For the person helping another who has professed faith in Christ.
Lesson 1 - Becoming A Child Of God
1. The questions are formed to see if the one answering truly understands the Gospel. If they do not understand, clarify their understanding. Do not go beyond this lesson to others until this question is settled.
2. Memorize Romans 10:9 together.
3. Emphasize the need to break cleanly with any sinful practices. If there is a need to make restitutions, urge them to do it (Luke 19:8).
4. Make sure they are
not relying upon the fact that they said a prayer to God to make them right in His sight.
Lesson 2 - Assurance Of Salvation
1. Begin by reviewing what has been happening in their lives since you last met (we suggest a one-week interval). If there have been difficulties, go over them. Pray together.
2. Memorize 1 John 5:13 together. Emphasize the word
know (not think, hope or imagine); that God wants us to know that we now
have eternal life as His free gift through the Lord Jesus.
3. The fact that we
can know is based upon a solid understanding of the Gospel and our acceptance of His finished work on the Cross, His resurrection and present indwelling within us (John 1:12). It is not based upon the fact that we prayed and asked God to forgive us. Make all of this as clear as possible.
Lesson 3 - Baptism
1. The lesson is based on the assumption that you are among Christians who accept the doctrine that baptism ought to follow saving faith in Christ, as an outward, public confession.
2. Memorize Acts 2:41 and Matthew 28:19 together, showing it is Christ’s command to be baptized as an outward sign of an inward change. Review Romans 6:3-5 for the symbolism of baptism as being buried with Christ and raised with Him to walk in newness of life.
3. Stress the importance of a life of obedience in following Christ that we might live what might be called a “baptized life.” Be sure that the remnants of our old lifestyle, sometimes called “graveclothes,” are left behind.
Lesson 4 - Spending Time With God
1. We should have made clear from the first meeting that each day the newly professed believer should be reading a short portion of God’s Word and seeking a personal application or to have a better understanding of God. John’s Gospel is usually recommended for their first study book. However, the First Epistle of John is also very good.
2. The purpose of this lesson is to establish in their minds that it is absolutely essential for them to be in communication with God each day, preferably in the morning. This involves
hearing from God (Matt. 4:4) something from His Word, and
speaking to God (Psa. 5:3) our prayers, praises and intercession for others. This is our sustaining lifeline to God.
3. Memorize Joshua 1:8 and Mark 1:35. The practice of the Lord Jesus was to rise early and spend time with His Father in prayer. If it was necessary for Him, it must be essential for us. Your day will go much better when you begin this way.
4. Let it be known that each week you meet you will both share what God has been speaking to you about from the Word.
Lesson 5 - Learning To Pray
1. The lesson is to establish the importance of a consistent, effective prayer life. It will teach the conditions and hindrances to effective prayer in a simple way. It should also show the varieties of prayer (praise or adoration, thanksgiving, confession, intercessions [for others] and petition for personal needs).
2. Memorize together Matthew 7:7. Point out that the verb tense indicates continuous asking, seeking, knocking.
3. Pray together with them, out loud, to help them learn how to pray by example.
Lesson 6 - Living The Christian Life Victoriously
1. Remember to keep discussing each week the developments in their lives as believers so you can encourage and counsel as needed. One area is that of living the abundant life that the Lord promised.
2. Memorize together John 10:10b and 1 Corinthians 10:13.
3. Although there is provision for failure in the Christian life (1 John 1:9), the normal life of a regenerated (born-again) believer is victory, which is based on Christ’s victory on our behalf. It is our union with Him and His life. It is also supported by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9,11), as well as the Lord’s intercessory prayers for us (Heb. 7:25).
Lesson 7 - Fellowship With God
1. This lesson is to test the reality of the person’s profession of faith in Christ, with special reference to such verses as 1 John 2:3-5 and 1 John 3:4-10. Make sure they understand that the words used apply to the practice of sin, defined as lawlessness, rather than single action sin. The purpose is not to teach sinless perfection but to avoid thinking that carelessness about the way we live is of no real concern.
2. Distinction is also made between relationship with God as a child and fellowship with God in terms of walk or life.
3. The means of restoring fellowship is repentance which is genuine, indicated by turning to God and away from what is clearly wrong. It is important to learn how to accept God’s forgiveness and then to extend forgiveness to others.
4. Memorize together Proverbs 28:13. Continue to discuss progress, or lack, in their daily lives and consistency in daily devotional practice.
Lesson 8 - Obeying Your Lord
1. The lesson is designed to emphasize the necessity of practical acknowledgment of the Lordship of Christ over our lives by obedience in
applying the Word to every area.
2. We want to stress the importance of day-by-day yieldedness to the will of God in what may seem to us to be relatively small things. Sensitivity to God is very important in character growth.
3. Memorize together Luke 6:46. Discuss how this is being applied in daily life.
Lesson 9 - Your Spiritual Family, The Local Church
1. The lesson is to emphasize the importance of the local church, or fellowship of born-again believers, as God’s appointed means to care for His people. It is called “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
2. What is involved in participation or function in the local church? See Acts 2:42. Are we regularly and actively participating?
3. Memorize together Acts 2:42.
Lesson 10 -
Sharing With Others The Way Of Eternal Life
1. Each believer is responsible to share the Gospel with those in his or her own immediate circle who will listen. It is also essential that we live a transformed life before them so that our testimony is believable. We are not to depend alone on meetings to bring those that are lost to Christ.
2. Every believer should be able, in a simple way, to open the Bible and show the way to be saved to anyone who wishes to know. They should be able to give a simple testimony of how Christ has changed their lives.
3. Memorize together 1 John 5:12 and Acts 1:8. The first verse is our responsibility. The second verse is the simplest one telling us what is necessary to be saved.
Lesson 11 - Controlled By The Holy Spirit
1. Each believer should understand God’s provision of the Holy Spirit, a distinct Person of the Godhead, to live within us.
2. Indwelling of the Spirit does not guarantee
control by the Spirit, expressed as “filling,” in which we yield fully to His direction and will. That depends upon obedience, yieldedness and desire to follow the Lord in all His ways.
3. Memorize together Romans 8:9 and Ephesians 5:18, noting that the verb tense on Ephesians 5:18 indicates continuous action, not a one-time experience. 4. Discuss the workings of God in the person’s life and the ways in which they may be either yielding to the Spirit or subtly resisting Him.
Lesson 12 - Doing The Will Of God
1. Most believers have varied questions as to what is the will of God for their lives, especially in circumstantial matters and daily decisions. It is important for them to have divine principles as a basis for such decisions.
2. Most of the will of God is in the Bible. Therefore, it is important to stress the need for knowing and obeying the Word, rather than making decisions on the basis of subjective ideas occurring to the mind, which may or may not be of the Spirit. God’s Word interprets our experiences rather than experience telling us what to do and then trying to twist the Word, or explain it away, in order to conform to our desires.
3. Memorize together Proverbs 3:5-6. Discuss the need to
want to do God’s will by obeying His Word as an essential condition of
knowing His will.