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Book of Romans - Christianity 101
| WHAT DOES IT SAY? |
| Romans 6:1-14
 1 What
shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we
live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know
that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were therefore buried with him
through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the
dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If
we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also
be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For
we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin
might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin --
7 because anyone who has died has been
freed from sin.
8 Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9 For we know that since Christ was raised
from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once
for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In
the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your
mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do
not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but
rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to
life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of
righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your
master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
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| Re-write verse 1 in your own words: What is this question
that Paul anticipates people asking? (And how does he answer it?)
Verses 3-4. Most 1st-century Christians were baptized very
soon after their conversion, so they thought of those two events as
synonymous. When you asked them when they became Christians, they would say,
"Well, I was baptized on such-and-such a day." How would you
answer that question?
Verse 6 is one of the key verses in Romans.
(Look up the following key verses and be able to say why they’re "key":
1:17, 3:23, 3:28, 5:12, 6:23, 8:1, 8:39, 12:1)
How does Galatians 2:20 relate to verse 6?
Paraphrase verse 11. Exactly what is Paul telling us to do?
How do Romans 12:1 and 1 Cor. 6:19-20 relate to verse 13?
Verse 14: Why does Paul say we are under grace instead of law?
What common misunderstanding about the concept of living under grace does
Galatians 5:13 address?
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"A Christian is not simply a
person who gets forgiveness, who gets to go to heaven, who gets the Holy
Spirit, who gets a new nature. Mark this - a Christian is a person who
has become someone he was not before.
Becoming a Christian is not just
getting something, no matter how wonderful that something may be. It is
becoming someone."
David Needham,
Birthright
"If you fail to see yourself as
a child of God, you will struggle vainly to live like one, and Satan will
have little trouble convincing you that you are no different from who you
were before Christ. But appropriating by faith the radical transformation of
your core identity from sinner to saint will have a powerful, positive
effect on your daily resistance to sin and Satan.
The New Testament refers to the
person you were before you received Christ as your "old self", which was
motivated to live independent of God and was therefore characterized by sin,
died, and your new self, motivated by your new identity in Christ and
characterized by dependence on God, came to life.
Being a new person doesn’t mean
that you are sinless, but since your old self has been crucified and buried
with Christ, you no longer need to sin. You sin when you choose to
act independently of God."
Neil Anderson,
The Bondage Breaker
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| LIFE RESPONSE: What Does it Mean to
Me? |
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There are two major ideas in this
passage: the concept of our identity in Christ, and the concept of being under
grace instead of law.
1. Read and respond to these two quotes, by David Needham and Neil
Anderson. How have you tended to view yourself as a Christian?
What would you have to do in order to have a more Biblical self-image?
What difference do you think this change in thinking could make in your
attitudes and actions?
2. Read and respond to the chart below (taken from Freedom from Guilt,
by Bruce Narramore & Bill Counts).
 How have you tended to view your Christian life?
Have you been living it under law or
grace?
How could you change to a more grace-oriented way
of living?
What difference do you think this change in
thinking could make in your attitudes and actions?
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LAW |
GRACE |
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Eternal acceptance |
Earned
by works |
A gift
based on Christ's work |
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Daily Blessings |
Repeatedly earned by our works |
Given
as gifts based on Christ's work, and as a natural consequence of following
Biblical teachings |
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What God does when we fail |
No
forgiveness; immediate or eventual punishment.
(Bad circumstances are often interpreted as "paybacks" from God.)
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Forgives us because of Christ; relationship is unchanged.
(He may allow negative consequences as a form of discipline) |
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Motivation |
Heavily based on fear |
Based
on love & gratitude |
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Source of power |
Our
own efforts |
The
Holy Spirit strengthening us |
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Result |
Condemnation & death |
Salvation & life |
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