Application of Romans 3:9-20

*Note: The small group discussion for this passage was preparatory, taking place before the study.*

The gospel doesn’t demand much from us, but the one thing it does demand from us is rest.

• When we rest, we give up control to another person.
• Have there been any times in your life where you struggled to give up to another person control of something important to you? Or just a time in your life when you’ve struggled with anxiety/restlessness over something? Discuss.

However, our entire lives are characterized by some form of rest.

• When we physically sleep, we are entrusting our safety to God and other people (we are vulnerable when we sleep).
• When we walk down the street, we trust that a car will not veer off of the road and hit us.
• When we drive, we trust that other drivers obey the same traffic laws that we know.
• When we sit in a chair, we assume that the chair has been constructed with the proper craftsmanship and attention to detail necessary to hold our weight without collapsing (Patrick’s illustration 😊)
• We are not as in control of our wellbeing or as self-sufficient
•  as we tend to think we are.
• From the moment we are brought into this world, it becomes necessary to trust in other people. It becomes necessary to cease from your efforts to sustain yourself and learn to rest.
• Otherwise, you will be crippled by anxiety produced by being a control freak.

Likewise, the gospel demands rest.

• Every other world religion lays out instructions for living a morally good life that makes yourself acceptable to God or the universe.
• They all claim that if we can be good enough or do enough of the right things, we will be okay—we will be saved.
• But the Christian gospel is the only message that starts with the bad news that we can’t save ourselves—we all share in the brokenness of this world, and we contribute to its brokenness.
• But then the gospel teaches rest.
• As much as we would like to save ourselves with our own good behavior (however we define good behavior these days), we cannot.
• We must learn to give up our false sense of control and trust in Christ’s work on the cross on our behalf.

Do you trust Christ? Have you learned of your need to rest in Him? Have you been convicted so deeply by your own imperfection and unholiness that you have no option but to trust in Jesus?