Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Watch Out!

Bryan Schneider · March 4, 2023

Mark 8:11-21

sharonrpc.org/sermons/watch-out

Summary

Jesus warns that false teaching spreads like leaven, so his disciples must actively guard their hearts and beliefs.
The leaven of the Pharisees is legalism: a demanding religious system that trusts personal duty and supposed holiness instead of needing a Savior.
The leaven of Herod is self-directed spirituality: religion is mixed into life for personal benefit without submission to Christ's doctrine or holiness.
Legalism and permissive spirituality look opposite but both finally place trust in the self.
The disciples' worry over one loaf shows that they have forgotten Jesus' provision for thousands and missed that the giver, not the bread, is the point.
Jesus Christ is the objective teacher, bread of life, Savior, Lord, and object of faith who keeps believers on the narrow road between both ditches.
Christians guard against these errors by remembering his works, receiving his Word, confessing sin, resting in his righteousness, and obeying his rule.

How can sincere religious activity become leaven that leads to self-righteousness?
Where am I tempted to measure acceptance with God by duties, traditions, or comparison with others?
Where do I treat spirituality as a useful addition to my life while resisting Christ's authority?
Why do legalism and vague self-help spirituality ultimately share the same trust in self?
What works and provisions of Jesus am I forgetting when present needs dominate my thoughts?
How does confessing Jesus as Savior guard against legalism?
How does confessing Jesus as Lord guard against a doctrine-free, permissive spirituality?
Is the Jesus revealed in his Word truly the object of my faith?

Leaven: A small portion of fermented dough that spreads through the whole batch, used by Jesus as a picture of spreading false teaching.
Legalism: Trusting religious duties or rule keeping as the basis of righteousness before God.
Self-righteousness: Confidence that one's own goodness or performance is sufficient, often joined to contempt for others.
Licentious spirituality: Self-directed religion that seeks personal benefit while refusing binding doctrine, holiness, and Christ's lordship.
Imputed righteousness: Christ's obedience and satisfaction counted to believers, who receive and rest on him by faith.
Object of faith: The person trusted by faith; the sermon insists that saving faith looks away from self to Jesus Christ.