Desert Preparation - Matt 3:1-13
This week Pastor Dave shares with us from the recent New Testament One Year Bible Reading in Matthew 3:1-13. We took the questions a little bit different direction this week: instead of addressing each part of the sermon, we focused on what we believed to be the aim of the sermon - a right understanding of repentance and an exhortation to practice it regularly.
Don’t forget to come to the Bible Celebration Sunday evening at 6pm!
- Share any resolutions you made for the New Year.
- Are you planning to be in the Word daily? If so, how?
- Make a plan for how your group will support one another in memorizing the 2012 Bethel Memory Verses.
- What will you do to help family members memorize these Scriptures?
- Read Acts 2:36-39. In this passage, what led to the people’s repentance? What happens when a person repents with their first knowledge of Jesus?
- Read Ephesians 2:8-9. Jesus’ death on the cross bought our salvation. What part does repentance play in salvation?
- Why do we continue to repent as Christians? Will we lose our salvation if we don’t? (1 John 1:5-2:1; Rom 8:38-39; John 10:28-30)
- Read 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 and answer the following questions:
- Who is writing? To whom is it written?
- What are the two types of repentance described in the passage?
- What are the results of each?
- Discuss the following statement: “Repentance is being something, not just doing something.”
This is a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth and the surrounding region (see 2 Cor 1:1).
Although repentance is only used to describe one of the types in this particular passage, there are two Greek verbs in the New Testament translated as “repent” and it is important to be able to distinguish between them. One is what Paul calls “worldly sorrow” in this passage. It is regret, a change of mind. That is the kind of repentance Judas felt in Matt 27:3. It brings sorrow and guilt but not new life.
The other is the product of godly sorrow: true repentance. This kind of repentance involves a change of mind and purpose. See Easton’s Bible Dictionary for a definition of each kind.Paul warns that worldly sorrow leads to death. It is only regret, not a running away from sin toward God. The godly sorrow of the Corinthians produced repentance and led to eagerness to become right with God and others, zeal for God’s glory, indignation (anger at sin), fear of God’s wrath, and longing for holiness.
Some of our misconceptions about repentance come from our perception that repentance is simply something we do. Repentance is more than that. It is a new way of being that redefines us as God’s people rather than slaves to sin.
- Are you in a spiritual desert right now?
- Evaluate your New Year’s resolutions (look at question 1) in light of the previous discussions: Are there some spiritual resolutions you should make? What part does repentance play in them?
This is an opening question to give a chance for everyone to speak up, but it is also a chance to discuss plans for daily Bible reading and memorization throughout the new year. Encourage men to take the lead in their families with Bible memory, and encourage women to make plans to work on the verses with their children.
Peter’s preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection led to conviction (they were cut to the heart), which led them to respond and then to repent. These people may have been Old Testament believers, but this was their first understanding of Jesus and His work. When they repented, their sins were forgiven and they received the Holy Spirit (v. 38).
It is surprising how quickly we each turn away from salvation by grace alone and begin - often unknowingly - depending on our own work to save us. Because of this, it is easy to begin thinking that repentance is the work that we need to do in order for our sins to be forgiven, as if repentance earns forgiveness. But forgiveness of sins is bought by the blood of Christ alone - He has paid the penalty for our sins. Nothing we can do (repenting, “praying the prayer,” taking communion, being baptized, etc.) earns our salvation or grants our forgiveness. As Romans 8:29-30 makes clear, our salvation begins and ends with God. Repentance is still required; baptism is still commanded; obedience is still expected. But those things are part of the process of salvation that is founded solely on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Repentance does not earn forgiveness or salvation. Instead, like holding out our hands for a gift, we receive God’s salvation through repentance.
1 John 1:5-2:1 shows us the necessity of continual repentance as a Christian: we continue to sin so we have a continual need to confess that sin and turn away from it to the light so that we can have fellowship with Him. We can be confident in our continual repentance because of our advocate Jesus Christ the Righteous and because of the justice of God who has promised to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 8:38-39 and John 10:28-30 demonstrate the assurance of our salvation. It is in Christ’s hands and no one can separate us from Him or snatch us away from Him. Building on the discussion from the previous question, we know that our salvation is founded on the death and resurrection of Christ. Looking at Romans 8:28-30 and John 10:28-30, we see that God has chosen who He will save and that their salvation is so assured that Paul speaks of it in Romans 8:30 as having already happened. That assurance does not negate the parts of the process that involve us (repentance, obedience to God’s commands, increasing holiness), rather it gives us confidence to work out our salvation because we know that God will work our salvation within us (Phil 2:12-13). This is a precious promise that we can count on no matter what happens.
Break into gender groups to discuss the following questions:
Take time to be honest and transparent with one another. Make sure that an appropriate amount of time is spent listening to each person’s situation, praying over them, and supporting them as brothers or sisters in Christ. Be sure to follow up sometime during the following week with anyone who identifies themselves as being in a spiritual desert. Give them a phone call or mail them a note thanking them for their openness and encouraging them in their difficult situation.
If your group needs to make a renewed commitment to making the weekly meetings a priority, the new year is a good time to emphasize that.