CHARACTER MATTERS Week One January 6, 2019 Revealing the Gospel with Our Character GETTING READY Before your group meets next time, spend some time alone in God s Word reading through this week s text, Philippians 2:14 15. Pray that God, through His Spirit, would bring to life the truth of this text and how it applies to your life. KEY BIBLICAL TRUTH Christians are called to do everything without complaining or arguing, as their character manifests the truth of the gospel. THEOLOGY APPLIED Believers lives are to be marked and characterized by putting on the new self as redeemed and chosen ones. MEDITATE Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:14 15). + Use this section to prepare your heart and mind for the truths of this week. This section will help to introduce the focus of this week s lesson. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1b). The Apostle Paul asks a question that seems ridiculous to us today, but if we were honest, it is a question many Christians still struggle with answering. After all, Jesus died to pay the price and penalty for all of our sins past, present, and future. 8 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
Therefore, if it doesn t matter how we live or how much we sin because God s grace will abound to us, then evidently our character doesn t matter that much. We are free to act and live however we please without worrying about the consequences because we know we are saved and forgiven and loved by God, regardless of what we do. Of course, we know that thinking and living like this is not what the Bible teaches. Paul responds to his readers by answering his question in Romans 6:2 with a resounding, By no means! This line of thinking, that character doesn t matter and whether we continue in sin, falls into the category of antinomianism. Antinomianism comes from the Greek word meaning lawless. It is at its root against law and is a teaching that Christians are under no obligation to obey laws of ethics or morality. Essentially, practicing antinomianism is a lifestyle in which Christians believe character doesn t matter. Their actions and choices are irrelevant. They ve compartmentalized what they believe and how they live. Their beliefs on Sunday have no power or influence regarding how they think, act, and live during the rest of the week. But if believers aren t merely supposed to believe in Christ, but to clothe themselves by putting on the new self that is created after the likeness of God (Ephesians 4:24), then it is absolutely true that character matters. Your character is an indication of how well you grasp the truths of the gospel and how likely you are to manifest the good news of the gospel to the world with your life. Q: How do you subtly fall into the trap of living an antinomianism-type life by believing that morality and character don t matter? Q: Would other people say character matters to you based on how you live? How does your character support and validate what you believe? UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT In Philippians 2:12 15, Paul has just commanded us to work out our own salvation as God continues to work in us after we come to faith. We see that how we live, and the development of our character are our ways of working out our salvation, and they allow us to display and declare the gospel to the world. We will see three ways the gospel impacts and changes our character. 1. THE GOSPEL SAVES US 2. THE GOSPEL CHANGES US 3. THE GOSPEL ADVANCES THROUGH US 9 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
+ This next section will help show what God s Word says about this week s particular focus. Read through the Scripture passages and connect the text to this week s biblical truth. THE GOSPEL SAVES US EPHESIANS 2:8 10 Q: Based on Ephesians 2:8 10, how are you saved? Q: What part is your doing and what part is God s doing? How does the word gift help illustrate your answer? For you to work out your salvation, you must first experience salvation. To walk in the good works God prepared for you, you must first accept the free gift of grace from God. Where do you find salvation? Salvation is found in no one but Jesus (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). These are important reminders and distinctions for how you obtain salvation. It is received from God. You can do nothing to achieve or earn it. Before allowing the gospel to shape and change your character and your actions, you must first allow it to change your heart. You must realize and remember that character matters and actions matter, not as a way to earn God s righteousness and grace, but as a response to receiving them. You can only work out the salvation you have first been freely given and received. Q: How is it possible to work out your own salvation if salvation is completely a gift of God? 10 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
Q: How are you prone to work for your salvation? Why is it so hard to believe the grace of God is a free gift? THE GOSPEL CHANGES US GALATIANS 2:14, PHILIPPIANS 1:27 Q: Looking at Galatians 2, what was the issue between Peter and Barnabas? Q: What is an example of a lifestyle choice that is unworthy of the gospel or out of step with the truth of the gospel? The entire paradigm for Christian living changes when we understand that we live the Christian life in response to having accepted the gospel, not in order acquire it. Once we understand that we are justified by faith in Christ apart from works of the law (Galatians 2:16), we realize that Christian living is about responding to God, not working for God. Now that the gospel has saved us, it continues working in us by changing us, making us more like Christ through the ongoing work of sanctification. We aren t saved just to gain a relationship with Jesus. We are also saved to become more like Him. And it is through our actions and character that we are able to tangibly display that we have been saved and show how Jesus has made us a new creation. The gospel gives us new hearts, and new hearts produce and proclaim new life. You cannot rightly understand and believe the gospel and continue living the same way you did before coming to faith in Christ. It s through your life and your character that you promote and practice the same love, acceptance, forgiveness, and mercy you ve experienced in the gospel. We are blessed in order to be a blessing. We are forgiven in order to extend forgiveness. We are loved in order to love. We have been given grace and mercy in order to give grace and mercy. The work of the gospel doesn t stop at saving us. It continues to work in changing us. And it is our character and how we live that is changed more than anything else. 11 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
Q: In what area of your life do you continue to struggle with believing you are justified by faith in Christ and not by your works? Q: How is it hard to experience what living in new life is like when you continue to struggle with sin? THE GOSPEL ADVANCES THROUGH US PHILIPPIANS 2:15, MATTHEW 5:13 16 Q: What are the most popular places and ways you are able to share the gospel with others? Q: Why do people often label Christians as hypocrites when they observe what Christians believe and how they live? Why does Christian character matter? Aside from the fact that the Bible tells us that God s character should be evidenced by the way we live, God also shows that character matters as a means and method to share the gospel with an unbelieving and dying world. Paul says in Philippians 2:15 that by living rightly, you are able to shine as lights in the world. This is borrowing from the same language and picture Jesus uses in His famous Sermon on the Mount when He tells Christians they are the salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13 16). Where is light supposed to shine? Not under a basket, but on a stand so all can see. Light doesn t do any good if isn t placed and situated somewhere it can illuminate the darkness. Jesus says it brings glory to God when other people see our good works and our gospel-shaped character in action. Therefore, our character is one of the primary tools we have to engage others with the gospel. While words are necessary in sharing the good news, our character is a first step in giving us opportunity to share. That alone is proof of how valuable our character is and how much it matters. 12 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
So, it s undeniable that our character and lifestyle choices are the greatest tools we have for proclaiming the gospel message to unbelievers, but they can also be the greatest stumbling blocks to unbelievers who are avoiding the gospel message. The 1990s Christian singing group DC Talk said this very thing more than twenty years ago. They began their song, What If I Stumble, by saying: The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips Then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. While our character can help promote and advance the gospel message, we must also be careful about how our character can hinder the gospel message. We need to regularly examine our lifestyle choices and how our lives and character are communicated and observed by outsiders. It is important to maintain our integrity to ensure we aren t promoting one thing with our lips and something else entirely with our lives. When we truly grasp that the gospel saves us and that the gospel changes us, then we begin to see how those things work together for the gospel to advance through us. We labor to work out our salvation so our character and our lives promote the gospel and give us opportunity to share it with our lips. You will never have many chances to share the gospel with your lips if the people around you don t first see it in your life. Q: When has your character and manner of living enabled you to have a gospel conversation with an unbeliever because your light was shining? Q: How has your fear of not being able to live perfectly scared or prevented you from sharing the gospel with unbelievers? + Connect the truths from God s Word to your daily life. Process how what you ve learned this week will impact the way you live beyond today and into the future. 13 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
Q: How are you prone to compartmentalize your faith to what happens on Sundays and not live it out through the rest of the week? Q: How can you use your occupation or stage of life to put the gospel on display in a manner that looks radically different to an unbelieving world and gives you opportunities to share the gospel with others? Q: What steps do you need to take to better understand God s character so you can better reflect it and shine it to others? + Use these prayer points to connect your time in prayer to this week s focus. Our most gracious heavenly Father: Thank You for sending Your Son and giving us salvation freely as a gift. I am so unworthy and undeserving of Your love. My heart still tries to earn Your love and acceptance through my own works and efforts. I repent of trying to earn Your love. Help me remember and believe that I am saved by grace and not by works. Would You work in my life and help me love the things You love and live in accordance with Your truth and Your Word? I know I cannot do this on my own, so would You give me the power to do it? By your Spirit, make my life shine with the goodness of the gospel and be a witness of how You have saved and changed me. Would You give me boldness in sharing my faith when opportunities allow me to? 14 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s
15 C h a r a c t e r M a t t e r s THIS IS US