Introduction: The most frequently cited sayings of Jesus on the subject of lasting (=saving) faith are in John’s gospel. Therefore, the present study instead examines texts where Jesus taught on this topic in the synoptic gospels.
1) Read Lk 6:43-45 and Mt 12:33-37. How did Jesus here describe genuine repentance that marks saving faith?
- In this parable of trees, what distinguishes saving faith from counterfeits that won’t last?
- What does it mean to make the tree good? Is it a matter of trying hard enough to be perfect? Why not? cf Heb 6:1
- Can we make ourselves good trees? cf Deu 10:16; 30:6; Acts 11:18
- What then can we do? Why is there an imperative: “Make the tree good”?
- How is this different from a story about baron Münchhausen pulling on his own hair to get himself out of a mire? =>
- Read Acts 8:18-22. Simon the Magician ‘believed’ and was baptized (v13), but later proved to have ‘no root’. To obtain a renewed heart, what did Peter ask him to do? Did he comply? Why not? v24
- Read 2Ki 5:10-14. Why did Naaman at first despise this ‘water of Israel’?
- “What (or who) made him change his mind?
- Why did it take a servant to “….make this ‘tree’ good”?
- What gospel doctrine could be illustrated by Elisha’s instruction to wash not only once, but seven times in the river Jordan? cf Jn 13:8-10; 15:3-4;
2) Read Mt 7:24-27 and Lk 6:46-49. How does this parable of a house on the rock illustrate lasting (saving) faith?
- What made the difference that this house was not built on sand? Is it how hard the builders work? Why not? cf Ecc 2:11
- In Matthew, the parable concludes the sermont on the mount, where Jesus defined the gospel as a narrow way distinct from the broad road of moralism. In this final parable, are good works depicted by the metaphor of a rock, or by the house built on it?
- In Luke, the parable is preceded by an abbreviation of that sermon: The laws of Christ, Lk 6:27-38. What are those, and what do they have to do with the heart and its need of regeneration? [Love your enemies; do not judge; forgive…]
3) Read Mt 13:24-30. In this parable, Jesus speaks of darnel (gr. zizanion) that is sown among the wheat. It resembles wheat in many ways but is a weed. How did Jesus explain what this weed represents? cf Mt 13:38
- Of all weeds, why did Jesus choose for this parable the one that most resembles wheat?
- v41 also calls them “causes of sin”. Why? cf Mt 18:6; 2Pet 2:1
4) Read Lk 8:9-15. How does the parable of the seed distinguish saving faith from the counterfeit article?
- v13: Why do some ‘believe’ only for a while?
- What is lacking in their hearts that is found in those with saving faith? v15
- The ‘root of the righteous’ is an image from wisdom literature, e.g. Prov 12:3; 12:12. What is that root, and what distinguishes it from fruit? cf Mk 7:20-23
- Accordingly, what is wrong about the heart of ‘believers’ with no root? [unrenewed: Ez 11:19; 36:26; uncircumcised: Jer 9:26]
- How would you describe the change of heart that proceeds from saving faith?
- Read Ro 10:9 and Heb 3:12 => Is saving faith by definition an experience of heart change? Why or why not? [An unrenewed heart is an unbelieving heart]
- According to the image of circumcision, what makes this change irreversible and eternal?
5) Personal & application
- Does the question of whether it is possible to be saved and later lose such salvation matter to you? Why or why not?
- Why could it matter to people who may seek your counsel?
- What passage(s) cited here do you find most memorable and maybe conclusive to give an answer?
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