Amazing Grace Bible Class – Lesson Nine – Romans

This article is part 10 of 20 in the series Amazing Grace Bible Class

* Romans has always been an exciting book to study… yet finding the balance Paul
   speaks of has been difficult for many who have written commentaries as well as those
   who have presented sermons based on Romans.
* Debaters have argued from the same book of Romans for and against FAITH ONLY
   SALVATION. The problem of coming to the scriptures with a bias, has led many into a
   position which Paul never intended.
* BALANCE IS NEEDED… Any truth can be taken to extreme and made into a false
   doctrine.
* Paul’s letter to the Roman church is one which is truly amazing. As usual he is
   concerned with the problem of legalism… Yet as he writes he is sure to include the
   encouragement which Christians of all ages still hunger for.
* Thus, it is time for some encouragement! Look at how grace works after salvation
   according to Paul.
* “We generally start with the assumption that the rules dramatically change after
   salvation. And to this extent, we’re right. But we assume the standard gets tougher, that
   God holds us to an ever-higher standard. But while there’s a germ of truth in that
   thought, it misses the much larger point. Although God does have very high expectations
   for his children, his forgiveness is far greater for the saved than for the being-saved.”
* The most needed (over-looked) passage: Romans 5:8-10
   a.) Justification (Above charge/No indictment) – Our Pardon
   b.) The Means of Pardon (cross)/ The place of Pardon (“in Christ”) WHILE STILL
         ENEMIES
* The most extraordinary passage: Romans 5:9-10
   a.) Pay attention to and discuss  “MUCH MORE”
   b.) What does this say to us NOW as opposed to when we were saved?
   c.) How clean were we when just saved? How many sins were charged against us
        then?
   d.) When immersed ALL SINS WASHED AWAY/ NEW LIFE… but this is how sins
        continue to be washed!
* Most misunderstood passage: Romans 7:18-24
* Paul knows he cannot measure up/ always messing up/ concludes with a plea- how
   can he be rescued? He has been saved. Immersed for remission of sins. His answer
   is not re-baptism.. it is something more!

1. Romans 8
    A. Vs. 1 NO LOST CHRISTIANS EVEN IN WEAK MOMENTS
    B. Vs. 2 Law of sin and death = when one sins he dies
         1.) Romans 1:32
         2.) Romans 5:12
         3.) Paul says WE ARE FREE FROM THIS LAW
    C. Vs. 3-4
         1.) REQUIREMENTS OF LAW = FULLY MET IN US
         2.) Not occasionally met! Not met when we ‘do’ things… but because HE did!
              *  Now let’s look at the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit…
    D. Vs. 5-9
         (Paul says that we are supposed to live according to the Spirit. No. That’s not
          right. He says we do live according to the Spirit. It’s not a condition or maybe. It’s
          a fact. All Christians do this. Therefore, Paul says, we Christians have our minds
          set on the Spirit’s desires. Now,  we’ve discussed the Spirit before. The Spirit
          works in us to make us ever-more holy, to give us joy, to give us gifts to be used
          in God’s service, to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
         1.) How important is the ‘mind set’?
         2.) What does this mean?
         3.) How this supposed to affect the Christians life?
         4.) How close does this make us to God? (John 17:20-23) “… you in me and I in
              you..”
    E. Vs. 10-11
         1.) Begin chapter with ALL CHRISTIANS ARE SAVED ALL THE TIME!
         2.) ALL CHRISTIANS HAVE THE SPIRIT ALL THE TIME!
         3.) There is no ‘in and out’ of Christ as we do good and bad – saved by Jesus!
     F. Vs. 12-14 (by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body)
         1.) Rather than dying because of sin/ the Spirit helps us put sin to death. NO JOY 
              IN SIN!
         2.) Condition – “if” because we can ‘quench’ the Spirit (what this mean?)
         3.) Ephesians 2:8-10
         4.) WE ARE HIS CHILDREN vs. 14 (NOTE: PAUL DOES NOT TEACH ONCE
              SAVED ALWAYS SAVED…. HE DOES TEACH ONCE SAVED NOW SAVED!
              IT IS EASY TO FALL FROM A ‘SYSTEM’ (LAW/WORKS), BUT IT IS HARD
              TO FALL FROM A RELATIONSHIP (CF. LK. 15:11-32).
         5.) We have used the pulpit and periodicals far too long to ‘run down’ brethren,
              and take away their hope and confidence. Paul didn’t do this. He gave
              Christians confidence, yet warned against taking grace for granted…
              BALANCE.
     G. Vs. 15-17 ABBA FATHER – WE BELONG TO HIM!
     H. Vs. 18-25 Future glory for the Christian is waiting!!!
      I. Vs. 26-27 THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US IN PRAYER
     J. Vs. 28-37 More than conquerors (THAT’S WHO WE ARE ‘IN AND BECAUSE OF
         JESUS)
     K. Vs. 38-39 WHO CAN SEPARATE US FROM OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?!

    “WE DON’T EARN OUR SALVATION! WE RESPOND TO OUR SALVATION. REDEMPTION BRINGS US INTO CHRIST AND HIS FAMILY… THE “CREATION OF GOD”. CREATED TO DO GOOD WORKS. IF WE AS HIS NEW CREATION DO NOT DO THE GOOD WORKS HE PLANNED… WE HAVE FRUSTRATED THE VERY PURPOSE OF OUR SALVATION.”

(Special thanks to Jay Guinn (www.oneinjesus.info). His lessons on Amazing Grace have been very helpful in this class material..)

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