The Well Dressed

Read Romans 2:1-16

Are you a good person? How do you know?

How would you describe the person Paul is writing to in this passage? What do they look like? What do they think? What do they do?

Read Romans 2:1. How do people who judge condemn themselves? 

As a side topic: Is it wrong for people to make judgements at all? How does your answer affect concepts like “right” and “wrong”?

Read verses 6-8. Are these verses telling us that it is possible to be good enough to earn eternal life? Explain. What is the difference between being judged by works and believing that one is saved by good works? How does Ephesians 2:8-10 help bring clarity to Romans 1:6-10?

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism describes people who believe that:

1.A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

2.God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

3.The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4.God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

5.Good people go to heaven when they die.

Do you know people who share similar beliefs? Why don’t “good” people go to heaven when they die?

In what way do the “good” or moral efforts of people expose that they are deserving of God’s judgement even though they may not know God’s written law? See verses 14 and 15.

Read Romans 2:17-3:8 for next Sunday