Skip to content

Add your phone number?

Optional. Nothing is sent unless you choose it.
The Historic Faith
Sign in

Jumpstarter 7 of 10

Ideas to help restart your discussion
Intimacy with God  /  Chapter 25: The Apostle John and the Robber  /  Discussion Questions
All Questions
Question 7
John tells the youth, “Don’t fear. You still have hope of life…Stop. Believe. Christ has sent me”; how does the chapter hold together hope and urgency, and what does it imply about the kind of “belief” that is being called for in a life already hardened by serious sin?
Another way to ask: John tells the youth not to fear because he still has hope, but also says, “Stop. Believe.” How does the story show both hope and urgency, and what kind of belief is being asked from someone hardened by serious sin?

Direct Answer The chapter holds hope and urgency together by offering real hope of life while commanding immediate turning: “Stop. Believe.” The “belief” being called for is not casual agreement; it is belief expressed through stopping, returning, and accepting restoration that includes repentance and submission to instruction.

Support from Transcript:

  • Hope is stated plainly to a hardened sinner: “Don’t fear. You still have hope of life.”
  • Urgency is direct and imperative: “Stop. Believe.”
  • John grounds the call in Christ’s initiative: “Christ has sent me,” meaning the invitation is not merely John’s opinion.
  • The youth’s response shows belief involves a change of course: “He finally threw down his weapons…began to weep bitterly…expressed his regret.”
  • John’s ongoing work indicates belief includes being taught and formed: “Through hours of instruction, he subdued the young man’s mind.”
  • Restoration is completed in the Church: “he led him back to the Church…did not depart until he restored the young man.”
Discussion Follow-ups How do we speak hope to someone who “despairs of salvation” without softening the command to stop? What signs in the story show that belief includes action and submission, not only feelings?

Jumpstarter 7 of 10
Back Questions Next