Lesson 31
God wants his followers to follow him in love and faith. To help them in their journey, he has given them his Spirit as a guide and has spoken to them through his written word. Using these two gifts, God enables those who he calls to Jesus, to find his path for themselves. He expects those who want to follow him, to realize their calling is a valuable pearl and seek him diligently with their entire being. Keeping our blessings safely in heaven for us, God will reward us richly with them at the end time when Jesus returns. Christians need to stay true to their calling until the end. They can’t stray away from the truths and love of God. What Christians believe is important as the Bible explains many false teachers will come to deceive them. Like the Bereans did, Christians today need to prove their beliefs from the scriptures. Can you believe contradictory doctrines and not be double minded? Is the Bible contradictory? Does the Bible define the words it uses or should we define its word’s meanings ourselves?
Philippians 2:12-13 Contemporary English Version
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved. 13 God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
1 Peter 1:3-7 Good News Translation
3 Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, 4 and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. 5 They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God’s power for the salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. 6 Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to be sad for a while because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. 7 Their purpose is to prove that your faith is genuine. Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must also be tested, so that it may endure. Then you will receive praise and glory and honor on the Day when Jesus Christ is revealed.
James 1:5-8 New Living Translation
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.