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The Story of Humanity
In "God's Word for Today" William Snider writes:
Romans 7 is, in all reality, a story of humanity. Faced with a sober assessment of his own nature, the troubled/convicted person seeks a peace which, he comes to understand, is beyond his reach. It is a painful moment of self-realization. The awareness of the human limitation aided by the awakening/convicting grace of God provides for a view of a struggle in the inner self. The quality of life being lived by the supplicant suggests that he is an awak-ened sinner, fleeing what Bunyan described as “the city of destruction.” In his self-promoted revolution, he meets with total defeat. First, he proposes to change the pattern of his past and commit himself to doing what is ethically right. Apparently confident in this resolution, he is surprised to discover that the law or reality of sin as a governing principle in his life makes it impossible for him to achieve his goal. Disappointed in his resolution and now aware of his weakness, he resolves to at least avoid that which is wrong as determined by obedience to the law. Whatever ideas he had of who he was in terms of righteousness, he now becomes aware that, despite intentions otherwise, not only can he not do right, but he cannot avoid doing wrong. The first revelation is disappointing at best, but the second is grounds for despair. Locked into an ever-revolving world of sin and death, he looks away from himself for assistance, but where to look? …
Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, pages 34-35.
Pray for Your Lesson
Heavenly Father, I ask for Your wisdom and enlightenment as I study for next week’s lesson.
Help me, Lord, to understand Your Word. I know that thousands of years separate us from when Your Word was written. The culture today is very different than those to whom Your Word was first written. Therefore, I pray for Your help as I seek to understand how the first hearers of scripture understood what You were saying to them and then bridge it to our context and culture today.
Father, I ask for wisdom in applying Your scripture. Help us not to use Your words as “proof texts” to create legalistic rules with which You are not pleased. Yet help us also to regard Your Word as authoritative, rather than merely “good suggestions” for living.
I pray also that You would give me creativity and passion in delivering this lesson. Help me to present it in such a way that my students are truly engaged with the topic and text. Help me to teach it with such passion that the students are not bored or might think that the text does not matter to their lives.
Thank You for the help You are sure to give. Amen.
What does the relationship of the Christian to Christ look like?
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Omar Lee writes:
Hardly any orthodox Christian will deny that a person who is a Christian should be in a relationship with Christ. What that relationship is may draw widely differing doctrines. Perhaps the two that are most often put forward are these: 1. We are “in Christ.” Therefore, God sees only the righteousness of Christ, and we are accepted by God no matter how we live after being accepted through faith in Christ. 2. Others contend that, while we are “in Christ,” we must also have “Christ in us.” This teaching conforms more closely to the Scriptures. Romans 6:1 asks the question, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” The following verse gives the emphatic answer, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
See your Adult Insights for the conclusion of Dr. Lee's thoughts.
Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 32.
What are the implications of being baptized into Jesus?
In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:
To be baptized into Jesus Christ means that we have been totally united with Christ. Paul used the same wording in 1 Corinthians 10:2 where he referred to the Israelites' being “baptized unto Moses.” The verses following that text show that their baptism meant that they participated in all the privileges that came with being associated with Moses. The argument here is that, since we are justified, we are participants in all the privileges associated with Christ. This union with Christ, therefore, means that we were also baptized into his death. If we are united with Him at all, then that includes uniting with Him in death. Since His death was a total break with the past, our participation in His death produces a total break with our past.
Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 28.
What is the "old man" in Romans 6:6?
In "Biblical Perspective" Gordon Snider writes:
In identifying what Paul meant here by old man we must remember that the context emphasizes the total change that takes place at the time of justification. The believer is no longer “in Adam,” but “in Christ.” It seems best to understand our old man as referring to our lives as we lived them before justification. The purpose of the crucifixion of the old man is to break the power of the body of sin. Thus old man and body of sin cannot be synonymous. Some understand the latter as referring to our physical bodies, particularly where the body has become an instrument of sin. Another option is to understand the body of sin as equal to “the body of this death” spoken of in Romans 7:24. The latter would mean that the body of sin is the root of sin from which acts of sin spring. The purpose of both actions is that we should not serve sin. We cannot be recipients of forgiveness without also being recipients of deliverance.
Source: Studies in Romans: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 29.