Romans Overview

I found this posting from a guy preaching through Romans, I thought you might find it useful.

Week 34

Romans 15:1-13

Discussion question: What is Paul calling out the stronger believers to do here?

Discussion question: Why is the unity of the brethren so important to Paul?

Leader: for your review:
Paul really seeks after unity amongst the church and he lays it on the stronger in faith to be the bearers of this weight. A clue to why this is so important to Paul is that this is the first time in this letter he uses Christ as an example. Never in the letter has it been told of us that we should do something because Christ did the same. The unity of the brethren shows that we are following after Christ’s example, it is an excellent witness to the world, it shows that our eyes are not fixed on ourselves but on the better things that Christ has taught us, and most importantly, it will glorify and give God the type of worship that He desires us.

Discussion question: What are some ways that we see the church not unified today?

Discussion question: How do we balance the line between “pleasing men” and being of one mind with the church?

Leader: for your review:
This is a big area of struggle. Which issues are important enough to be hard on, which issues are not worth divisiveness, etc. Paul talks to this in Gal 1:1-12. Any issue that is not gospel related is not worthy of divisiveness. Any issue/doctrine/practice/theology/liturgy/ceremony/holiday that does not take away from Christ’s work on the cross is not important enough to split over. Disagreements are ok as long as they do not lead to divisiveness. The unity of the church is to the utmost importance, but unless Christ is the unifying bond of the church, we will not know what we should cling to.

Discussion question: What does Paul mean in v4 about the “perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures”?

Leader: for your review:
For the early church, before they had a written copy of the New Testament, it was paramount for them to see how the Old Testament fit with Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The perseverance of the Scriptures right through and past Jesus’ ascension means that the OT can be trusted, and, even more so, that God’s promises can be trusted. They He is unchanging, and that He will fulfill all that He has spoken. The Scriptures must endure for all time or we have nothing to stand on. The encouragement we have is found in the very result of the perseverance of the Scriptures, that we can rely on God for all things. The encouragement comes from the fact that the Scriptures have persevered and that God has promised us life in them.

Discussion question: Verses 5 and 6 are an amazing set of verses, basically Paul is asking that God would grant what God wants. Is this true?

Leader: for your review:
This can be a difficult topic. It can be summarized as follows though: Paul is asking that God would grant us power through the Spirit so that we may be of one mind. Jesus says in John 15:5 that apart from Him we can do nothing. Paul is asking God for the power, desire, and wisdom for the church to be of one mind so that they can give glory to God. This is only done by the Spirit. The Spirit should not be a crutch for the Christian to stand with; the Spirit should be gravity, the ground, our legs, our balance, and our desire to stand.

Discussion question: In v7, Paul says that we should accept one another just as Christ did? In light of all we’ve studied in Romans (especially chapters 1-3) how did Christ accept us? In what state did He choose to take us in?

Discussion question: What is the narrative Paul is presenting in verses 9-12?

Leader: for your review:
There are four OT quotations given. The first is quoting David rejoicing over God causing Israel to triumph over the Gentile nations surrounding them. The second is a call for the Gentiles to rejoice and join with Israel is praising God. The third and fourth show the Gentiles praising God on their own. It is a narrative describing God’s sovereign work throughout history in bringing all the nations to Him.