Every session has a point—what each participant should walk away from the discussion knowing, feeling, and doing.

Main Idea: Religious obedience divorced from the gospel leads not to a changed heart, but to a heart at odds with the righteousness of God.

Head Change: To know that only God’s transforming grace can create righteous hearts that love obedience.

Heart Change: To feel confident that God is sufficient to produce an obedient heart in us.

Life Change: To trust that faith in the gospel makes us righteous, not our religious obedience.

Have you ever had a superstitious habit? What are some examples of common superstitions you see today?

Superstition, though mostly harmless, can sometimes feel borderline religious. Phrases like “knock on wood,” while seen as benign or playful, suggest that certain practices (knocking on wood) can in some way alter life in a material way. Superstitious activity and religious activity are more connected than we may think.

Religious activity is a behavior inherent in humankind, even among those who claim to be irreligious. We all hold religious commitments and activities and, by them, seek to work our way toward salvation, even if we don’t use that language. But, as J.D. will discuss in this session, religion apart from Christ can’t deliver on what it promises. We need something that religion alone can’t provide.

Read Romans 2:1–29.

Session 3: Romans 2:1–29 (13 minutes).

J.D. said Romans 2 can be tough for us to grasp because it shows that “religion (or moral rule-keeping) apart from the gospel is powerless to change people’s lives.” In what ways does religion alone prove itself powerless to bring about life change? Why do you think we often depend heavily on religion and religious obedience to earn our righteousness?

Romans 2 begins with a discussion of God’s judgment, which, like his wrath, is an uncomfortable concept because, as Paul makes clear, we all deserve it. Based on what we’ve learned in this study thus far, why are we all deserving of God’s judgment?

In verses 1–2, how does Paul show that our judgment of others indicts us for our own wrongdoing? Where do you see judgment of others in your own life? How does it affect you and your relationships?

In the middle of Paul’s talk of wrath and judgment, he makes a startling assertion in verse 4: God is rich in kindness, restraint, and patience and that his “kindness is intended to lead [us] to repentance.” Why is it important to remember, even as we’re warned of God’s judgment, that he means for us to repent?

How has God been patient with you? How has your experience of God’s kindness led you to repentance?

Paul argues in verses 5–10 that there are only two possible outcomes: we either receive eternal life or we receive God’s wrath and anger. What does Paul say qualifies someone for receiving eternal life? What qualifies someone for receiving God’s wrath and anger?

J.D. highlighted that God’s judgment is concerned not with “doing right” or with external practices of religion, but with what resides in our hearts. What does it say about God’s concern for justice and holiness that he judges not just our behavior but also our motivations and desires?

In verses 12 and 13, Paul introduces “the law”—the commands given to the Israelites in the Old Testament—into the conversation. Why is merely hearing the law not enough to make us righteous before God? What does it mean to be “doers of the law”?

In speaking about the law, readers may assume that Paul is addressing only Jews. But Paul refutes that assumption by talking about the Gentiles in verses 14–16. Paul says that Gentiles—or those who aren’t Jews—have the law written on their hearts, which is confirmed by their consciences. Think back to before you were a Christian. When did you obey what you perceived to be a moral law without knowing God’s law? How does your experience prove Paul’s point that the work of the law was written on your heart, even before you came to know Christ?

In these verses, Paul outs both Jews and Gentiles for their universal inability to obey God’s law. J.D. said, “all of us fail to live up to whatever standards we hold for what a good person is.” What’s more, our attempts at moral rule-keeping serve only to indict us further, making us proud, hypocritical, and judgmental. In what ways does religion make us proud? Hypocritical? Judgmental?

Paul proceeds to point out the hypocrisy of the Jews—they have and know the law, but they repeatedly break it. So, in verse 24, Paul says, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” In what ways does our behavior communicate our beliefs? In what ways can our behavior represent him well to others? Poorly?

Who are the people in your life most impacted by the way you represent God?

In verses 25–29, Paul upends all our religious assumptions. He argues that outward signs aren’t always good indicators of what’s going on in a person’s heart. J.D. took Paul’s point one step further, saying that “no religious ritual can change your heart.” What are some of the religious rituals that people believe will change their hearts and/or their circumstances?

What religious rituals have you participated in? What outcome did you hope for? What actually happened?

Religious rituals like circumcision, baptism, and communion are important, but they don’t accomplish the change our hearts desperately need. How can we acknowledge the significance of certain rituals without overemphasizing their “power”?

Paul ends chapter 2 with a couple of important points. First, he says that true circumcision occurs in the heart and is accomplished “by the Spirit, not the letter.” Why is it important to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit is the one who changes our hearts? Would you rather wait for God to change you or change yourself through a quick prayer or ritual? Why?

In what ways does it encourage you that God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves?

Secondly, Paul says that the people who have their hearts circumcised by God receive praise “not from people but from God.” Whose praise are you working for today? What could it look like for you to desire the praise of God more than the praise of people? What difference might that make in your life?

The startling thing about the way Paul ends this passage is that God—the one who saves us by no work of our own—“praises,” or commends, us. And how do we receive God’s commendation? By receiving the gift of God’s righteousness through faith in his Son. How can you cultivate a deeper trust in the power of the gospel? What could it look like to focus on putting your faith in Jesus rather than religious activity?

The outlook here is bleak. No amount of religious obedience, law-abiding, or rule-following will give us the thing we most deeply need: righteousness before God. All attempts to earn a right standing with God on our own will fall short.

We don’t need to buckle down and try harder. The remedy is to cease our striving and receive the transforming grace of Christ through faith and the new heart he promises. No religious ritual can transform our hearts. Only God can change us.