Book of Romans - Christianity 101
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Lesson 12 |  |
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| WHAT DOES IT SAY? |
| Romans 8:28-30
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| WHAT DOES IT MEAN? |
Verse 28 has often been misused as a trite spiritual catch-all to minimize a person’s real pain or to give a quick answer to difficult problems. Does verse 28 teach that all things are good?
What does it teach? How would you paraphrase it?
Verses 29-30. These two verses have been called the "Golden Chain" of
theology in that in them Paul reveals God’s eternal plan of salvation. They
contain some heavy-duty terms that are crucial to understanding God’s "purpose"
as stated in verse 28.
Look each of them up in a Bible dictionary and give a definition:
1. "foreknew"
2. "predestined"
3. "called"
Charles Spurgeon once said that there are two kinds of "callings", a general and
a specific, like two kinds of lightning, sheet lightning and a lightning bolt.
Which kind of call does Paul refer to here?
4. "justified"
5. "glorified"
Read Ephesians 2:1-10. Make a list of all the
things God does for us in that passage. How many things does it say we do in
order to become Christians? What is faith called in verse 8?
Read 1 Peter 1:1-2. How does Peter’s teaching
compare to Paul’s?
Read John 6:44 and 15:16. How does Jesus’
teaching compare to what Paul is saying here?
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"The Biblical picture of a
totally sovereign God alienates some people, but it should comfort the
believer who remembers this: the way power is exercised depends on the
character of the person holding it. And the God of Scripture, who has all
power, is a God of love, justice, grace, and goodness. God will never do
anything that violates His own character; thus, He and He alone can be
trusted with the freedom of action He alone has."
Revell Bible Dictionary |
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| LIFE RESPONSE: What Does it Mean to Me? | |||||
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Many of the ideas dealt with in this passage are difficult. Here are a few helps in terms of definition:
Foreknew =
"whom He set regard upon, or whom He knew from eternity with affection and
delight, whom He foreloved - (this implies a relationship which God initiated,
not just "He knew ahead of time that they would have faith") see Acts 2:23,
26:5, Rom 11:2, 1 Pet 1:2, 20, 2 Pet 3:17
Predestination = "to determine beforehand;
that which God has determined will happen." How is predestination used in
the NT? What has God "determined beforehand in each of these passages? see Acts
4:28, 1 Cor 2:7, Eph 1:5 and 11
Sovereignty of God = "God’s absolute right to
govern all things as He chooses, without any limitations imposed by
circumstances or human choices. While the Bible does not use the term
sovereignty, it clearly teaches the concept of God’s complete dominion over
the universe." see Isaiah 45:9-19, Rom. 9:19-21, Psalm 115:3, Eph. 1:11
Election = the sovereign choice of God.
God is free to act as He chooses. Why did God choose Israel? Because He wanted
to. (Deut 7:7-9) No human act or attitude influences God to act as He does.
Thus, election is not evidence of favoritism, but proof of God’s love and mercy.
For example... when Jesus told his disciples Jn 15:16, He was not belittling
their choice to follow Him, but rather he was emphasizing the fact that God is
the initiator. It was God who reached out in love to draw the disciples into a
relationship with Christ which would make their lives fruitful." (Revell Bible
Dictionary)
Why do you think God, through Paul,
chose to reveal His eternal plan here at this point in Romans? Obviously it
opens up a can of worms in a lot of people’s minds, and Paul does not spend much
space explaining it? Did he write it to satisfy our intellectual curiosity or to
encourage us in some way? How could this knowledge about God’s plan be an
encouragement to you in your daily life?
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Martin Luther
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C.S. Lewis
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John Murray
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