(7/14/21) Not So "Doubting" Thomas - Grace Groups
A STUDY IN BIBLE INTERPRETATION:
Not so "Doubting" Thomas
Passage: John 20:24-29
Read John 20:24-30
The most critical question in life you will ever face is this: "How do I know that I will not face the punishment for my sins and be granted to live in the love and presence of God?" We must look somewhere to find our answer. We must be able to point to something that proves or provides evidence we have the right to be in the presence of a holy God.
The history of Christianity has handed us ways various ways to find our evidence to the above question. Some of these have been:
1) The evidence of your faith. "Do I believe the Gospel? Am I a follower of Christ, or am I just a faker?"
How strong is your faith? Do you ever doubt yourself? If we are saved by faith, then our faith should never wavier. Some equate faith with desire. Do you desire anything above God? That means you have weak faith. God should always be the strongest desire we have. This proves our faith is only in the Gospel and nothing else.
2) For others, it is our emotions or feelings. "I feel empty and dry. I don't have a desire or little desire for spiritual things. How can I say I am a Christian when I feel empty?"
No joy. No happiness. No excitement about the things of God. Just gray. Dark. Empty. Real Christians are excited about the things of God, it’s clear by my emotions that I am not a Christian.
3) Faith in your faithfulness. How do I know I am a Christian? I look to how faithful I am at obeying the many Christian responsibilities. But what happens when you are not faithful. Do you find yourself in a struggle like David, Peter, or Abraham?
John tells us where the evidence of our hope should be found in 20:31 "but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."
It is faith in the work of Christ, not our faith, not our emotions, not our faithfulness.
QUESTION: Have you struggled in the past with finding your assurance with Christ in your own faith, emotions, or faithfulness?
In verse 27 Jesus tells Thomas to see His scars. When Thomas sees the evidence of the living Messiah, what does he conclude with? "My LORD and my God!" The expression being, this truly is my God who will save me.
Yes, Thomas had faith, but it was not his faith by itself that removed his sin. Jesus did by dying on the cross. It was not his faith that gives him the status as righteous in the eye of God. It was Christ obeying the Father and giving that obedience to Thomas. Jesus is the objective reality that provided him assurance, not his faith.
We walk by faith, trusting in the evidence presented to us in Christ. Christ is our salvation, we put our faith in Christ who saves us.
QUESTION: Why is this so hard at times to believe? Why do we so easily want to look to our faithfulness or emotions?
QUESTION: What do you find helpful in keeping your faith in Christ and not on your emotions or faithfulness?
QUESTION: When Christians struggle with their assurance or have false assure (based upon their own faithfulness or emotional high), how do you think it will affect them in relationship to love others in the church?
Praise, Prayer and Confession:
• What can you offer to the Father in praise?
• What is a sin you need to confess?
• What is a burden we can carry?
• What can we take to our Father in prayer?