Pastor's Bible Study

 The gospel brings us a salvation that is eternally secure. God preserves us. Eternal security is God’s assurance of our salvation. God is absolutely certain of the security of our salvation because He is the one who is securing it. God saves, seals, and secures.

Assurance is our confidence in God saving us and securing us.

The ultimate secret to assurance of salvation is to base your present assurance of salvation on exactly what you based your past experience of salvation – FAITH in CHRIST ALONE, not in yourself. 

The gospel is good news because we are preserved and secured by God the Son and the Holy Spirit. We secured by Jesus through His promises, his prayers, His substitutionary death, His resurrection, His heavenly work as our advocate and intercessor. We are preserved and secured by the Spirit through His work of regeneration, His work of placing us in union with Christ, His work of indwelling us permanently and serving as the earnest payment guaranteeing God will complete our salvation.

The gospel is good news because our salvation is secured by our Heavenly Father. He preserves us because He is sovereign, omnipotent, His nature is love, and He chastens us instead of casting us away. Praise God that our salvation does not rest on us but in God's grace alone.

In part 1 of Prayers Without Power Are A Problem we see two things:

1) Our prayers can lack power because of warring

2) Our prayers can lack power because of wickedness

Our walk of faith is an all or nothing thing. Our faith is to be lived out in every area of our lives, including our speech. An untamed tongue is going to cause us trouble in our faith soon and/or eventually.

1. The Importance Of The Tongue (vv. 1-2)

- The truth of who we really are is revealed by the words we speak.

2. The Influence Of The Tongue (vv. 3-5)

- Our speech has the ability to influence actions, outcomes, directions, attitudes, opinions, destinations, etc.

3. The Iniquity Of The Tongue (v. 6-8)

- Our speech can defile us and bring destruction into the lives of others.

4. The inconsistency of The Tongue (v.9-10)

- Inconsistency in our speech is inappropriate.

Is our faith working or worthless?

1. A profitless profession (vv. 14-17)

The profession of our faith (our words) is no good unless we have works to back up our statement of faith.

2. A barren belief (vv. 18-19)

How do we know a person's belief is true? It produces fruitful works.

3. A fatal faith (vv. 20-22)

Faith without works is dead. We are justified by faith unto salvation without any works (cf. Eph.2:8-9; Rom. 4:3-5). But our salvation is justified (i.e. we are proven to have a real saving faith) by the works we produce (Jas 2:21-22).

There is a definite possibility of temptation. It is sure. Temptation is not a matter of if but when. And when it comes, it is singularly crafted for each individual.

There is a divine impossibility of temptation. It is impossible for God to be tempted or to tempt any man.

There is a direct responsibility of temptation. We're tempted when we are drawn away by our own lust and desires, therefore we have a responsibility to turn away from temptation. Looking long turns to lusting after the wrong.

There is a decided accountability. We are accountable for the decisions we make to give into temptation. When we choose to sin, it is a choice for which we are accountable.

Intercession is the work of pleading on the behalf of someone else. This what Jesus does for us; He pleads and prays for us and on our behalf. Intercession is the act of Christ whereby He appeals for believers as our “defense attorney” or ADVOCATE, defending us against Satan’s accusations of our sinfulness, thus guaranteeing the SECURITY of our salvation and giving us the right to approach God in prayer. 

Adoption is the act of God whereby He gives the believing sinner his position, standing, legal rights, inheritance as a joint-heir with Christ, and all the full privileges of an adult son/(daughter) of God. 

Adoption is contrasted with regeneration. Regeneration is the new birth that changes us and imparts unto us the holy nature of our Father and makes us a child of God. Adoption does not change our nature, but rather it changes our position and legal standing as adult sons (daughters) of God and thus guarantees us an inheritance. 

Regeneration is the act of God, whereby the Holy Spirit gives a spiritual new birth to the believing sinner imparting to him a new nature and new spirit and giving the spiritually dead new life. Regeneration can be described as a spiritual resurrection, becoming a new creation, and being born again.