Romans Part 2
Continuity
“What is the secret of the Good Life?”
“How do humans produce the Just Society?”
“Is there any hope for the Human Race?”
These are the ever-present problems of the human race, and have been since long before the ancient Greeks tried to grapple with it.
Paul’s letter to the Romans does tackle these basic questions. Check the “Sketch Map of Romans” (Leaflet 4.1) to get into his mind.
Output
The Headline-Chapter 1 verses 16 to 17
What Paul is announcing is that he has found in the text of the whole letter the secret of the good life, the just society.. It is living in a right relationship with God.
Question – Why is this so? – How can faith be so important?
World in Revolt
In the three cosmic slagheaps (where there is some gold dust), Paul analyses what happens when we ‘do it our way’.
Slagheap 1-The World in Rebellion-Chapter 1 verses 18 to 32
Question – Is this an accurate description of human society without God?
Slagheap 2-The World of Respectability-Chapter 2 verses 1 to 16
So all our standards of judgement are corrupted by self-centeredness. Ignorant honesty is better than clever self-deception.
Slagheap 3-The World of Religiosity-Chapter 2 verses 17 to 29
The Jews, the most religious folk on earth, Paul’s own people, had reduced a living faith into a ritual of rules.
Question – How easy do we find it to excuse ourselves and justify our behaviour?
The Grader-Chapter 3 (mark out verse 23 first)
Since no matter what we do we cannot put ourselves into God’s good books, the good news is that God has taken the initiative and acted to ‘cancel our debts’ and begin ‘a new book’. Paul says that this miracle of grace is available now by one simple response of putting our faith in Christ.
Question – How is a living commitment to Christ different from merely believing that Jesus was right?
Let the bottom fact of the cosmos, that no one is good enough to measure up to God’s standards, shape your prayer time. And that Jesus said, “I came to cure the sick not to congratulate the healthy”.
Optional Reading for Next Session Follow the first ‘Man in the Gold Mine’ by reading Romans Chapter 4.
