Suggestions for leading a study:
A Vain Grace?
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's
sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of
reconciliation. 20 We are
therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2 For he says,
Verse 16 says that we do
not regard anyone from a “worldly point of view” (NIV). What kind of a point of view do you think
he’s talking about?
Verse 16 is contrasted with verse 17. Does this clear up what the “old” way of
looking at people was? What is the “new” way, or what have we become?
According to verse 18, who
did all this? Was there something we
could do to accomplish it for ourselves?
Clearly the power to make
us completely new creations is entirely Gods, and is given to us as a gift,
otherwise known as grace. However,
along with that, verse 18 also gives us a task to perform. What is it?
Verses 19 and 20 explains
that the “ministry of reconciliation” we are given is to be ambassadors of the
“message of reconciliation.” How would
you describe that message, based on the information in these verses?
Verse 21 repeats and
expands the message. How does the
information in this verse add to the “message of reconciliation?”
Re-read chapter 6, verse 1. What does Paul call us? In this verse Paul’s desire is that the
grace we have received not be “in vain”, or futile. In other words, not accomplish everything he intended for it to
do. Clearly this does not apply to our
salvation, since there is nothing we can do to “save ourselves.” Based on our previous discussion, what do
you think he is referring to?
Chapter 6, verse 2 refers to “The Day of the Lord,”
or the last days. Paul assumes his
readers to be experiencing them. How
does knowing that motivate us be God’s “fellow workers”, as his “ambassadors”?
This explores the fact that salvation is by grace and yet at the same
time comes with an expectation that we will partner with God in sharing that
message of hope to the world.
Verse 16 says that we do not regard anyone from a “worldly point of
view” (NIV). What kind of a point of
view do you think he’s talking about?
Worldly points of view could be any number of
things for us. An evolutionary
perspective that sees people as random acts of nature, a mystical perspective
that sees us as all a part of the divine, etc. In this context, it appears to
refer to the notion that people are not capable of being regenerated by God to
be righteous and useful again. The next
question should help to clarify this.
Verse 16 is contrasted with verse 17.
Does this clear up what the “old” way of looking at people was? What is
the “new” way, or what have we become?
As opposed to seeing people as hopeless, Paul
sees them as completely new creations.
He also refers here to being “in Christ”, perhaps his favorite metaphor
for what salvation accomplishes for us.
It puts us spiritually in an entirely new position, separate and safe
from the sinful past.
According to verse 18, who did all this? Was there something we could do to accomplish it for ourselves?
“All this is from God”, is how the NIV puts
it. He reconciled us to himself. Be very clear with your group that this
reconciliation—salvation—is something we in no way could accomplish for
ourselves. It is entirely dependent on
God’s power. It is important to
establish this with certainty, since the rest of this study is about how we
respond, or what we do, and there should be no confusion about the fact that
salvation is by God’s power and through his grace, not our works. The next
question re-iterates this, just in case there is any leftover confusion on this
point.
Clearly the power to make us completely new creations is entirely Gods,
and is given to us as a gift, otherwise known as grace. However, along with that, verse 18 also
gives us a task to perform. What is it?
God gave us the “ministry of reconciliation”
(NIV).
Verses 19 and 20 explains that the “ministry of reconciliation” we are
given is to be ambassadors of the “message of reconciliation.” How would you describe that message, based
on the information in these verses?
Dig a little with this one. Paul doesn’t give us a good “bulleted list”
in verses 19-21, but they contain just about everything that is important to
know about the gospel. One of the
characteristics is that men’s sins are not counted against them. Also that Christ was his agent for that
work. The last part of verse 20
implores people to be reconciled to God.
There is the gospel in a nutshell:
Through Christ, the possibility of having your sins not counted against
you is available to everyone, but we need to respond to that by each being
willing to be reconciled to God.
Verse 21 repeats and expands the message. How does the information in this verse add to the “message of
reconciliation?”
This verse clarifies what happens when we
make that choice that God made available through Jesus Christ. We “become” the righteousness of
Christ. The fancy term for this is that
it is “imputed” to us. It repeats what
Paul said in verse 17 (you may want to look at this again for review).
Re-read chapter 6, verse 1.
What does Paul call us? In this
verse Paul’s desire is that the grace we have received not be “in vain”, or
futile. In other words, not accomplish
everything he intended for it to do.
Clearly this does not apply to our salvation, since there is nothing we
can do to “save ourselves.” Based on
our previous discussion, what do you think he is referring to?
Paul calls us God’s “fellow workers”
(NIV). The question reminds people that
receiving God’s grace “in vain”, or in a way that it doesn’t work right, cannot
refer to our salvation. You cannot
receive salvation, but not have salvation.
Clearly there is more to what God intends for us when he offers us
salvation through his grace. This
passage makes it clear that he expects us to partner with him (be his “fellow
workers”) in helping other people experience the same thing. We have received a basic primer on the
gospel in this passage: what God did, who he did it through, and how he does
it. Now he expects us to go out and
help him spread the word.
Chapter 6, verse 2 refers to “The Day of the Lord,” or the last days. Paul assumes his readers to be experiencing them. How does knowing that motivate us be God’s “fellow workers”, as his “ambassadors”?
This is what is known as “realized eschatology”. Although clearly the end of everything is yet to come and the return of Jesus Christ is still in the future, the New Testament writers uniformly assumed us to be in the “last days”, or the “Day of the Lord”, since the coming of Jesus Christ. This is one of the Old Testament prophecies quoted in regards to that. (See also Acts 2 in which Peter quotes the prophet Joel and tells the crowd that his prophecy regarding the last days was being fulfilled at that moment). Whatever you believe about end times things, clearly the realization that we are in them and don’t know how much longer they are going to last, should motivate us to help God complete his work of taking the gospel to all people.