Off the Shelf Sunday School--Romans
Warren Mueller
Christian Author & Lake Ecosystem Scientist. Manager Environmental Assessments at Ameren (Retired).
Greater Revelation Brings Greater Responsibility (3:1-8)
What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result?” Their condemnation is deserved.??????
1.????Paul says that the Jews have been blessed by God. They were his chosen people through whom God gave his commands. God made covenants or promises with the Jews. God delivered them from slavery in Egypt and he provided for them in the desert. God blessed them with a rich land to live in and he blessed them when they obeyed him. In what ways are Christians like the Jews?
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2.????The Jews were given the words of God through Moses and the prophets. This knowledge far exceeded what the rest of the world knew about God. However, many of the Jews disobeyed God because they did not have a faith that drove them to strictly follow God. They were corrupted in their beliefs by the false gods and customs of their Gentile neighbors. What are some beliefs, customs and even laws that challenge our faith today?
3.????Paul takes up a false argument that some were saying about his teaching. Some were saying that, if the great love and goodness of God is related to his forgiveness of sins, then sinning more brings more glory to God. Would not the grace of God be increased through sinful living? Paul says that only unsaved people would make such an argument. Why is this true? What happens to a person’s thinking and behavior after being born-again through faith in Jesus?