Session 1
When in Rome, Don't
Study Scripture: Romans 1:1—3:20
Key Verse: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
Teaching Aims
To help the learners:1. Define for themselves the meaning of salvation and righteousness.
2. Recognize Scripture's application to all people and not simply a select few based on race, nationality, or denomination.
3. See that redemption was initiated by God through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
Perspective
Paul's letter to the church at Rome may be one of the "thickest"
books on Christian theology that we have in the entire New
Testament. Its discussions and definitions of terms such as salvation, righteousness, justification, and sanctification make it a cornerstone of Wesleyan theology.
These characteristics of Romans might be a two-edged sword for use with teens: on the one hand, it provides an incredibly firm and important foundation of faith for adolescents on the verge of
independent thinking; on the other hand, it may sometimes become almost too heavy for many teenage minds to grasp, especially on the first reading. That is why it is imperative to approach the book in this Bible study group fashion—for clarification, support, and
encouragement.
Bible study is an active activity, something to be pursued with enthusiasm by all in the group and not simply absorbed through some kind of spiritual osmosis. It is important that each student take the initiative to study on his or her own time during the week, then be facilitated to share his or her insights during the group gathering.
This particular lesson will help your teens understand that Paul was a missionary in the strictest and most accurate sense. He,
himself, had been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ from a life of persecuting the followers of the Messiah. It is with that heart of humility and sympathy that he approached the difficulties being experienced by the church in Rome.
Bible Background
This Bible Background and the one that follow will cover the entire Study Scripture although only a portion of that scripture is actually used in the group session. This is done so that you, the NOTES
leader, will understand the context surrounding the passages and be prepared to help those students who are completing Personal Discoveries.
It may be important at the beginning of your Discovery Group meetings to establish the differences in the types or genres of writing found in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. There are the narratives (stories), the epistles (letters), and the prophecies
(revelations). Even among the epistles, of which Romans is one, there are various genres: discourses, stories, testimonies, greetings, etc.
You might find it useful to explain the differences in these types of writings so that the students can read each passage with more purpose and understanding.
The New Testament starts with four versions of the same story:
the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Those books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are probably quite familiar to all of your teens, but if your group includes or is made up entirely of students who are completely new to
Christianity, you might want to spend most of the first session reviewing the highlights of those Gospels. It will be up to you to establish the credibility and teachings of Christ so that Paul's admonitions and testimonies will have some initial foundation.
After the four Gospels comes Luke's "Volume II," the Book of Acts. It is a historical-theological account of the beginnings of the Church—capital C—as the good news of Jesus is spread through
"Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It describes, defends, guides, and encourages the first Church of Christ as led by the apostle Peter and the missionary Paul, who had, of course, been the Church's "enemy number one" as Saul of Tarsus.
We are first introduced to Saul at the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54--8:1), then are allowed to witness his conversion on the Road to Damascus in chapter 9. It was God's servant, Ananias, who went to Saul and said, “The Lord--Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here--has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength" (9:17-19). It is not until 13:9, however, that Saul's other name of Paul is used.
According to custom then, it was not uncommon for a man to carry both a Jewish "given" name and a Roman "later" name, perhaps in this case signifying Paul's new ministry to the Gentiles.
Paul probably wrote his letter to the Roman church from the city of Corinth, where he was finishing his third missionary trip in the early Spring of A.D. 57. The Roman church was mostly Gentile, but Jews made up a sizable portion of the congregation as well. Paul's purpose was to show the universality of the gospel, that salvation and righteousness are for all people, no matter their origin.
NOTES
He goes beyond the initial crisis of salvation, however; through the power and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the believer is liberated from sin and, therefore, from law and spiritual death. Paul also insists late in the letter that righteousness is the horizontal, relational
outcome of the vertical relationship of holiness to God. Therefore, the life of the Christian has practical applications and visible differences from the former life of sin. Our behavior to others, no matter if they are friends or enemies, must be demonstrably different from the ways of the world: forgiveness replaces vengeance;
benevolence replaces selfishness; tolerance replaces intolerance;
open-mindedness replaces close-mindedness; sympathy and empathy replace ego and ethnocentricity.
Paul introduces himself as "a servant of Christ Jesus," a label made more interesting in the Greek, where "servant" carries both the meaning of servant and of slave: of one who serves by choice and one who serves by obligation. Then he says he has been "called to be an apostle," or one who has been specifically and especially
commissioned to carry forth the gospel. He ends the salutation in verse 7 by claiming the Roman church to be "saints," implying their call to holiness and being "set apart" to serve God.
We must understand the strength of character and resolve of personality that lie in Paul, for before his conversion he was focused on his political purpose to eradicate Christianity. Now, as a follower of the Christ, that same zeal and singularity of concentration became the cornerstones of his ministry. "I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." To utter those words in the hub of the Roman Empire was not a mark of cowardice or backseat commitment; Paul was a commissioned officer in the kingdom of God and the world would know it—all the world.
When Paul claims later in verse 16 that the gospel is "first for the Jew, then for the Gentile," he is referring to both chronology and privilege. John stated in his Gospel (4:22) that "Salvation is from the Jews," and, of course, the Messiah himself was a Jew. All the
covenants, laws, worship rules for the temple, and prophecies came to the Jews. God chose them, not because He favored a particular race, but because He had to reveal himself somewhere and to someone who in turn would carry His message worldwide.
The balance of this opening passage outlines the need for righteousness of all people, for all have sinned: the sins of the Gentiles (1:18-32), the sins of the Jews (2:1--3:8), and the sin of all (3:9-20). In the second section, Paul tells the Church that God judges people on three criteria: according to truth (2:20); according to deeds (2:6-11); and according to the light a person has (2:12-15). God does not condemn judging others per se but does so when judging is done hypocritically (see Matthew 7:1). Paul reiterates this here, for the Jews tended to look down on the Gentiles for their lack of
NOTES
recognition of God in the Old Testament and for their immorality.
It might seem at first reading that Paul claimed in 2:6 that salvation is earned rather than given freely by God's mercy and grace.
Paul was actually using the hyperbole of the perfect life. If one could live a life of nothing but goodness and kindness and righteousness, he would earn eternal life because God judges based on action. But that is impossible apart from God, so God can indeed judge a person according to what she or he does.
This passage ends with an "annotated bibliography" of Old Testament quotations that reinforce the idea that no one is guiltless:
all have sinned. It is interesting that these quotes are not verbatim quotations, which can be explained in one of two ways. First, New Testament writers often "revised" certain phrases of the Old Testament in order to emphasize their points. Second, the original Hebrew writing was often unfamiliar to the New Testament writers, so they quoted the version they knew best—the Greek translation.
Furthermore, quotation marks were not used in Greek writing, so perhaps word-for-word quotations were never intended by the writer.
Session Activities
To be used with the corresponding Discovery Group activities in the student lessons.
A. Let the Punishment Fit the Crime
Many teens these days think that if they don't get caught doing wrong, then they didn't do wrong at all. It's the ethic of survival rather than sur-thrival. Too often, television and politics and
everyday situations teach us that we can do anything we please if we are sly and careful enough to keep people from seeing us. Too bad everybody is watching us all the time.
This activity will show your students that Jesus looks at the heart of a person. It is in the heart that He sees what a person is, not what a person does or has. No matter how pure our actions might appear on the outside, if the motive is not just as pure, then we have a long way to go before we are truly like Christ.
Younger students may have some difficulty getting started on this, as it asks for some almost abstract reasoning skills, so you might have to help them—maybe even the week before. Provide some suggestions and examples to let them see what direction you want them to go. One good suggestion is to get a newspaper with a lot of crime stories and talk to them about why certain behaviors are criminal. This will give you a good opportunity to explain some of the differences between "legal" behavior and "moral" behavior and why some things that are legal are still immoral and why some things that are deemed "illegal" are not necessarily immoral. (Have some examples of these handy for discussion.)
NOTES
B. OK, Let's Wrath It Up
Students of all ages will be able to handle this activity immediately because, if there’s one thing that is universally true about teens, it is the feeling that the world treats them unjustly.
Teachers never see the first blow of a fight; parents never understand the reason their child was late; bosses never give in when there's a battle of the wills.
After the chart is completed, it would be good for them to discuss some of their ideas to get a better feeling that they are not the martyr they have always considered themselves to be . . . at least not the only martyr in the world. All of us have felt mistreated and have fantasized about "being in charge."
You might also want them to discuss some of the crimes and punishments in society that seem fair and just and others that don't seem to consider both sides of the issue. Get them to think beyond
"legal" and "illegal”—get them considering "fair" and "unfair."
C. Everybody's a Hypocrite
One thing you know that your students may not yet understand is that the world is full of contradictions and that life is full of
oxymorons: things that don't go together and things that don't make sense. This exercise initiates recognition of such things and sets them on the road to reality and maturity.
At first, it may seem like a mean-spirited, judgmental, un- Christlike activity, but that is certainly not its intent. Try to help your group see that it is supposed to be a lighthearted look at the disparity that often exists between what is said and what is done and that the world will always be watching to catch the Christian behaving in un- Christian ways. Although it is not as important as having your heart right with God, having your actions match your words is indeed a sign of integrity and Christian maturity.
D. You + Him + Her = Equality, Right?
Every group of people that has ever assembled, it seems, has at least one person who fails to fit in. Either by choice or by group dictate, this person spends most of his/her time on the outside fringes, barely attached at all. If this has not happened to someone in your study group, then he or she simply has not been a member of many committees, councils, or commissions. Hopefully it is not happening in your group, but this might be a good time for such an assessment.
This activity builds on Romans 3 as Paul reiterates that no one is any better or worse than anyone else . . . at least not in the eyes of God. No matter how privileged one might be in society, whether by hard work or by birthright, the Jew and the Gentile are equals in the sight of God Almighty.
You might have some other "people" or "characters" who are more recognizable to your students to add to this list of folks. Don't NOTES
hesitate to bring them into the discussion. The richest part of this activity, however, lies not in the cute descriptions but in the methods of befriending and winning these individuals to the kingdom of God, so focus much attention to that portion of the exercise.
NOTES
