Week 2: FAITH - Day 4: For by grace you have been saved through faith
ADVENT BIBLE STUDY
Week 2: FAITH
Day 4: For by grace you have been saved through faith
via TJC
JOIN US IN BIBLE STUDY THIS ADVENT!!!
Throughout the Bible we read the central theme of waiting, anticipation and desire for the “coming”; the coming of our savior and our Lord. Coming has been celebrated as a season, called Advent, throughout church history in the weeks prior to Christmas. TJC as a body of believers will be studying the Bible together in the four major coming themes of hope, love, joy and peace. Join us on this journey, as we all go deeper into the word. For many Bible study is an old habit, for others it’s intimidating. Press in with us and embrace spending quality time, reading and reflecting on brief verses, and hearing from God. Each of four weeks we will be looking at an essential verse, each day that points to Christ as our hope, our love, our joy, and our sense of peace. Each week we will introduce a new skill for you to practice and use in drawing closer to our Lord Jesus. As we celebrate his coming and await his return
BIBLE VERSE
4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:4-9 (WEB)
COMMENTARY
Today, we focus on “5 Important Questions” to ask yourself about the study verse: Is there:
A command to obey?
A promise to claim?
A Sin to Avoid?
An application to make?
Something new about God?
Since it is that by grace I have been saved through faith, … it is the gift of God, … that no one would boast., why is it that I still find myself trying to make things happen? Is it because I think that what God has started I now somehow have to finish? Or with what God has started, do I truly believe and act as if He is faithful to Himself to finish? Yet, when Jesus returns it is faith that He will be looking for on earth, and not something else (Luke 18:8). I know that anything on my own, without God, is of no value, like a polluted rag (Isaiah 64:6 & Phil 3:8). Jesus is the true vine and we are vine branches, and cut-off from Him we have no life (John 15); it is only by faith that I am grafted into the vine (Rom 11:6). The reality, again realized, is that I can’t do it on my own.
These verses begin with God, rich in His mercy - meaning that I am not receiving what I rightly deserve, and this section crescendos on God’s grace - meaning receiving a gift that I don’t deserve. My response, to fall on my knees in worship, again thanking God for His indescribable Gift, invading our world, even our personal worlds, with the reality of Jesus.
In this busy time, it has helped me to slow down and reflect this Advent season on God’s Gift to us, the reality of Jesus in this world, that we celebrate now and especially at Christmas.
QUIET TIME CHALLENGE
During this Advent, we are going to use the Every Man a Warrior Method for Bible Study.
Click here to read: THE ABC'S of the EMAW QUIET TIME BIBLE STUDY.
With this method, we engage the scriptural verses by answering a number of questions, preferably in a journal.
Today, we focus on “5 Important Questions” to ask yourself about the study verse. Challenge yourself to answer these questions or ask if these questions can be answered - See below!
Find a Quiet Place.
Pray to Jesus Christ and ask for his presence guiding you in your studies.
Re-read the Verses Above and ask yourself the questions below!
Do you want to submit your Quiet Time? Do it ONLINE by clicking here!
Can you complete the TJC Quiet Time Challenge? We’re challenging men to follow the Every Man a Warrior Method for Bible Study. We have a special web page where you can do your quiet times in accordance with this amazing method. CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR QUIET TIME JOURNAL
ABOUT EVERY MAN A WARRIOR
Every Man A Warrior is a discipleship Bible study that “Helps Men Succeed in Life". It helps them win the battles they fight every day. Since 2011, 50,000 men in 40 countries and in 18 languages have been impacted by the Every Man A Warrior curriculum. The Every Man A Warrior ministry joined Trans World Radio (TWR) in 2017 in order to take discipleship around the world. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EMAW and learn about how you can implement this training series in your men’s group.