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| Is God's eternal power and divine nature evident in the natural world? |
I'm going to try something a little different in this blog post by providing my personal outline/notes, instead of adapting them to this blog post. That way, you won't get any surprises. Of course, I'm revealing all my cards. But if you benefit more, then praise the Lord! During the meeting, we may occasionally skim through some of the content in the outline. I'm a bit compulsive with my notes and we don't need to park too long on some things. Incidentally, the blogsite may be easier to read with the white background and black print.
The full text of Romans 1-2 will be included throughout the outline, broken up by questions and commentary. Lord bless you and see you Wednesday.
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Outline/notes for Small Group Meeting #5
(Wednesday, May 3, 2017)
1. Meeting begins:
- Opening prayer
- New person introductions.
- Each person shares. Q: What’s been happening in your life in the last two weeks?
- Community news, events?
- Do you want to meet on the 5th Wednesday of May? It would mean consecutive Wednesdays from May 31 - June 7. If not, then a three week break.
- Backyard potluck sometime in July?
- Mission and outreach news and announcements?
- Mary Haag’s presentation.
- In the last meeting, we finished Paul’s introduction of Romans and began part one of the main body -- Romans 1:18-3:20.
- F.F. Bruce titles this long section Sin and Retribution: the Universal Need Diagnosed.
- According to John Stott, Paul focuses on four people groups who are “under sin” (3:9) and under God’s wrath:
Q: Is there anything from the previous meeting that you have questions about or would like to comment on?1. Depraved Gentile society (1:18-32) -- which we’ll discuss tonight
2. Critical Moralizers (self-righteous Gentiles and Jews) (2:1-16)
3. Self-confident Jews (2:17-3:8)
4. The Whole Human Race (3:9-20)
Q: Could someone read Romans 1:18-20?
"18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."Q: Would you like to comment on anything in this section of scripture?
Questions on vv. 18-20:
Q: In v. 18, who is the wrath of God revealed against?Q: Could someone read vv. 21-25?
Q: Why is God’s wrath described in the present tense (v. 18), rather than as a future occurrence? Feel free to speculate.
Q: What truth are they suppressing? (vv. 19-20 natural revelation)
Q: Why are they the objects of God’s wrath? (suppressed the truth and exchanged glory of true God for idols)
Q: As stated in verse 20, do you think that God’s eternal power and divine nature are “clearly perceived” in the natural world? Why or why not?
Q: Describe an aspect of the creation that helps strengthen your belief in the existence of God.
"21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.Q: What stood out for you in this passage?"
- Verse 21 says they “knew God.” Douglas Moo states that this doesn’t refer to a relationship with God. Moo writes, “Knowing God must therefore be given a strictly limited sense compatible with Paul’s argument in this passage.”
Q: In verse 21, how did they respond to their limited knowledge of God? (did not honor him as God)
Q: When they refused to honor and give thanks to God, how did this affect their hearts and minds? (vv.21b-23) (became futile in thinking, hearts darkened, became fools, worshipped creatures)
Q: Verses 22-24 seems to indicate that idol worship (worshiping images, false gods, the creation or things) is the sin that spawns other sins. Why is that? (answer: when people reject God and worship the creation, then God “gives them up” to other sins.)
Q: What kinds of idols do humans worship today?
Q: In verses 24, 26 and 28 it says “God gave them up to….” What does that mean and why did God give them up? (answer: v. 25 “…exchanged the truth of God for a lie…” God gave them up to sin, because they didn’t acknowledge God and worshiped false gods)
- Timothy Keller writes, “But in verse 24, we discover how God’s wrath is being revealed in the present. God’s judgment on godlessness and wickedness is to give us what we want. He ‘gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts.’”
Q: What is God’s present wrath according to Timothy Keller?Q: Could someone read verses 26-32?
"26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.Questions concerning Romans 1:26-32:
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."
Q: Would you like to comment on this section?
Q: Anything bother you here?
Q: In verses 26-32, a long list of sins is mentioned. In fact, it's the longest continuous list of sins in the New Testament. Why do you think Paul emphasizes all this sin?
Q: How does this dirty laundry list make you feel?
Q: How are modern human beings similar or different than those Paul describes in vv. 18-32?
Q: Some of those sins seem rather minor. Do you see any that apply to you? No need to share this with the group.
Q: Verse 32 says, “…they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die.” Do you think God is justified in his wrath against sinful humanity? Why or why not?
Q: Back in verses 16 and 17, Paul’s main thesis is that salvation and righteousness are given to us through faith. Why does Paul abruptly switch from that positive message to all this negativity about God’s wrath against the sins of humanity?
Q: If the Gospel is such good news, then why in Romans 1:18-3:20 does Paul dwell on such really bad stuff like human sin and God's wrath?
Q: Is Paul's primary purpose of the long "sin list" to shame the Roman church (and us) into better behavior? If yes, why? If no, then what is Paul's purpose?
- In his commentary on Romans, J. Vernon McGee wrote this about these dismal verses, “My friend, this is ‘sinnerama.’ The universal fact is that man is a sinner. We can put down the axiom that the world is guilty before God; all need righteousness. In this section Paul is not attempting to prove that man is a sinner. All Paul is doing is stating the fact that man is a sinner.” McGee then says, “Actually, if you want to know what salvation really is, you have to know how bad sin is. Wrath is the antithesis of righteousness, and it is used here as a correlative.”
Q: If you see a sin in the list that applies to you, do you think the Romans epistle will show a way for you to escape God's wrath?
- Tom’s summary of 18-32. In verses 18-32, Paul shows a cause-and-effect downward progression:
1. God has revealed aspects of Himself to humanity through natural revelation.Q: I think we need to pause and momentarily fast forward to chapter 3 for a taste of the blessed good news. Can someone read Romans 3:20-25?
2. Human beings “clearly perceived” this knowledge of God, but suppressed this truth.
3. Instead of worshiping God, they worship the creation.
4. Because of this, God “gave them up” to a variety of sins. This is His present wrath.
“20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”Q: Romans 1:18-32 shows that “depraved Gentile society” is lost in sin and under God’s wrath. They need saved. How does the good news in Romans 3:20-25 provide forgiveness, justification and salvation for sinners?
Q: We’ll discuss this significant passage in more detail when we get to chapter 3. Any questions or thoughts on this or anything else we’ve covered up until now?
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ROMANS CHAPTER TWO
- Chapter 2 continues with the theme of human sinfulness, but focuses on self-righteousness and hypocrisy.
- In chapter 2, John Stott divides Paul’s audience into 2 camps: critical moralizers and self-righteous Jews.
1. Critical Moralizers -- both Jews and Gentiles (vv.1-16):
- “…O man, every one of you who judges.” Paul uses the second person singular in the “ancient” diatribe style, “…in which questions or objections are put into the mouth of an imagined critic in order to be answered or demolished.” (FF Bruce)
- Jews not singled out until verse 17
- Moral Gentiles existed in the ancient world. F.F. Bruce uses the Stoic moral philosopher, Seneca, as an example: “What about a man like Paul’s illustrious contemporary Seneca, the Stoic moralist, the tutor of Nero? Seneca might have listened to Paul’s indictment and said, ‘Yes, that is perfectly true of great masses of mankind, and I concur in the judgment which you pass on them -- but there are others, of course, like myself, who deplore these tendencies as much as you do.’” Bruce continues, “But too often he [Seneca] tolerated in himself vices not so different from those which he condemned in others -- the most flagrant instance being his connivance at Nero’s murder of his mother Agrippina.”
2. Self-righteous Jews (vv.17-29). In this section, Paul directly addresses Jews, continuing with the diatribe literary style.Q: Could someone read Romans 2:1-5?
"1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed."Q: What stood out to you in this section of scripture?
Q: In verse 1, why does Paul start with the word therefore?
- Douglas Moo thinks the therefore refers to 1:18-19, “…which functions as a kind of heading for all of 1:18-3:20.…” Moo writes, “On this reading, Paul would be saying in 2:1 that because God’s wrath is revealed against all people, and because all people have been given knowledge of God, therefore even the person who judges is “without excuse” before God.”
Q: In verse 1, why does Paul accuse the critical moralizers of “practicing the very same things” as the depraved gentile society?
Q: Could someone read Romans 1:29-31?
“29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”Q: Which of these sins are the hypocrites from chapter 2 committing?
- Moo believes Paul is likely referring to the heart sins listed in 1:29-31. “Many of these sins--for example, pride, arrogance, gossiping, maligning others, and lack of affection--are as prevalent in the Jewish as in the Gentile world.”
Q: Would somebody like to read 2:6-11?
"6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality."
Q: Anything stand out to you here?
Q: In vv. 7 and 10, is Paul describing Christians or another group of people? [read the verses]
- Let’s fast-forward a bit to chapter 3:20, which says, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”
- Moo states, “But the context strongly suggests that Paul is not directly describing Christians in vv. 7 and 10.
- Moo writes, “We think, therefore, that vv. 7 and 10 set forth what is called in traditional theological (especially Lutheran) language ‘the law.’ Paul sets forth the biblical conditions for attaining eternal life apart from Christ.”
Q: Would someone like to read vv. 12-16?
"12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus."Q: Any comments on this section?
Q: What do you think “the law” is in verse 12?
Q: Who are those that have sinned without the law?
Q: Who are those that have sinned under the law?
- Moo writes, “The division of the world into those who sin ‘without the law’ and those who sin ‘in the law’ corresponds to the distinction between Jews and Gentiles (cf. vv. 10, 14). This means that the ‘law’ in question is the law of Moses, the body of commandments given by God through Moses to the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai.”
- Moo writes, “Paul affirms the principle that doing the law can lead to salvation; but he denies (1) that anyone can so ‘do’ the law; and (2) [Paul denies] that Jews can depend on their covenant relationship to shield them from the consequences of this failure.”
- Moo writes, “For Paul is almost certainly pressing into service a widespread Greek tradition to the effect that all human beings possess an ‘unwritten’ or ‘natural’ law -- an innate moral sense of ‘right and wrong.’”
Q: Would someone like to read vv. 17-24?
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”Q: Any comments on this section?
- Verses 17-29 marks a shift from John Stott’s “critical moralizers” (Jews and Gentiles) to the “self-confident Jews.” Paul continues with the diatribe style
1. Privilege one: Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 17)
Q: Could someone read Gen. 17:3-8?
3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”
Q: How does the Abrahamic covenant make the Jews privileged? (v. 7)2. Privilege two: Keepers of the OT scriptures (the Law and the Prophets) (Romans 3:2 “…the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” )
Q: In 3:2, Paul states that the Jews have an advantage because they were entrusted with the OT scriptures. But having the Law isn’t enough, says Paul. What more do the Jews need to do to attain righteousness before God?3. Privilege three: Circumcision. Moo writes, “Circumcision, like the law, was a sign of the Jew’s privileged position as a member of the chosen people, participants in the covenant that God established with Abraham (Gen. 17).”
Q: In vv. 21-24, Paul accuses his fellow Jews of blatant hypocrisy. What examples in the OT back up Paul’s harsh accusations?
- Romans 2:13 “13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.”
Q: Could someone read vv. 25-29?
25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.Q: Any comments on this section?
Q: Could someone read Genesis 17:10-14?
9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
- Timothy Keller writes, “What is the symbolism of circumcision? It was a visual sign of the penalty for breaking covenant. In ancient times, you didn’t sign your name to bind a deal. You acted out the curse that you would accept if you broke covenant.”
- So, circumcision was a small cut to remind them of the greater penalty of being cut off from Israel if they broke God’s covenant
Q: In v. 29, who is a true Jew?
Q: Could someone read Jeremiah 9:25?
25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
- Deuteronomy 10:16 (Moses speaking): “16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.”
- Jeremiah 4:3-4: "3 For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”
- Ezekiel 36:26 -- "26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Q: What is circumcision of the heart?
- The ESV study notes says about Ezek. 36:27 “I will put my Spirit within you predicts an effective inward work of God in the ‘new covenant.’”
Q: In v. 29, what is “the letter?”
- John Stott writes, “What Paul looks for is… ‘a circumcision of the heart that completely replaces the physical rite and does not merely complement it’. It will also be by the Spirit, not by the written code [the letter] (29b). That is, it will be an inward work of the Holy Spirit, such as the law as an external written code could never effect.”
- Writes Moo, “Paul’s ‘letter/Spirit’ contrast is a salvation-historical one, ‘letter’ describing the past era in which God’s law through Moses played a central role and ‘Spirit’ summing up the new era in which God’s Spirit is poured out in eschatological fullness and power. It is only the circumcision ‘in the Spirit’ that ultimately counts. For the first time, then, in Rom. 2, Paul alludes to Christians.”
“11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”Q: Any comments on this section?
- Timothy Keller writes, “He tells them [Colossian believers] that they have in fact been circumcised, in Christ, on the cross. In his death, Jesus was cut off. He was forsaken by his Father, cut off from Him (Mark 15:34)”
- So, our heart circumcision reminds us of the ultimate “cutting off” from the Father that Christ experienced on the cross. Jesus was cut off so we could be reconciled to God.
- Perhaps: circumcision of the heart is a mark of the New Covenant. Circumcision of the flesh was a mark of the Old Covenant.
