The Scriptures —Study 17 — Romans 9:14-29

Study 17 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 9:14-29

1.      How does Paul show that in His election of men God retains absolute liberty of action (a) without compromising His own righteousness, and (b) without giving man any just ground for complaint? See verses 14-22.  At the same time, observe how Paul lays emphasis upon God’s mercy.   See verse 15, 16, 23-26.

2.      What is the purpose of God’s election, and how do the scriptures which Paul quotes illuminate that purpose? How does this truth concern me?   

                                    

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The Scriptures —Study 16— Romans 9:1-13

Study 16 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 9:1-13

In chapters 9-11 Paul deals with the great problem of the rejection of their Messiah by the bulk of the Jewish nation, and God’s consequent rejection of them. Two questions arise: (a) ‘Has God broken His promises? And (b) if not, how are they to be fulfilled?’ Paul answers the first question in chapters 9 and 10, and the second in chapter 11.

     1.      Chapter 8 is full of triumphant joy. How, then, can Paul speak of having great sorrow and unceasing pain in his heart? See especially 9:3. What made him sorrowful?  How much of this Christian Joy and how much of this Christian sorrow do we ourselves know?

2.      Verses 9-13. The question with which Paul is here dealing is: ‘If God reject those Jews who reject Jesus as Messiah, has not His word come to nought? For were not the promises (verse 4) made to the Jews?  How does Paul answer this question? And what two principles of God’s election does he find in the Old Testament stories of the births of (a) Isaac and (b) Jacob and Esau? 

                                              

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The Scriptures —Study 15 — Romans 8:18-39

Study 15 From The Book of Romans Is: Romans 8:18-39

1.      What threefold ground of confidence does Paul give in verses 18-27 that the present time of suffering will issue in glory? See verses 18-22, 23-25 and 26, 27, nothing the words, ‘groan’, or ‘sighs.’  Cf. Ex. 2:23-25; Rom. 5:3-5.

2.      In verses 28-39 how many distinct reasons does Paul give for the Christian to rejoice, though everything in this world should seem against him?

Note. Verse 28. Cf. NEB: ‘In everything, as we know, he (the spirit, verse 27) co-operates for good with those who love God.’ Cf. 1 Cor. 2:9

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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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