OCF Bible Study

Hello (:

I mainly just wanted a place to write this down and immortalise it haha. I'm with OCF doing bible study on the chapter of Romans now, and so far we've done Romans chapter one and two, and it is very interesting x)

So, the theme for OCF is 'Why is the gospel so good?'

And the book of Romans is generally recommended for people who want to find God again, renewal of faith etc. (as said in my NIV study bible haha), which was good cos I feel like I'm abit off track this past few months..

We've completed Rom 1 and 2:

Rom 1
Verses 1-7 is like a mini summary of the gospel and intro to the book of Romans
8-15 is the reason for writing this book/letter
16-23 is on righteousness vs. unrighteousness
24-32 on the penalty and consequences of sin.

Pointers in Rom1
v1: we're all saved by the same gospel.
v2-6: "for his name's sake", what does that mean? xref: Rom 9:22-23. God's glory is so awesome already that we can't actually add to it, but we can glorify his name by sharing it with the world.
We've also been saved by grace (undeserved mercy), and we need this because we can never match up to God's holiness.

v10-12: on fellowship and prayer. Building each other up and encouraging one another.
v16-17: The righteousness we receive from God is by faith. Paul explicitly states that he is unashamed of the gospel; infer that maybe in that culture then, it was extremely tempting to be 'ashamed' of the gospel like dodging questions about spirituality etc. But in v17 we know that the gospel is the salvation of everyone who believes.

So, is this true in my life? Do I really believe that it is the salvation of everyone who believes? Would truly believing this change the way I do things? Perhaps our lifestyle choices, the way we speak or act (xref: 1Pet 3:15-17), the care and concern (or lack of) we show others. If this gospel is so good, why do we not want to share it, why are we ashamed of such an awesome thing like God-given forgiveness and grace?

v18: on the godless men who live as though there is no God, but there is.
v20: the entire world and its creation testify to God's nature, and man is without excuse in thinking there is no God.
v21-23: idolatory, the foolishness of men who exchange a living God for mere statues. Exchange the spring of life for broken cisterns (xref Jer 2:13). Idolatory/putting things before God defies the first commandment, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

v18-32: actually, we're the ungodly wicked people. This is how bad we are in comparison with a holy God, this is why we need grace, and this is why the gospel is so good, cos it offers us a way out, we the ungodly wicked people..We're freed from the entrapments of sin, and the only reason is because of God's love for us. It's for the salvation of ALL who believe, in spite of all the nonsense we do, we have this GREAT news.


Rom 2
It's about judgement and falling short of the law, being self righteous, the superiority and hypocrisy of the Jews. Also stating that God's judgement is inevitable and just.

v1: "You, therefore, have no excuse.." Reasons are stated previous chapter; people who know the law and fall short = fail. God will judge us in truth. We shouldn't judge because, we put God off his rightful throne, and, xref Matt 7:1, we will instead be judged by the same measure we use.

v4: If we judge, we haven't truly repented. If we can truly recognise our godlessness and wickedness, how can we judge a brother or sister knowing we are THAT bad? Clearly we haven't realised the severity of our own sin.
Judging in real life could be simple things like negativity towards a person, condemnation or pride (thinking I'm a better person; which we're not, obviously).

v6: It is judgement on what we have done. And all have fallen short of God's glory, no one can match up to it, except Jesus Christ.
v7: The eternal life is the eternal presence of God, that we may know him. (xref John 17:3)

v12-13: The ones who know the law, will be judged by the law. But even the ones who don't, will be judged by their consciences (xref Luke 12:48). Point to note is that our conscience is also fallen and sinful, therefore we should continually seek to be corrected by God.

v16: Finality that judgement will come.

v17-24: Jews are God's chosen people, why do they not set an example? We also should not forget we know the law and should set an example.

v25-27: on rituals, we have things like baptism and communion to help point us back to God, but they will not have value if we do not obey and keep the law; we're still a lawbreaker.

v28: basically a true Christian is one inside out, and not just in name.

So we must realise that we are extremely sinful, and will be judged on what we have done ("judge men's secrets" v16). The only response we can have is to repent and worship God, because we are so unworthy and so fail, that ..all we can do is give all we have to God for his glory.

/edit
We move on to Rom 3

Rom 3

So it's mostly directed to Jews, who were entrusted with the words of God.
v3-8, on God's faithfulness. Many rhetorical questions and rebuttal of human arguments.
v10-18, sinfulness (in thought, word and deed)
v21-26, we're given a righteousness by faith, God gives us a way out.
v27-31, conclusion about the nature of our faith, that we are circumcised in the spirit

v3-8, it's a human argument if we say we glorify God when we sin or be unrighteous, and we shouldn't be judged for it. That's nonsense.
And in v8, 'let us do evil that good may result'? Nonsense! God does not need our pitiable efforts to make him look good/to prove how righteous he is. There is no way we can add (or subtract) any of God's glory, ever. Is he then unjust for bringing his wrath on us? No, because he is a just and holy God and therefore sin has to be punished.
v4, this is the basis for our faith, that God exists, and all his words are truthful.

v4,6 points to God's sovereignty as judge of the world. xref Psa 51:4

Characteristics of God -- v3, faithful. v4, 7, true/truthful. v5, just.

v9-20, all of us are unrighteous, sinful, and we do no good. This part dispels all human confidence in our works. This is how we look to a holy God.
There are three main categories of sin, thought, word and deed.
v11, 12, 18, sin in thought, failing to love God.
v13, 14, sin in word
v12b, 15, 16, 17, sin in deed. On violence, ruin, misery, war, causing dissent and factions. And v12b, 'there is no one who does good', point to note is that passivity/neutrality =/= doing good xref Jas 4:17
And, v18's fearing God is more about respect for his omnipotence, to fear his judgement, to shun evil xref Prov 14:16
v20, we miss the mark and cannot match up. Same like before, keeping the law without God in our hearts is meaningless. The law is the benchmark we compare ourselves to; it's to convict us of sin xref Rom 7:7, and of doing wrong.

v21-26, specifically v23, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We sin, fail to meet God's standards, fail to give God the glory. We have exchanged the glory of God for mere images xref Rom 1:23
v24, element of redemption and the cost to God. Also reconciliation, and freely justified: we did nothing to earn it, and no one can boast, no one can claim they are more righteous than others.

And we conclude that the gospel is so good because: it's the greatest free gift, period. And my assurance of salvation if only I believe: we are freely justified.

Rom 4
v1-8, Abraham being justified by faith and not works
v9-12, don't need to be circumcised to be justified
v13-17, righteousness is from faith and not from the law
v18-25, Abe's story
Abe's actually the founding father of their faith, symbolic character, kinda like must follow in his footsteps. Paul was trying to debunk myth that Jews are more righteous cos Abe was a symbol of righteousness but he was justified by faith (was not circumcised).

v1-8, Abe wasn't justified by works
v7, 8, is from David's psalm when he broke 4 commandments during his episode with Bathsheba (murder, adultery, idolatory, coveting) xref Psa 32:1,2 and he could still say blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him (after FOUR broken commandments!?!) We're really justified by faith and not by works.
v7, our sins are covered by the blood of Christ. Righteousness is credited to us based on that and that alone (in a sense, it removes our 'negatives' i.e. sin, and also adds 'positives' i.e. Christ's righteousness)

v9, 10, faith was credited to Abe before circumcision. Circumcision is a physical sign that they were set apart for God, not the thing which makes us righteous.
v11, 12, Abe is the father of all who believe and are not circumcised, and also of all circumcised and follow in his footsteps.
v13-15, it was faith that gave Abe the promise that he'll be the heir of the world and have many descendants.
v16, if we were to depend on the law for promises, no one would have gotten it, because all have fall short and unable to fulfill the law. The promise comes from grace and guaranteed to all.
v17, our God is a powerful God who can call things that are not as though they were, namely raise Jesus from the dead, and call us righteous by the blood even though we on the inside are obviously not.

v20, Abe's unwavering faith and hope in the most dire circumstances. The object of his faith was God and he gave glory to him and v21, being fully persuaded that God will fulfill his promise.
v22-25, there is justification by faith.
v25, Jesus died for our sins, and to conquer sin/death, he was raised again and we can say we serve a living God.

So, why is the gospel so good? There is a way that we can be righteous, and that is by the blood of Christ, and this is the way out. Nobody is more righteous than anyone else, and faith clears our inequities.