Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Keep the Faith Alive

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Discussion Questions

-According the verse 3, what are we born into?

            -How did it come about?

-What else do we get, according to verse 4?

            - Read verse 5.  How are we protected in the meantime?

            -Is it just God’s doing, or do we play a role in that?  If so, through what?

-Why do you think God would want us involved through our faith?  Why wouldn’t he just take care of it all for us?

-According to verse 5, if we work together with God like this, how long will the partnership last?

-According to verses 6 and 7, what test does God use to make sure that our faith is genuine? 

-When our faith is being tested by trials, how do you think we can express our faith?

-What will be the ultimate result, according to verse 7? 

            -Does this give us any clue as to what we could be doing now to express our trust in God in times of testing?

-In verse 8, what else can faith accomplish for us?

            -is this our usual reaction when we have to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials?” 

 Leaders' Guide

This lesson is about the ways that our faith partners with God’s power to help us endure trials and receive our ultimate inheritance from him.

-What do you think that faith accomplishes for us?

            This is a discussion starter.  No wrong answers here, just a way to get it going.

-According the verse 3, what are we born into?
            Into a living hope.  The real point here is the second half of the question:

            -How did it come about?

            This passage says that is came about through the resurrection of  Jesus Christ.  So far, there should be no surprises to this.  The work that Jesus did for us is what gives us our ultimate hope of eternal life.

-What else do we get, according to verse 4?

            An inheritance.  It might be fun to bat around some ideas on what the group thinks that means.  Is it just eternal life, or is there more to it?  These verses make a distinction between our living hope and our inheritance, implying that there is more to ultimate destiny than just “getting there.”  The Bible is actually pretty clear about that being the case, but very unclear as to exactly what our rewards might be.  I’m sure we couldn’t possibly grasp it if it was actually revealed to us.  In any event, that is not the real point of the lesson.

            -Read verse 5.  How are we protected in the meantime?

            This verse says that we are “shielded”.  There is a spiritual covering over us the ensures we will be receiving our inheritance.

            -Is it just God’s doing, or do we play a role in that?  If so, through what?

            We are shielded by God’s power, but it is through our faith that it happens.  Here is where we get to the crux of the matter. 

-Why do you think God would want us involved through our faith?  Why wouldn’t he just take care of it all for us?

            This doesn’t actually come up in the text itself, but it is a common theme in the Scripture.  God always desires to be working with us in our spiritual lives, not just doing stuff to us.  Remember that faith in the Scriptures is always about who you have decided to trust, not just believing in something you don’t see (although that is a part of it).  Believing that God will keep us is part of what allows his power to work in our lives.  If we believe only believe in ourselves, then he’ll let us try that.  If we only believe in the power of material things and how much money we can accumulate to protect us, he’ll let us try that too.  But if we believe in his power, than we have a real shield to keep us until the end, which is the point of the next question.  

-According to verse 5, if we work together with God like this, how long will the partnership last?

            The point of this phrase is that we are protected until Jesus returns, right up to the end. 

-According to verses 6 and 7, what test does God use to make sure that our faith is genuine? 

            “All kinds of trials” is what Peter mentions here.  In the case of the people he was writing to, that probably meant having your wealth confiscated, being imprisoned, and even killed for your faith.  We don’t suffer in those kinds of ways, but everybody has difficulties in their lives that tempt them to stop believing that God is still protecting them.

-When our faith is being tested by trials, how do you think we can express our faith?

            Various things might come up, depending on what sorts of trials come to mind for the group, ranging from just putting up with them to looking for how God is working through them.

-What will be the ultimate result, according to verse 7? 

            They will result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  The question here is praise for who?  Jesus, or us?  It could actually mean both, but in this context it should reassure us that we will get recognition by God for having endured through our trials by continuing to have faith in God.

            -Does this give us any clue as to what we could be doing now to express our trust in God in times of testing?

            Perhaps a little praise to God in the midst of our trials might be a place to start in getting through them by faith.  Elsewhere in Scripture we are often called on to give thanks in the midst of them as a way of expressing to God that we believe he is able to not only get us through them, but bring something good out of them.

-In verse 8, what else can faith accomplish for us?

            An inexpressible and glorious joy.

            -is this our usual reaction when we have to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials?” 

            Obviously not.  We usually gripe and complain, or at best endure them.  But this is joy that is “inexpressible,” so it probably won’t come out in laughter and grins during the hard times.  But it is a deep joy that is the result of knowing that we have a living hope and an inheritance that is in heaven for us. 

-What is the goal of our faith, according to verse 9?  Is it worth partnering with God and enduring trials to “keep the faith alive”?

            The salvation of our souls.  Here is where it all ties up together into the bottom line: when our faith endures to the end, with the help of God’s power, we achieve the best possible result.