Christian Growth Exam Study Guide

Complete exam guide with key verses and terms

Justification

Point in time when you first entrust yourself to Christ and are permanently delivered from sin’s penalty

Sanctification

Ongoing process where you are gradually delivered from sin’s power

Glorification

Point in time when Christ returns and delivers us forever from sin’s presence

Philippians 1:6 NASB

“For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus”

John 15:1-12

Spiritual growth is the result of ongoing love-trust relationship with Jesus

Ephesians 1:13-14 NLT

“And now you gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him”

Sin nature

The deeply ingrained drive to rule our own lives, rebel against God, protect and exalt ourselves, and meet our own needs apart from God

Temperament

Collection of personality traits that we exhibit as we respond to life’s situations and relationships

Ephesians 2:1-3

Apart from Christ, we are completely enmeshed in, deceived by, and enslaved to sin

Galatians 5:17 NASB

“For the flesh sets its desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things you please”

Why is our new identity so important for sanctification?

Identity precedes and affects behavior: What I do will tend to flow from who I perceive myself to be

Adoption as God’s Child meets what need?

Belonging: relational security in this life

Forgiveness by God meets what need?

Acceptance apart from performance/behavior; access to God

Unique Role in God’s Purpose meets what need?

Significance; Membership in the body of Christ

Inheritance in God’s Eternal Kingdom meets what need?

Security and hope for the next life

Deliverance from Satan’s Authority meets what need?

Freedom from demonic control

Deliverance from Sin Nature’s Authority meets what need?

Freedom from sin’s control

What does Know mean?

Learning what the bible teaches about your new identity and regularly remembering and reflecting on it

What does Consider mean?

Choosing to affirm what God says about our identity in spite of our thoughts and feelings

What does Present mean?

Choosing to act in specific ways that are consistent with your new identity with dependence on god

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come”

Ephesians 1:3-14

Various aspects of our New Identity in Christ

Romans 6:6,11,13

Know, Consider, Present: the dynamic for victory over slavery to sin for those who are in Christ

Before Jesus the holy spirit was

With people, involvement selective, and presence temporary

After Jesus the Holy Spirit was

In people, involvement universal, and presence permanent

Prior to conversion, the Spirit:

Convicts us of our need for His forgiveness through Jesus

At conversion, the Spirit permanently:

Regenerates, Indwells, Baptizes, seals, and gives us spiritual gifts

1 Corinthians 12:13 NASB

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit

Romans 8:15,16

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God

1 Thessalonians 5:19-22

We should not quench the Spirit, and we should test all spiritual experiences by God’s Word

Biblical faith:

Is a willingness to act according to God’s will with dependence on God to perform his will through us

Two aspects of walking by the Spirit:

1. Setting your mind on the things of the Spirit

2. Keeping in step with the Spirit

Imperative

What God commands us to do

Indicative

What God has done, is doing, or will do

Romans 8:4-6

Walking by faith entails setting your mind on the things of the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25

Keep in step with the Spirit to bear the fruit of the spirit in your life

James 1:22-25

The experience of God’s blessing follows acting on truth

Three classifications of Old Testament law

Civil, Ceremonial, Moral

Which Old Testament laws have radically changed application?

Civil and Ceremonial

In what sense are we no longer under moral law?

We don’t have to earn God’s acceptance; don’t have to serve God by our own power

View of the Law (Under Law)

A set of detailed obligations that I must keep to “be good” or to guarantee that I receive the blessings I want

View of Law (Under Grace)

A description of the lifestyle that glorifies God and loves other people

View of Self (Under Law)

I am regenerate, and therefore I am able to keep the law

View of Self (Under Grace)

I am regenerate, but I can’t keep the law by my own power

View of others (Under Law)

A threat to my acceptability if they are more righteous than me. An excuse for self-righteousness if they are less righteous than me

View of others (Under Grace)

I don’t compare myself to others for identity or validation. Others are opportunities to give God’s love, and sometimes a means through which God gives His love to me

View of HS (Under Law)

Little practical understanding of the Spirit’s ministries

View of HS (Under Grace)

I depend increasingly on the HS for power, motivation, and direction

View of the MOG (Under Law)

Ways to appear spiritual to others or get the blessings I want

View of MOG (Under Grace)

A venue through which I receive the life-changing grace of God

The “key” to Spiritual Growth (Under Law)

Moral will-power or special experiences

The “key” to Spiritual Growth (Under Grace)

Self-effort is futile. As I walk by the Spirit, God will gradually change me. I welcome healthy Spiritual experience, but don’t depend on dramatic experiences or quick-fixes

Mental Focus (Under Law)

What do the rules require? What am I allowed/ not allowed to do?

Mental Focus (Under Grace)

Walking by the Spirit: focusing on God’s love for me and giving God’s love to others

Galatians 3:24,25

The law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are longer under a tutor

Romans 7:7-25

God’s moral law leads non-christians to see their need to trust the HS to transform them by exposing their sin and moral impotence