Suggestions for leading a study:

• Familiarize yourself with the passage in context, including the book itself.  Who wrote it to whom, and why?
• Read through the study guide a couple times to get the “big idea” as well as the flow of the argument
• Have the group read through the passage in it’s entirety before beginning the study.  One of the goals is to try to get your members to learn how to study Scripture methodically, and this is an important step.
• Be prayed up
• Have fun!
  

Goodness Gracious

³At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Discussion Questions

-Verse 3 describes the pre-Christian state of the believers on Crete.  What impression does it give you?  Do you think Paul is exaggerating about what its like to not be a follower of Christ?

-Some people see in verse 3 a description of a process.  Do you think:

            -Being foolish (this term means to lack spiritual understanding) and disobedient toward God leads to being deceived and enslaved by passions and pleasures?

            -Being deceived and enslaved by passions and pleasures leads to living with malice and envy?

            -Living with malice and envy leads to being hated and hating one another?

-Given what this verse says, how would you respond to the following statement: “A bad relationship with God leads to a self-centered life that results in bad relationships with people.”  Have you seen or experienced something like that yourself?

-Now read verse 4.  How many righteous things do we need to do to make up for the sorry state we are in before Christ?

-According to this, why does God save us?  How does what we looked at in verse 3 help put this in perspective?

-What two things does God use to save us, according to verse 4?

            -This describes salvation as both a one time event and an ongoing process.  Do you think it is fair to see this as a contrast to the downward spiral described in verse 3?  If so, what can we conclude about what we have to look forward to in regards to our relationships, both with God and other people?

-Read verses 6-8.  What do we have as a result of salvation by grace, and what should be our response?

            -Since we are saved by grace, what do you think the “profit” is that results from doing what is good?

Leaders' Guide

This lesson works through a powerful passage of Scripture describing what salvation is all about: What we are saved from, how and why we are saved, what the result is, and what our response should be. 

-Verse 3 describes the pre-Christian state of the believers on Crete.  What impression does it give you?  Do you think Paul is exaggerating about what its like to not be a follower of Christ?

            Obviously this verse paints a pretty dark picture of the pre-Christian state.  Residents of the island of Crete had such a bad reputation, it even resulted in an English idiom, and today someone could still be called a “miserable Cretan.” But clearly not everybody is this bad off, just because they don’t know Jesus.  However, the next few questions reveal a powerful lesson from this verse, if we see it as a description of a process that occurs when living outside of a relationship with God through Christ.

-Some people see in verse 3 a description of a process.  Do you think:

            -Being foolish (this term means to lack spiritual understanding) and disobedient toward God leads to being deceived and enslaved by passions and pleasures?

            The process described here begins with the lack of a relationship to God.  As noted, foolish does not mean stupid, but simply that you don’t have an adequate understanding of spiritual reality.  Disobedience is the way that displays itself.  You can see a parallel between these things: a lack of understanding of the truth makes us susceptible to the lies of the enemy, and disobedience leads to the slavery that is always the result of sin, in spite of the fact that we think pursuing personal passions and pleasures means freedom.  A discussion of why these things enslave us could make an interesting sidebar, but there is plenty to chew on in this passage already.

            -Being deceived and enslaved by passions and pleasures leads to living with malice and envy?

            One of the ways that the pursuit of pleasure enslaves us is through the law of diminishing returns: the more we have, the more we need to be satisfied.  Hence, whatever other people have that we do not makes us envious and malicious toward them.

            -Living with malice and envy leads to being hated and hating one another?

            Here is the end of the process: turning our back on God and living for our own passions inevitably results in being hurt and hurting other people, because we simply don’t care about them very much except in regards to how they can help us meet our self-centered goals.  Nobody likes to be used like that and they end up hating us, and we end up hating them in return for not giving us what we want.  In a way, this is a re-statement of the results of sin as described in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden.  They turned their back on God, and the result was one of their sons killing his twin brother out of envy.

-Given what this verse says, how would you respond to the following statement: “A bad relationship with God leads to a self-centered life that results in bad relationships with people.”  Have you seen or experienced something like that yourself?

            This is at least one way to re-state the progression described in verse 3.  We may not know too many people as bad off as the Cretans, but this should be typical enough of the human condition for people to have seen examples of it—probably in their own lives if they are honest enough and the moment is right for some soul-searching and testimony with the group.

-Now read verse 4.  How many righteous things do we need to do to make up for the sorry state we are in before Christ?

            This verse states that God saves us “not by righteous things we have done.”  Once again, we need to underscore that given the place we are in outside of Christ, there is nothing we can do to “get there” in regards to restoring a relationship with a holy God.

-According to this, why does God save us?  How does what we looked at in verse 3 help put this in perspective?

            This verse states that “when the kindness and love of God appeared” he saved us.  Keep digging, though, to the end of the sentence when we are told that we are saved “because of his mercy.”  Kindness, love and mercy are the only possible motivations God could have, given how far from him we are.  No doubt Paul is stating a deliberate contrast between God and ourselves as described in verse 3.  If anyone has any sense of complacency about the love of God, this should help give some perspective.  There is no room for thinking that God owes us anything.

-What two things does God use to save us, according to verse 4? 

            First of all he saves us through the washing of rebirth, referring to the point of salvation and probably the act of baptism.  In those times a decision to repent and follow Christ and baptism were considered two elements of the same event and usually happened at the same time, or as close in proximity as possible.  Salvation is also accomplished through the renewal by the Holy Spirit, something that probably refers not to the initial event, but the regeneration that is accomplished over time as we allow the Holy Spirit to gain increased control. 

            -This describes salvation as both a one time event and an ongoing process.  Do you think it is fair to see this as a contrast to the downward spiral described in verse 3?  If so, what can we conclude about what we have to look forward to in regards to our relationships, both with God and other people?

            The New Testament is very consistent in seeing the process of spiritual growth as part and parcel of the salvation experience and this text is no exception.  The contrast between this regeneration and the degeneration described in verse 3 is pretty clear.  Since verse 3 described a process that begins with turning our backs on God and ends with messed up relationships, we can logically conclude that if we get right with God, our relationships with people will once again be healthy. 

-Read verses 6-8.  What do we have as a result of salvation by grace, and what should be our response?

            We have the hope of eternal life.  As always, doing good (this usually refers to how we treat other people, especially among the fellowship of believers) is always expected to be our response to being saved by grace.

            -Since we are saved by grace, what do you think the “profit” is that results from doing what is good?

            The text doesn’t spell out just what it is that is excellent and profitable about doing good because we are saved by grace.  Putting our relationships in order is  one that has already come up in this lesson.  Many times the Bible speaks of rewards and treasures in heaven as well.  The bottom line is that being saved by grace benefits us in every way here when we respond to it with good works, and also results in the hope of eternal life.  Compared to where we started in verse 3, that’s pretty good stuff.