What the Bible Says about Accepting God’s Gift of GraceA Bible Study of Salvation for Older Students and Adults
When it comes to salvation there are a variety of opinions among Christians today. These opinions are based on several things; for some their opinion is based on their understanding of Scripture, for others it is their church’s teaching on salvation, for others it is their personal understanding or desire to be saved and for others it is combination of any or all of these. But there is only one opinion that really matters and that is God’s.
Therefore, this study guide is designed to help you walk through the Scriptures on your own and discover what God has to say concerning salvation and its role in your life, your relationship with Jesus, your involvement in the Church and your assurance of eternal life with God.
As with any study of the Scriptures you are encouraged to pray before beginning your study that the Holy Spirit will guide you and that He will reveal the truth of God’s Word to you.
Note: The fill-in-the-blank sections are based on the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible. If you don’t have an NIV translation you can still read along in your own Bible. An answer key is provided at the end of this study guide to provide you with any answers that you may not have immediately discovered.
As you read through the first five days of creation the phrase “it was good” described God’s assessment of all He had made. But on the six day, after man was created God’s assessment was that everything was ____________ ____________.
Genesis 2 explains in a little more detail how God created man. Verse 7 tells us that “the Lord God ____________ the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
God had placed Adam and Eve in the midst of the garden and had provided them with everything they needed. They were in perfect relationship with God and with one another. Man would alter his relationship with God, as well as his relationship with his wife, by exercising his freewill and disobeying God.
What did God tell Adam he could do?
_____________________________________________________________________
What did God tell Adam he could not do? What would be the consequence if Adam disobeyed God?
_____________________________________________________________________
Upon eating the fruit what did Adam and Eve realize? What did they do?
_____________________________________________________________________
Adam and Eve had been in a perfect relationship with God, but when they decided to disobey him (sin) the relationship was altered. Instinctively they realized this and they hid from him because of their shame. If you read the rest of Genesis 3 you will discover that God sent them out of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, because of their sin, could no longer live freely in God’s presence.
Deuteronomy 32:4 says this of God, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”
Psalm 5:4 says this of God, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.”
Habakkuk 1:13 states: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”
1 John 1:5 says “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”
From the above Scriptures we understand that it is against God’s nature to sin or to tolerate sin. As much as He loves us (His creation), He cannot have a relationship with us because of our disobedience, our sin.
Think about a time when you did not do the good you knew you ought to do. If you feel comfortable doing so describe it and your feelings below:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________
In Genesis 2:16-17 God told Adam “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The wages we earn from sin are death and separation from God. And all of us have earned the “wages” of sin.
God is not only holy and just, He is also merciful.
The verse perfectly captures the way in which God is both just and merciful. He is wholly just. He is righteous. He is holy. He cannot just “ignore” sin. But He is also wholly merciful and wants to provide a way for us to be in relationship with Him.
Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
\This verse clearly teaches us that even our best efforts at being or doing “good” (our righteous acts) are like filthy rags when compared to God’s holiness.
Why do you think so many people try to “earn” their way into heaven?
_____________________________________________________________________
God has provided the way for us to be forgiven and to live with Him throughout eternity, and that way is through Jesus Christ.
This set of Scriptures tell us that through Jesus Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. And verse 21 tells us why Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross was accepted by God as atonement (satisfaction for a wrong) for our sins. He was the acceptable sacrifice for our sins because “He had no sin.” Jesus is the one and only exception to the rule that all have sinned. He was born and lived upon the earth. He was fully human, and at the same time, fully God. Because “He knew no sin” He could pay the price for our sins. Because of this, and only this, we can receive the gift of God’s righteousness and eternal life.
God’s Word reveals to us how to accept His gift of salvation.
A gift is worthless unless it is received. God offers His gift of grace freely to all people, but not everyone chooses to accept the gift.
The following Scriptures clearly show us how to accept God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus.
Read John 3:16-18. In order to accept the gift of God’s grace, you must ____________ (verse 18) that Jesus is God’s Son.
In order to accept God’s gift, we must believe that Jesus is God’s Son (John 3:16), that He lived a sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:210), that He was raised from the dead (Acts 2:24) and that He now sits at the right hand of God (Luke 22:69-70)
Acts 3:19 also says you need to “____________, then, and turn to God, so that your
sins may be wiped out.”
Repentance is more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” “To repent” means to turn away from a life full of sin, and to turn toward God.
In the early church, when someone came to believe in Jesus and accept His gift of grace, that person was baptized (Acts 8:35-38, 9:18).
In Acts 22:16 Paul says that when Ananias came to him after he had been blinded on the road to Damascus that Ananias told him that God would use him to preach the gospel to all peoples. Then Ananias said to Paul, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and ____________ ____________ ____________ away, calling on His name.”
The water in the baptistery has no special powers. If you don’t believe in Jesus and accept His gift of grace, then baptism is nothing more than getting wet. But being baptized by immersion is clearly what the New Testament teaches believers to do when they come to a place of belief in Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives.
Baptism by immersion is the pattern we see in Scripture as the God-ordained method for receiving the salvation offered by God through the death of Jesus on the cross. While Scripture binds us to uphold the biblical teaching of baptism by immersion, we acknowledge that God is sovereign and saves people as he sees fit. Baptism by immersion is the pattern laid out in Scripture for one wanting to give his or her heart to God, accept Jesus as Lord of their lives, and become a Christian. We acknowledge that there are circumstances where God can save people by looking at the heart without being baptized by immersion. God is not bound to baptism by immersion, but we are.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by ____________ that you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the ____________ of God, not by ____________ so that no one can boast.”
The next verse, Ephesians 2:10 tells us how God wants us to live once we have accepted His grace. “We are God’s _______________, created in Christ Jesus to do ____________ ____________, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.”
Some people believe accepting God’s grace allows them to continue living in sin. Romans 6:1-4 clearly shows the error of this thinking. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that ____________ may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were ____________ into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a _____________ ____________.”
God has offered the gift of His salvation to you. Based on this study, is there a response you need to make to accept His gift of grace? And if you have already accepted His gift, is there some sin that you need to confess to Him today in order to continue to live in grateful response to that gift?
What response will you make to God today?
When it comes to salvation there are a variety of opinions among Christians today. These opinions are based on several things; for some their opinion is based on their understanding of Scripture, for others it is their church’s teaching on salvation, for others it is their personal understanding or desire to be saved and for others it is combination of any or all of these. But there is only one opinion that really matters and that is God’s.
Therefore, this study guide is designed to help you walk through the Scriptures on your own and discover what God has to say concerning salvation and its role in your life, your relationship with Jesus, your involvement in the Church and your assurance of eternal life with God.
As with any study of the Scriptures you are encouraged to pray before beginning your study that the Holy Spirit will guide you and that He will reveal the truth of God’s Word to you.
Note: The fill-in-the-blank sections are based on the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible. If you don’t have an NIV translation you can still read along in your own Bible. An answer key is provided at the end of this study guide to provide you with any answers that you may not have immediately discovered.
- God created man to have a special relationship with Him.
- Read Genesis 1 – 2:9.
As you read through the first five days of creation the phrase “it was good” described God’s assessment of all He had made. But on the six day, after man was created God’s assessment was that everything was ____________ ____________.
Genesis 2 explains in a little more detail how God created man. Verse 7 tells us that “the Lord God ____________ the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
- Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and ____________ made; your ____________ are wonderful, I know that full well.”
- How does it make you feel to know that you were created by God and are special to Him?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Sin entered the world and altered man’s relationship with God.
God had placed Adam and Eve in the midst of the garden and had provided them with everything they needed. They were in perfect relationship with God and with one another. Man would alter his relationship with God, as well as his relationship with his wife, by exercising his freewill and disobeying God.
- Read Genesis 2:15-17.
What did God tell Adam he could do?
_____________________________________________________________________
What did God tell Adam he could not do? What would be the consequence if Adam disobeyed God?
_____________________________________________________________________
- Read Genesis 6:6-8.
Upon eating the fruit what did Adam and Eve realize? What did they do?
_____________________________________________________________________
Adam and Eve had been in a perfect relationship with God, but when they decided to disobey him (sin) the relationship was altered. Instinctively they realized this and they hid from him because of their shame. If you read the rest of Genesis 3 you will discover that God sent them out of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve, because of their sin, could no longer live freely in God’s presence.
- Understanding God’s reaction to man’s sin.
- Why does God take such a harsh view of sin? If God is loving, why couldn’t He just ignore Adam and Eve’s sin?
Deuteronomy 32:4 says this of God, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”
Psalm 5:4 says this of God, “You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.”
Habakkuk 1:13 states: “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”
1 John 1:5 says “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”
From the above Scriptures we understand that it is against God’s nature to sin or to tolerate sin. As much as He loves us (His creation), He cannot have a relationship with us because of our disobedience, our sin.
- God, because He is holy and just, cannot leave sins unpunished.
- Adam and Eve are not the only ones that have sinned. We all have. Romans 3:23 says, “…for ____________ ____________ ____________ and fall short of the glory of God.”
- Sin is choosing to disobey God. Read what James 4:17 says about sin?
Think about a time when you did not do the good you knew you ought to do. If you feel comfortable doing so describe it and your feelings below:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Most of us realize that doing wrong has its consequences. If you speed you get a ticket. If you rob a bank and are caught you go to prison. The Bible says sin also has its consequences.
____________
In Genesis 2:16-17 God told Adam “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
The wages we earn from sin are death and separation from God. And all of us have earned the “wages” of sin.
- God is holy and just. He cannot tolerate sin. In Isaiah 13:11 He says, “I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their ____________.”
God is not only holy and just, He is also merciful.
- Reread Romans 6:23. We already know the wages of sin is death. But this verse also says that God has given us a gift. What is the gift God has given us?
The verse perfectly captures the way in which God is both just and merciful. He is wholly just. He is righteous. He is holy. He cannot just “ignore” sin. But He is also wholly merciful and wants to provide a way for us to be in relationship with Him.
- Look again at Romans 6:23. Note that the word “gift.”
Isaiah 64:6 reads, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
\This verse clearly teaches us that even our best efforts at being or doing “good” (our righteous acts) are like filthy rags when compared to God’s holiness.
Why do you think so many people try to “earn” their way into heaven?
_____________________________________________________________________
- Eternal life with God is not something we earn, it is a gift given to us by a merciful God.
God has provided the way for us to be forgiven and to live with Him throughout eternity, and that way is through Jesus Christ.
- Read John 3:16. “For God so ____________ the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
- Read 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. Note verse 21. Who is the “him” this verse refers to?
This set of Scriptures tell us that through Jesus Christ God was reconciling the world to himself. And verse 21 tells us why Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross was accepted by God as atonement (satisfaction for a wrong) for our sins. He was the acceptable sacrifice for our sins because “He had no sin.” Jesus is the one and only exception to the rule that all have sinned. He was born and lived upon the earth. He was fully human, and at the same time, fully God. Because “He knew no sin” He could pay the price for our sins. Because of this, and only this, we can receive the gift of God’s righteousness and eternal life.
- Read Ephesians 2:8-9. “For it is by ____________ you have been saved, through _____________ - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
- Read Romans 3:22. “This righteousness from God comes through ____________ in Jesus Christ to all who ____________.
God’s Word reveals to us how to accept His gift of salvation.
A gift is worthless unless it is received. God offers His gift of grace freely to all people, but not everyone chooses to accept the gift.
The following Scriptures clearly show us how to accept God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus.
Read John 3:16-18. In order to accept the gift of God’s grace, you must ____________ (verse 18) that Jesus is God’s Son.
In order to accept God’s gift, we must believe that Jesus is God’s Son (John 3:16), that He lived a sinless life (2 Corinthians 5:210), that He was raised from the dead (Acts 2:24) and that He now sits at the right hand of God (Luke 22:69-70)
Acts 3:19 also says you need to “____________, then, and turn to God, so that your
sins may be wiped out.”
Repentance is more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” “To repent” means to turn away from a life full of sin, and to turn toward God.
- Romans 10:9 tells you that you must “____________ with our mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’…”
- The final step in receiving God’s gift of salvation is to be baptized (Acts 2:38).
In the early church, when someone came to believe in Jesus and accept His gift of grace, that person was baptized (Acts 8:35-38, 9:18).
In Acts 22:16 Paul says that when Ananias came to him after he had been blinded on the road to Damascus that Ananias told him that God would use him to preach the gospel to all peoples. Then Ananias said to Paul, “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and ____________ ____________ ____________ away, calling on His name.”
The water in the baptistery has no special powers. If you don’t believe in Jesus and accept His gift of grace, then baptism is nothing more than getting wet. But being baptized by immersion is clearly what the New Testament teaches believers to do when they come to a place of belief in Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives.
Baptism by immersion is the pattern we see in Scripture as the God-ordained method for receiving the salvation offered by God through the death of Jesus on the cross. While Scripture binds us to uphold the biblical teaching of baptism by immersion, we acknowledge that God is sovereign and saves people as he sees fit. Baptism by immersion is the pattern laid out in Scripture for one wanting to give his or her heart to God, accept Jesus as Lord of their lives, and become a Christian. We acknowledge that there are circumstances where God can save people by looking at the heart without being baptized by immersion. God is not bound to baptism by immersion, but we are.
- Once we have accepted God’s gift of grace, He calls us to live our lives in grateful response to His gift.
- Nothing you do before or after you are baptized earns your salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by ____________ that you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the ____________ of God, not by ____________ so that no one can boast.”
The next verse, Ephesians 2:10 tells us how God wants us to live once we have accepted His grace. “We are God’s _______________, created in Christ Jesus to do ____________ ____________, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.”
- Grace does not give us a “free pass” to live as we want to live and continue sinning.
Some people believe accepting God’s grace allows them to continue living in sin. Romans 6:1-4 clearly shows the error of this thinking. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that ____________ may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were ____________ into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a _____________ ____________.”
God has offered the gift of His salvation to you. Based on this study, is there a response you need to make to accept His gift of grace? And if you have already accepted His gift, is there some sin that you need to confess to Him today in order to continue to live in grateful response to that gift?
What response will you make to God today?