ST NICOLAS, NEWBURY

HOME GROUP QUESTIONS

FROM SUNDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2008

ROAMING ROMANS SESSION 12: ROMANS 7:7-25

1. Read Romans 7:1-13.

2. What exactly does Paul mean by 'the law' in this chapter?

3. From what Paul has been saying in verse 1-6, what might have led someone to ask 'Is the law sin?' in verse 7?

4. How does Paul answer? What can the law do? And what can it not do? [The basic idea here is that the law can 'diagnose' sin but not 'treat' it. The law reveals sin but cannot justify or sanctify.]

5. Now read verses 14-25. Note that verses 18-20 more or less repeat what Paul says in verse 14-17. What tension is Paul expressing here?

6. Are you aware of a similar struggle in your own life? Does your experience differ in any way from what Paul describes here?

7. What do you make of the separation he makes between 'I myself' and 'sin living in me' in verse 17?

8. There has been a lot of debate on the issue of whether Paul is writing about a) his present experience as a Christian, b) his experience before he became a Christian or c) something else! What do you think?

9. Here's Eugene Petersen's translation of verses 17-25 from 'The Message'. You might like to use it as an introduction to a time of prayer.

I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.

David Stone
18 February 2008