Romans 2 Bible Study 6/13/13

In our year of examination it is important to study our motives, and what we are truly placing at the pinnacle of our lives. Romans 2 Helps us to evaluate those motives in our lives. Please read Romans 2 and throughout your study. Ask yourself the following questions:

 

Devotional Questions:

Romans 2:1-3

• Are there ways in which I “pass judgment on someone else” even though I am guilty of doing the very thing that I condemn?
• Reflect on the fact that in our better moments we recognize the horror of sin, and condemn it when we see it in others, or reported in the news. 
• Have I fully embraced the fact that God has every right to judge me for my sins?

Romans 2:4-5

“We, too, can ‘show contempt’ for God’s kindness toward us by using it as an ‘open season’ for sin […] We grow cavalier toward our sin because we think God will simply overlook it out of his love for us in Christ.”[1]

• What is it about human nature that would respond to “kindness, tolerance and patience” with “contempt?”
• Why would God’s “kindness, tolerance and patience” lead to repentance in some and not in others?
• As I look back on my life, do I agree that God has been kind, tolerant and patient to me?
• Why does it make sense that “stubbornness” and an “unrepentant heart” should be met with “God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed?”

Additional Questions:

Romans 2:6-16

• Why does it follow that “those who are self-seeking” will eventually also “reject the truth and follow evil?”
• How does this passage demonstrate that there is no one who is exempt from God’s judgment?
• What implication does this have for me, living in a pluralistic culture in which the violation of God’s innate “natural law” is accepted as a norm or even celebrated?

Romans 2:13, 17-29

“Possession of the law and the covenant sign of circumcision were perhaps the two most distinguishing marks of being Jewish.  Given to Israel by God himself, they signaled the fact that the Jews were a special people, elevated above all other peoples.”[2]

• What are the things that people rely on to “brag about [their] relationship to God?”
• Reflect on the exhortation to live out what we preach.  What are some ways in which discrepancy exists between what I say and what I do?
• How is failing to demonstrate in real life the values that I profess cause “God’s name [to be] blasphemed” among non-believers?
• What is the basis by which one will be “declared righteous” in God’s sight?  How has Jesus accomplished this for me on the cross?

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