Reading for October 8th

 Read Romans 7.14-25. In verses 14-20: The struggle to do good. I am of the flesh; Paul maybe speaking of his own moral  struggle or using "I" to express everyone's experience. Sin that dwells within me (vv. 17, 20) suggests as alien presence wreaking havoc in an unwilling host. In verses 21-25: The war within us. In verse 21: a law here means "a rule". In verse 22:The law of God may be the Mosaic law (vv. 14, 16). In verse 23: Elsewhere the opposition is between flesh and Spirit (Gal 5.17). In verse 25: As before, sin and God are enemies (6.22). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 7th

 Read Romans 7.1- 13. In verses 1-3: Marriage and the law. Whether the Jewish law (ex 20.14; Deut 5.18) or Roman law is in view is not clear. The same principle holds for both: Laws governing marriage presuppose two living partners. The death of one partner (here the husband), invalidates the law, leaving the other partner (the wife) free to marry. In verses 4-6: Christ's death and the Law. The law of Moses is the first husband, the risen Christ the second husband. Paul's readers are the wife now discharged from the obligations of the old written code. Newly married to Christ, they belong to another and enjoy the new life of the Spirit. Generally, the analogy makes sense, but seems forced. V. 4 is difficult. In verses 7-13: The value of the law. In verse 7: V. 5 seems to support the objection. By naming the sin, the law raises the sinner's consciousness. To covet is to want something that belongs to someone else (Ex 20.17; Deut 5.21). In verses 8-11: Sin takes on personal qualities, having power to seize and manipulate people and laws. Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 6th

 Read Romans 6.15-23. In verses 15-19: Choosing whom to obey. In verse 15: For Paul's critics, exchanging law for grace encourages sin (3.8). In verses 16-19: The widespread practice of slavery in antiquity inform Paul's discussion: Living as slaves meant obedient submission (Eph 6.5-9; Col 3.22-4.1). In verses 20-23: Thinking long-term. In verse 20: To be free is to be without obligation to righteousness. In verse 21: Sin can cause physical death and ultimate separation from God. (8.6, 13). In verse 22: With changed loyalties comes a purer life, sanctification (1 Thess 4.3), and eventually eternal life with God (5.21). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 5th

 Read Romans 6.5-14. In verses 5-11: Dying and living with Christ. In verse 5-8: With him: Believers "enter" Christ's experience as co-participants (Gal.19-20). In verse 10: He died to sin; In dying, Christ yielded to sin's power to kill. Christ's death occurred once; his new life with God is ongoing: He lives to God. In verse 11: Sin and God represent opposing realities and loyalties. In verses 12-14: Shifting loyalties. Sin may be an impersonal force, but it seriously competes with God for dominion over mortal bodies. In verse 13: Those ... brought from death to life have relived Christ's experience (v. 8). In verse 14: Christ's death also represents a shift from law to grace. (Jn 1.17). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 4th

 Read Romans 6.1-4. In 6.1-4: Dying to Sin. In verse 1: Paul now answers his critics more fully (3.8). In verse 3-4: Through baptism, believers ritually reenact Jesus' death and resurrection, experiencing the radical shift from death to life as moral renewal: death to sin and newness of life (Col 2.11-12). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 3rd

 Read Romans 5.12-21. In verses 12-14: Sin, death, and law. Tracing sin and death to one man, Adam, is based upon Gen 3. Universal sin brings universal death (Rom 3.9). In verse 13-14: Adam's sin preceded the Mosaic law chronologically, but law makes sin and its consequences specific, thus easier to deal with. Adam is seen as a type (a figure with important similarities) of Christ, the one who was to come (1 Cor 15.45-47). In verses 15-17: Adam and Christ. Free gift translate different Greek words ("charisama," vv. 15a, 16b; "dora," vv. 15, 17; "dorema," v16), but they all refer to God's free gift of Christ, which is events are alike because they show how one person can affect many people. But they have very different effects, Adam's trespass brought condemnation (v.16) and death (v. 17), where as God's free gift of Christ brought justification (v.16) and life (v. 17) In verses 18-21: Law and grace. In verses 18-19: These verses summarize and extend the contrast of the previous section. In verse 20-21; The Mosaic law came in and made sin and its consequences clear (4.15). Trespasses multiplied because awareness of sin increased. Yet, the lethal effects of sin were exceeded by God's grace shown through Jesus Christ our Lord. this event revealed God's righteousness by proving God reliable and making real the prospect of eternal life (6.23). Comments or Questions..

Reading for October 2nd

 Read Romans 5.1-11. In verses 1-5: Peace with God through Christ. In verse 1; Gal 2.16. Peace results where justice and righteousness prevail (Isa 32.16-18). In verse 2: To experience salvation as gift, not reward, it to stand in God's grace (1 Pet 5.12; Rom 4.4-5). In verse 2-3: Boast is used positively here, meaning "take pride in" (Rom 3.27; 1 Cor 1.29). In verse 3-4: Suffering is properly understood within the larger perspective of resurrection hope. In verse 5: God's past activities provide the basis for hope (Ps 22.3-5). The Holy Spirit given to believers is the tangible expression of God's love (Titus 3.6). In verses 6-11: Christ died for sinners. In verse 6: The ungodly live against God (Rom 4.5). In verse 7: It is hard enough to die for a generous, good-hearted person. In verse 8: Christ's death for sinners who are neither good not righteous shows God's unusual love (Jn 3.16; 1 Jn 4.10). In verse 9: His blood: Jesus' death is understood as atoning sacrifice (Rom 3.25). In verses 10-11: Those yielding to the power of sin become enemies of God (Rom 3/9-18). Christ's death reconciles sinful humanity with God (2 Cor 5.18-19; Col 1.21-22), through his resurrection life, believers experience similar hope of being saved. In verse 11: God now becomes the proper object of pride (1 Cor1.31). Comments or Questions..