Chapter 3/4 – some review and extra questions
What is the sign of salvation (or at least faith) – Holy Spirit à Who gives the sign? Compare to circumsicion and the law à what does this mean for us today?
What is Paul also arguing in Ch 4 in terms of his relation with the Galatians? (fellowship)
OVERVIEW Questions on the LAW
How would you characterize Paul’s view of the law (both positive and negative!)
Ch 4
How would you characterize Paul’s tone in the opening verse? What is he effectively saying?
Why does Paul use the Abraham argument? What does this say about culture and evangelism?
What does it say about the opposing argument?
What would a more traditional argument about this passage say, especially in terms of the Gentiles? How does Paul combat this, especially in relation to the Galatians and their place now? What does this say for us?
Make a chart diagramming Paul’s argument in comparing things, what can you see from it?
Who represents what in a traditional argument? Who represents what in Paul’s argument?
What are possible interpretations of New Jerusalem vs Present one and others? (What might it also stand for? Think of Paul’s confrontation with Peter)
What other things does this argument signify? Think in terms of God and his promise and then our response to that?
What is the significance of Isaiah 54 (v27)? What is the normal (and indeed proper) reading? How does that tie in what Paul is saying (how does it fit now with his argument? What links them (God’s Fulfillment)? What does that say about scripture itself?
So how does Paul end his argument? What does Paul say about scripture? What is he saying especially in light of “slavery” and the “law”? What does freedom in Christ mean?
How do we normally read the OT? How does Paul, who quotes a lot of OT, read the OT? (through the lens of the gospel) Should we ONLY or ALWAYS read it this way?
Paul could have rejected the OT altogether or at least just the law… but why doesn’t he (think in terms of who the Galatians – and we! – are)?
What does this say about normalization of Christian practice?
What could be dangerous about this passage?
June 29, 2008 at 8:01 am |
I went back to look up the whole thing about an advantage being a disadvantage as well. The text was Romans 2:17-29. I took notes on a sermon about this and the message got stuck in my head.
Romans 2:17-22…
The Jews did the best they could to follow the Mosaic law; this law made them accountable to God, making them a guide or a light. However, those without the law are blind and like children. It is important to live up to the law, otherwise there is no reason to know more about the law. Jews have an advantage of knowing God’s law and teaching it, but they have a disadvantage of living up to the law. We can see this being pointed out in verses 21 and 22. The Jews taught the law, but were questioned about whether or not they actually practiced what they preached. If they knew the law, then they should have known what was right and what was wrong. So do we use the gifts and blessings Christ has given us to build up other in their faith?
Romans 2:23-26…
If one did not live up to the law, it was as if they were uncircumcised. However, if one was not circumcised, but followed the law, they were considered more righteous. The question to us is… do we honor the name of God by the way we live our lives?
Romans 2:27-29…
The gentiles who keep the law will become the witnesses, for a Jew is not one who appears to be on the outside, but who is one on the inside. Jew comes from the word Judah, which means praise God and circumcision is truly in our hearts. To praise God we need to be a witness and during this time some of the Jews were not being witnesses of the truth. God isn’t fooled by a temporary appearance of praising God; God sees our hearts, sin, and devotion which starts from the heart. Therefore, we should examine our hearts and determine what we are really living for and our goals in our relationship with God.
And going back to how we weren’t originally chosen, one analogy I learned was that God had an olive tree. This tree was originally made up of Jews as the branches and God’s convenant symbolized the roots. The gentiles were part of another tree that beared no fruit so God took the branches from that tree and grafted it on the olive tree that was bearing fruit so we could be blessed by God as well. We should be in awe that He had compassion on us Gentiles because normally a branch that beared no fruit would not be grafted onto a tree that did bear fruit. This is why our job of being a witness is so important. God gave us a chance and if we don’t take that chance to bear fruit then we are failing to perform the duty God gave us. This idea comes from Romans 11:11-24.
The homosexuality topic… Romans 1:26-27 talks about women and men abandoning each other and having lust for the same sex. Men committed unpleasing acts and were punished for their perversion. However, we cannot hate them, but rather as believers offer support for the sinner.
Oh yeah, I remember that in psychology I watched a video and they talked about what caused old couples to stay so happy all those years. The scientific reason was because they had high levels of oxytocin.
I won’t be at college group next week because I’ll be in Hawaii, but if I stumble upon anything else I’ll leave another comment.