Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

Lesson : The Enlistment We Make • 

a. How does the apostle* describe human beings and their relationship to the devil (the “prince of the power of the air”), before they repent and believe in Christ?

b. List three things that were true of you before God saved you by his mercy. i. ii. iii.

c. How are we saved? (Choose the best answer.) i. By grace through faith (as a gift of God) ii. By your good works (so you can boast)

d. For what purpose were we saved – what does God want us to be and do, now that we’re saved?

3. Jesus is the One who defeated the devil in order to liberate and restore creation and humankind. Read Luke 11.14-23. a. What did Jesus’ enemies accuse him of, after he cast a demon out of a mute man?

b. In reply, what did Jesus suggest about the nature of a kingdom that is divided against itself?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *apostle – Apostle means “one who is sent.” This term is used in two ways in the Bible. Most often, as in this case, it refers to people that Jesus personally sent to carry out his work, including the 12 who accompanied him in his earthly ministry, and a person like Paul who received a personal assignment from Jesus in Acts 9. The apostles’ eyewitness account is vital to us because their testimony forms everything we know about Christ (see 1 John 1.1-4 and 2 Peter 1.16-18). This is why the Nicene Creed talks about our faith as being “apostolic;” we base our interpretation of the Bible and human history on what the apostles say. The second way the word “apostle” is used (e.g. Eph. 4.11) is in reference to those gifted by the Spirit to be sent with a specific task or mission. Today we call them “missionaries,” i.e. people sent out for a specific purpose such as planting churches.