Chapter # 5 Paragraph # 3 Study # 4
May 6, 2007
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<342> Thesis:   When we begin to "think", we are dealing with "God". Introduction:   In our study last week we saw that the "faith" that brings "forgiveness" is made visible by the actions it sponsors when opposition arises. The text says that Jesus "beheld" their faith. That means that He saw, in the visible realm, the reality of an attitude that actually exists only in the invisible realm. The importance of this statement is hard to overstate. Jesus put Himself on record as saying three things clearly: first, that sins are forgiven when a person "believes" a specific "something"; second, that "believing" cannot be dismissed into the realm of "claims" alone; and, third, that He is the One Who determines whether a person "believes" legitimately, and whether a person is, therefore, "forgiven". This morning we are planning to look into the "official" reaction that these claims of Jesus created. We want to see what it was that Jesus, and Luke, were doing...and why.