WEEK 5 - JUSTIFICATION
So then, have we nothing to do to obtain this righteousness? No, nothing at all! For this righteousness comes by doing nothing, hearing nothing, knowing nothing, but rather in knowing and believing this only — that Christ has gone to the right hand of the Father, not to become our judge, but to become for us our wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our salvation!
.Martin Luther.
PRIMARY TEXT:
ROMANS 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
SECONDARY TEXTS:
ROMANS 5:5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
1 CORINTHIANS 4:3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
GALATIANS 2:1 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS.
Read Romans 3:20-26
What stands out from this passage?
What would it look like today to live as though we were justified by works of the law?
What do you think it means that righteousness is to be ‘recieved by faith’?
Read romans 5:1-2 Would you describe your relationship with God as one of peace? Why/Why not?
APPLICATION:
Read a section of the article The Cross and Criticism. Starting from the subheading “ In Christ’s cross, I agree with God’s judgment of me.” Until the end of the section titled “Implications for dealing with Criticism” (you could have someone read out loud, or have people read for themselves”
Did anything strike you as interesting/ new in this reading?
Think back to the last time you received some significant criticism, was your response affected by your understanding of justification?
What would it look like to be a group that gives and receives helpful criticism with our identity based in God’s approval?
PRAY
Weekly Challenge:
Ask someone that you trust, whether they think you are good at receiving criticism.