How can I be sure of my faith



HOW CAN WE HAVE FAITH?

INTRODUCTION

When someone becomes a Christian, they become a brand new person inside. It is the start of a new and exciting relationship or friendship.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

‘… anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’

A Christian is someone who has a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It means you are a follower of Jesus Christ and that you believe:

• In the things he did and said.

• He died for your sins

• He is also alive again today

• You can talk to him now

This is faith in Jesus.

DISCUSS

1. What do you think makes someone a Christian?

2. What does the word faith mean to you?

3. Is it easy or difficult for you to believe in a God that you cannot see? Why?

Which are the possible correct answers to the following question?

|Question |Answer |Possible? (Y/N) |

|Are you married? |Yes I am. | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |I’m not sure. | |

| |Probably. | |

| |I think so. | |

| |Sort of. | |

| |No. | |

| | | |

| |Sometimes | |

Faith in God is strong when it is based on three things:

1. The promises of God in the Bible

2. The life of Jesus and his death and resurrection

3. The experience of the Holy Spirit living in us

The Promises of God

Our confidence is based on the Bible. God’s promises to us are written in this book. Our faith is based on facts and not feelings.

We cannot always trust our feelings. Our feelings can change every day. If we only ever trusted our feelings, we would never be sure of anything.

If our faith depended on how we felt, we would never be sure whether we were Christians or not. Our relationship with God does not depend on our feelings. It depends on truth and God’s promises in the Bible – the word of God:

• ‘I will walk with you and be your God. And you will be my people’ (Leviticus 26:12, ERV)

• ‘I will be with you always’ (Matthew 28:20, ERV)

• ‘I give my sheep eternal life’ (John 10:28, ERV).  (This is possible because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.)

The resurrection means we really can know that we’re forgiven

DISCUSS

1. How easy is it to trust your feelings when feelings can change so often?

2. How comforting is it to think of Jesus always being with you?

The Work of Jesus

We do not have to earn God’s love. Jesus died on the cross because he loves us.

The punishment for sin is death. But God gives you the gift of eternal life because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done (Romans 6:23)

‘… your sins have separated you from your God.’ (Isaiah 59:2, NIrV®)

John 3:16 (NIrV®)

‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.’

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Faith is based on fact – upon a real person and events that happened – but it also involves putting our trust in Jesus.

DISCUSS

1. Can you think of a time in your life when you had to put your faith in someone? What happened?

2. How do you feel about trusting Jesus with your life?

Changed by God’s Spirit

When we ask Jesus into our lives, it is the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God – who lives in us and begins to change us.

This means we begin to live and act more like Jesus did, which is good! The ways we start to change, like our behaviour and our thoughts, are described in the Bible as the ‘fruit’ of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). But it takes time – just like it takes time for real fruit to grow.

Galatians 5:22-23 (Paraphrase)

God’s Spirit makes us loving, joyful (happy deep inside), peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled.

This is called the fruit of the Spirit.

Christian faith is based on evidence and trust.

PRAYER

To ask Jesus into your heart pray this short prayer:

Step 1: Father God, I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life.

Please forgive me.

Step 2: Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me so you could take the

punishment for my sin.

Step 3: Jesus, please come into my life. I invite the Holy Spirit to live in me.

DISCUSS

1. What do you think about the idea that you do not have to do anything to ‘earn’ God’s love and that he loves you as you are?

2. How do you feel about God’s Spirit changing your character?

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