The Gospel Project® for Adults

POINT 2 DISCIPLES ARE STIRRED TO CONFESS IN FAITH

(LUKE 5:5-8).

5 “Master,” Simon replied,
“we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing.
But if you say so,
I’ll let down the nets.”
6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish,
and their nets began to tear.
7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come and help them;
they came and filled both boats so full
that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees
and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

Explain:

Verses 5-7 (the bold words fill in blanks in the DDG):

The commands of God may be beyond our understanding,
but they carry the authority and wisdom of Christ,
our Creator and Sustainer.

Discuss:

• What are some reasons we have
  to trust the wisdom of God and obey His commands?
• (He is God and we are not;
• as the Creator, God’s ways for living in this world are good and best;
• God is omniscient, so we can know that He knows what is best for us;
• God has given us Jesus, so we know He loves us)

Explain:

Verse 8 (the bold words fill in blanks in the DDG):

When encountering the holiness of Jesus, the Son of God,
true faith leads us to submission and acknowledgment
and repentance of sin.

Discuss:

• Why would encountering holiness
  cause us to see our sin more clearly?
• (any time something is better than us,
  we see our faults clearer;
• when we see perfection or close to it,
  imperfections are more pronounced;
• holiness and sin are opposites,
  so their contrast will be clearly seen)

Transition:

This miraculous act of God stopped Simon Peter
in his tracks. He rightly responded
to the glory of Jesus with repentance and humility.
But this first act of worship
was just the starting point for following Jesus.

VOICES FROM CHURCH HISTORY

“Man never attains to a true self-
knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face

of God, and come down after such contemplation
to look into himself.
For (such is our innate pride)
we always seem to ourselves just, and upright,
and wise, and holy, until we are convinced,
by clear evidence, of our injustice,
vileness, folly, and impurity.
Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only,
and not to the Lord also—
He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced.” 4

– John Calvin (1509-1564)