LESSON 3 Follow-up
Follow-up "WHAT OPPOSITION CAN I EXPECT?"
Follow-up MEMORY VERSE: 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour."
The Christian life is the greatest life in the world and a Christian in close fellowship with his Lord experiences much joy and peace. However, the Christian life is not without its problems. When you become a Christian you brought much displeasure to Satan for he lost an ally. Now that you are on God’s side Satan is going to be your fierce enemy, (1 Peter 5:8). He will do all within his power to cause you to be an ineffective Christian.
One of the first attacks he uses, and perhaps you’ve already experienced it, is to cause you to doubt your salvation. If he can do this, he can frustrated you and cause you to be an ineffective Christian. He will bring questions to your mind such as, "I don’t feel like I’m saved" or "maybe it didn’t "take" the first time" etc. We must always remember, however, that salvation is not according to feeling but to God’s plan found in His Word. We are doubting God and calling Him into question if we doubt our salvation (John 3:36a, Romans 8:16, 1 John 5:12,13). Satan may also cause you to doubt that your salvation is secure because of sin. "How can you expect to keep your salvation when you’re still sinning?" Satan will ask "surly you can’t be a child of God or keep eternal life if you are still sinning?" Let us remember that Christ paid the price for ALL our sin - past, present, and future and that our salvation is a gift. It does not depend on what we do but on what Christ has already done on the cross (Phil. 1:6). Too, when you received Christ you were "sealed" by the Holy Spirit and this seal remains intact until you are taken to Heaven (Eph. 1:13,14; 2 Cor. 1:21,22).
Satan may also attempt to discourage you by constantly throwing your sin in your face. Just because you are a Christian does not mean we are exempt from temptation and sin. This will always be a part of our life for we still possess the sin nature with which we were born with. We will never, in this life, reach a state of sinless perfection. Satan, however will do his best to cause you to be discouraged. If he can do this and cause you to want to give up, he has gained the victory. We must always realize sin for what it is, hate it, and flee from it (2 Tim.2:22).
But, we must also realize that there will be times when we will yield to temptation and sin and we should not become discouraged. God has provided for this (1John 2:1,2; 1:9).
The "other side of the coin," continued disobedience to God, will rob you of your peace of mind and joy in Christ and result in diminished fruitfulness for God in your life. Sin and temptation come to us on every hand - our own desires, advertising, TV, magazines, etc., and we must learn to overcome them. We must reckon ourselves dead to sin (Rom. 6:11). Sin is real and it is powerful, but we can have victory over it. Becoming familiar with the Word of God and memorizing can be a help to you in overcoming sin in your life (Psalm 119:11).
Watch out for the thought life, too! This is sometimes where our trouble start. Our mind will wander off and dwell on things contrary to God’s will. Let us, therefore dwell on those things spoken of in Phil. 4:8. We have seen, then, some of the things that have and/or will be facing you in your Christian life. But, thanks to God we are on the winning side and He has provided for your victory in all of these areas of life. You can experience a victorious Christian life through Christ. The Scripture tells us in Phil. 4:13, "I CAN do all things Through Christ, which strengthens me." The secret to victory over our old nature is by allowing Christ to have the victory through us. It is His battle and He is able to make us MORE THAN CONQUERORS. Romans 8:37
Follow-up WORK SHEET QUESTIONS - lesson 3
Find the answers in the above reading and the scriptures found in the
follow-up lesson.
1. Who is now my fierce enemy?
2. What does James 4:7 tell me to do concerning Satan?
3. When Satan causes us to doubt our salvation, what scripture can we use to prove he is wrong?
4. Concerning eternal security, our salvation, which God has begun in you, what does He tells us He will do in regards to it (Philippians 1:6)?
5. When you accepted Christ as Saviour what did God do to you (Eph. 1:13, 14, 2 Cor. 1:21, 22)?
6. For how long is that "Seal" intact?
7. How are we to reckon ourselves in relation to sin?
8. How does God provide for victory over sin?
9. What is another way we can overcome sin?
10. What are we to do with our thought life according to 2 Corinthians 10:5?
11. There will be times when we yield to temptation and sin. What provision has God made for us in this case?
12. In Christ Jesus we can and should have a positive attitude, where are you in your relationship with God (Phil. 4:13)?
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