The Faith of Abraham- Lesson Plan
Key thought: Faith produces obedience to the law of love.
Have a volunteer read Genesis 15:6.
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A. Ask what the point of this passage is.
B. What does it mean to be accounted righteous?
C. Personal application: What is the difference between believing in the Lord and just believing He exists? See James 2:19
D. Case Study: Your niece prays for God to heal her husband but he still died. She prayed for a much-needed job she did not get. She now tells you she can’t believe in God any more. He has let her down too many times. What hope can you share with your niece?
2. Have a volunteer read James 2:18-24.
A. Ask what is the main point of this passage.
B. How do you reconcile this passage with Romans 4:1-3? Hint: Is there a difference between Abraham working and faith working? “Do you see that faith was working” James 2:22. (See also “Faith Does All the Work“)
C. Personal application: How does your faith work when you are offered a job to work on the Sabbath in order to feed your family? How does your faith work when you have to choose between returning tithe or paying the electric bill?
D. Case Study: Your Protestant friend tells you that trying to keep the commandments is legalistic. “You can’t be saved by your works” he tells you. What do you say to your friend?
3. Have a volunteer read Psalm 51:7-10.
A. Ask what the main point of this passage is.
B. How did David plan to become clean and pure in heart? Did he plan to do it himself or have God do it for him?
C. Personal application: When you pray for forgiveness do you make promises to God, or do you claim His promises?
D. Case Study: A friend you are giving Bible studies to calls to cancel the studies. She says after ten weeks of being sober she got drunk again last night. “It’s no use” she says, “I always fall back into sin. I don’t need to waste your time any more.” What do you tell your Bible study student?
4. Have a volunteer read Romans 3:31.
A. Ask what the point of this passage is.
B. How does faith establish the law? See 1 John 5:4 and Revelation 14:12.
C. Personal application: Do you like to meditate on the law all day like the psalmist says in Psalm 119:97? What exactly do you think the psalmist meant by “It is my meditation all the day?”
D. Case Study: On your way home from church, your 12-year-old son says he heard in Sabbath School that God’s law is His character. He asks you exactly what that means. What do you tell him?
(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared. –Ellen White, Ministry of Healing, p. 149).
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