively participate in this mission.

6. Student Context

God loved us so much that He took on human flesh and entered our culture and context. Every session of Explore the Bible: Students helps leaders enter the culture and context of their students in hopes of pointing them to Christ.

Print Resources Personal Study Guide

Leader Guide

A resource designed to help leaders prepare for each session, giving them the essential tools they need to lead students to study God’s Word in its context so that they might apply it to their context.

A resource created to help students walk through each session, both individually, and as a group. This resource also equips and challenges students to continue studying and applying the Bible throughout the following week.

Leader Pack

Contains useful tools to further equip leaders to prepare and teach. It includes a DVD-ROM with training videos, PowerPoint© templates, and a variety of visual aids, such as a PDF of our Family Connection— a resource designed to help parents disciple their students.

Midweek Studies

Family Connection

We added a free additional 13-week study that complements each session of Explore the Bible: Students for those groups who meet more than once each week. These studies work expositionally through another book of the Bible while helping leaders make connections to each session. These studies can be utilized in both small and large group settings.

We have redesigned our One ConversationTM sheets to make them easier for parents to use as they seek to connect with their students about what they’ve been learning. We are now calling it the Family Connection. It has two parts: (1) As You Go— simple questions that parents can ask students on the way home from church or on the way to school or practice and (2) a short family devotion that encourages parents and students to study Scripture together.

Digital Options

03

RECEIVE HIS GRACE

This week’s

FOCUS

We’ve all received gifts from our parents or caretakers that we will never be able to fully repay—love, care, provision, support, and so on. It is our human nature to think that we can repay anyone for anything. Our pride, which is at the heart of our sin nature, tries to convince us that the way to success is to make it on our own and to work so hard that we don’t owe anyone anything.

While hard work is certainly a wonderful thing, the Bible is crystal clear that no one can earn God’s love and acceptance. It is a gift that must be received by faith. The gospel centers on the grace of God in Jesus Christ—His love cannot be earned, only received.

Central TRUTH

EXPLORATION

Galatians 3:1-14

The gospel centers on the grace of God in Jesus Christ—His love cannot be earned, only received.

Galatians 3:1-14

Begin by reading through the passage.

Explore the Bible App

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has cast a spell on you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? 4 Did you experience so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing? 5 So then, does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law?

Or is it by believing what you heard— 6 just like Abraham who believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness? 7 You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham’s sons. 8 Now the Scripture saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and proclaimed the gospel ahead of time to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. 9 Consequently those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith. 10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith.

12 But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. 14 The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Contains the same content as the Personal Study Guide for both iOS and Android devices.

Talk it out .01 ASIDE FROM FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SIN, WHAT’S THE KINDEST THING SOMEONE HAS EVER DONE FOR YOU?

.02 WILL YOU EVER BE ABLE TO REPAY THIS KINDNESS? HAVE YOU TRIED TO? EXPLAIN.

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Session 3 // 17

Explore the Bible Annual Digital Bundle

UNSTOPPABLE GOSPEL

Provides all the resources students and leaders need for an entire year of study.

Middle School Option

LEADER GUIDE

FALL 2016 RONNIE FLOYD: GENERAL EDITOR

We have provided a digital middle-school specific version of the Personal Study Guide and Leader Guide that is available for purchase online and on the Explore the Bible app.

006205598

TRUE STORY

Explore the Bible Digital Download

A PDF that contains the same content as the Personal Study Guide and Leader Guide, making reading and interacting with the session perfect while on-the-go.

lifeway.com/explorethebible