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Each One Teach One Discipleship Lessons
Part One:
FAITH THAT LOOKS UP:
Establishing Your Faith in God
LESSON FOUR:
The GOAL of FAITH
In Lesson One we learned that we must have faith in order to be saved. In Lessons Two and Three we learned
that faith must be living and growing to yield eternal fruit. In this lesson we will discover that the goal of faith is
a relationship with the One who is the source of our faith! That relationship begins when we accept Jesus as our
Savior, grows as we grow spiritually in this life, and will continue throughout eternity.
Many people who call themselves “Christian” have no idea of this very personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
They believe they are Christians because they know about Christ, try to adopt a “Christian lifestyle” based on
His teachings, and perform “religious activities” prescribed by their church and defined as “Christian.”
There are even groups who want to somehow “Christianize” our government and society. They feel this can be
accomplished by imposing Biblical standards on our social structures, enforcing “Christian behavior” on
individuals. While such a project might yield some benefits, it will only be a surface transformation. Real
Christianity is from the inside out, and a real Christian is one in whom Jesus dwells by the power of the Holy
Spirit. A “Christianity” without faith in Jesus is “another gospel.”
[I John 5:11-12]
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the
Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
[John 15:5]
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from me you can do nothing.
Our goal is not to “try to be like Jesus.” Our goal is not to compile a list of all the Biblical commands (or the
commands of a denomination!) and struggle to live up to them. Our goal is not to do good works to be “worthy”
of heaven. Our goal is to enter into an intimate relationship with Jesus and “remain in Him.” If we keep our eyes
only on Him, all the other things will come to pass! We will become like him, we will live by His Word, we will
do good works.
Looking only to Jesus and becoming one with Him is the GOAL OF FAITH.
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[Ephesians 3:16-19]
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner
being, so that Christ may _______________________________________ . And I pray that you, being
rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long
and high and deep is the __________________________, and to know this love that surpasses
knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
***** Sometimes the Bible uses the term “to know Christ” as an expression of that intimate relationship. Many
Americans have an illusion of “knowing” famous personalities because they see them so much on television and
in movies, or read about the intimate details of their lives in “supermarket tabloids” like the National Enquirer.
But to know about someone is not the same as knowing them!
KNOWING ABOUT
KNOWING!
Many religious people have an illusion of knowing Jesus, when they only know about Him from reading the
Bible. They have not allowed Him to become an intimate part of their lives.
[Philippians 3:7-1]
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of ______________ Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, 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 is through faith in
Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to _________ Christ and the
power of his resurrection and the _________________________________ in his sufferings, becoming
like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
[John 17:3]
Now this is eternal life: that they may ___________________, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom you have sent.
***** Sometimes it seems discouraging that we cannot see Jesus in the physical as we can our human friends.
How can we have a relationship with someone we can’t see? It may seem to us that it must have been easier for
those in the first century who actually saw him. But the scriptures promise us a special blessing for our faith that
has not “come by sight.”
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[John 20:29]
Then Jesus told him [Thomas] “Because you have ______________, you have believed; blessed are
those who have ______________ and yet have believed.”
[I Peter 1:8-9]
Though you have _____________________, you love him; and even though you
_________________________, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
[John 17:20-23]
“My prayer is not for them alone [the twelve apostles]. I pray also for those who
____________________ in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you
are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I
have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: _______________ and
_________________. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and
________________________ even as you have loved me.
***** How can we know that we know him in this intimate way?
[I John 1:3-7]
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have _______________ with us.
And our ________________ is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our
joy complete. This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there
is no darkness at all. If we claim to have ________________ with him yet walk in the
________________, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the _____________, as he is in
the light, we have ________________ with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us
from all sin.
[I John 2:3-6]
We know that we have come to know him if we ___________________________. The man who says, “I
know him,” but does not do what he _________________ is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if
anyone ______________________, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we
are _______________: Whoever claims to live in him must
____________________________________.
***** Finally, how can we assure that we continue to know Him?
[II Peter 1:2-9]
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the ______________________ of God and of Jesus
our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our
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knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very
great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape
the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your
_____________ goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to
self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness, ___________. For if you possess these qualities in
______________________________, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in
your _____________________ of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is
__________________ and ____________, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past
sins.
WE DON’T NEED RELIGION.
WE NEED A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
REVIEW:
1. The goal of faith is not a “Religious Life.”
2. The goal of faith is not knowing about Jesus.
3. The goal of faith is knowing Jesus.
4. The goal of faith is becoming one with Jesus.
5. We know that we know Him if we walk in the Light.
6. We will bear much fruit if we remain in Him.
MEMORY VERSES:
LESSON FOUR MEMORY VERSES:
I John 5:11-12
And this is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his son.
He who has the son has life;
he who does not have the son does not have life.
John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit.
Apart from me you can do nothing.
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LESSONS ONE through THREE 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 you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works,
so that no one can boast.
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 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
QUESTIONS:
1. Why can’t you “force” someone to be a Christian?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why don’t “religious works” make us a Christian?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Describe the difference between knowing ABOUT someone & KNOWING them.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you think Jesus meant when he said he was the vine and we are the branches?
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
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5. Write John 5:11-12 from memory:
And this is the testimony
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Write John 5:15 from memory:
I am the vine
___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Recite Heb. 11:6, Eph. 2:8-9, Eph. 2:10, Jam. 2:26, Jam. 1:22, Jam.1:2-4
(And without faith…)
(For it is by grace…)
(For we are God’s workmanship…)
(As the body without the spirit…)
(Do not merely listen…)
(Consider it pure joy…)