Grace Wheel: Justification

1. Would you rather win an argument or win a game?
2. How do you feel about losing or being wrong? Have you lost or been wrong about anything lately?
3. Pastor Jim said "Peace begins with humility." In other words, to find peace with God you must be humble enough to trust him; to find peace with others, you must be humble enough to admit when you're wrong; even to find peace with yourself, you must be humble enough to admit you need to deal with something in your life. Which of these three speaks to you?

ABOUT THE GRACE WHEEL
(NOTE: Do this if your group would like to talk more about being more natural about sharing Jesus with others, turning the Gospel Dial, and applying the Grace Wheel. Look at the various images of God’s grace around the Grace Wheel, name each one, and ask, the questions... "Who needs this image the most? What kind of story would they have? How can we best portray this image to them?")

• Justification (The Judge’s Gavel) - We are justified, acquitted of our sins, declared not guilty, and made righteous through faith in Jesus.
• Regeneration (The Baby's Feet) - We are new creations in Christ, we are born again, made new, and given new life.
• Salvation (The Life Ring) - Jesus came to rescue us from our sin.
• Redemption (The Broken Shackles) - Jesus pays the price to free us from our bondage as slaves.
• Adoption (The Family) - Through Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God and become co-heirs with Christ.
• Reconciliation (The Hearted Hands) – Jesus restores our relationship with God.

ABOUT JUSTIFICATION

1. Explain that Justification means God’s act of remitting the sins of our guilt, and accounting us righteous, freely, by his grace, through faith in Christ, on the ground, not of our own works, but of the representative law-keeping and the redemptive, cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Read Romans 3:23-26 and ask why Jesus' blood? Why not his death or his resurrection? What is it about his blood? (The answer is found in Hebrews 10:19-22)
3. Read Romans Romans 4:5-8 and ask, "What happens when a person is justified?"
4. Read Romans 5:18-19 and ask, "What does it mean that we are made righteous?"