Campus Bible Study

"Why should we be ok with Paul going directly from persecuting Christians to being an authority in the church? Today, wouldn't we want people to go through in period of continual repentance before being appointed to leadership?"

"I wonder if 10:4-6 implies we should learn good arguments to resist those who oppose God? And in v6 how they are punishing disobedience, when their obedience is complete?"

"If there is no middle ground in the gospel, what does it mean when we say some issues are not salvation issues?"

"What is Paul saying in verse 11:14? What is he referring to?"

"Why are they called super-apostles? Is Paul being sarcastic?"

"How can we discern between suffering for the gospel which is good, and suffering that is unhelpful/futile e.g. should I try to get out of suffering that I feel pulls me away from Christ?"

"If Paul boasts in his weakness and suffering, should we seek out suffering for ourselves?"

"Is the boasting in weakness we see in the passage after the shift in 11v23 still foolish? And how does that relate to 12v9-11?"

"I wonder why Paul so briefly talks about what Jesus did, i.e. only one verse compared to other reasons and examples?"

"In church, is there a point when it would be better to leave and support churches who are in need? For example, music - what I've been thinking about."

"We can trust God to give to us sufficiently for service of him. How do we think about our physical/emotional/financial capacity and being wise, acknowledging limits etc. vs trusting and just going all out?"

"More of a wisdom Q but how much should we give when it decreases our 'spare money' as in should I plan on giving 95-100% of my income?"

"How can I love God more and love money a lot less?"

"I guess thinking about hard words, I've been thinking about who and how e.g. if someone is not particularly close to you. If someone seems to be doing something wrong but you don't know for certain. And then how to bring it up especially when it isn't particularly relevant to the conversation at hand."

"How do you know if it is appropriate for you to show this harsh rebuke? Like is there some sort of qualification?" 

"If the passage says do not be unequally yoked … can you be equally yoked with unbelievers and what would that look like?"

"What is the connection between "widen your hearts" [6:13] and "make room in your hearts" [7:2] and the call to live distinctly from the world? Shouldn’t that be about changing your hearts?"

"What does 7:11 mean by "punishment"? Produced by Godly grief?"

"How should we think about engaging in cultural practices to build relationships for evangelism & fleeing from idol worship?"

"I wonder what God's comfort really looks like?"

"In 2 Cor 12:9 "That the power of Christ may rest upon me". Why is 'rest' used here? Why that rather than stronger modality, like "empower"?"

"I wonder if weakness is not the inability to do things since Jesus becomes weak yet can do anything since he is God?"

"Is weakness something we should expect in the new creation?"

"What is the nuance between weakness and suffering that also contributes to weakness but is also caused to some extent by our own sin?"

"If God created everything, then why can you only know him through Scriptures? Surely God can be known through other ways."

"What does it look like to judge Jesus through a non-worldly criteria - as opposed to judging by worldly criteria?"

"I wonder if walking "not by sight" doesn't mean that Paul doubts his senses, since he trusts in how he & the apostles saw the risen Jesus but perhaps a trust in the future glory over present suffering? Kind of echoing 4:18."

"Is our restoration necessary for reconciliation, the other way around, or are they simultaneous? How does vs 11-13 relate to the rest of the passage?"

"If the judgement in v10 is salvation judgement, why does Paul use it to support his goal in v9 to please the Lord? Is he not already saved? Could he be talking about a different kind of judgement? e.g. like 1 Cor 3:10-15"

"What does v10 actually mean? I know that there is no further condemnation when we are reconciled in Jesus. I know that there is no records of sins but it seems to still imply that Christians still need to give an account in all that we do in this life."

" "The Mortification of Sin" by Owen, it's stated we must purge our indwelling sin daily. However, Jesus cleansed us of our sins by in a sense pinning & mortifying our sins on the cross with him. How do you think of this? Must we know the nature of sin and deal with it or it's just an acknowledgement of the fact that, "ok, sin costs but it's cleansed so we're good." "