Working Out Our Salvation Growing In God's Grace Working Out Our Salvation

Introduction Laying A Foundation Our responsibility as Christians is to grow in the Grace and Knowledge of Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18) We also know that our development needs to continue. Ultimately, our duty is to become so able to share the gospel with others and leave a good example for others to follow.

Our study is going to focus upon five words. Knowing Growing Understanding Giving Living These words will represent the divisions in this study

The Foundation Everything has a beginning or what we call a foundation, a starting point. Many times, people become Christians without establishing a foundation, and they fail. Building on the right foundation is also important as we see in Matthew 7:24-27 Notice this is what Jesus concluded the “Sermon on the Mount” with.

A Building First is the need Second is the plan Third is the preparation Fourth is the construction Fifth is the occupation Obviously, you cannot take step five if you have not done step four. So the steps must be done in order.

A Sports Team Put a bunch of people in uniform and they will win their first game? You build a sports team, it does not just happen. Set the goal. Build from the top down Get your people in all positions, Work them together into a unit or team.

Individual Athletics Goal, Assess the skills Develop the skills Train Perform at the right time in the various levels of your sport.

Christians Here is where we usually get it wrong. We expect a new Christian to have all the tools and skills to handle any situation in life. New Christians want to be successful, but meet frustrating challenges they are not prepared for. Zeal gets them started, but they need more. They need maturity, and that does not come easy.

Christians Not much different from a house or a team Christians need to grow Christians need to be taught how to do this. The purpose of our study is to show how a Christian can grow in grace and knowledge.

Disciples of Christ Learner, Student, Apprentice, Follower Knowing our goals is important. To be like Jesus is the ultimate goal To be a mature Christian is the goal How to do this?; We have tools. Study, prayer, each other, effort.

Disciples The disciples ultimate goal is to be like their teacher. To work out their salvation and to help others along the way. To teach others who will teach others (2 Timothy 2:2) Let us learn the tools that help us in this development.

Conclusion This is just the beginning of this study. We have seen that growth is commanded, We have to learn how to achieve that growth, and how to use the tools to accomplish that growth. The use of the examples of a building and sports team and individual accomplishments helps us to see this in perspective.