SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON - MARCH 20TH

Live Up to the Gospel

Lesson Passage Outline
1. Our Conduct (Phil. 1:27-30)
2. Our Priority (Phil. 2:1-4)
3. Our Attitude (Phil. 2:5-8)
4. Our Confession (Phil. 2:9-11)

BIBLICAL TRUTH - Christians spread the gospel by living in ways that are true to it.

Introduction - by Eli Landrum, retired from Lifeway Christian Resources in 2000 after having served as an editor for over 23 years; also served in church ministry for 16 years, including 9 years as a pastor; member of First Baptist Church, Nashville, TN.

The moment remains vivid in my memory. My favorite seminary professor of New Testament and Greek stated in a lecture that salvation is both gift and demand. He explained that God offers salvation to all people out of sheer grace; it is His gift that we do not deserve on our merits and cannot earn by our efforts. We only can receive it with gratitude. At the same time, when we accept God’s immeasurable gift, we come under its demand that our lives progressively reflect Christ’s character. That “aha” moment has impacted my subsequent Christian walk as I attempt to live out my redemption.

We live out our salvation by being “holy and blameless” (Eph. 1:4), “growing into a mature man [person] with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (Eph. 4:13). Meeting the demands of salvation requires a lifetime of consistent, focused effort. Such evident effort is one way we can spread the gospel.

Many Christians are glad to hear statements to the effect that they can spread the gospel by how they live. Unfortunately, too many are glad because they think a lifestyle witness is easy and exempts them from giving a verbal witness. These Christians, however, do not recognize all the demands of the gospel. They think if they go to church services, take part in some of the church’s activities, and maybe even take a leadership role, they have done enough. They do not know and are unwilling to exert the effort to discover what being true to the gospel requires of them. Even worse, they may know what is required but may be unwilling to make the effort to do that.