05
03
2008
Posted by: carrie in Spring 2008
What does it mean to have faith?:
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What does it mean to repent?:
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Can somene be saved without repenting?:
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What does one ultimately have to do to be saved?:
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March 11th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Group Discussion Questions:
Faith and Repentance
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus), and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
I like this concept and use it in witnessing experiences. John 8:32 “…you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” In Luke 24:44-48, Jesus instructs the disciples right before His ascension. Luke writes in verse 45 “…he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures…” (As an aside, it is interesting that here Jesus ties repentance with Salvation). And finally, II Tim. 1:12 “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.”
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without knowledge or content.
I’ve had difficulty with this question. I’m struggling to find, in my mind, someone who is admired for exhibiting “blind faith”. I met with a young man last week who is opening a new ministry that will market DVD’s to churches. I love him and pray for his success, but I’m also afraid he will be disappointed. I have the same response to E-bay traders. I just don’t understand; I’m of a different generation. I do admire the missionaries who serve in difficult places, many times without significant support. My son-in-law is involved as a church planter in New England. Although God has blessed him and my daughter, the work is hard, there is a distrust of evangelicals. But, there is content and knowledge. Based on what He has done, I trust the unchanging God to be faithful.
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust. How can you change this?
Dealing with those who have financial needs often puts me in this situation. I know that giving money with no requirements is counter-productive in helping people in temporary financial crises. Giving with no reciprocal requirements creates a cycle of irresponsibility. Often the exchange involves work to be performed for money given. Much of the time the work is not completed. I know going into the arrangement that there is a high probability that this will happen. The agreement is clear. I trust God to work within the individual to accomplish His purpose, but it is naïve to trust one whose track record shows something different.
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement. In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful about?
We put degrees of trust in people and things about which there is no assurance all the time: Will the drive-thru get my order right? Will my doctor prescribe the correct medicine? Will the stock-market make it through 2008 without crashing? Experience will often teach us whom we can trust, what we can trust, and to what degree should we turst. The Psalmist said, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Ps. 34:8. He is faithful and the more I exercise faith, the more He reveals Himself to be faithful.
5. Repentance essentially means “to change”. Confession means to “agree with”. Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
To me, confession without repentance is bragging. In repentance, there is sorrow, remorse. If I come before God to acknowledge that I have done wrong without an appreciation of His holiness, His hatred for sin, and how revolting my sin is to Him, I don’t understand to whom I am speaking. I don’t like testimonies that magnify the extent of sin. Our testimony should glorify so great our Savior rather than how graphic can I speak of my sin. If I “agree with” God about my sin, there is nothing but shame as I think of how I have disappointed and grieved my Savior.
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believers is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you give up all your sins?
As I have previously stated in answer to other questions: “We win the argument by defining terms.” It would not be possible for anyone to be saved where it necessary to confess and repent for each sin. Trying to list them all would diminish the awfulness of each one. How could I be sure that one would not be forgotten? The exercise would be beyond human capabilities. But that is not what is taught by John MacArthur concerning Lordship Salvation. From his writing (The Gospel According to Jesus, page 179) “(I Thess. 1:9) Note three elements of repentance: A turning to God; a turning from evil; and the intent to serve God.” “Repentance is not merely shame or sorrow for sin, although genuine repentance always involves an element of remorse. It is a redirection of the human will, a purposeful decision to forsake all unrighteousness and pursue righteousness instead.” “Nor is repentance merely a human work. It is, like every element of redemption, a sovereignty bestowed gift of God.” “…it is a command to recognize one’s lawlessness and hate it, to turn one’s back on it and flee to Christ, embracing Him with whole hearted devotion.” From J. I. Packer (Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, page 72) “The repentance that Christ requires of His people consists in a settled refusal to set any limit on the claims which He may make on their lives.” Repentance is not just feeling sorrow for sins, but a turning from sin and to the Savior. That is different from repeating a prayer r even professing to love the kind and gentle Jesus. Salvation must entail that Jesus died for my sin; “My little white lies” caused blood to be shed. When I understand that the Lord of the universe suffered for my sin, then I am compelled to denounce them and submit to His authority, His Lordship.
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the problems discussed in the notes.
Repentance is a specific requirement in scripture to be rightly related to God. In the book of Luke (Luke 24:46-49), Luke in quoting the last words of Christ before the ascension writes “…and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations,…” Again from John MacArthur (The Gospel According to Jesus, page 181) “Repentance is not a one-time act. The repentance that takes place at conversion begins a progressive, life long process of confession (I John 1:9). This active, continuous attitude of repentance produces the poverty of spirit, mourning, and meekness Jesus spoke of in the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-6). It is a mark of every true believer.”
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
I first read “The Gospel According to Jesus” in the mid 1990’s (It was the revised and expanded edition). I had no idea that there was a controversy and read it with no pre-conceived agenda. I found his thoughts compelling and reflected much of what I already embraced as truth. The question is: Does coming to Christ, receiving Him as Savior, place any demands on us? Or, does the message of salvation place no demands on us? If there are demands, what are they? Did Jesus place demands on those seeking to follow Him (the rich, young ruler, Luke 18:18-23; or the disciple in Matt. 8:21-22)? Does Jesus have the right to claim sovereign authority over us?
March 14th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus), and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
A. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. This verse says it all and I follow it with the first verse of chapter 11:1 which states “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The word conviction denotes agreement, knowledge and trust all in one swoop.
The Resurrection proves He is who He says He is in the gospel of John (I AM). The apostles had knowledge of His resurrection which is why they became so great evenaglelizers after His death. Jesus family also believe Him after they saw Him rise as well!
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without knowledge or content.
IMost people have blind faith and that can lead to making mistakes and not following His word but the things of this world all too easily. I hate to say it but it is so and that is why they are often like James 1 says “…..for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. You end up making stuff up and living that way. When tough times come your faith is really rattled because it is blind!
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust. How can you change this?
A. I trusted in me and my thinking for too long. I, for example, had knowledge of God via attending service, bible studies and reading commentaries but I didn’t put ALL OF MY TRUST in Him but just the majority of it. He wants all of you and not just the pieces you want. Often, the best way to change this is to either go through pain and go to Him and develop that trust OR share your story and Scriptures with others so they can possibly identify with the essential element of Trust in their lives.
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement. In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful about?
A. We, for example, trust that our work paychecks will be there without knowing what the company has “in the bank” at the moment. We have to trust in others else the world just doesn’t work! Our personal xperiences will often teach us in whom we can place our trust and to what degree. When trust is broken it is often painful but it is especially painful when it is broken by someone close to us and is therefore unexpected. In God you can trust always and forever!
5. Repentance essentially means “to change”. Confession means to “agree with”. Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
I see this all the time in Celebrate Recovery where grandiosity and grand-standing become the norm in the meetings. People talk about changing but they continue doing what they are doing after the pain goes away. I am not judging them it is what it is!
If I say I won’t watch, for example, Sopranos anymore because the scenes are a bit too graphic for me and bring me back to my “Club Days” & partying then I better not watch it. I know that I’m a man and visual stimulation brings out the worst in me. I accept it and rely on Him for strength when I get weak. I also rely on His word to fill my thought life so it stays as clean as possible!
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believers is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you give up all your sins?
A. Well, you can’t confess every sin every day cause sometimes you don’t even know you are sinning til it is too late! You might think you are being “nice” but really it is a defense mechanism not to deal with others or to even be a gossip. We do this all the time - bad choices and so forth and with that I answered the last part of the question with a resounding “no” and I neve truly will.
Repentance is a change of mind and that takes progress as you don’t get better over-night! You just don’t especially when it comes to deep emotional issues; impulses; addictions and the like. You have to change the way you think and then NOT act when you are down to build that relationship with Him. Obeying is key and the more you do the better things get even if they aren’t! Sanctification is clearly a process and not a moment in time! Faith isn’t a works based thing where you do more good then bad to stay “ahead of the game” in His eyes!
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the problems discussed in the notes.
A. Well, how can you truly repent and change unless you know He is real? I mean, to whom am I repenting to if not Him (the real and true God?) - my wife, myself or my kids? Repentance that takes place at conversion begins a life-time of hopefully positively progressive change.
I tend to agree with this position a little more at this point then the two-sided coin but I reserve the right to have Greg talk me out of at Table Talks tonight!
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
A. The bible and His plan of salvation is all by His grace (unmerited favor). I don’t believe grace devalues the effects of sin as much as people make it out to be because if we sin too much God will straighten us out His way and convict us. If we fall away too far then he might just let us go so we learn to rely on Him when the troubled times hit. Or He might let us go completely to fulfill His plans but still get to heaven.
I know that I am a sinner in need of Jesus, my personal Saviour and I Trust in what God did to save me from my sins with His son’s atoning work on the Cross.
March 15th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Session 7 Discussion Questions (Conversion: Faith and Repentance)
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus), and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
Reply: These aspects of faith are the bare-bones essentials. Some theologians would even subdivide these categories or add other incremental steps to true faith.
For faith to be substantive it must rest upon propositional truth (information and content). Faith in faith amounts to nothing but a massive, nonsensical “leap in the dark.” Faith cannot be content-less; it must rest in something. Genuine faith does not exist in a truth-less vacuum or void.
Furthermore, the essence of faith requires mental agreement (intellectual assent) to the truth of the facts or knowledge learned by an individual. After all, unbelieving liberal theologians acquire knowledge of the claims of Scripture but these facts have no bearing upon their lives because they do not assent to the truthfulness of these tenets.
Knowledge and mental agreement are requisite building blocks to true faith, but these two aspects by themselves are insufficient to true biblical faith. To possess only these two aspects is to possess incomplete or deficient faith…
So, finally, an individual must exercise the will to embrace and internalize the truth. A person must affirm the efficacy of appropriating (by trust) what he or she agrees to be truth. Anything less falls short of true faith.
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without knowledge or content.
Reply: This is the paradox of our modern culture. Society attributes virtue to those who take the nonsensical “leap of faith” into the darkness of nothingness while at the same time scorning those who have an object to their faith. In other words, as the content of your faith increases your faith is perceived as proportionately less virtuous.
I grew up during the hippie era of the Vietnam War protests in the 1960’s and 70’s. I am reminded of a popular expression associated with that particular time frame - “Keep the faith, baby.” Keep the faith in what? Faith in faith? Faith in some sort of nebulous anti-establishment(ism)?
Isn’t it true that individuals within our culture often try to encourage one another in turbulent times by simply saying “Have faith?” But generally speaking, they do not elaborate upon the content of that faith…
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust. How can you change this?
Reply: Personally, I experienced a spiritual re-awakening late in life. As I ponder this in retrospect I wonder if my earlier Christian experience was incomplete faith, that is, I possessed truth in combination with mental assent but with no genuine transformation resulting in fruits of righteousness. Complete trust was lacking. My reason for contemplating this is because I believe the third step (trust) is a prerequisite to practical holiness in the life of a believer. Its absence will lead to consistent defeat in the battle against sin. And that seems to have been my experience in the past…
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement. In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful about?
Reply: This is a difficult question for me to answer for myself. However, I wonder if the frequent bouts of melancholy I experience are not due to a lack of full agreement with the credibility of the promises of Scripture. Even so, I do not abandon my faith in God. I might despair, but I do not forsake God. I beg Him to help me through these periods of despondency.
Perhaps the father of the boy with the unclean spirit (Mark 9) was undergoing this very same struggle as he pleaded with Jesus to help him with his faith. Was the man asking for further corroboration of the information (facts, content) he possessed about Christ? In any case I readily identify with the cry of this man. See passage below.
Mark 9:23-24 ESV
(23) And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
(24) Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
5. Repentance essentially means “to change.” Confession means to “agree with.” Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
Reply: I don’t think so. If the equivalent of repentance is a change of disposition or attitude toward sin, why would I see the need to confess my sins without an accompanying change of disposition or attitude toward my sins (including a desire to forsake my sins)?
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believer is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you give up all your sins?
Reply: I must confess that I lean quite heavily toward the Lordship position. I increasingly wonder how many professing Christians (or nominal Christians) are really believers at all… In my own personal experience most (if not all) of my besetting sins fell by the wayside as I experienced my own spiritual awakening. My present struggle is primarily in the area of my thoughts and the intents of my heart (and my motives).
It might be wishful thinking to state that all known sin is instantaneously abandoned at the moment repentance commences. However, I do believe there should be an immediate “about- face” (to put it in military terms) beginning at the point of repentance. By this I mean there should be an immediate revulsion of sin in general and an attitude that is repulsed by sin and inclined toward righteousness.
Repentance should be the beginning of practical (or progressive) sanctification in the life of the believer. There is a real sense in which believers are declared righteous (based solely upon the imputation of Christ’s righteousness) at the moment of conversion. This is perhaps where justification and sanctification overlap. This declaration pertains to our position in Christ. There is another sense in which we are growing and increasing in practical holiness during our current life on earth. This has to do with our daily experience as we walk with Christ. I think it is perhaps at the point of repentance that our journey in practical righteousness is initiated…
In conclusion I wish to say I have certainly not attained sinless perfection, but, on the other hand, those sins which ensnared me the most have lost their power in my life…
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the problems discussed in the notes.
Reply: The impetus for unbelievers to embrace Christ by faith is the desire to be saved FROM SOMETHING – to be saved from the consequences of being a sinner and from the bondage of sin. We come to Christ because of the seriousness of sin and the need to be rescued from sin. The Free Grace View diminishes the seriousness of sin by marginalizing (or canceling) the role of repentance in the Ordo Salutis (order of salvation); instead, it deems repentance to be a process subsequent to our initial salvation.
As Michael pointed out, the crux of the issue in this debate is how we define repentance. Is repentance the abandonment of all known sin in one’s life or is it a radical change in attitude, a change in disposition toward sin in general? If the advocates of Free Grace affirm the former definition, then perhaps I could agree with them in proposing that the abandonment of all known sin can only occur subsequent to salvation as one continues to grow in grace and in conformity to Jesus Christ. However, it most certainly is not adding works to salvation to maintain that one must possess a conviction of sin (and an abhorrence of sin in general) as a natural outgrowth or fruit of regeneration in order for faith to be genuine. In other words, this change in attitude toward sin is not a prerequisite to true faith but is rather a natural consequence of regeneration that must accompany faith in order to vindicate its genuineness.
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
Reply: I was challenged by Michael’s implication in the video lecture that, although repentance (and sanctification) are synergistic in the sense that we are active participants with God in the process, repentance and sanctification are not accomplished in human strength. The same God who sovereignly saves sovereignly sanctifies as well. GOD WILL ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES WHICH HE BEGAN BY SEEING THAT I AM MADE HOLY. God has predestined this and He will bring it about.
___________________
Greg Eby
March 17th, 2008 at 10:36 am
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus), and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
All three of these are important aspects of salvation. Simple ‘head-knowledge’ of Christ would not be sufficient for salvation in my opinion. A person can know what Christ did and still not be a believer. That leads to agreement, a person can believe that Christ is who He says He is, yet would also need to agree that he or she is a sinner as well and acknowledge the truth of the Gospel. Even then, trust is needed for one to come to God. By placing trust in Christ, you accept what was done on a personal level, the resistence to God changes to acceptance.
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without knowledge or content.
I believe that this post-modern society likes to give acclaim to those who decide what they want to do without regard to truth. OK, I am going to go with politics. It seems to me that many people like a certain politician because of the way the speak, dress, or handle themselves. What is disturbing is that they have no idea what that political candidate stands for! Its like following around someone because of what they look like or sound like, but not what they stand for. We have become a society focused on social popularity rather than personal character.
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust. How can you change this?
At camp a popular exercise was to put you in a harness and then repel down a small cliff. You are told how strong the cord is, the safety record of the camp, the sturdiness of the harness, yet when you are told to jump, its hard! You believe the facts and the record of the equipment, so you have all the mental confidence in everything involved, its taking the leap and trusting in the knowledge that is the difficult part.
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement. In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful about?
This would seem to me to fall in the category of personal relationships. You can believe someone at work or a friend has the knowledge and skills to do a certain task. You can trust them to complete the task by asking them to do so and acting consistent with the belief that they will carry out the task. However, deep down, you can still doubt whether or not it is going to happen.
5. Repentance essentially means “to change.” Confession means to “agree with.” Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
The issue of repetitive sin falls here. I can admit that I have sinned, yet if I do not change or turn away from that sin, have I fully repented? This is a hard question. I believe that if for confession to happen, repentance will follow. Even if you commit the same sin again and again, if you confess and trust in Christ to help you, Christ can give you victory, we all fall down, but need to keep getting back up, in many ways, I believe it is the struggle that can help build our sanctification.
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believer is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you give up all your sins?
I respect many people on the Lordship View. I understand their issues with the toleration of sin in our modern society. I believe that Christ needs to be our Lord and Savior. Yet, I can not agree with their position completely. Salvation is by grace through faith. To add anything else to it, would eliminate the grace, in my view. To say that each Christian has to look and act in a particular way, would minimize grace. Its a difficult debate. I understand where the sides are coming from and what issues they are trying to address. In the end, I can not agree that salvation is by anything but grace no matter how and what it looks like.
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the problems discussed in the notes.
I agree with the Free Grace View of salvation. However, I do understand the difficulties and arguments that the Lordship Salvation view has. I believe we need to understand the ugliness of sin and be sensitive to its effects largely more that what the church does. Repentance and sanctification are key aspects of the faith that should always be emphasized. Its a tricky balance, like much of our walk is.
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
It seems like much of what we discuss comes down to free will and human choice and how much we are involved in our lives. In the end, our faith is from God and is a God-thing. Its hard to understand because so much of our experience tells us that we are in control of our lives. The reality is that God is in control and He willl deliver us and sanctify us.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 pm
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus), and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
- Notitia is important because having faith in faith is a faith without content. We need to have faith “that” something happened. We need to know what it is we have faith in.
- Assensus is important so that we are not taking a blind leap i the dark. God has always provided evidence to bridge the gap of unbelief. God gave Moses signs and miracles to perform so that the people would know he was indeed speaking for God. Jesus shows Thomas his wounds so that the only logical thing for Thomas was to believe.
- Fiducia is important because even the demons have notitia and assensus. When we place our trust n Christ we allow him to take control of our lives.
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without knowledge or content.
People are expected to trust science and technology without ever knowing how it works. We trust our technology for advanced forms of transportation and electronic banking and communication. We trust science to cure us of our illnesses and make life easier. People who trust in science and technology are considered more advanced compared to those who are slower accepting the new ways of doing things.
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust. How can you change this?
I was raised in a Christian home with a knowledge of who God is and the Gospel message, but I did not place my trust in Jesus on a personal level until I was an adult. I can remember knowing the facts and agreeing that they were true, but never seeing the need to fully trust in what Jesus did for me.
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement. In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful about?
Perhaps this applies to difficult doctrines such as the Trinity. We know the current articulation of the doctrine and we place our trust in it, but we feel that the full reality is not yet known. One can doubt that we know the details of how one God can exist in 3 distinct persons, nonetheless we trust that our current understanding is the best we can do with what God has revealed so far. I decide to trust in the doctrine of the Trinity but I doubt that we have it completely right.
5. Repentance essentially means “to change.” Confession means to “agree with.” Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
Romans 7:18-20
18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Paul confesses that he sins, but he keeps on sinning even though he doesn’t want to. So, I think Paul, in Romans 7:18-20, is saying he confesses without changing. But, as the lecture pointed out, we not only repent, we are repenters…we keep on repenting…it is a process. We can confess that we sin and realize the change comes in our disposition to sin.
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believer is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you give up all your sins?
I agree with Paul in Romans 7:18-20…I have a desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out all the time. I believe the Lordship View does put sanctification before salvation and this is not right. I think our repentance shows up in a changed disposition to sin. We are now convicted of our sin, repulsed by it and more determined to make Christ the Lord of our lives, but we also realize that the process of becoming Christlike takes a while.
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone. Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the problems discussed in the notes.
The Free Grace View can lead to “Bar Code” Christianity in which a believer accepts Christ and gets the “free pass” into heaven without any expectation of turning from sin, becoming more holy or bearing any spiritual fruit. However, since spiritual fruit is the sign of faith, one would question whether such a “believer” really placed their faith and trust in Christ in the first place.
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
I was most challenged by questions 2, 3 and 4 in which I had to find real life examples of how we lack true faith. Question #4 was the hardest for me because it does seem hard to trust in something you doubt.
May 28th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Session 7 – Discussion Questions
1. True faith is made up of content or knowledge (notitia), agreement (assensus),
and trust (fiducia). Discuss the validity of these distinctions.
Response: Often times people will use the word “faith” without fully understanding or even expressing what they actually have “faith” in. I consider this scenario to be undefined faith which does not seem to be true faith at all. The reformers definition of faith provides a substantive definition of true faith.
2. Give examples of how our society admires people who have trust without
knowledge or content.
Response: In this political season I will go with politics. Over the last several months, many politicians have been admired more for their external attributes (style, charisma, name, words, etc…) as opposed to their internal attributes (character, convictions, motives, etc…). This election cycle has revealed, maybe even more than past elections, that what you see is not always what you get.
3. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and agreement without trust.
How can you change this?
Response: This is ongoing with me. My wife and I are currently considering a cross-country move which we both fill is something God is calling us to do. However, there is still a great amount of fear and hesitation in both of us. We arer moving forward but it is not always easy.
4. Give examples of how you have had knowledge and trust without agreement.
In other words, how can a person trust in something that they are doubtful
about?
Response: This one is difficult to answer. The best example I can think of is in leadership circles where one may not have agreement with a certain decision a church or church board makes or a direction it takes, however, that individual puts his/her trust in the knowledge that Christ is the head of the church and that Christ will continue to work through that body to accomplish God’s will.
5. Repentance essentially means “to change.” Confession means to “agree with.”
Do you ever confess your sins without repenting? Explain.
Response: Yes. I can identify w/ Paul in Romans 7:18-20. I find comfort though in the truth that God has began a process of sanctification in me and he will see it through to completion.
6. The Lordship View of salvation teaches that salvation includes both faith and
repentance, which are two sides of the same coin. In repentance, the believer
is committing to give up all known sin, thereby making Christ Lord of his or
her life. Do you agree with this position? Discuss your experience. Did you
give up all your sins?
Response: I am still somewhat uncertain on where I stand regarding the Lordship View vs Free Grace View. I lean more toward the Lordship View. My thought is that these to must overlap somewhere, but I’m just not very sure where yet.
7. The Free Grace View of salvation teaches that salvation is by faith alone.
Repentance and submitting to Christ’s Lordship is something that only a born
again believer can do. Do you agree with this position? If so, discuss the
problems discussed in the notes.
Response: See response to question 6 above.
8. How was your thinking challenged the most by the lesson? Explain.
Response: My main challenge with this lesson is in wrestling with the different views of salvation. I think of myself as one who would hold to the Lordship View, however, I can understand the Free Grace point of view.