Digging Deeper: Leader’s Guide 3
Believing
From the sermon of 28th September
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of our belief in Jesus and to understand the impact that believing in him
has on our lives.
Believing in Jesus is the very heart of Christianity. But what do we really mean when we say that we believe in
Jesus? If our belief is to impact our lives and the lives of those around us, it needs to be more than just a
feeling or a vague hope. In this study, we will explore the different elements that make up the kind of belief the
Bible describes; the kind that pleases God and enables us to live for Him.
Read 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11.
1. In verse 1 Paul reminds the Corinthians of the Gospel which ‘they received’. What does it mean to
receive the Gospel?
2. If you have received Jesus, share with the rest of the group what your first experiences of believing in
him were like. How did you first hear the Gospel? What changed in your life when you received it?
3. In verse 2, Paul exhorts his readers to ‘hold firm to the word [he] preached’. What does it mean for us
to ‘hold firm’ to the Gospel?
Leader’s Note: Here Paul focuses the Corinthians away from their past experiences of believing and onto their present,
continuous, choice to keep believing.
4. Why do we need to ‘hold firm’ to the Gospel?
Leader’s note: We hold firm to the Gospel, not because we must save ourselves, but because we need constant reminders that we
can never save ourselves. Martin Luther wrote that we must ‘beat the Gospel into our heads continually’ (not literally!) to avoid
the trap of trying to attain righteousness ourselves, which is doomed to failure.
5. In what ways do verses 3-8 strengthen your belief in Jesus?
6. Read verses 9-11. What role does belief play in Paul’s works?
Leader’s note: Paul is under no illusions; he knew he had lived a sinful life, and that without God’s grace, he would have remained
in his sin forever. Yet despite this, he has complete confidence in and assurance of his salvation and calling. This is the nature of
belief in the Gospel; it enables us to see our sin whilst giving us confidence that ‘sinner’ is no longer our identity. In Jesus we are
made completely holy. It enables us to work hard without becoming resentful or burnt out, knowing that we have nothing to earn
or to prove; Jesus has already credited us with righteousness!
7. One of the areas in which Christians can struggle is understanding how our ‘works’ interact with what
we believe/our faith. On the one hand, we may sometimes imagine that since we are already saved
what we do does not matter. On the other hand, we may sometimes find ourselves striving to please
God or other people, as we forget that we are already totally accepted and seen as righteous by our
Father. Which of these tendencies do you incline more towards?
8. What have you found helpful when you struggle in this area?
9. What evidence is there in this passage that Paul’s belief in Jesus is something he talks about a lot?
10. Why is it important that we talk about our belief in Jesus?
11. What (if anything!) do you find difficult about sharing your beliefs with those who don’t yet have faith in
Jesus?
12. How do verses 9-10 encourage you in this?
Application: Spend time praying for each other that you would grow in your believing and in sharing your
beliefs.
SERMON NOTES: 28TH September
Peter Nodding
Believing
Mark 1:14-20
Last Sunday and today we are considering Jesus' two 'musts'. When he announced his Kingdom he said, 'Repent
and believe for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' We looked in some detail about repentance last Sunday morning
and today we concentrate on believing. Like repentance there is a fair amount of confusion about what constitutes
true believing.
We hear people say, 'It doesn't matter what you believe, it is whether you are sincere that counts.' Or people say
that they believe in God but the more important question is - what sort of God do you believe in? Others say that
they have faith but they don't want to talk about it.
I am choosing to talk about believing rather than having faith. The noun is 'faith' and the verb is 'believe'. We learn
at school that verbs are doing words and essentially believing is something you do. I was helped by David Pawson's
five ingredients of what believing entails and we will talk through these aspects. There is some overlap but they
have substance in their own right.
1. It is Historical.
The first thing to say is that believing is not merely subjective; we are believing facts. The great thing about the
Christian faith is that it is historical - we are not putting our faith in good feelings or interesting ideas.
The three main facts which recur many times in the New Testament are these: Jesus' death on the cross, his burial
in the tomb and the resurrection of the body. This is how Paul sums it up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. 'For what I
received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.'
We believe in events which have taken place. We know that Jesus Christ was crucified outside Jerusalem in the first
century. We know that he was buried in a tomb not far away from his crucifixion. Although we cannot prove that
he was raised from the dead it becomes the only logical conclusion for those who are willing enough to do the
research.
This is a main strength of Christianity in that we can trust in historical events unlike many other religions. When you
travel on a train you have a ticket which is checked on some journeys. When the man gets to you he is not
interested in what sort of person you are or whether you look honest, he is only interested in what is on the ticket.
2. It is Personal.
Just because Jesus has done these incredible things on our behalf doesn't make you a Christian. To only have the
historical facts provides you with an intellectual faith or a creed. However, believing must be personal. It is not
simply believing in God, but it is believing in a particular person. You are believing in Jesus Christ. You are not
putting your confidence in how much you have done for him and chalking up a list to present to God thinking this
makes you worthy. You are putting your absolute confidence in Jesus Christ on the basis of what he has done for
you. It is not only that you believe Jesus is the Saviour of the world but that he is my/your Saviour.
3. It is Verbal.
Our faith needs to be put into words. By making it clear that you believe in Jesus Christ, it has the effect of sealing
the reality in your heart. The more you talk about your tryst in the Lord the stronger it will become. But actually it
is verbal in a more important sense. It is verbalising toward God. What does the Bible say? 'Everyone who calls on
the Lord will be saved.' Acts 2:21.
Calling out to God is the clear indication that you are putting your trust in him. Crying out demonstrates that you
want to find his resources and help.
Blind Bartimaeus couldn't see Jesus but cried out to him, 'Lord have mercy on me.' Luke 18:39. Even though they
told him to be quiet he would not stop reaching out to Jesus.
Paul says, 'If we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, we shall be saved.' Romans 10:9.
We are verbalising to the Lord that we believe that he is our Lord proving our faith in him.
So how are you doing so far? Historical facts believed, you have made it personal (When did you do this?),
confessing your faith by calling out to the Lord and witnessing to others.
4. It is Practical.
Faith does things. However many good works you do, none of them will save you, but although you are not saved
by works you are saved for works. This is made very clear in one of Paul's letters in Ephesians. 'For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can
boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.' Eph 2:8-10.
If your believing is not practical you haven't got the real stuff. The inevitable result of believing in Jesus is that you
will serve him. What the writer of the NT went as far as to say is that if there are not works coming from your faith
then it is dead, you are only fooling yourself. The Bible speaks about rewards but it not clear what the rewards will
be. We have received the gift of eternal life as a result of what Jesus Christ has done for us; we cannot earn it. But
the works that we have done for Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit are going to be rewarded.
I read a quaint story recently. A lady arrived in heaven and was shown her accommodation which was a small shed
but she noticed that one her employees had a wonderful mansion across the road. She was quite put out by this
and asked why they had different sorts of accommodation. She was informed that the fruit of the good works
which we do on earth are turned into materials to build our new homes and this was the best shed that could be
constructed from what had come up from the earth. On the other hand her employee had sent up some great
materials and hence the mansion. (This is a story, it is not true.) Of course, we don't do works to gain a reward, but
our love and faith in Jesus means that good works will flow from us.
5. It is Continual.
This point is often not emphasised. In discussion with families in preparation for a funeral I will be informed that
the deceased made a commitment to Jesus Christ in the past. The commitment was made many years before and
they did not attend church regularly, but they did believe. When Jesus spoke about believing it was present tense.
A lot will know John 3:16: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him (goes on believing or believes now) shall not perish but have eternal life.' The words in the brackets are the
more accurate translation. This is what is known as the present tense, indicating continuous action. In Greek you
can employ what is called the aorist tense which indicates when something happens just once. So for example in
Acts 16:31: 'Believe (aorist) in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved' speaking of the initial turning to the Lord. Or in
Acts 19:2: 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' (aorist); again speaking of the initial reception of the
Spirit of the Lord.
True believing is what we finish with not what we start with. Paul often encouraged believers to maintain the faith.
'By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.'
1 Corinthians 15:2. He talks about 'continuing in the faith' Col 1:23. He gives warnings and illustrations of those
who have wandered away from the faith.