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Romans Week 20 Study Guide

Open:

Is sin inevitable? Now bring it a little closer to home: Is your sin inevitable, the sin you just committed, and then the next one, and the next one?

Can I choose not to sin? Can I choose against my nature, my nurture, my culture and my conditioning to not sin?

Is sin to strong, too compelling; or is the new nature in you stronger, more compelling? What does it look like for the believer and what are the implications?

Objective:

The objective is to understand that as a believer in Christ, you are now free to be joined to another, the risen Christ, so we might bear fruit to God.

Read:

Romans 7:1-6,

1 Do you not know, brothers — for I am speaking to men who know the law — that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. 3 So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man. 4 So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

Study

Why was the Law so important for the Jewish people? Why was what Paul said so mind blowing to them; why did they have difficulty with it?

Why does Paul use marriage as an illustration? What does he want to illustrate?

What legal changes happen to a wife when her husband dies (vv. 1-3)?

What similar changes happen when we die to the law (vv. 4-6)?

Why does our union with Christ allow us to bear fruit for God?

Does our newfound freedom in Christ mean we don’t need to read, understand, memorize the Bible, or do what it says?

What does the fruit of God (verse 4) look like? Read Galatians 5:22 and discuss. How does “love” relate to all of the Fruit?

Apply:

Embrace the reality that you now have a new master…Christ…this Master tells you that you do not have to serve (sin) self anymore…you are free to serve Christ…and your service to Christ is going to show up in loving others, which is the fruit of God.

Is there anything keeping you from living this kind of life? What would you need to do to change direction? How can we help?

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