Online Bible Study - The Promise Is to You

THE QUESTION:
Does God's love for us change?

WE BELIEVE:
God's unconditional love is ongoing.

A STORY:
Jesus once asked, "If a man owns a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of his little ones should be lost" (Matthew 18:12-14). Again, he said, "Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'"

How can sinners come to know the true God as their dear, heavenly father? Only by God's pure grace and forgiveness, freely given to them through Jesus Christ. How can Christians stay in God's favor? Again, only by God's pure grace and forgiveness, freely given to them through Jesus Christ. In this way, there is no difference between the new Christian and the mature Christian. Both continue to sin, both need forgiveness daily, both are able to know God's love only through his everlasting mercy.

GOD SPEAKS:
Paul writes, "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 love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge." Ephesians 3:17-19

A Christian may fall into a terrible sin. God doesn't give up on him or run out of patience. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, still goes running after His lost ones and calls them back to Himself. At times, you may run out patience with yourself. You may grow frustrated with yourself that you keep falling into the same old sin. God never runs out of patience with you. His love for you doesn't change. His love for you is based on what Jesus did for you on the cross, not on how good you are.

The Apostle Peter once asked Jesus, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" (Matthew 18:21). Peter thought he was being very generous by such an estimate. But Jesus replied, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven" (Matthew 18:22). This is how God's love and forgiveness are for us. The faith He gives us keeps trusting in Jesus, day after day. Through that faith, we each receive His constant forgiveness and love for Jesus' sake. His love is like a steady, gentle rain, ever washing us clean from the dirt of our daily sins and refreshing us.

GOD SPEAKS:
"His banner over me is love." Song of Songs 2:4

THIS PART OF OUR LESSON ASKS:
Since God loves and forgives us so much, how should we think about ourselves and others?

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