BASICS FOR NEW BELIEVERS:  COURSE INTRODUCTION

This course is intended to help new believers as they set out to follow Jesus Christ.  Each lesson is designed to help you understand better your personal relationship to God made possible by your faith in Jesus Christ.

You will need a Bible to find the answers to the questions by looking up the verses listed with the questions.  Each lesson will have an application question to help you see the Biblical principle in your own life.  And there will be a longer suggested passage to read for your own reflection.

When finished with the lesson, please return your answers and any questions you have via email to John McQuarry at mcquarry@visi.net..  A new lesson will be written each week.  Remember, there is no such thing as a stupid question.
 

LESSON ONE:  REPENTANCE AND FAITH

Part I.  Repentance

To repent means to change directions 180 degrees, to turn around and go in the opposite direction.  In the Bible repent means to change your mind and attitude about sin, so that you turn away from sin and turn towards God for forgiveness and cleansing.

1.  Who preached repentance?
 a.  Matthew 3:2
 b.  Matthew 4:17
 c.  Mark 6:12
 d.  Acts 2:38
 e.  Acts 17:30

2.  What are characteristics of true repentance?
 a.  2 Corinthians 7:9-10
 b.  Luke 18:9-14
 c.  1 Thessalonians 1:9

3.  Repentance brings three kinds of change to the believer.
 a.  Intellectual change - a change of mind - what we think
 b.  Emotional change - a change of heart - what we desire
 c.  Volitional change - a change of will - what we do

4.  In Bible times most Jewish people believed God was only interested in them, their ethnic group, their race.  But Jesus teaches his believers that we are to take the message of repentance to whom? Luke 24:45-47

Part II.  Faith

1.  How does the Bible define faith?  Hebrews 11:1

2.  Faith is more than a blind belief in doctrines or a list of rules to live by.  Faith is trusting in a person - the person of Jesus Christ.  Like closing your eyes and falling backwards into the arms of a person you trust, certain that they will catch you.

3.  Where does faith come from?  Hebrews 12:1-2

4.  How do we get faith?   Romans 10:17

5.  Believers are "the righteous", those who live in a right relationship with God.  According to Romans 1:17,  what is the central focus of the believer's life?

Repentance and faith go hand in hand.  We think of repenting as turning away from a sinful way of life:  sinful attitudes, sinful desires, and sinful actions.  And faith is that godly way of life that we turn towards:  an attitude of trust in Jesus Christ, with godly desires, and godly actions.

Application Question:  How have you repented and trusted in Jesus Christ?
 

Suggested Reading for Reflection:  1 John