.1
Each One Teach One Discipleship Lessons
Part One:
FAITH THAT LOOKS UP:
Establishing your Faith in God
LESSON TWO:
LIVING FAITH
Romans 1:17
In the Gospel a righteousness FROM GOD is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first
to last, just as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace that 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.
In Lesson One we learned that faith is necessary for salvation, because we cannot earn salvation by our works.
Salvation is a free gift from God. And the faith we need to understand, believe and accept that free gift of
salvation is also from God.
“Grace” is a word that means, in part, “free, unmerited pardon.” God offers us that grace, not because of what
we do, but because of who He is. Instead of allowing us to perish in our sins without forgiveness, He offered His
own Son as a “ransom” for us. Our part in this transaction is just to accept the offer by faith.
So is that all there is to it? There is a lot of confusion among those who call themselves “Christian” about what
should happen next in our lives, after we have accepted Christ.
For some, the plan of salvation goes something like this:
“Each person at birth is on a one-way train trip to Hell. If, somewhere along the way, a person prays the ‘Sinner’s
Prayer,’ a switch is thrown and his train gets on another track, this one headed to Heaven. What he does from
then on isn’t important. He’s ‘under grace,’ which means his train can’t be switched again.”
.2
Is that in line with what the Bible says? Is just “proclaiming” you are a believer, “proclaiming” you have faith
enough?
[James 2:14-22,26]
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no ____________? Can such faith
save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I
wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In
the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by ____________, is dead. But someone will say,
“You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by
_______________. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the _____________ believe that–
and shudder. You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is _________________?
Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on
the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were ______________________, and his faith was
________________________ by what he did.
For as the body without the spirit is ____________, so __________________________________ is
dead also.
If “faith without works is dead,” doesn’t that sound like we really do “earn salvation” by our works? That is the
false conclusion some people come to. The mistake is in understanding what the role of works is.
The key is this:
Works are not the cause of Salvation.
Works are the evidence of a life lived by faith in Christ.
If I have been sick with the flu, I may have a fever. When I begin to feel a little better, I can take my temperature
with a thermometer to see if the fever is gone. If it says I still have a fever, I know I am not completely healed
yet. If it says my temperature is back to normal, I am probably well on my way to recovery. Taking my
temperature doesn’t make the fever go away! The thermometer is not a healing tool. But it gives evidence of
what is happening inside me.
An unsaved person has evidence of sin in his life. If he says the “Sinner’s Prayer,” he may feel better for a while.
But that doesn’t mean he was truly saved. What does the evidence in his life say? Does he still live the same way
he did before?
[Matthew 7: 13-23]
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few
find it. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ferocious wolves. By their ___________ you will ______________________. Do people pick grapes
from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every ________ _________ bears good fruit, but a
.3
bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will
___________________. “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only he who __________________________ who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
`Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, `I ________________________. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Just because you have an emotional experience at an evangelistic campaign doesn’t mean you have living faith.
Just because you can say the name of Jesus doesn’t mean you have living faith. And just because you start going
to a “church” and doing “religious things” doesn’t mean you have living faith. Real faith will bear real fruit!
Your whole way of life will begin to change. Of course you will not become “perfect” over night. But you will
begin to look at your old way of life differently. You will begin looking at things the way God looks at things. If
you truly have Christ dwelling in you by the power of the Holy Spirit, your life will show that He is there because
you will begin living as He lived. You may have a “little faith” to begin with. But if you respond to the
promptings of that “little faith,” it will begin to grow and bear fruit.
[John 15:1-8]
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit,
while every branch that does bear fruit he ____________ so that it will be even more fruitful. You are
already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No
branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain
in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will
______________________; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is
like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and
burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given
you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you ________________________, showing yourselves to be
_____________________________.
Confusion about this need for evidence of a living faith is what causes many to become disillusioned. The
scriptures promise power and answered prayer to Christians. Yet many feel their prayers are unheard. Why?
[John 15:16]
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit– fruit that will last.
______________ the Father will ______________ whatever you ask in my name.
It is not that you go out and try to “prove” you are saved by doing good things. If you have to struggle to
“prove” it even to yourself, something is still missing. Yes, you may need to “struggle” against sin. But there will
be fruit you can see in yourself if you have living faith. And as time goes on, there will be fruit others can clearly
see.
If you do not see that fruit, you may need to examine your “salvation experience.” It is possible that you
misplaced or misunderstood your faith at the very beginning.
.4
Don’t forget:
Faith is not a feeling you work up.
Faith is not how you look at yourself.
Faith is a confidence in God’s provision of His Son for your salvation.
God gives you that measure of faith as a free gift.
Your part is to believe, receive, confess and then act on that faith.
How can you know that you really love God and are living by faith in Him?
[I John 5:3]
This is love for God: to ______________________________. And his _____________ are not
_________________________.
[I John 2:4]
The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do _________________________ is a ____________,
and the truth is not in him.
It is possible to try to invent our own good works. Is that what God wants?
[Ephesians 2:10]
For we are God’s _____________________, created in Christ Jesus to _____________________,
which God _________________ in advance _________________________________.
Paul makes it clear in this passage from Ephesians that we even need to accept by faith the works which God
has prepared for us to do. We need to become so sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit that we are willing
vessels to do the Lord’s work, not our own. Just because we do a “good work” in the eyes of the world, doesn’t
mean that we are accomplishing the Lord’s work!
There is an ultimate blessing for the works we do by a living faith:
[Revelation 19:7-8]
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has
made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the
______________________ of the saints.)
.5
And there is also an ultimate curse for those who do not have a living faith:
[Matthew 3:10]
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut
down and _____________________________________________________.
We want a LIVING FAITH that produces fruit. But a small crop isn’t enough! In our next lesson we will
consider…
GROWING FAITH
REVIEW:
1. Salvation comes by grace through faith.
2. Faith is a free gift from God.
3. Faith without works is dead.
4. A living faith will produce fruit.
5. The works and the fruit are produced by Christ in us.
6. Obedience to God is evidence of our love and faith.
MEMORY VERSES:
LESSON TWO MEMORY VERSES:
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
James 2:26
For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also.
REVIEW:
LESSON ONE MEMORY VERSES:
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists
and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace that 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.
QUESTIONS:
1. What does it mean to be “saved by grace” ?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. How can you tell if you have living faith?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Explain the difference between trying to earn salvation by works, and having works as evidence of faith.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. How is it possible someone could pray a sinner’s prayer at an altar with a minister, with weeping and fervency,
and still not be saved?
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Write Ephesians 5:10 from memory:
For we are God’s ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. Write James 2:26 from memory:
For as the body _________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
7. Recite Hebrews 11:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9 from memory.
(And without faith…) (For it is by grace…)