Faith alone? Or is there something more we need to do to please God?

Main Point

It is by faith alone that we can come to God. We don't need to do anything extra to earn God's approval.

Overview

In this video Jack thinks that he needs to have a checklist of things he must do in order to be right with God. Polly helps him to understand that it is by faith alone that we can be right with God. We just need to have faith in Jesus and all that He has done for us - there is nothing that we can do to earn God's approval. Includes a parody song called 'Got my heart set on you' and also one called 'It's all about that grace' from RPM 17 and 18 respectively.

Bible Study and Talk Ideas

Below are some ideas of what you could do for a Bible study or talk connected with this video. Obviously, you will need to tailor things to your context with your local knowledge of the group you will be working with.

This video will work well with any passage that is talking about how our justification is based on faith alone and not on works. There are loads of passages that fit this bill. For example, Romans 3-4, Galatians 2, Ephesians 2 or even the famous John 3:16.

Bible Study Ideas
Starter activities:
  • Have a list of things that are obviously good or bad and sort them into good things and bad things (e.g. being nice to your siblings or stealing cake from the shop). And then talk about how even if you did all of the good things and none of the bad things, you still wouldn't meet God's perfect standard - we need faith in Jesus for that
  • You could do a trust exercise (e.g. catching a friend as they fall backwards - in a safe way!). The person falling didn't have to do anything, they just had to trust that their friend would catch them. You could then go on to explain that having faith in Jesus is to trust that He has paid for your sins and that He loves you
Some interpretation questions:
  • Do we often create a list of things we think we need to do to be right with God?
  • Why does it matter that we only need to have faith?
  • How can we remind ourselves that trusting in Jesus is the only way to be justified?
  • Does this mean that Christians can just act however they want because all they need to do is have faith in Jesus to get into heaven?
Craft ideas to take home:
  • Could make a checklist similar to Jack and Polly's one and then put a big cross over the top of it to show that the debt has already been paid
  • Pick a key verse to decorate on a poster so that they can be reminded each day about this truth
Talk Ideas
  • The passages listed above would all work with this video
  • Highlight that our salvation is not dependent on our own actions as Jesus has already done the work. It is by faith that we are saved
  • Explain what faith actually means
  • You could go on to explain that our response is to obey God and act in a way similar to the things on Jack's checklist because of how much God loves us but this is not what ultimately saves us
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