As you study and guide your group, focus on the following TARGET: How should being saved by grace change the way we live life and view others? Prayerfully consider also how you can help those in your group who might not know Christ or who struggle with being justified by grace and not works.
The downloadable supplemental teaching ideas guide you to contrast Paul's description of our lives before Christ in Ephesians 2:1-3 and our new lives in Christ, Ephesians 2:4-7. It reaches a climax as you look at one of the most powerful descriptions of salvation in the Bible, "For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9, CSB)
As you discuss good works versus grace, consider asking the following questions based upon what Paul said in Ephesian 2:8-9.
- “How good is good enough in order to qualify for a relationship with Christ?”
- “How bad do you have to be before you are rejected by God?”
- “How bad is bad enough to lose a relationship with Christ?”
Actually, all of these questions will lead to the same conclusion: we are saved by grace through faith!
As the group looks at the fallen state of man as described in Ephesians 2:1-3, they might ask questions regarding the salvation of children since we are born sinners. The following video is included as an option in order to help explain the questions that might arise:
