A friend once asked me if I was on an airplane that was about to crash and had only a couple minutes to use my cell phone to call my family, what would I say? What would I tell them if I knew this would be our last conversation on earth? At first my mind when blank, but then the answer seemed obvious: Hang on to your faith. But to understand why saving faith is that important, you have to really understand the gospel.
Everything you need to kick start your study of the Gospel of Matthew: maps, charts, key words, history, background, outlines, and links to help you study.
Compare Romans 16, Paul’s conclusion of his letter to the Christians in Rome, to a high school yearbook. During the high school years, we are supposed to learn skills, knowledge, and an approach to life that will get us launched into adulthood. The book of Romans also records truths that should be foundational building blocks for life, the essentials upon which we ought to build our lives. The high school yearbook is the history of the events, ideas, and accomplishments that took place during the year, but it also contains a collection of handwritten names, greetings, memories, and thoughts about life. We find at the end of the book of Romans some very personal words, too.
It’s always helpful to get feedback from your students at the end of a Bible study year. But evaluations can be a problem. If they are too short, your leaders don’t gain any useful information. If they are too long, few students will not fill them out. Here’s an example we’ve used at Wednesday in the Word that seems to find the right balance.
Paul closes Romans as he began, with a personal word about himself and the church in Rome. Reflecting on his life so far and where God will take him next, Paul discusses two themes: 1) the situation of church at Rome, and 2) the future of his ministry. As you study Romans 15, you might want to compare what Paul says to your own church and ministry.
Have you ever noticed, how much easier it is much easier to destroy something beautiful and worthy than to build it? Building up and tearing down is at the heart of Romans 14-15. Paul’s going to encourage us to build each other up and remind us that this building takes a lot longer to accomplish, than does tearing down.
A comparison of 2Peter and the Epistle of Jude (offered to help you study both books).
The issue Romans 14 concerns one of our favorite sports: How and when should Christians meddle in each other’s lives?
In Romans 13:8-14, Paul explains what it means to be able to live as people who are free to love one another and free of self-recrimination, guilt, uncertainty, or doubt. The passage speaks of freedom from debt and freedom from darkness.
In Romans 13, Paul continues in his application of how we should live in light of the gospel. In this often-discussed and debated passage, he explains how to be good citizens: submission, fearlessness and conscience.
In part, Romans 9-11 is an explanation of how people can be caught in spiritual pride and how the advantages of knowing about God and His truth can be twisted into something that actually drives us away from God.
In Isaiah 55:1-5, Isaiah describes the glorious and abundant banquet that God has prepared and bids all to attend — both Israel and the Gentle nations. This banquet is none other than the life offered through the work of his Servant, Jesus Christ. We saw that the way into the feast was to listen and believe. Now we’re going to see that part of that listening and believing is repentance.
Krisan Marotta is a Bible teacher and host of Wednesday in the Word, the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.