Week 6: The Grace of God — Chapters 7–8

1.In Chapter 7, Packer insists that understanding God as Lawgiver — holy, righteous, and demanding full obedience — is not the Old Testament version of God to be replaced by grace. Why does he argue that the law is essential background for understanding the gospel? What happens to grace when the law is softened or abandoned?

2.Packer distinguishes between grace understood as mere leniency or tolerance — God turning a blind eye to sin — and grace properly understood as the costly provision of righteousness through Christ. Why is the first version of "grace" actually no grace at all?

3.Packer describes grace as God's free and undeserved favour shown to guilty sinners through Christ. The word "undeserved" is crucial. In your own experience, which is harder to believe: that God is angry at sin, or that His grace is truly free with no strings attached? Why?