Study session scripture: Romans 3:27-31

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Study session topics:

• Righteousness by faith for Jews and gentiles

• The salvation offered by God leaves no room for human pride

• Salvation, from beginning to end, is apart from works

• We cannot claim any credit for any part of our salvation

• Boasting is the most easily identifiable outworking of pride, the first and greatest of all sins

• Satan's pride led him to rebel against God (Isaiah 14:12-15)

• Eve's pride in desiring to be like God, knowing good and evil, led her to take the fruit of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:1-7)

• Pride is the greatest of all sins because it attempts to place us on the throne that belongs to God--It moves us away from worship of God and toward worship of self

• Pride lies at the root of all sins--We think we know better than God, and therefore our sinful way is better than God's righteous way

• Pride affects us all to one degree or another - western culture, particularly American culture, is very susceptible to pride.

• God, in His wisdom, made a path to salvation that excludes our pride by taking all the work and effort (and thus, all the credit and all the glory) upon Himself

• Justification before God comes by faith, not by our own efforts

• Salvation is a free gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9) (Romans 11:6)

• What is faith? What does faith look like?

• 3 elements of faith: knowledge, belief, and commitment (Romans 10:13-14)

• Knowledge--One must know the truth about God and ourselves to have effective faith

• Belief--Being moved in the heart, accepting the truth as the truth

• Commitment: putting one's complete trust in the object of one's faith

• Since God is God of all, both Jew and Gentile, there is only one way to gain salvation--by faith

• Paul affirms the Shema (Hebrew for "hear") (Deuteronomy 6:4)--"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one," rebuking Gentile polytheism while also chiding the Jewish sense of superiority over being God's chosen people -Paul once again drives home to both audiences that it is not rote ritualistic obedience that saves, but faith

• Paul concludes this section by affirming that even though obedience to the Law cannot save, this does not mean we throw the Law away

• Faith does not mean we can do as we please regardless of the morality of our actions--indeed, true faith inspires us to uphold God's morality

Study session audio: