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Q5. (Romans 7:14-25) Christians disagree about who is the "I" in Romans 7. Is Paul referring to himself or others? What is your opinion? (We won't all agree here, but we'll learn what the issues are by taking and arguing for a position -- lovingly). Initially Paul wrote about himself prior to his conversion. He writes that although we are dead to sin, we are all exposed to the temptations of sin. He goes on to describe his inward conflict with sin, and shows how far short he came of the demands of the law, and that the old nature (flesh), still remains in believers. I now feel that Paul carries on writing about Christians who have not learned to walk by the Spirit. He goes on to describe the struggle between the two natures in a believer. In committing acts against his better judgment the believer concludes that the culprit is not the new man in Christ, but the sinful corrupt nature that dwells in him. The believer has the desire to do what is right, but he does not have the resources in himself. It is only with the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit that he is capable of standing up to sin. This is a battle that rages on. He is trying to achieve holiness by personal effort, struggling with all his might, only to discover that the more he struggled, the worse his condition became. It was a losing battle, and no wonder, for it is not in the power of fallen human nature to conquer sin and live in holiness.

Q4. (Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:18-20; Romans 7:24) What is the doctrine of "total depravity"? Put it in your own words. Does it mean that none of God's original goodness shows through? Then what does it mean? Total depravity is the total lack of spiritual good and the inability to do anything good before God. Any good that existed, when we were made in God

Q3. (Romans 7:12; 8:3) What does the law do well? Paul writes that the law is holy and each commandment is holy and just and good. It was given by God and is therefore perfect as an expression of His will for His people. It gives us the knowledge of sin. It allows us to discover the evil nature of sin, and its deceitful workings in us. What does it do poorly? It is because of our sinful nature that the law could not produce holy living. It is powerless to keep us from sinning. Why is the law (knowing right and wrong) powerless to save us? The law spoke to us when we were already sinners; without strength to obey. What we need is a Saviour to deliver us from the penalty and power of sin. What is the problem here? We always want our way. When we know something is wrong, we want it even more.

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? As long as we compare ourselves with others, we feel fairly respectable. As soon as we become aware of God

Q1. (Romans 7:5) Paul uses the word "flesh" (or NIV "sinful nature") many times in chapters 7 and 8. In your own words, what does Paul mean by "flesh" in these verses? We inherited a sinful nature because of Adam

Q5. (Romans 6:18-22) In Paul's analogy in these verses, is there a place of independent freedom apart from "slavery" to sin or to Christ? No, we cannot serve both Christ and Satan. We are either sinners or saints. Why do we long for this kind of independent freedom? Due to our inherent pride we want to be our own masters; to be in control of our lives, instead of surrendering to Jesus. Why do we hesitate to firmly take sides and make our allegiance clear to all? Often our lives are compromised, and are a poor reflection of Jesus. We sometimes feel uncomfortable to announce our Christianity in our

Q4. (Romans 6:17b) How does good doctrine affect the way we live? Good doctrine is what the Bible teaches us today about a particular topic. The more we know about God, about his Word, about his relationships to the world and mankind, the better we will trust him, the more fully we will praise him, and the more readily we will obey him. Studying and applying doctrine will not only make us grow as Christians, but also make us into more mature Christians. Why should we honor good doctrine? We should honour good doctrine knowing that it has been given to us by God. We know that the Bible is the inspired word of God. If we shouldn't look down on doctrine itself, what kind of teaching should we be avoiding? We should avoid any doctrine that has been altered or watered down. It must not be twisted to suit the times we live in, or make it more politically correct. We, therefore, need the power of discernment to be able to know truth from lies, to be able to hear what our Lord is telling us.

Q3. (Romans 6:15-18). What does obedience have to do with slavery? The slave does not obey his own will, but his master

Q2. (Romans 6:13) In what ways do you "offer the members of your body" to either sin or God multiple times in a day? We make decisions everyday; either let sin reign or grace reign. If we decide to let grace reign we will, by faith, recognize that we are dead to the Sin Nature. If, however, we make a decision to let the Sin Nature reign, we will end up obeying its lusts. Why is it that we can sin unconsciously? Sin is in our genes; in our DNA; it

Q1. (Romans 6:12) What does obedience have to do with the "reign" of sin? We have a tendency to sin and to be corrupt. Therefore Paul reminds us that since we have mortal bodies, which will soon decay, and which is also liable to be overcome by temptation, we must not allow sin to get hold of us and make us slaves to sin again. It is for this reason that we have to be obedient to His Word, and thereby not let sin reign in our lives.

Q5. (Romans 6:11) What does it mean to "reckon, consider, and count" in verse 11? To determine by mathematical process, reckon and calculate. Does this actually mean that we are convincing ourselves of something that isn't really true? No, it means that we are to accept what God says about us in verse 11, as true, and to live in the light of it. That is, count ourselves dead to sin, but alive to God, in Christ Jesus. What will be the effect in our lives if we actually do consider it to be true that we died with Christ's death with regard to sin? We are dead to sin; therefore we have nothing to do with immorality, lying, cheating, gossiping, or any other sin. Now that we are alive to God, in Christ Jesus, we are called to holiness, worship, prayer, service and fruit bearing.

Q4. (Romans 6:6-7) In what way has our "body of sin," our "flesh," our old nature been made powerless because of our crucifixion with Christ? Our old, evil, unregenerate selves; our sinful nature has been rendered powerless at the cross. This is because of our union with our Lord Jesus Christ. In what way have we been freed from slavery? Now that we have died with Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary; not only has our penalty been paid, but sin

Q3. (Romans 6:1-7) Is Paul referring to a figurative "death" to sin, or to a kind of historical, actual death? Paul is referring to the fact, that the moment we gave our lives to Jesus, we died with Christ on the cross. Not only has our penalty been paid, bt sin no longer has a stranglehold on our lives. We are no longer the helpless captives of sin; we are no longer slaves to sin. Whose death is he talking about? He is talking about the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. How does this death become our own? The actual union with Christ took place over 2000 years ago, and when Jesus died to sin, he died as our Representative

Q2. (Romans 6:3-4) In Paul's reference to baptism in 6:3-4, what does "buried" (6:4a) correspond to in the act of baptism? Here Paul is symbolically referring to the burial of Christ, and of our burial with Him as our head and representative. Our sin is buried; we share with Him in His death. We are dead to sin by the grace of Christ. We read in Col 2:12 also of being buried with Him in baptism. What does "Christ was raised from the dead" (6:4b) correspond to in baptism? It pictures the re-born believer in Christ rising to walk in newness of life.

The sacrament of baptism is not a requirement for salvation; it can be a public sign of it. I don

We moved from being under the headship of Adam to the headship of Christ when our Lord Jesus died on the Cross and was resurrected. To bring about this change in headship we must believe in our Lord Jesus Christ and fully repent of all our sins. The implications of us having died with Christ, is that we, as believers, who are in Christ, are seen by God as having died to sin.

The offense of Adam brought condemnation to us all. As a result of his sin, human death entered the world. Death came to all Adam

Paul shows us that Adam

Examples of a single person acting on behalf of others could be: heads of state, CEOs of companies, military leaders, the fathers of our families. There must be many more examples. Members of groups can be tied legally, by birth, militarily, by employment, etc. Here again there are many other examples.

Reconciliation here refers to the establishment of harmony between God and man, through the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross. Reconciliation with God is necessary. Sin brought about separation and enmity between man and God. By putting away sin the Lord Jesus restored those who believe on him to a state of harmony with God. It cost God his Son to have us reconciled to him. It cost him dearly, and therefore he will not easily let us go, we shall be preserved to the end by the present life of Christ. If his death had such power to save us, how much more will his life have power to keep us? At the present moment Jesus is at the right hand of God, interceding for us.

We are all sinners and were all ungodly. It is only by faith in His death that any are made godly. So Christ died for sinners and the ungodly. We read in 5:8 that Christ died for us when we were at our worst. Knowing that when we were at our worst Christ died for us and that we are now part of His family

Sufferings and tribulations, as they are allowed by the Lord, produces perseverance and tenacity. This would not occur if our lives were trouble-free. Perseverance again strengthens our character. We have been tested and approved

Abraham believed in the Lord and he was made righteous. With us, we have to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are then justified by faith in Christ's righteousness. To be justified means that God has responded to our faith and He declares our sins to be forgiven. But that's not all. He declares us perfectly roghteous by imputing the righteousness of our Lord Jesus to us. This comes to us entirly by God's grace.