1. Paul calls the church “saints” before he corrects or challenges them. What changes in your mindset when you realize the Bible talks to you first as someone God has made, not someone trying to earn His approval?

2. How does knowing something is sure and guaranteed cause you to actually work at it rather than just getting lazy and assuming it will happen?

3. Do you tend to live like sanctification depends more on your effort or God’s faithfulness? What does it look like in real life when someone is trying to “self-improve” instead of depending on Christ?

4. The idea came up that God “chips away” at us over time, sometimes painfully, like a rock becoming smooth. Can you think of a time when something hard actually led to growth in your character or faith?

5. What’s the difference between “stapling fruit onto a dead tree” (trying harder behavior) and real spiritual fruit that grows from Jesus? How can you tell the difference in your own life or in someone else’s?