Life
Group Study Guide
October
28, 2012
Into
the Bible
Jesus
is uniquely able to forgive all of our sins because He alone is the
perfect sacrifice on our behalf. His death sets us free!
Read
Hebrews 9
- v. 1-5 – tabernacle, which preceded the temple
- v. 6-10 – priests
- Day of Atonement – once a year, every year
- only ceremonial cleansing, not true removal of sin or clearing of conscience
- see Hebrews 10:1-4
- Leviticus 16 – priest kills the animals on the altar outside the Holy Place, and brings the blood into the Holy Place and Most Holy Place
- the blood allows the priest to enter once a year
- v. 11-14 – Christ is the great high priest
- He offers Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God (John 1:29)
- He enters not the holy place made by human hands, but the eternal holy place, of which the tabernacle was patterned after
- see Hebrews 9:24
- Our consciences are purified by Christ's sacrifice (where they couldn't be by the blood of bulls & goats)
- v. 15-22 – Christ is the mediator of the new covenant
- An eternal inheritance is promised to God's people
- We've been redeemed from our sins
- This new covenant was inaugurated/took effect with Christ's death
- v. 22 - “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins
- v. 23-28 – Christ offered himself once for all
- The tabernacle (& temple) and the priests and the sacrifices were merely copies, or shadows, of the heavenly realities.
- Unlike the repeated sacrifices of the Levitical & Aaronic priesthood, Christ “has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (v. 26)
- Christ bore the sins of many (v. 28)
Q: In what ways do we
struggle at times with experiencing forgiveness? How does the
completeness of Christ’s sacrifice help you to experience and
embrace His forgiveness?
The burden of not
letting go of past failures and sin are often a result of not being
able to forgive ourselves. Thankfully, our forgiveness does not
depend on our ability to forgive ourselves.
Our spiritual growth
can be hindered by carrying around the weight or guilt of past sin.
Q: What practical
actions/verses/truths have you found helpful in letting go of burdens
and finding freedom in Christ’s forgiveness?
Read Micah 7:19, Isaiah
43:25, Psalm 103:12
Micah
7:19 – "He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our
iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of
the sea."
Isaiah
43:25 – “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my
own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Psalm
103:12 – "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he
remove our transgressions from us."
Q: How do these word
pictures help you understand and know God’s forgiveness better?
Living
out God's Word
Read
Colossians 1:21-22 – "And you, who once were alienated
and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his
body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and
blameless and above reproach before him"
Feel
free to split up into small groups of two to four people. Spend some
time offering thanksgiving together that we no longer need to be
alienated from God, but instead are reconciled by Christ.
Remind
yourself throughout the week that in Christ you are without
blemish and free from accusation.
Here are some passages that I came up with while
studying this week that I find helpful to remind me of the fullness
of the forgiveness that we have in Christ:
Colossians
2:13-15 – "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him,
having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of
debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside,
nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and
put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him."
Hebrews
10:12-14 – "But when Christ had offered for all time a single
sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting
from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his
feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those
who are being sanctified."
Ephesians
1:3-14 – "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In
love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious
grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in
all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for
the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven
and things on earth.
"In him
we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to
the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of
his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to
the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed
with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our
inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his
glory.
Ephesians
2:1-10 – And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which
you once walked, following the course of this world, following the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the
sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions
of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and
were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God,
being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved
us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with
him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so
that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have
been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which
God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Galatians
1:3-5 – "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the
present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to
whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."
Galatians
4:4-7 – "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because
you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son,
and if a son, then an heir through God."
Galatians
5:1 – "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore,
and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
2
Corinthians 4:13-14 – "Since we have the same spirit of faith
according to what has been written, 'I believed, and so I spoke,' we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the
Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into
his presence."
2
Corinthians 5:17-21 – "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and
gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was
reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal
through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God."
Mark
10:45 – 'For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
Isaiah
53:5 – "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that
brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."
Philippians
1:6 – "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in
you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
Philippians
3:8-9 – "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have
suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order
that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a
righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes
through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on
faith"
Romans
1:16 – "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power
of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek."
Romans
3:21-26 – "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested
apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to
it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all
who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a
gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This
was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he
had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the
present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one
who has faith in Jesus."
Romans
5:1-11 – "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we
have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we
rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and
hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured
into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
"For
while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the
ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though
perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows
his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much
more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we
were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much
more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More
than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation."
Romans
6:9-11 – "We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will
never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death
he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives
to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to
God in Christ Jesus."
Romans
6:22-23 – "But now that you have been set free from sin and have
become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and
its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans
8:1-4 – "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you
free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done
what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in
the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according
to the Spirit."
Romans
8:28-39 – "And we know that for those who love God all things
work together for good, for those who are called according to his
purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be
conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the
firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also
called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he
justified he also glorified.
"What
then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be
against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us
all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who
shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that,
who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is
interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
'For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'
"No, in
all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved
us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers,
nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John
19:30 – ... "It is finished" ...
Hebrews
10:19-25 – "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to
enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living
way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his
flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed
with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to
stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and
all the more as you see the Day drawing near."