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INTENTIONAL

DISCIPLESHIP

iKnow

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Discipleship Bible Studies

iKnow (Intentional Discipleship) written by Michael Schäfer Christ Church Umhlanga, 2015 57 Hambridge Avenue Umhlanga, 4019 South Africa 031 572 6542 admin@ccu.org.za www.ccu.org.za No copyright - Free for All Download and copy from: www.freeforall.co.za/iknow Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. I N T E N T I O N A L D I S C I P L E S H I P | i K N O W page 2

Introduction These Bible readings are designed to help those who have turned to Christ become established in the Christian faith. They can be read alone or can be used by a mature Christian as part of their intentional discipleship of a younger Christian. This particular booklet focuses on Romans chapter 8 and the assurance and promises it gives those who have trusted in Jesus Christ. As the chapter is studied, various Biblical truths are briefly explained that will help you grow in your overall understanding of Christianity, your relationship with Jesus and your sharing of Christian truth with others. Having studied this great chapter, you will be able to say: I KNOW :

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I am a child of God

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God is working for my good

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Nothing will be able to separate me from the love of God.

May God use his Word to grow MATURE DISCIPLES of Jesus Christ. I N T E N T I O N A L D I S C I P L E S H I P | i K N O W page 3

Romans 8:1-39

Therefore, there is now no condemnation

2 for those who are in Christ Jesus, because

through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to 3

do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful 4 man, in order that the righteous

requirements of the law might be fully met

The mind of sinful man is death, but the

mind controlled by the Spirit is life and 7 peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It

does not submit to God's law, nor can it do 8 so. Those controlled by the sinful nature 9 cannot please God. You, however, are

controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of 10 Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if

Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of 11 righteousness. And if the Spirit of him

who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an

obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, 13 to live according to it. For if you live

according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of

God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes

you a slave again to fear, but you received in us, who do not live according to the sinful the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 16 nature but according to the Spirit. ""Abba," Father." The Spirit himself Those who live according to the sinful

nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

testifies with our spirit that we are God's 17 children. Now if we are children, then we

are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

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I consider that our present sufferings are

For those God foreknew he also

not worth comparing with the glory that will

predestined to be conformed to the

be revealed in us. The creation waits in

likeness of his Son, that he might be the

eager expectation for the sons of God to be

30 firstborn among many brothers. And

revealed. For the creation was subjected

those he predestined, he also called; those

to frustration, not by its own choice, but by

he called, he also justified; those he

the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

justified, he also glorified.

that the creation itself will be liberated

from its bondage to decay and brought into

the glorious freedom of the children of

this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

God. We know that the whole creation

has been groaning as in the pains of

gave him up for us all--how will he not also,

childbirth right up to the present time.

along with him, graciously give us all things?

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have

What, then, shall we say in response to He who did not spare his own Son, but

Who will bring any charge against those

the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as whom God has chosen? It is God who we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons,

34 justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ

the redemption of our bodies. For in this

Jesus, who died--more than that, who was

hope we were saved. But hope that is seen

raised to life--is at the right hand of God

is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he

35 and is also interceding for us. Who shall

25 already has? But if we hope for what we

separate us from the love of Christ? Shall

do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

trouble or hardship or persecution or

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our

famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

weakness. We do not know what we ought

to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes

death all day long; we are considered as

for us with groans that words cannot

37 sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these

27 express. And he who searches our hearts

things we are more than conquerors

knows the mind of the Spirit, because the

38 through him who loved us. For I am

Spirit intercedes for the saints in

convinced that neither death nor life,

28 accordance with God's will. And we know

neither angels nor demons, neither the

that in all things God works for the good of

present nor the future, nor any powers,

those who love him, who have been called

according to his purpose.

else in all creation, will be able to separate

us from the love of God that is in Christ

Jesus our Lord.

As it is written: "For your sake we face

neither height nor depth, nor anything

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“I am a child of God” Read Romans 8:1-17 1. What two big assurances are Christians given in v.1 and v.39? 2. What is the assurance “no condemnation” based on, according to v.1-4? Justification Romans 8:1-4 is all about justification. Justification is the sovereign work of God in which he declares the guilty sinner to be righteous and the rightful demands of his law satisfied. Justification is the opposite of condemnation. We are condemned by God because of our sin and if we were to appear before his throne of judgment he would have to find us guilty and sentence us to an eternity in hell. In justification God the judge pronounces us acquitted of the charge. Not innocent, but acquitted and declared to be acceptable to the holy God. But how can God pardon sinners who deserve punishment and even declare them righteous? Only through Jesus.

In giving his son to die in our place, God demonstrated his justice. Our sins are not overlooked. They are punished, but because they have been laid on Jesus, on the cross. He takes our punishment instead of us. On the grounds of what Jesus has done, God is able to justify guilty sinners. When our sins are credited to Jesus, God treats Jesus as he should treat us: he is forsaken and dies in our place. But that’s not all! Jesus’ righteousness is credited to us and God treats us as he has always treated Jesus: we become his children and he owns us as his redeemed people. 3. What response should be visible in the lives of those who are justified, and in whom the Holy Spirit is at work? See v.5-14.

Sanctification God’s work in us does not end when we are justified. He immediately begins in us a process of change called sanctification. If justification freed us from the guilt of sin and its condemnation, sanctification begins to free us from the power of sin and its rule in our life. In sanctification, God works to make us more and more like Jesus, something we should work at too!

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4. What assurance comes in v.15-17 to those who have the Holy Spirit? Adoption In order to become a child of God a sinner has first of all to be justified. Based on justification the sinner can then be adopted into God’s family. This adoption is based upon the love, choice and grace of God, for there is no good in us to earn this privilege of adoption. Adoption conveys upon us, all that sin makes impossible for us. Aliens become sons, strangers become children and enemies inherit all the blessings of God. In other words our relationship to God has totally changed, and it is no small change. To be a child of God makes us ‘heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.’ The world has nothing to compare with this. There is no more privileged person than a Christian. If we but realise what it means to be a child of God, our fears, grumbling and complaining would disappear. Our expectation of tasting the good things of God would be greater and we would begin living in accordance with our new standing of being adopted into the family of God, seeking to be more and more like Jesus. Christians can rightly say, “I am a child of God!”

How does Romans 8:1-17 address your Head, Heart and Hands?: What have you Learnt?

What must you Believe?

What must you put into Practice?

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“God is working for my good” Read Romans 8:18-30

What hope do v.18-27 offer Christians, amidst their groaning?

1. What do Christians, creation and the Holy Spirit all have in common according to v.18-27? Redemption The Bible says that humanity is in bondage or slavery to sin and therefore needs redeeming. Redemption means to be set free from the slavery of sin by the payment of a ransom price. The Holy Spirit Most Christians struggle to understand God the Holy Spirit. They find it easier to Jesus paid the once-and-for-all ransom think of God as the Father or God as the price that sets sinners free from the Son. Often the Holy Spirit is thought of bondage of sin. This purchase price was as a power or influence, an ‘it’ not a ‘he’, enormous, beyond what we could afford. yet the Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit Only Jesus could pay this price, which was that he gave his life as a ransom for is both God and personal. many. His blood was the payment that sets sinners free. The Bible tells us various things about the Holy Spirit: he was present and This payment was not paid to Satan. The active at the creation of the world; he convicts sinners of their sin, points them ransom price was paid to satisfy the to Jesus for salvation and gives new life demands of God’s law which we had violated by our sin. The law demanded to those who trust in Jesus; he lives in that the wage of sin be the death of the Christians, groaning with them and praying for them. When they don’t know sinner. Christ satisfied that demand on behalf of his people when he shed his what to pray, he prays that God would blood on the cross. He took full make them more and more like Christ, responsibility for our sin, set us free producing what we call the fruit of the from sin and made us slaves to Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, righteousness instead. kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; and he Christians can also look forward to their equips them with gifts by which they bodies being redeemed for eternity from may serve the body of Christ. the effects of the Fall. I N T E N T I O N A L D I S C I P L E S H I P | i K N O W page 8

3. What good purpose is God seeking to achieve in each of our lives, according to v.28-30? Predestination Though all people are sinners deserving judgment and hell, God, before time began, chose to save some by his grace. Those chosen (the elect) were not chosen simply because God could see that they would choose him, for that would diminish his sovereignty; nor were they chosen because they were better than others, for that would diminish his justice. As a result, at some point in their lives, those whom God has chosen are called to him by the preaching of his Word and the work of the Holy Spirit. The non-elect get what their sin justly deserves, so they can never complain that they were not treated fairly. Far from being unfair (as some suggest) predestination is an act of divine and sovereign mercy, which forever removes any feeling of superiority or pride that Christians may be tempted to have over those not chosen, and ensures that they continue the work of evangelism knowing that God will save all those who he has chosen. But not only will he save them, he will complete his work in them when he welcomes them into his glory.

How does Romans 8:18-30 address your Head, Heart and Hands?: What have you Learnt?

What must you Believe?

What must you put into Practice?

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“Nothing can separate me from the love of God”

And though under the sovereign control of God and defeated by the cross of Christ, Christians are not to think of Read Romans 8:31-39 Satan as harmless, but should be aware of his dangerous tactics and flee from 1. What things sometimes cause us them by pursuing holiness and godliness. to feel that God has stopped loving us? 2. What is it that assures us that we are indeed loved by God and safe for eternity? See v.31-32. Satan and demons Verse 38 mentions that demons are unable to separate Christians from the Judgment love of God. But what are demons and Verse 34 describes Jesus as the what role do they play in the life of a condemning judge who Christians do not Christian? need to fear because of their justification. However, those who resist What angels are to God, namely his the rule of Jesus will be condemned at servants to do good to his people; so demons are to Satan, to work evil in the the final judgment by Jesus. world. The tactics of Satan and his The Bible teaches that at death Christians demons are to use lies, deception and accusation to attempt to cause people to go to be with the Lord spiritually. Then on the day of Jesus’ Second Coming and turn away from God and destroy themselves. They will endeavour to blind Final Judgment he will give them resurrection bodies fit for eternity. This people to the Gospel and they will use eternity will be spent in a remade, temptation, doubt, fear, confusion, physical world called the New Heavens sickness, envy, pride, slander or any and the New Earth. other means to hinder a Christian’s witness and usefulness. Those who die as unbelievers go to a place called Hades. Then at the Second Though active in the world today, Christians are not to blame the devil for Coming and Final Judgment they will the sin that they themselves commit, but receive bodies suited to eternal punishment in Hell, which is a place of are to resist the temptations he lays everlasting punishment and torment. before them. I N T E N T I O N A L D I S C I P L E S H I P | i K N O W page 10

3. What should we do when we feel condemned by our sin, v.1 or separated from God’s love because of our suffering, v.38-39? Eternal Security Christians can never lose their salvation. We may backslide and so lose the joy and the sense of the reality of our salvation, but we can never fall from grace. We are saved by Christ and kept by Christ. There can be no more reassuring truth than that. Though we sin throughout our lives as Christians and though we may be tempted to wonder if we are then truly saved, if we are to let our assurance of salvation depend on our actions we will never have security. Our hope is in what Christ has done for us, not in what we do for him. By his work for us and his adoption of us into his family, we can be assured of our eternal security!

How does Romans 8:31-39 address your Head, Heart and Hands?: What have you Learnt?

What must you Believe?

What must you put into Practice?

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For titles in the DISCOVER series, please visit: www.freeforall.co.za/discover Discover Jesus Discover Discipleship Discover the Bible Discover the Church For titles in the GROW series, please visit: www.freeforall.co.za/grow Origins (Genesis) When Two Become One (Ephesians) Vital Signs: Prayer iKnow (Discipleship Studies on Assurance from Romans 8)

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