Today’s passage: Romans 2:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• If the end of chapter one had made us feel like we were better than other people, chapter two puts that to rest.
• God’s gracious kindness toward us is not a license to continue in sin, but is a path leading to repentance and growth.
  • To continue in sin is to show contempt for God’s grace.
• Verses 6-11 contain a literary pattern called a chiasm.  There is an order to Paul’s statements in order to emphasize an important truth:
  • God will judge everyone according to their actions
    • If you have a clean record of good, you deserve eternal life
      • If you have sin, you deserve judgment
      • If you have sin, you deserve judgment (Whether Jew or Gentile)
    • If you have a clean record of good, you deserve eternal life (Whether Jew or Gentile)
  • God will judge everyone according to their actions (Whether Jew or Gentile)

Questions to consider:

1. Given the statements of verses 1-5, should a person read verses 6-11 and come away thinking they are in pretty good shape given their own record of sin and/or righteousness?  Where do we all land in this chiasm (Romans 3:9)?
2. When does the “well-doing” come?  Christians should have a growing amount of “well-doing” in their lives, but when and how does it come about?  (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:17-24)
3. How do these truths produce in us a right humility?  How does it give us a right view of other people who (Also) have sin in their lives?  How does it encourage us in how we can help them (As we have been helped)?

Today’s passage: Romans 1:18-32

Helpful thoughts:

• Every single soul on the face of the earth knows enough about God through general revelation to be able to reject Him.  They do so by suppressing the truth and turning to other things.
  • Every person who has seen and perceived God’s creation is without excuse.
  • Psalm 14:1 – The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
    • Disbelief is not enlightenment, it is darkness.
• Darkened minds want dark things and do dark things…and approve (Or even expect the approval/affirmation) of others who do the same.
  • We should not be shocked by what we see in the world today.
• We have all committed at least some of the sin in this list from verses 26-32.
  • The Gospel reminds us that people who are in bondage to these sins need the same rescue that we have received.  We don’t look down on them, we point them to our Savior.

Questions to consider:

1. What does the whole world know about God?  Which attributes does this passage say are clearly on display (Vs. 20)?  How does the world see these attributes on display?  What has the world done to explain these truths away to justify their rejection?
2. How might the first few verses of this passage fit into an argument about the eternal destiny of those who died in the womb or before they were able to see and perceive these attributes of God in creation?
3. All the sins listed in this passage, from homosexual sin to disobedience to parents, all started with an exchange of glory (Verse 23).  Who is our Lord?  Who is worthy of all honor, praise, and our whole-hearted love and obedience?  How does a right view of the glory of God and the Lordship of Christ change/correct our perspective on life and result in fruitful repentance?

Today’s passage: Romans 1:8-17

Helpful thoughts:

• As Paul often does, he includes early on in this letter a thanksgiving and prayer to God for the church to whom he is writing (Verses 8-15), along with a purpose statement for the letter (Verses 16-17).
• Paul is not the giver of spiritual gifts, that’s the Holy Spirit’s job (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).  His desire is to exercise his gifting from God for the benefit of the church in Rome.
• In the Jewish perspective, the world was divided between Jews and Gentiles.  In the mind of the Greeks, the world was divided between the Greeks and barbarians…or the Romans and the barbarians.  Christ came to save people from every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9-10).
• God’s perfect righteousness is revealed in the Gospel.  Knowing the Gospel deeply is to know God more deeply.
  • Studying this book will give us a greater understanding of the Gospel, the God who designed it, and we who so desperately need it.

Questions to consider:

1. If Paul used the terms, Greeks and barbarians instead of Jews and Gentiles, what must be true of his original audience?  When you think of yourself and others, what designation(s) do you make?  What identifies you first?  What is the difference between you and those who differ from you in this primary identification?  How does that affect how you treat others?
2. If the Gospel teaches us about who God is, why is it only right to not be ashamed by it?  If we are ashamed of the Gospel, what else are we ashamed of?  What does the Gospel teach us about ourselves (And God) that would cause us to despise any shame we might feel?
3. How are you using your spiritual gifts to strengthen others in your local church?  Think of real examples.  What could you do today, this week, moving forward to give of yourself for the benefit of others?

Today’s passage: Romans 1:1-7

Helpful thoughts:

• The Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Romans from Corinth near the end of his third missionary journey around AD 57.  He did not plant the church there and had not yet personally been to Rome.
• The word for “servant” could be translated as “slave.”  Paul (As all Christians do) belongs to God and has been given work to do.
  • Paul was given the task of serving as an Apostle to preach the Gospel (Good news) primarily to the Gentile peoples.
• Jesus, the son of David, also proved to be the Son of God through His resurrection from the dead.

Questions to consider:

1. Do you see the Trinity in this passage?  Where are the Father, Son and Spirit in these verses?  What are they doing?
2. What is Paul’s view of himself in relation to his Lord and Master?  We have not been called to be Apostles, but we have been called, to whom does this day belong in “your” life?  How does this truth actually reduce your stress and give you focus and purpose?
3. What does faith in the Gospel message result in (Verse 5)?  Are we doing “good” to get into God’s favor…OR…Has God shown us unmerited favor in saving us, and in the aftermath and continual enjoyment of that favor, we are growing in “goodness”?