Battling Unbelief by John Piper

Battling for faith = Battling against unbelief & the lies of sin [I made this up]

Christian Living
"whether that act is truly loving[God-glorifying] depends on what is oging on in the heart, not just on the external action" --> "Righteous" action is only righteous if done with a heart for God not friends&family&duty

Why do we obey God? It proclaims (only if we have the right God-desiring attitude) that we "trust the promises of God"

"The final, best, highest, most satisfying gift of future grace is seeing and savoring God himself"...Obey while remembering who I'm obeying = God,His qualities,

"A lot of people strive for moral improvement who cannot say, "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). They strive for the purity of love but can't realize that such love is the fruit of faith in future grace: "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6)"
Cannot be pure without faith --> cannot love God without faith

Sin
2 Peter 1:3-4 = Sin's deceitfulness

"Be killing sin or it will be killing you"...killing sin = killing the lies of sin

"Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17)
The Word cuts through the fog of Satan's lies and shows me where true and lasting happiness can be found.


Evangelism
Why are people important even if they're unbelievers? Why should we love them?
"because they have the capacity to honor God wit their hearts and minds and bodies FOREVER"

Don't scare people...but God's final judgment is something to be feared and respected

Security
"The test of whether our faith is the kind of faith that justified is whether it is the kind of faith that sanctifies"
Truth produces GROWTH, not PERFECTION
True Faith AFFIRMS the truth of Christ & fights against sin...but we can still fall

"Belief is not merely an agreement with facts in the head; it is also an appetite for God in the heart, which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction...Faith is coming to Jesus and drinking the water and eating the food so that we find our hearts satisfied in him"
Agree & go to God and Christ! Why wouldn't I if I believe?

Anxiety about...
No Outcomes: Isaiah 55:11 "So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplis hthat which I purpose, and shall succeed inthe thing for which Isent it"
My Weakness: 2 Cor 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"
Decisions: Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you"
Opposition: Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
Falling Away: Phil 1:6 "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completetion at the day of Jesus Christ"

Pride...
"is an issue of where your satisfaction is"
& "Itching for glory form other people makes faith impossible. Why? Because faith is being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus. And if you are bent on getting the satisfaction of your itch from the scratch of others' acclaim, you will turn away from Christ"

"is an issue of what you are trusting in for your future"
if not God, that is arrogance! That's God we're talking about!

...leads to boasting, self-pity, and anxiety

Shame...
"Don't feel shame for something that honors God, no matter how weak or foolish it makes you look in the eyes of unbelievers"
"Do feel shame for having a hand in anything that dishonors God, no matter how strong or wise or right it makes you look in the eyes of men"
**Also realize that for the believer, do not be crippled by shame. We are forgiven!

Patience...
is the capacity to "wait and to endure" without murmuring and disillusionment--to wait in the unplanned place, and endure the unplanned pace.
"the strength of pateicne hangs on our capacity to believe that God is up to something good for us in all our delays and detours. This requires great faith in future grac,e because the evidence is seldom evidnet."

Covetousness...
is desiring something so much that you lose your contentment in God.
Fighting for contentment = Fighting for faith in future grace because we struggle to believe that we have everything
We should accept unneeded gifts bcause it allows other people to encourage/serve us

Bitterness/Anger...
--Romans 12:19-20 = Paul says, "Beloved, never avnege yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'
We are not worthy to execute judgment.
--Romans 12:18 = So far as it depends on you, live peacably with all"
We are not responsible to make reconciliation happen, but we are responsible to SEEK it.
--God undertakes vengeance against sin not only by means of hell, but also by means of the gross. All sin will be avenged--severely and thoroughly and justly. Either in hell, or at the cross. The sins of the unrepetant will be avenged in hell; the sins of the repentant were avenged on the cross.

Despondency [not depression but sadness longer than just a day]...
--Psalm 19:7 = "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul
This is a clear admission that the soul of the sain sometimes needs to be revived. And if it needs to be revived, in a sense it was dead. David says the same thing in Psalm 23:2-3, "He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." The soul of the "man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) needs to be restored.
--We must talk to ourselves instead of allowing ourselves to talk to us.
--Jesus was despondent in John 14 at the Garden of Gethsemene.
--He did not sin; so it's not a sin to be despondent. It's a sin in the response.
Jesus didn't give in, he FOUGHT with friends, opened to them, asked them for help, prayed, trusted God, looked to God.

Lust
Job 31 - A restriction because of FAITH in greater things than lust, not just "lust is bad"
Matt 5;* - Exchange God's glory&love&wisdom for lust