BIBLE STUDY
Outline helps and questions for personal and group study
Searching the Scriptures
by C hester J. P adgett
Romans (continued)
1. Is it wrong to go into debt? (12:8.) What about payments, etc.? Do you think Paul has reference pri marily to debts entered into without intention to pay or about goods ac quired on payment which are expend able and cannot be returned to the owners on default? 2. What is one legitimate debt that each believer ought to assume and ought to pay? (v.8.) 3. How does love keep a man from sinning? (w . 9,10.) 4. In the light of the return of Christ what maimer of life ought the believer to live? (w . 11-14.) 5. What is the best “ clothing” the Christian can wear? (v. 14.) Describe this clothing (cf. Col. 3:12-17). The haw o f L ove Concerning D oubtfu l Things 1. Read chapter 14. What is the main truth of this chapter? 2. What should be the attitude of the Christian toward his weaker brethren? (v. 1.) 3. Why should no Christian judge another Christian in matters of con science, i.e., in matters not expressly mentioned in the Bible? (v. 4.) 4. What is the main principle that should govern a believer’s actions with regard to matters of conscience? (w . 5, 13.) 5. To whom is the believer going to give account? (w . 11, 12.) 6. Why should not a Christian make an issue of certain actions not expressly stated or forbidden in the Bible? (v. 17.) 7. What proper attitude will govern every sincere believer’s conduct? (v. 21 .) 8. How does Paul show that no be liever is to impose an arbitrary stand ard of conduct on another believer? (v. 22.) What inner awareness indi cates whether or not a thing is sin, i.e., something not mentioned as sin in the Bible? (v. 23.) (T o be continued n ext m on th .)
How would this spirit benefit the church? 4. With what spirit should the Christian serve the Lord? (v. 11.) 5. What kind of a spirit ought to characterize, the Christian with re gard to the future? (v. 12.) 6. How should the believer accept the providence of God? (v. 12.) 7. What should be the Christian’s relation to prayer? (v. 12.) 8. What should be the Christian’s attitude toward giving? (v. 13.) 9. What should be the believer’s attitude toward those who are his enemies? (v. 14.) 10. How is the need for a sympa thetic heart indicated in verse 15? T h e Christian and Those W ithou t 1. How is the importance of con sistency of life brought out in 12:17, 18? 2. What is meant by “heaping coals of fire” on an enemy’s head? Do you think this could mean that he will be melted by kindness? Or do you think it means that his actions will ultimately destroy him if he does not respond rightly to kindness? 3. What is the Christian’s relation to the State according to 13:1-7? 4. Who is the real authority behind the governments of men? (v. 1.) 5. Paul is, of course, speaking about governments that actually exist with a sincere desire to benefit the people who live under them and this could be whether the form be demo cratic, dictatorial or otherwise. When the State becomes despotic and inter ested only in its own good, then it becomes bad government and should be overturned by the people and a government for the people instituted in its place (w . 3, 4). 6. What should be the believer’s attitude toward the support of his government? (vv. 6, 7.) T h e Law o f L ove Toward the N eighbor
Consecration o f L ife How did an understanding of God’s eternal purposes affect the apostle? (11:33-36.) 2. What one basic request does Paul make of believers in 12:1? 3. Why does God want the believ er’s body? 4. What are the “mercies” of God which form the basis for Paul’s appeal in 12:1? 5. Note the adjectives used with regard to the giving of the body to God. Think through these things. 6. In what sense is the Christian to be a non-conformist? (v. 2.) 7. How is the believer going to rise above the standards of the world? (v. 2.) 8. What three things are said about the will of God in verse 2? Think through the meaning of these terms. Christian S ervice 1. What should be a man’s estimate of himself? (12:3.) 2. To think “ soberly” means to think realistically a b o u t o n e s e l f . What are the implications of this action? 3. To how many has God granted the measure of faith? (v. 3.) What does this impose upon each believer? 4. What figure does Paul use with regard to the church in verse 4? How does this symbol instruct us? (v. 5.) 5. What should be the attitude and spirit of Christian service according to verses 6-8? The Christian and Those W ith in 1. “ Dissimulation” in 12:9 means hypocrisy. This means that the be liever should love, not for what he can get out of it, but for what he can contribute. 2. How should the believer feel toward evil? Toward good? (v. 9.) 3. How should the believer feel toward his fellow believer? (v. 10.)
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