The Scriptures —Study 14 — Romans 8:1-17

Study 14 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 8:1-17

1.      Verses 1-4. What is the happy condition of those who are ‘in (union with) Christ Jesus’?  How has their deliverance been brought about, and what is God’s purpose in effecting it?

2.      Verses 5-17.  Life according to the flesh, and life according to the Spirit, are here contrasted.  What is it that effects the change from one to the other? How do we know that life in the Spirit carries with it also ultimate victory over death?  If this life is ours what is our present duty and why? And what are your present privileges?

Notes

1.        Verse 1. ‘Condemnation’ probably means ‘the punishment following sentence’ i.e penal servitude.

2.        Verse 2. The Spirit, sin and death are regarded as powers exercising authority, and the Spirit proves the stronger.  Cf. Gal. 5:16-17.

3.        Verse 3. ‘In the death of His own Son, who has come in our nature to make atonement for sin, God has pronounced the doom of sin, and brought its claims and authority over men to an end’ (Denney)

4.      Verses 5-8, 12, 13. ‘Flesh’ here denotes our corrupt human nature.  

                     

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The Scriptures —Study 13 — Romans 7:7-25

Study 13 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 7:7-25

Man’s true life under the law frustrated and spoiled by sin.

1.      Verses 7-13. To speak about passions being aroused by the law might suggest that the law itself is sinful.  What evidence does Paul give in theses verses to show that the law is holy and good, and yet (a) reveals sin; (b) provokes sin;  (c) results in death? What does it thus bring to light concerning the character of sin?

2.      Verses 14:25. Which is the stronger force in a man’s life, the law or sin? What, then is the inevitable result of life under the law, even as its best?

Note.  In verses 14-25 the apostle expands what he means by ‘the old written code’ (7:6).  The laws of God commands from without, but sin as a power within compels obedience to its own dictates. Two things are needed; (a) deliverance from the condemnation which the law of God pronounce, and (b) a power within greater than that of sin to enable us to do God’s will. Both are provided in Christ, as Paul shows in chapter 8, expounding the meaning of his words ‘the new life of the Spirit’ (7:6).    

                               

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The Scriptures —Study 12 — Romans 6:15 – 7:6

Study 12 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 6:15 – 7:6

Two questions may arise out of Paul’s argument so far; the first, ‘Shall we then continue to

sin? And the second, ‘How is it possible to be not under law?’ The first is answered in 6:15-23, and the second in 7:1-6. 

1.      In 6:15-23, what two masters are contrasted? What kinds of service do they respectively demand, and with what result? In view of all those things, what is the only possible answer to the question whether we should continue in sin? 

2.      To answer the second question (How is it possible to be not under law?) Paul finds in the marriage tie an illustration of a person being subject to law and subsequently set free from it (verse 4). In the case of the Christian, by whose death is his old position under law brought to an end? Who is the new husband? And what are the fruits of this new union, as contrasted with those of the old? See verse 5 and 6.

Note 7:4.  When Christ’s body was broken in death, He passed to a life free from all subjection to legal ordinances, and we having died with Him, are also set free.  Sharing in His resurrection life, we are able to live no longer in legal bondage but in the glad obedience of love.

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The Scriptures —Study 11 — Romans 6:1-14

Study 11 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 6:1-14

1.      What is now the position of those who are spiritually united with Christ (a) in relation

to sin, and (b) in relation to God? How had this change been effected?

2.      This being our position in Christ, how are we so to enjoy and express it as to live a life of victory over sin? See verses 11-14; and note the key-words, ‘consider’ ‘let not’, ‘yield’.

Notes

1.       The question in verse 1 arises out of what Paul has said in chapter 5, especially verse 20.

2.       Verses 3-10 are an exposition of verse 2

3.       Verse 6 ‘The sinful body’ means ‘the body in which sin ruled’, whose members were employed in sin’s service (see verse 13 and 19).

4.       Verse 7. A statement of the general principle that death ends all obligations and relationships (cf. 7:1, 2) is here applied to our former relationship to sin.                                      

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The Scriptures —Study 10 — Romans 5:12-21

Study 10 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 5:12-21

1.      What are the consequences for me (a) of Adam’s fall into sin, and (b) of Christ’s ‘obedience’ or act of righteousness? In what respects are the latter both similar to, and different from, the former? What ought we to recognize about the character of the benefit which becomes ours in Christ?

2.      What four ‘reigns’ are spoken of in this passage?  Two of them are the sad experience of all men.  How do the other two operate? What benefits do they bring? How can we enter into their enjoyment?  

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The Scriptures —Study 9 — Romans 5:1-11

Study 9 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 5:1-11

1.      Verses 1, 2, 9-11. What blessings does justification bring with it? List the things which are now ours to enjoy. Note how much is covered by these statements. What ought such awareness to make us do?

2.      Someone, however, may say: ‘But what of the sufferings attending the Christian life? Do not detract from its blessedness?’ What is Paul’s answer to this? See verses 3-5.  What is the value of suffering, and how may we be sure that our hopes are not mere wishful thinking?

3.      Verses 5-8. By what evidence may we be doubly sure that God loves us? Notice the importance of having at least two witnesses.  Cf. Dt. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1. In what ways are the witnesses mentioned here different and complementary?

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The Scriptures —Study 8 — Romans 4:16-25

Study 8 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 4:16-25

1.      Consider the correspondences between Abraham’s faith and ours, for example,            (a) the promise to Abraham (Gn. 15:5, 6) and the corresponding promise to us (b) the inability of Abraham in himself (verses 18, 19) and our corresponding inability (see 3:20); (c) the God in whom Abraham believed (verse 17) and the God in whom we believe (verse 24); (d)  the result to Abraham (verse 18) and to us (5:1, 2).

2.      Verse 25. In what sense are our sins the reason for Christ’s death and our justification the purpose of His resurrection?  Cf. Is. 53:4-6, 8b, 11; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Cor. 15:17.

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The Scriptures —Study 7 — Romans 4:1-15

Study 7 From The Book of Romans Is: 4:1-15

Paul has made three statements which were directly opposite to the Jewish interpretation of Scripture. The first was in 3:20, that by the work of the law shall no flesh be justified; the second in 3:30, that God would justify the Gentiles through faith without circumcision; and the third in 3:19 and 28, that salvation is given independently of the law.  Paul proceeds, therefore, in chapter 4 to show that Scripture supports these propositions. He bases his argument mainly on Gn. 15. 

1.      Abraham, and David also, were men pre-eminently in the favor of God (cf. e.g., Is. 41: 8; Acts 13:22). On what basis, then, according to Scripture, was righteousness reckoned to them? See verses 1- 8

2.      At what time in Abraham’s life was his faith reckoned to him as righteousness? How does this vitally affect the question at issue regarding the admission of Gentiles? See verse 9-12.

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The Scriptures —Study 6 — Romans 3:21-31

Study 6 From The Book of Romans Is: 3:21-31

1.      The answer to the question how guilty man can be saved is found in the revelation of a righteousness of God, i.e., a righteousness provided by God (see Study 1, Note). It will help greatly to clarify what is said about this righteousness in this all-important paragraph (verses 21-26) if the various points are written down and appreciated one by one. There are twelve to fifteen of them.

2.      What two inferences follow? See verses 27, 28 and verses 29, 30. Cf. 1 Cor. 1:29-31; Gal 3:28. What is Paul’s answer to an objector who might say that the gospel of salvation by faith, which Paul preached, made the law of no account?  

                                        

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The Scriptures —Study 5 — Romans 3:1-20

Study 5 From The Book of Romans Is: 3:1-20

     1.      In verses 1-8 the apostle answers four objections which he found that men raised against the gospel. (The objections are stated in verses 1, 3, 5 and 7, 8a; the answers are given in verses 2, 4, 6 and 8b). These will repay careful study;  in particular note how Paul describes the Old Testament Scriptures, to what two attributes of God he holds fast, and what kind of conduct the strenuously repudiates. 

     2.      In verses 10-18 Paul gives the general verdict of Scripture upon man in his fallen condition.  What does Scripture say (a) about the general trend of human life (verses 10-12, cf. Is. 53:6a); (b) about man’s speech (verses 13, 14) and (c) about his conduct and inner attitude to God (verses 15-18)? How does this witness confirm the verdict of experience already given in 1: 18-32 and 2:17-29 and lead to the conclusion of 3:19, 20?

3.      Do you assent to the truth that it is impossible for any man, by his own efforts, to escape condemnation at the bar of God’s judgement?

Notes

1.       Verse 20. ‘Works of the law’: a phrase which occurs also in verse 28.  It denotes conduct achieved by a man’s own efforts in obedience to a divinely given statute. Cf. Gal. 3:10-12.

2.      Verse 20. ‘Justified ‘ means ‘declared’ or ‘pronounced righteous’.     

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