Boasting in Christ

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Romans 15:16-21 So, Paul says that he has been given a grace from God, but what exactly was that grace? If we choose to neglect or ignore the gift that Christ has given to us, what are we really saying? How was Paul serving Christ? How do we serve Christ? What is the offering that the believer presents to God when he or she exercises his or her spiritual gift? How did Paul's writing of Romans relate to this offering? What was it that made his offering acceptable? How does the person who transcribed Paul's dictation to the Romans play a role in this? What did Paul have to give up in order to know Christ? In what way did he rediscover this? What was the evidence that Paul was gifted with an apostleship to the Gentiles. How can we know what our spiritual gifts are? Did Paul think there was something wrong with building on the foundation laid by another person? Why was Paul's strategy of going into virgin territory important? (61 min)

The Duty of Grace

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Romans 15:14-15 Having concluded the main instructional aspects of his letter to the Romans, Paul begins to address matters of a more personal nature. In these verses he begins to address the question of why he has written this letter at all. How is Paul's relationship with the church in Rome different from most of the other churches to which his New Testament letters were written? How does Paul know the condition of the church in Rome? What is his settled opinion of them? How can we know that Paul was not merely flattering the Romans? If the church in Rome was doing so well, then why did Paul even bother writing this letter? How did Paul view God having laid on him the responsibility Gentile world? Do you view your own spiritual gifts in the same way that Paul did? (62 min)

Accepted by Christ

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Romans 15:7-13 Paul closes off his discussion about differing opinions in the church by returning to the idea of acceptance that he introduced at the beginning of chapter 14. Does Paul mean we are to merely tolerate others with differing opinions, or does he mean something much more profound? What often actually lies at the heart of what we think are doctrinal differences between ourselves and others? What does communion or the Lord's Supper have to do with this passage? What is the particular sin that Paul is concerned could hinder the Corinthians' taking of the Lord's Supper? What two groups did Christ intend to benefit when He became a servant of the circumcision? What is significant about the particular passages from the Old Testament which Paul chooses to prove his point? What is significant about the order in which he quotes them? Why is Christ referred to as the "Root of Jesse?" What is the hope of the Gentiles? (62 min)