The Dangers of Overemphasizing Human Responsibility
He will finish the work He has begun in you!
If we focus too much on our own effort, obedience, and responsibility, we end up carrying burdens God never meant us to carry. We drift into legalism, fear, condemnation, self-centered faith, and even judging those who suffer. But God never intended us to live this way.
Discover how embracing God’s sovereignty frees us from striving and legalism and brings peace, confidence, stability and unity. God is for us. He keeps His promises. His Word cannot fail. And the One who began a good work in us will finish it. When we hold God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility together, we enter into joy, balance, rest and victory.
How does this transform us?
Every day we have opportunities to make choices: to pursue obedience and holiness, or to succumb to temptation and fall into sinfulness.
Identify choices that characters in the Bible made in favor of either holiness or sinfulness. Then discuss:
Why did they make these choices?
What were the consequences of their choices?
What can we learn from the choices they made?
Now go before God and ask Him to examine you and convict you of sin. As He reveals to you any sin in your life, confess it to Him and repent. Then, meditate on Psalm 51, asking God for mercy and to cleanse you from sin.
Then worship God using songs of gratitude for His forgiveness and the cleansing power of His blood. Declare: “Jesus says I am forgiven! I have been made clean! By the power of His indwelling Spirit, I can walk in holiness, and I will do it!”
