Q9 | What are the benefits of salvation?

Fleming Island UMC

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Q9 | What are the benefits of salvation?

U4 Salvation

April 10, 2024 • Romans 5:1

Q: What are the benefits of salvation?

A: We are pardoned by God, made part of God's family again, and given resurrection life and power. (Romans 5:1)

● Discussion Opener: Does your family have any specific “house rules” that are different from your friends’ houses?

● Discussion Question: The lesson used an analogy of living in God’s kingdom as being like living in a house. Where do you see yourself in the house analogy right now?

● On the porch: Thinking about repenting and waving the white flag of surrender.

● In the doorway: Believing in Christ but not yet fully living inside the house.

● Inside the house: You have repented and believed, and now you’re learning about life inside God’s house as a member of His family.

● Discussion Question: John Wesley compared living with God to joining Him inside of His house. And like any other home, there are different rules for being in His house. God gives us a new way of living. Unlike some of the rules that our friends give, all of God’s rules have good reasons for them. What are some examples of the new “rules” God gives us and why does He give them?

● Discussion Question: How do we know and understand what “life in the house” looks like? Do we just open up the Bible and follow it verbatim? Or is more reflection required?

● Discussion Question: In the analogy in the lesson, the rebels are given basic necessities as a part of the King’s army. How does God provide for His followers in a similar way? Are there things that God gives to His “army” that He doesn’t give to the other “rebels”?

● Discussion Question: Do some Christians overly focus on the afterlife—the benefits of salvation there? What are the dangers of this? Do some Christians overly focus on the benefits now—the benefits of salvation in this life? What are the dangers of this?

● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand?

● Application Question: Where are you now in your walk with God? What would it mean for you to take the next step into “living in the house” of salvation? (This is an important question.)

More from Absolute Basics of the Christian Faith

Q1 | Who is God?

March 27, 2024 • 2 Corinthians 13:14

Q1. Who is God? A. God is the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons in one God. (2 Corinthians 13:14) ● Discussion Question: Understanding God as 3-in-1 can be hard. Which way of thinking about God being 3-in-1 made the most sense to you? ● Discussion Question: We heard the analogy of playing 3 notes on a piano that form a chord to help us think about the Trinity. This is a helpful analogy. Can you think of any analogies for the Trinity that you’ve heard that are unhelpful? How are these bad analogies? ● Discussion Question: Look up and read together: 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Titus 3:4–7. How does God work together in our salvation? What does Paul say God, Jesus, and the Spirit are doing? If we pray to the Father in the name of the Son, what is the Holy Spirit up to when we pray? ● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand? ● Application Question: How does a discussion about the Trinity actually impact our lives? How does the fact that God is a Trinity change how we do relationships?

Q2 | What is God Like?

March 27, 2024 • Psalm 147:5

Q2. What is God like? A. God is perfect in power, knowledge, and in His holy love. (Psalm 147:5) ● Discussion Question: You are putting together a team of superheroes. Which of these do you choose: Power Person, Genius Guy, or Moral Man? ● Discussion Question: Look up and read together: Psalm 147:5 and 1 John 4:7–16. Since God is love, what is expected of us? ● Discussion Question: Because God is all-loving, God is merciful. Mercy is when someone does not get what they deserve. How can God execute justice and still be loving and merciful to us? ● Discussion Question: Anselm, in pointing out that God was perfect, went so far as to say that any perfect being (God) must exist, for it is more perfect to exist than not exist. Some have really taken this and run with it and called it the “ontological argument for the existence of God.” Do you think this is a good argument for God? Discussion Question: If God knows everything, does He know the future? Are we free if He does?

Q3 | What did God Make?

March 27, 2024 • Hebrews 11:3

Q3. What did God make? A. God spoke everything into being, by His own free choice, and it was very good. (Hebrews 11:3) ● Discussion Question: Have different people each look up and read Genesis 1:1–5 and John 1:1–5 The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, which has a word, “ruach,” that means spirit, wind, and/or breath. That is the word in Genesis 1 that we read in verse 2. In John, the Greek word for Spirit is “pneuma,” which means spirit, wind, and breath as well. What do these two passages tell us about what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are doing in the work of creation? ● Discussion Question: God decide to create out of His own free will. That includes time and space. Why do you think God decided to create the universe? ● Discussion Question: When Christians claim that God created everything, atheists are fond of responding with the question of “who created God?” How do we respond to the question of who created God? Did He create Himself? Or did God just always exist? If something has to always exist, which is more likely to be always existent, God or the universe? ● Discussion Question: God has given us a very good gift by giving us creation, and our natural response is gratitude. What are the ways you normally show gratitude to someone who gives you a good gift? Is it just a feeling in our hearts? How do we show that to God? What is the wrong way to show gratitude? Is there a way that we can be well-meaning and desire to show gratitude but do it in the wrong way? ● Discussion Question: If God is best, then does He always necessarily do what’s best? Does this mean God’s decision to create—and all other decisions—aren’t free? ● Discussion Question: What was the most important idea you learned from this lesson? Is there anything you still don’t understand? ● Application Question: You heard about God bringing life simply through speaking. Do we have the ability to bring life, or take life, through our words? How?