God’s greatest gift was to freely declare us right in His eyes by giving His Son as payment for our freedom.

(NOTE: These discussion questions are designed to be answered BEFORE you meet with your Community Group.)

1. Do you agree with the statement above that “God’s greatest gift was to freely declare us right in His eyes by giving His Son as payment for our freedom.”? Attempt to write down the same idea in your own words.   In what way(s) is this God’s gift for you?
2. When you hear words such as righteousness, justification, redemption and atonement what is your immediate response? Jim said, “Paul used these words to explain how God removed the infinite gap between himself and the human race.”  If this is true, in what way are these words all about the relationship between you and God?
3. Reread verses 21-22. What is the meaning of “God’s righteousness”?  What does Paul say in these verses about the righteousness of God?
4. What does he mean by “apart from the law”?
5. How does Paul say that God has made His righteousness “apart from the law” known? In what passage or passages in the Old Testament do “the Law and the Prophets testify”?
6. Reread verse 24. What does it mean to be “justified”?  What might this mean to you personally?  If redemption means to “purchase out of slavery”, in what way are we justified “through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”?  What is your definition of “grace”?
7. Reread verse 25. Describe in your own words what, according to this verse, Jesus did for you?  Why do you think it was necessary for him to die (shed his blood)?
8. In verses 22 and 25 Paul talks about faith. What does it look like to you to justified by faith?  How does the idea of “trust” fit into faith?