Unit 33, Session 3: No Other Gospel
All of salvationāfrom first trusting to faithful obedienceāis Godās gift to us through Jesus. The Holy Spirit changes our minds and hearts so that we want to obey God, and he gives us power to obey. Our righteousness does not come through faith in ourselves but through faith in Jesus.
Unit Schedule Overview
- 5/4 - Paul's Second Journey
- 5/11 - No Other Gospel
- 5/18 - Paul Gave Hope
During his second missionary journey, Paul started several churches in Galatia. Some time later, false teachers crept into these churches and began teaching that there was more to salvation than faith in Jesus. They said that obeying the law of Moses was essential, too.
Many of the Galatian believers became confused and believed the lies of the false teachers. They turned away from the gospel Paul had shared with them. Paul wrote a letterāthe Book of Galatiansāto correct them and reemphasize a proper understanding of the gospel.
Paul asked the Galatians how their salvation could be started by an act of the Holy Spirit but then completed by their own conduct. That was foolishness! What the Holy Spirit began, he would also complete. Jesusā half-brother James had written a letter to early believers, concerned about Christiansā interpreting grace to mean they didnāt have to obey God. In Galatians, Paul addressed the opposite problem: Christians who focused so much on obedience that they forgot grace.
Jamesā message was that grace will always lead to obedience. Paulās message complements Jamesā message: Obedience is impossible apart from grace. Grace and obedience work together in perfect harmony. This weekās Bible story helps us understand that obedience matters. The Bible is full of instructions and commands that we are to obey; however, the beauty of the gospel is that our ability to obey comes not through our own effort but through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit changes our minds and hearts so that we want to obey God, and he also empowers us to obey. All of salvationāfrom first trusting to faithful obedienceāis Godās gift to us through Jesus. The Holy Spirit changes our minds and hearts so that we want to obey God, and he gives us power to obey. Our righteousness does not come through faith in ourselves but through faith in Jesus.
Many of the Galatian believers became confused and believed the lies of the false teachers. They turned away from the gospel Paul had shared with them. Paul wrote a letterāthe Book of Galatiansāto correct them and reemphasize a proper understanding of the gospel.
Paul asked the Galatians how their salvation could be started by an act of the Holy Spirit but then completed by their own conduct. That was foolishness! What the Holy Spirit began, he would also complete. Jesusā half-brother James had written a letter to early believers, concerned about Christiansā interpreting grace to mean they didnāt have to obey God. In Galatians, Paul addressed the opposite problem: Christians who focused so much on obedience that they forgot grace.
Jamesā message was that grace will always lead to obedience. Paulās message complements Jamesā message: Obedience is impossible apart from grace. Grace and obedience work together in perfect harmony. This weekās Bible story helps us understand that obedience matters. The Bible is full of instructions and commands that we are to obey; however, the beauty of the gospel is that our ability to obey comes not through our own effort but through the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit changes our minds and hearts so that we want to obey God, and he also empowers us to obey. All of salvationāfrom first trusting to faithful obedienceāis Godās gift to us through Jesus. The Holy Spirit changes our minds and hearts so that we want to obey God, and he gives us power to obey. Our righteousness does not come through faith in ourselves but through faith in Jesus.
Big Idea
What is the Bible about? The Bible is the story of God's plan to save people through Jesus.
Memory Verse
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:12
Acts 4:12
Big Idea
What is the Bible about? The Bible is the story of God's plan to save people through Jesus.
Memory Verse
"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved."
Acts 4:12
Acts 4:12
Unit 7 Big Idea: The Holy Spirit makes us look like Jesus.
Over the past few decades, many people have called the Holy Spirit the āforgottenā member of the Trinity. Why is this? It could be for many reasons, but one of the largest may be that people are confused as to what the Holy Spirit does. As the Nicene Creed affirms, the Holy Spirit is the āLord and giver of life.ā He is the third person of the Trinity, fully God, yet distinct in his work from the Father and the Son.
While the Father plans and the Son redeems, the Spirit dwells. Namely, the Spirit dwells within us. He never points to himself; rather, as Jesus makes clear in John 14-16, the Spirit will be sent to point to Jesus. He moves like the wind (Gen. 1:2; John 3:8; Acts 2:2), he helps us remember Godās words (Ezek. 2:2; 3:12, 24; Joel 2:28-29; John 14:26; 2 Pet. 1:21), he washes our hearts from sin (Titus 3:5), fills us (Eph. 5:18), convicts us (John 16:8), comforts us (Rom. 8:26), gives us gifts to build up the church (1 Cor. 12:7), and causes fruit to grow in our lives (Gal. 5:22-25).
In sum, the Holy Spirit makes us look like Jesus. He causes us to be conformed to the image of Jesus, the true image of God, and seals us for the day of redemption when our hope will be revealed. As one theologian put it, āChrist and all His benefits, the love of the Father, and the grace of the Son, become our portion only in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.ā (Herman Bavinck, TWWOG, 384)
What a glorious gift we have received from the Father and Son!
Memory Verse
āBut the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.ā (John 14:26)
Songs
Sing along with our curated Spotify worship playlist
Looking for more ways to dive into what we're teaching your kids this month? Here are some resources we highly recommend.
- The Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson
- The Holy Spirit: An Introduction by Fred Sanders
- The Holy Spirit by Devon Provencher
New to Family Worship?
Start with this beloved and short work from Donald Whitney. In less than 100 pages, he walks through a simple three-step process: read, pray, and sing.
