
Combining Grace and Truth
In the previous lesson, we looked at Grace and Truth separately. Both are necessary to the plan of salvation. As someone has said, “Grace, without
Truth, is weakness; and Truth, without Grace, is judgment.”
I. Combining the two ingredients (Grace and Truth) in a
A. We must
i. With a revealing
- “Have you ever trusted in Christ for the gift of eternal life?”
- “If you were to die today, do you know for sure that you would go to Heaven?”
- “Suppose that when you stand before God and He were to say to you, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’ What would you say?”
- “Have you reached the place in your life where you know that you are going to be with God forever in eternity?”
- “Did you know that God loves you and that He has made a way for you to spend eternity with Him in heaven?”
ii. With a radiant
- Telling others how you found peace with God.
- Explaining what Christ means to you.
iii. With a relevant
iv. With a responsive
B. We must reveal the
i. You can take them to the
Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. —1 John 3:4
ii. Make sure they understand the
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God. —John 3:18
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on
him. —John 3:36
iii. Then, lead them to the
C. We must request a
i. When a person understands his
ii. Salvation is
iii. Salvation is
If understood properly, “repentance” and
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent… —Acts 17:30
Repentance is a
- But, “repentance” in salvation is not an
- Repentance is a change of mind about
“Godly sorrow” may work this kind of repentance (a change of mind about Christ), but so may “the
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. —2 Corinthians 7:10
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? —Romans 2:4Our goal is to help people see their
- The wrong approach to repentance says, “You need to
- Or, you must be willing to “
- The right approach to repentance says, “You are a sinner under God’s condemnation (John 3:18) because you have broken His law. You have no hope apart from Christ. Turn from anything else. You are trusting and trust in Christ alone for His gift of eternal salvation.”
- There may be some change of life in new converts that is dramatic and instantaneous. But it is also
iv. Just remember, no decision is a “
D. We must
i.
ii.
iii.
E. We must
i. Once a person has trusted in Christ for salvation, we must take them the rest of the way into
ii. Discipleship is the process of teaching new believers to faithfully
iii. Trusting in Christ for eternal life only takes a moment in time, but growing in discipleship requires a
Helping people to trust in Christ for eternal salvation is not the end of the process, but the beginning of making disciples.