CONNECT: What are potential areas of hypocrisy in your life that you need to address?

WARM-UP Questions

1. What are some of the common false assumptions that people make about gaining God’s favour?
2. What do you think are the potential blind spots of Christianity in Australia? Do you think this is ever a danger also for you?

READ Romans 2:17-24

1. What type of behaviour was Paul identifying as hypocritical? What was so shocking about the way that some Jewish people were behaving despite knowing the Law and even teaching it to others?
2. What cost does this have? Why does Paul describe it as blaspheming God’s name?
3. Do you think that you always practice what you preach? Are there any areas in your life in which you may be inconsistent in this way?
4. How can we endeavour to serve God faithfully, without developing a form of ‘works righteousness’?

READ Romans 2:25-27

1. What is Paul’s main point about the purpose of circumcision? How did it reflect a ‘false righteousness’?
2. What does it mean to have a ‘circumcised heart’? How does this apply to us today?
3. The people in this section assumed they had a good relationship with God? What types of things did they rely on for that relationship?
4. What are the modern ‘markers’ of being a Christian (or the things that we do)? How can we be tempted to rely these on instead of Jesus himself?
5. Why must we not rely merely on the things that we do, or our sense of ‘goodness’, for salvation?

READ Romans 2:28-29

1. How does this passage (along that we’ve covered so far in Romans), point to the desperate need of all people for the saving power of the Gospel?
2. What is ‘true righteousness’? How can we be certain of our righteousness because of Jesus?
3. If we have been saved by grace, how should this righteousness be expressed in our lives?

APPLY (this week): How can you grow in your confidence in Jesus instead of things which have no power to save?

‍

Video

• Three Minute Synopsis on Romans by Tim Keller
• N T Wright’s Introduction to Romans

Audio

• Dwell: A New iPhone application for listening to the Bible (arranged by book, themes, and series), includes some beautiful artwork, optional background music, and choice of voices.
• “Who is the True Jew?” by William Taylor.
• “The Heart of the Matter” by Kent Hughes.
• “The Jew is in Need” part of the ‘Gospel for the Whole World’ Series by Stephen Wookey.

Helpful Reading

• “Romans: Encountering the Gospel’s Power” by John Stott.
• Romans for You by Tim Keller (in Two Parts). Part 1 and Part 2.
• ‘The Law in Romans 2’ by NT Wright

‍