Fruit of the Spirit: Joy (Romans 5:1-11)

(Our Reforming Group Guides are designed to be inductive, using the COMA form of study: Context, Observation, Meaning, Application. For more on this method, check out this article.)

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By way of introduction: What gives you joy, what makes you happy (aside from Christ)? Have a go at listing as many things are you can in 30 seconds.

Read Romans 5:1-11

1. In verse 2, Paul writes that ‘we rejoice in hope of the glory of God’. Translators may give you a footnote that says ‘rejoice’ could be translated as ‘boast’ - whatever the word used it does seem to describe a lot of joy. What does the person who is justified by faith in Christ have that gives them joy?

2. Do you have such joy/happiness in hope of the glory of God?

3. Not only that, verse 3, we who have faith in Christ can somehow rejoice in our sufferings. How is this possible?

4. Does this mean that Christians are those who seek suffering? Why?

5. Many of us walk through life hoping for happiness, and the world is selling happiness in various things on offer. Compare how these things fare to joy in Jesus.

6. Many churches (even us) could desire to be known for our joy, and therefore could be tempted to pretend to be joyful - to attempt to manufacture happiness. Have you seen this, what does it look like?

7. The Apostle Paul says also in 2 Corinthians 6:10 that he is ‘sorrowful yet always rejoicing’. How can this be possible?

8. We can look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and produce the fruit of Joy by the Spirit of Christ in our life. It’s more than possible, in a joy-less world hunting for happiness it’s actually powerful. So how could we encourage one another in this particular joy found only in Jesus among:

   a. us as Group

   b. our church

   c. around the dinner table with all our friends allowed to come over

   d. online, where many joy-less folks need Jesus

   Pray for one another of Reforming, and for friends of Reforming - that we would find our joy in Jesus.