Class Lesson April 15, 2012

Hey Gang,

This weeks' lesson is about what it means for Jesus to live in believers, the Bible says that believers in Christ share in His crucifixion, resurrection, and life. Your very baptism pictures the death and resurrection of Jesus, which by faith becomes believers' death to sin and resurrection to new life. Jesus called Himself the vine and said believers were branches. All believers are to bear fruit for Him. 

All these "churchy" phrases sound great, but what do they mean?

How do we actually do them? Many believers are a little foggy on what it means to live a Christian life. An examination of Scriptures truth can clear the haze and help you grasp the foundational truth that Jesus lives in and through believers. 


Watch the "Come Awake" video below: 

Christ's followers had come out of hiding and proclaimed the resurrected Christ despite the persecution that befell them. Thousands more were saved, and the church began. Many believers then, just like today, failed to grasp the earthly implications of having Jesus in their lives. Believing in Christ is different from living by faith, walking in freedom, and producing spiritual fruit.

Three New Testament passages echo the same truth - Jesus lives in believers. Paul's letters to the Galatians and Romans were aimed, in part, at helping believers put in to practice the faith they professed. Jesus Himself foresaw the problem when He stressed His disciples stay closely tied to Him. 

Choose each day to faithfully bear fruit for Jesus. He will show you how and He will give you power. 

  

I. STOP BEING SELFISH – GALATIANS 2:19b-21
19b I have been crucified with Christ 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.




Consider this: Jan is heartbroken and doesn’t know which way to turn now that her spiritual mentor and friend, Betty, is moving. For the five years since Jan’s divorce, Betty has listened to her, encouraged her, prayed with her, and nurtured her in her Christian growth. In addition, Betty has been a source of practical help as she often baby-sat for Jan’s school-aged children and invited Jan’s family into her home for meals.



“I’m finally back on my feet, “Jan says. “I know I’m being selfish, but how can I do this without you?”



“I know you feel like I’m deserting you,” Betty responds gently. “But if you will let God work, this could end up being a wonderful growing experience.”



Question: In what ways could Jan grow because of Betty’s move? 

• Can now be more dependent on God
• Can put into practice the habits and attitudes that Betty shared and instilled
• Can begin to grow inside through a new and close relationship with Christ
• Can know that Christ will never leave or forsake
• Can begin to share her story and understandings with others – fruit
• Can get involved in God’s will for her life
• Can become a spiritual mentor to someone else

 




How realistic is it to no longer live to ourselves? What does that look like? 

• Selfishness is hugely tempting! But very lonely.
• The crucifixion was a radical, terminal event, ending once and for all sin’s hold on those who trust in Christ. It is no longer the believer living but Jesus living in the believer.

What does it really mean that Christ lives in me? 

Our children live in us because they are part of who we are. We share in their heartaches, joys, failures, and successes.

The dreams and values of our passed on loved ones live on in us. They help make us who we are.




How DO we live righteously? 

• Living as a Christian means more than asking Christ to forgive our sin. It also means we invite Him to live in and through us.
• Salvation certainly implies forgiveness of sin, but it’s just the beginning of life lived in Christ’s power.
• John described the relationship between us and Christ as the one between a vine and its branches. As we are connected to Jesus, we produce spiritual fruit. We depend on Christ in us to give us genuine life.

 




II. LIVE WITH CHRIST – ROMANS 6:1-7


The New Life in Christ

1 What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life. 5 For if we have been joined with Him in the likeness of His death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin’s dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin’s claims. 





To be crucified and resurrected with Christ so that we may walk in a new way of life, what does this mean? 

 

If the old self has been crucified and we are freed from sin’s claims, then why do so many Christians continue to live powerless lives? 

• Believers are still tempted to sin.
• It is not sin that has died to the believer. It still seeks to ensnare. The follower of Christ has died to sin and is now free to not give in to sin.
• Christians sin because they choose to sin, not because they have to.

 



If you are a believer, what does it mean right now that you are raised with Christ? What does it mean for the future? How do you live this out in practical ways day by day by day? 

• Believers must choose to “walk in a new way of life.” This is an hour-by-hour process.
• See 1 Corinthians 15:42-58
• This is what the video Come Awake means – it’s what the resurrection means right now in the lives of Christ followers.

Some people take God’s grace lightly. They think that if people are saved by grace, they can do whatever they want, and God is obligated to forgive them. This way of thinking reveals a real ignorance about salvation. 

 

 

 

 


Where sin was great, God matched it with even greater grace. 

 

 

 

 

 

• When you accept Christ as your Savior you must also accept Him as your Lord!
• To walk describes a lifestyle behavior.
• Salvation that does not transform is not salvation.
• Salvation transforms us day by day into the image of Christ. We are not perfect, but we should have made progress if we experienced death and resurrection in Christ. We should be making progress toward becoming like Christ and doing what He would do in each situation.
• We should begin to bear fruit!

Wake up and realize what the resurrection means to your daily life - POWER!

 

III. BEAR FRUIT – JOHN 15:1-5


The Vine and the Branches

1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. 2 Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. 

If Jesus lives in a person, what happens?



What does it mean if a person does not produce fruit?



What’s the difference between someone God removes and someone He prunes? 

• Not only a select few who are attached to Christ produce fruit but all. All must endure pruning. He prunes the branch so it can all it can be – produce more fruit.
• Experiences of pruning are evidence of God’s desire for you to be more fruitful.
• Verse 2 does not deny John’s promise that God will protect those who are truly His (6:39; 10:29). Rather, it is a reminder that some who claim to follow Christ never really do and that true believers are revealed in substantive measure.

How many times did Jesus say “remain”? Why? 

• Real love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit occur only as we have an abiding relationship with Jesus.

 



What fruit is evident in your life? What fruit would you like to produce in the days ahead?  

• To many people, salvation means forgiveness and a home in heaven. True salvation also impacts life in the present. If salvation only meant forgiveness from past sins and future security, why would God leave us on earth after our salvation? We still have opportunities to impact the lives of others and make an eternal difference by producing spiritual fruit.

 
 

Galatians 5:19-23 (Fruit of the Spirit)

19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance—as I told you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.


22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

 

If you had to pick one, which truth would you say is most evident in your life: have been crucified with Christ, have been resurrected with Christ to walk in a new life, or Christ in you produces much fruit? Which one of the three is most difficult for you to grasp and live out?

Prayer of Commitment

Lord, enable me to die to self and sin by the resurrection power of Your Spirit. Amen

This weeks lesson requires us to really give some deep thought into the scriptural phrases we have heard over the years and what they really mean. Be in prayer this week that God would unfold these spiritual truths to us and that we will begin to put them into our daily walk of faith.

See you on Sunday!

In His Love,

David & Susan