Chapter 4

A NEW LIFE

The new birth is a new beginning. Your old life is passed away as we learned in the last chapter. Your new life is now beginning. This means you will now live a life that will not bring you down the same road of pain and defeat you used to live in. God wants you free to be happy and live in peace. He also knows that you can’t obtain victory in your own strength. He therefore will lead you into your new life, show you how to live, and also empower you to do it.

As you were powerless to save yourself from the penalty of sin, so are you powerless to win the war over sin and the devil. The purpose of this chapter is to show you how to live in victory and therefore joy. It does not mean that you will not be tempted to do the things you used to do. Nor does it mean you will never make a mistake. As a baby stumbles and falls when it is learning to walk, so will you stumble and fall and make mistakes. This does not mean that you were not born again and that Jesus does not live in your heart. It just means that you still have much to learn in how to live in Christ. As we ended the last chapter, we stated that when you sin, you must come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. He is quick to forgive even as a parent is quick to pick up the fallen child who is learning to walk.

1. What does Peter say we are to do which seems impossible? I Peter 1:16

2. To be holy is to be perfect. No matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfect. Therefore, the only way to be perfect is to be declared perfect through Jesus Christ, who is perfect. Paul talks about Abraham, a great man of God in Romans 4:20-22. What did Abraham have to do in order to be declared righteous?

3. Paul writes in Romans 6:10-13, that Christ died to free us from sin. He rose again so that we might live in him. In verse 11, how are we to see ourselves?

4. What does Paul warn us about in verse 12?

5. In verse, what are told not to do?

6. What are we told to do?

7. What is the great promise in verse 14?

8. Addictions such as drugs, alcohol, immorality, etc, start in a seemingly innocent way but lead to addictions that bind you and make you their slave. According to Romans 6:16, what is the result to yielding yourself to sin?

9. What is the result of yielding yourself to righteousness?

10. According to verse 22, Paul says that you are no longer the servant of sin but of Christ. What kind of fruit do you now bear?

11. What is the end result?

12. Before you gave your heart to Jesus, you were often defeated by Satan and suffered pain and sorrow of heart. Now that you have Christ within, what does Paul say in Philippians 4:13 that is a wonderful promise?

13. According to Psalm 119:2, , what two things will make a person blessed?

14. In verse 9, how can a person cleanse his way?

15. According to verse 11, why are we to hide the Word of God in our hearts?

16. Now that you have invited Christ into your heart, God wants his word, (the Bible) to become like a love letter from Heaven. What will this word do for you as you make decisions for your future?

As we close this chapter, let me quote what someone wrote on the opening page of their Bible. “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.” I cannot emphasize strong enough how important it is to read the Word every day. As a new born baby needs to be fed every day in order to grow and survive, so do we need to read the Word of God in order to become strong and grounded so that we can have victory over Satan. In time, it will become your joy, your comfort, and your ever-present companion.