Battling Unbelief: Defeating Sin with Superior Pleasure - Softcover

John Piper

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590529200 ISBN 13: 9781590529201

Publisher: Multnomah UK, 2007

Synopsis

No one sins out of duty. We sin because it offers some promise of happiness. That promise enslaves us-until we believe that God is more desirable than life itself (Psalm 63:3). Only the power of God's superior promises in the gospel can emancipate our hearts from servitude to the shallow promises and fleeting pleasures of sin. In this twelve-chapter study guide developed by the author of Desiring God, you will find practical ways to sever the clinging roots of sin that ensnare us, including anxiety, pride, shame, impatience, covetousness, bitterness, despondency, and lust. Delighting in the bounty of God's glorious gospel promises will free us for a less sin-encumbered life, to the glory of Christ. Rooted in solid biblical reflection, this book aims to help guide you through the battles to the joys of victory by the power of the gospel and its superior pleasure.

About this title

About the Author

John Piper (D.Theol., University of Munich) is senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis and the head of Desiring God. He has written numerous books on various topics, including the modern classic Desiring God. Some of his books include: Personal holiness: Don't Waste Your Life, The Pleasures of God, When the Darkness will not Lift, Future Grace, Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, When I Don't Desire God, A Hunger for God and Battling Unbelief. Ministry and missions: The Supremacy of God in Preaching, Let the Nations be Glad, Brothers we are not Professionals and God is the Gospel. Academic: Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Beyond The Bounds, Counted Righteous in Christ, The Justification of God, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, What Jesus Demands from the World, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, and The Future of Justification. Devotionals: A Hunger for God, Seeing and Savouring Jesus Christ, A Godward Life (2 vols), Pierced by the Word, Life as a Vapor, Taste and See, and Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die; Historical biography: Swans are Not Silent series #01: The Legacy of Sovereign Joy (Augustine, Luther and Calvin), #02: Tested by Fire (Bunyan, Cowper and Brainerd), #03: The Roots of Endurance (Newton, Simeon and Wilberforce), #04: Contending for our All (Athanasius; John Owen; and J. Gresham Machen), and Amazing Grace in the Life of William Wilberforce, and Robert Speer.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Lesson 1

INTRODUCTION TO BATTLING UNBELIEF

LESSON OBJECTIVES

It is our prayer that after you have finished this lesson…

• You will get a feel for how you and others in your group approach the Christian life.
• Your curiosity would be roused, and questions would begin to come to mind.
• You will be eager to learn more about how you can live your life by faith in future grace.

ABOUT YOURSELF

1. What is your name?

2. Tell the group something about yourself that they probably don’t already know.

3. Describe your relationship with Jesus.

A PREVIEW OF BATTLING UNBELIEF

1. In your own words, describe your battle against unbelief. How does this battle unfold? What weapons do you have in this battle? Describe any strategies that you use to overcome sin in your life. What motivates you to make war on sin?

2. Think about the phrase “Living by Faith in Future Grace.” What do you think this phrase means?

Edition details

• Publisher: Multnomah UK
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1590529200
• ISBN 13: 9781590529201
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128