Bereans of Trinity

In these verses Paul continues to address the question of how we relate to those who have wronged us. Verse nineteen conveys a slightly different sense than verse seventeen. What is that difference? What are we prohibited from doing when we are personally wronged by someone? What does it mean to "leave room" for God's wrath? Is it wrong for us to desire justice when we are wronged? What are four reasons why God insists that we leave revenge up to him? What is it about God that ensures that His justice is always right? What are the mistakes we often make when we seek to take justice into our own hands? What is the advantage of our leaving room for the justice of God? When our enemy wrongs us, what are we obligated to do? What does he mean when he speaks of "heaping burning coals" on our enemy's head? How are we overcome by evil? How do we overcome evil? (58 min)

Perhaps the most difficult and challenging aspect of Christian duty regarding others has to do with how we are to respond to those who wrong us and to our enemies. It is this area that Paul now begins addressing in this passage. What is the goal to which Paul is moving us in these verses? What does it mean to return evil for evil? What are the two circumstances in which we are categorically prohibited from returning evil for evil? What are some of the difficult challenges we encounter in applying this verse in our daily experience? Why is it important to keep in mind that Paul is dealing here with personal wrongs? What happens when we return evil for evil? When Paul tells us to respect what is right in the sight of all men, is he contradicting what he said earlier about not being conformed to the world? Before we react when wronged, what are some of the things we need to think about? What is my responsibility as a peacemaker? (51 min)

In this passage Paul begins to list for us a number of things that the renewed mind will discover are God's will. Why does the Holy Spirit give us lists like this to consider? What should we do with such lists? Paul begins with the basic truth of love. What is hypocritical love? Why are we to avoid it? What are some misconceptions about agape love? What is our tendency regarding our attitude toward evil? How is love within the church to be characterized? What are two ways to look at Paul's command regarding honor? What often happens to our diligence in the things of God? What is the peril of fervency or zeal? What enables us to rejoice in difficult circumstances? What does Paul mean to fellowship with the needs of the saints? (70 min)

The first area Paul addresses where our renewed minds can discern the will of God is the area of spiritual gifts. How did Paul know that the Roman believers needed to be instructed in this area? What was the source of Paul's exhortation in these verses? What are the ways in which we think more highly of ourselves in this subject of spiritual gifts? What are we really saying when we deem our spiritual gift to be unimportant or that it can be neglected? What is Paul referring to when he speaks of the allotment of the measure of faith? What is the "analogy of faith?" What are the three things we learn in the analogy of the church to the human body? In Paul's list of gifts, what are the three things he is exhorting us to do with these gifts? What is the difference between gifts, ministries, and effects? What clue do we get in this chapter to how we can discover what our spiritual gift is? (61 min)

In this verse we discover how we are to go about fulfilling the admonition of the previous verse to be a living sacrifice to God. What does the word conform mean? How does the idea of a schematic diagram help us understand this verse? What are some of the ways in which the world pressures us to conform? What are some of the areas in which the world's idea of how we ought to live differs from God's will? When Paul goes on to contrast how we ought to be, he does not use a term that would be opposite of conforming. What is wrong with being a non-conformist? What is the sense of the word transform which Paul uses? What are the acting agents that cause us to be conformed or transformed? What is the "formula" for knowing the will of God? What are the characteristics of God's will that enable us to identify it? (63 min)

In chapter twelve Paul moves from the indicative (the way things are, the truth of the Gospel) to the imperative (the way we ought to be in view of the way things are). Gratitude for the great mercy of God in the Gospel becomes the basis for how we ought to be living as Christians. What is it that the believer is to present? Is this a one time event or an ongoing way of life? How does the Christian view of the body differ from that of the much of the Greek world of Paul's day? How does our modern idea of sacrifice differ from that of the ancient world? How was the Christian view of sacrifice a radical departure from the rest of the ancient world? Why did the Christian view of sacrifice make them hated in the Roman empire? What was revolutionary about the emperor Constantine's decrees regarding sacrifice? What is a "living" sacrifice? How do we, in the twenty first century, present our bodies as living sacrifices? (68 min)

In this lesson we first review Paul's explanation in chapters 9-11 of how God has worked through salvation history. He culminates this masterpiece with a hymn of praise of God. What are the two different ways this passage might be translated? What are three things about God that are infinitely deep? What does Paul have in mind when he speaks of the riches of God? What is God's wisdom? What is God's knowledge? Why can no one be God's counselor? What are two things we must keep in mind about knowing the mind of God in view of what Paul says here about it being unsearchable? How do the "mystery" of Romans 9-11 and Jesus himself relate to the matter of knowing the unknowable mind of God? If everything is from, through, and to God, how can we be comforted while realizing that God's mind is so unsearchable? (52 min)

Picking up from where we left off two weeks ago, Paul explains how it is that all Israel will be saved. With what does he say that Israel's spiritual renewal will be associated? Why does Paul apparently make an alteration in his quotation of Isaiah? What is it about the gifts and calling of God that is the basis for Paul's confidence? What gifts and calling does he appear to have in mind? If the Gentiles to whom Paul writes are inclined to be skeptical about Paul's expectations of a great salvation of Israel, what experience does Paul offer as evidence? How does God's use of Israel's disobedience and His use of the mercy shown to Gentiles bear on the subject of the problem of evil? In all of the hardening of both the Jews and the Gentiles, indeed of all people, what is the overriding purpose of God? How can we be sure this verse does not teach universalism (that all people will be saved)? (56 min)

Paul now begins to summarize all that he has taught us in chapter 11, and also to conclude his entire argument in chapters 9 thru 11. He begins by saying that he does not wish us to be uninformed or ignorant. What is the significance of Paul's repeated use of this phrase in his writings? What is the relationship between knowledge and actions? If we are unaware of the mystery he speaks of here, what is a possible consequence? What are the two ways that the concept of mystery was viewed within the culture of the first century. What were the mystery religions, and how are they manifest in contemporary culture. How does the accessibility to "truth" become a "seller's market," and why is that not good? How does Paul use the concept of mystery? What are some of the many mysteries of which Paul writes? What is the mystery he speaks of in this chapter, and what are its chief elements? What are the three questions that confront us when Paul says "So all Israel will be saved"? (55 min)

The subject which Paul introduced in the verses in our last lesson raises a subject he enjoins us to give careful thought to: the kindness and severity of God. This is the subject of the present verse we consider in this lesson. How are we to understand Paul's discussion of groups or nations, as opposed to individuals? What is a common error people make in their view of God? What is an "eccentric" Christian? What is Paul's point in bringing up the subject of God's kindness and severity? How does this truth about God have bearing on Gentile Christians? What personal application can we make from God's kindness and severity? Do God's forgiven people ever encounter the severity of God? What can one who is encountering the severity of God do to experience God's kindness? (62 min)