Introduction—Romans 1:1–7
Topics: Affirmation, Ambassadors, Call, Witnessing
Open It
1. What are some of the normal ways people begin a letter or a phone call?
2. When have you been startled by the opening paragraph of a letter?
3. *If you were writing the initial letter to a pen pal, how would you introduce yourself?
Explore It
1. *How did Paul introduce and identify himself to the Romans? (1:1)
2. What special calling on his life did Paul feel? (1:1)
3. In what ways has God revealed His gospel to people? (1:2–4)
4. Who is the focus of God’s gospel? (1:2–4)
5. What credentials does Jesus have to confirm His claim as Son of God? (1:3–4)
6. *What did Paul and others receive as a calling for their lives? (1:5)
7. Who were the new group of people being exposed to the gospel message? (1:5)
8. What were the Gentiles and all people being called to believe? (1:5)
9. How did Paul describe the people who were receiving this letter? (1:6)
10. To whom was this letter written? (1:7)
11. *What kind of greeting did Paul send to his audience? (1:7)
Get It
1. *In what way do you feel God has placed a special calling on your life?
2. What purpose for living has God given you?
3. *What words do you use to describe yourself to others as a follower of Jesus Christ?
4. How did you feel when you realized God’s gospel was meaningful to you?
5. What do most people today believe about God’s plan for the world?
6. What do most people today believe about God’s plan for their personal salvation?
7. How have your beliefs about Jesus Christ changed during the various stages of your life?
8. In what ways would remembering in prayer each day God’s calling on and plan for your life affect your daily walk with Christ?
Apply It
1. With whom could you share God’s unfolding plan of salvation for the whole world?
2. How would you explain God’s plan of salvation to a friend?
3. *To what friend could you explain God’s love and your response to His plan of salvation? How?
Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome—Romans 1:8–17
Topics: Caring, Confidence, Good News, Salvation, Witnessing
Open It
1. How do you stay in touch with friends or family members who live in another city?
2. *What trips to see friends or family members would you like take in the future?
3. How do people feel when circumstances force them to cancel a long-anticipated trip?
Explore It
1. For what was the church at Rome well-known? (1:8)
2. How did Paul describe his commitment to God? (1:9)
3. *What kind of concern did Paul have for his audience? (1:9–10)
4. *What happened to Paul’s plans to visit the church in Rome? (1:10–13)
5. What did Paul want to give the Romans when he visited? (1:11–12)
6. *Who would benefit from Paul’s visit? (1:12)
7. To whom had God called Paul to communicate the gospel? (1:14–15)
8. How did Paul feel about what others thought about him and his message? (1:16)
9. To whom does God grant salvation? (1:16)
10. How does a person become righteous? (1:17)
11. What does a person’s faith accomplish? (1:17)
Get It
1. *What are some of the positive reports you would want other people to hear about your faith in God?
2. *How does remembering someone in prayer help him or her?
3. In what ways are we helped when we help someone else?
4. When have you learned something from someone whom you initially believed had nothing to teach you?
5. How does Paul’s attitude about sharing the gospel compare with the prevailing attitude in your church?
6. For what reasons do Christians sometimes feel ashamed of the gospel?
7. How do people attempt to find salvation outside of faith in Christ alone?
8. For what reasons are you confident that the gospel is true?
Apply It
1. *What can you do this week to help a person for whom you are concerned?
2. With whom can you be more honest and forthright about the gospel message you believe?
3. For what “unreachable” person will you begin praying this week?
God’s Wrath Against Mankind—Romans 1:18–32
Topics: Evil, Hardheartedness, Homosexuality, Immorality, Self-centeredness, Separation, Sex, Sin, Stubbornness, Thankfulness, Truth, Unbelievers, World
Open It
1. *If God were to deliver a “state of the world” speech for all of us to hear, what do you think He would say?
2. How do people today distinguish between right and wrong?
3. Why do a high percentage of people today say they believe in God?
Explore It
1. *What is God’s response to the people who ignore and disobey Him? (1:18)
2. How does God reveal Himself to people? (1:19–20)
3. *What makes all people accountable to God? (1:20)
4. What is the primary problem people have in their relationship with God? (1:21)
5. What happens to the hearts and minds of people who reject God? (1:21–22)
6. When people deny God, what do they often put in His place? (1:21–23)
7. *How does God respond to people who ignore and deny Him? (1:24, 26)
8. How are attitudes toward sexuality affected when a person denies God? (1:24, 26–27)
9. What lie do people naturally believe by denying the truth? (1:25)
10. When thoughts of God are pushed out, what evil attitudes and actions replace them? (1:28–31)
11. Instead of fearing God, what attitude do people naturally have toward Him? (1:32)
Get It
1. What is the real barrier between us and God?
2. *How can God hold us responsible for breaking His laws?
3. How do people today suppress the truth about God?
4. In what ways is our thinking futile and our mind darkened?
5. *What examples can you list of how we worship created things rather than the Creator?
6. How common in our world are the specific sins listed in the passage?
7. What is God’s attitude toward promiscuous heterosexual activity and homosexuality?
8. How can God be so angry with us and still love us?
9. How does God want us to respond to Him?
Apply It
1. In what ways can you lessen your dependence on the things you are tempted to “worship” and serve more than God?
2. How can you glorify God and give thanks to Him this week?
3. *Who among your friends is caught in this trap of rejecting God and needs your prayers of intercession this week?
God’s Righteous Judgment—Romans 2:1–16
Topics: Judging Others, Judgment, Repentance, Witnessing
Open It
1. How does a critical review of a movie or concert affect your decision about attending it?
2. *On what basis do people often judge other people?
3. What does it take to judge disputes fairly?
Explore It
1. When we judge others, what do we do to ourselves? (2:1)
2. *If God is judging others for their sins, what will He do to us? (2:2–3)
3. For what reason is God kind, tolerant, and patient? (2:4)
4. What keeps us from acknowledging and repenting of our sins? (2:4–5)
5. What is God’s reaction to our stubbornness? (2:5–6)
6. *On what basis will God render His judgments? (2:5–8)
7. What are the qualities of those who gain eternal life? (2:7)
8. What characteristics do condemned people display? (2:8)
9. How can Jews expect to be treated by God? (2:9–11)
10. How can Gentiles expect to be treated by God? (2:9–11)
11. *How will those who know God’s law be treated compared to those who never heard God’s law? (2:12–15)
12. How will God judge people? (2:12–16)
13. When will the Law judge people? (2:16)
Get It
1. In what circumstances do you find yourself passing judgment on other people?
2. *When have you ever judged someone else and realized you were guilty of the same offense?
3. When has God’s patience, tolerance, and kindness brought you to repentance?
4. *How should your anticipation of a coming judgment day affect your daily behavior?
5. How much exposure have you had to God’s law during your life?
6. How you have responded to your exposure to God’s law?
7. How will God deal with people who have never heard His law?
Apply It
1. What do you need to do today to get ready for judgment day?
2. *Whom have you judged in a manner not pleasing to God? How can you seek forgiveness?
3. Who in your life is not ready for their day of judgment before God and needs your prayers this week?
The Jews and the Law—Romans 2:17–29
Topics: Approval, Beliefs, Character, Consistency, Hypocrisy, Self-righteousness
Open It
1. What advertisements do you have trouble believing?
2. How would you judge the character of a person who wanted to date your only daughter?
3. *What are some “wrong” reasons a person might have for going to church?
Explore It
1. What special relationship did the Jews have with God? (2:17–18)
2. How did Jews describe themselves in relation to Gentiles? (2:19–20)
3. *Of what did Paul accuse the Jews? (2:21–24)
4. Why would the Gentiles blaspheme God’s name because of the Jews? (2:21–24)
5. What was the purpose of circumcision? (2:25–26)
6. What is more important to God than being physically circumcised? (2:26–27)
7. *How did Paul redefine what it means to be a Jew? (2:28–29)
8. What is more important than physical circumcision? (2:29)
9. *What is more important than knowing God’s written law? (2:29)
10. Whose approval does a true Jew seek? (2:29)
Get It
1. *How could a person be very religious and yet be lacking a real relationship with God?
2. What are the most important qualities of an effective teacher?
3. How do our actions show others what we genuinely believe?
4. How does hypocrisy in a religious person affect people who observe that person?
5. How could a person be outwardly a Christian and inwardly something else?
6. What is more important than keeping outward standards of Christian behavior?
7. *What makes a person a true Christian?
8. How much does peer pressure from friends and coworkers influence our beliefs and behavior as Christians?
Apply It
1. How can you begin to change some inconsistent behaviors and attitudes in your Christian life this week?
2. *In which of your present situations should you be more concerned about pleasing God than pleasing other people?
God’s Faithfulness—Romans 3:1–8
Topics: Confession, Judgment, Justice, Law, Self-righteousness, Sin, Unfairness
Open It
1. *What could you learn about the character of a person by watching the behavior of his or her children?
2. How do you determine if a person is telling the truth?
Explore It
1. What is the advantage of being a Jew? (3:1–2)
2. How did God show favor toward the Jews? (3:1–2)
3. With what have Jews been entrusted? (3:2)
4. *How does failure to be true to God reflect on the character of God? (3:3–4)
5. When we realize our own sinfulness, what do we learn about the character of God? (3:5)
6. What brings out God’s righteousness more clearly? (3:5)
7. *What was Paul’s response to the charge that God is unjust in judging us? (3:5)
8. What was Paul’s human argument about the fairness of God’s judgment of us? (3:5–8)
9. *How is God’s character affected by the level of our sinfulness? (3:7)
10. What false statement or teaching was being attributed to Paul? (3:8)
11. Who did Paul say deserves condemnation? (3:8)
Get It
1. How can good come out of evil?
2. What danger results from defining our goodness in relative terms—such as comparing ourselves to notorious villains like Adolf Hitler or Charles Manson?
3. *What religious activities are we tempted to rely on as the basis of our justification before God?
4. How do you react when you see a well-known Christian leader exposed for sinful activities?
5. How is your faith in God affected by the public sins of Christian leaders?
6. In what practical ways can our lives be changed by the belief that God’s promises will never change?
7. In what ways do we minimize the effects of sin or of disobeying God’s law?
8. *What excuses do we use to explain away continuing sinful behavior in our lives?
9. What would Paul’s reaction be to the statement, “You can’t appreciate the good until you have experienced the bad”?
Apply It
1. What sins in your life do you need to confess to God and repent of this week?
2. *What step or action can you take this week to keep you from taking God’s grace for granted?
3. Which of God’s promises do you want to keep in your thoughts this week?
No One Is Righteous—Romans 3:9–20
Topics: Accountability, Basics of the Faith, Deceit, Disobedience, Excuses, Favoritism, God, Judgment, Law, Rebellion, Righteousness, Salvation, Sin
Open It
1. *In what ways are all people the same?
2. How would baby-sitting a two-year-old for a week influence your opinion about the goodness or badness of humans in general?
Explore It
1. How did Paul compare himself to others? (3:9)
2. *How are Jews and Gentiles alike? (3:9)
3. Who is righteous? (3:10)
4. What is our natural tendency toward God? (3:11)
5. What is the result of turning away from God? (3:12)
6. *What is human nature? (3:12)
7. How do our conversations and speech reflect our sinful nature? (3:13–14)
8. *What are the characteristics of people who stand condemned before God? (3:13–18)
9. What does God’s law show us about ourselves? (3:19)
10. What is the purpose of having God’s law? (3:19–20)
11. What reward does a person receive for observing the Law? (3:20)
Get It
1. How do you feel when the Bible describes you as standing guilty before God?
2. How can Christianity be described as “good news” when it teaches that all people are guilty before God?
3. *What reasons would you give for describing people as either basically good or basically evil?
4. *How would you explain this passage to a person who believes that he or she is good and not guilty of any serious sins?
5. How will God judge His chosen people, the Jews?
6. How can we sin with our mouth?
7. For what are we accountable to God?
8. What misinformation about God’s judgment have you believed at one point in your life?
Apply It
1. *What “laws” do you need to put aside in your life in favor of the true righteousness God offers?
2. With what believer could you meet and spend time in prayer and confession? When?
Righteousness Through Faith—Romans 3:21–31
Topics: Atonement, Faith, Jesus Christ, Justice, Law, Righteousness
Open It
1. *What hero do you remember who always seemed to arrive at just the right moment to save the day?
2. If you had a message of good news for someone, how would you deliver it?
3. When have you escaped a penalty you were sure you were going to have to pay?
Explore It
1. What new righteousness has been made known? (3:21)
2. What previous indication was there about the existence of the new righteousness? (3:21)
3. What is the source of our righteousness? (3:22)
4. *How does a person obtain righteousness? (3:22)
5. What heritage do you share with every person who has ever lived? (3:23)
6. What justifies us in God’s sight? (3:24)
7. *What is the cost or price of justification with God? (3:24)
8. What did God do to provide a means of justification and forgiveness for every person? (3:25)
9. *How does providing Christ Jesus as a sacrifice demonstrate the justice of God? (3:25–26)
10. On what basis can a person brag about his or her righteousness? (3:27)
11. What justifies a person in God’s sight? (3:28)
12. How will Jews and Gentiles be judged by God? (3:29–30)
13. What is the relationship between having faith and observing the Law? (3:29–31)
Get It
1. *What makes it difficult for many of us to believe that we can gain God’s forgiveness by faith in Christ alone?
2. What makes Christianity good news in our world?
3. What makes Christianity good news for you personally?
4. *Why would God offer His righteousness free to every person?
5. What do we need to do to be declared righteous in God’s sight?
6. What does it mean to believe and put your faith in Jesus Christ?
7. Why do some people object to the idea that God has offered forgiveness to every person, even the worst sinners?
8. How should our boasting and bragging about our relationship to God be different when we realize it is by faith alone?
9. What role, besides judge, is God playing in our lives?
Apply It
1. When could you meet with another person to share the good news of God’s redemptive plan?
2. *In what areas are you still boasting about your own abilities? How can you submit those areas to God’s control?
Abraham Justified by Faith—Romans 4:1–25
Topics: Covenant, Faith, New Covenant, Promises, Righteousness, Sin
Open It
1. What are some of the many religious acts and practices people perform in an attempt to please God?
2. *How much faith do you put in the promises people make to you?
Explore It
1. What was the main characteristic of Abraham’s relationship with God? (4:1–3)
2. How was Abraham righteous before God? (4:3)
3. How did David describe what God does to make a person righteous? (4:6–8)
4. What was the relationship between Abraham’s righteousness and his circumcision? (4:9–11)
5. What was the purpose of circumcision in Abraham’s life? (4:11)
6. On what basis can both the circumcised and the uncircumcised claim Abraham as their father? (4:11–12)
7. *On what basis did Abraham receive the promise of inheriting the world? (4:13)
8. *Why would God’s promise be worthless if a person had to keep the Law perfectly to receive it? (4:14–15)
9. What does the Law bring to those who live by it? (4:15)
10. What was God’s promise to Abraham? (4:18)
11. What facts might have convinced Abraham that God’s promise of a son was impossible? (4:19)
12. How was Abraham able to resist the temptation to doubt God’s promise? (4:20)
13. *What did Abraham believe about God that convinced him God could keep His promise? (4:20–21)
14. How does Abraham’s righteousness by faith apply to us? (4:23–24)
15. Whom has God provided as a worthy object of our faith? (4:24–25)
Get It
1. What is righteousness?
2. What is true faith?
3. Why is it impossible to be saved by following God’s laws?
4. What customs and religious habits can give people a false sense of righteousness?
5. What causes many people to think that works are more important than faith for pleasing God?
6. *What is fair or unfair about the fact that all people, including very wicked people, can inherit God’s promises by putting their faith in God?
7. In what ways do people act as if they must earn God’s love?
8. What must a person do to have his or her sins completely forgiven?
9. *What promise are you waiting for God to fulfill in your life?
10. How does God’s relationship with Abraham help you understand His workings in your life?
Apply It
1. How can you pray this week to reaffirm your faith in God and not in works?
2. *What promise of God do you need to trust in this week?
Peace and Joy—Romans 5:1–11
Topics: Endurance, Enemies, God, Hope, Joy, Love, Peace
Open It
1. What circumstances can turn two people into enemies?
2. *How do most people treat their enemies?
3. What results can difficult circumstances have in a person’s life?
Explore It
1. What is the basis for our justification with God? (5:1)
2. What is our relationship with God if we have been justified by faith? (5:1)
3. How does Jesus Christ change a person’s standing with God? (5:2)
4. For what reasons can a Christian rejoice? (5:2–3)
5. What good things can result from suffering? (5:3–5)
6. Why does hope not disappoint us? (5:5)
7. How has God demonstrated His love for us? (5:6–8)
8. What comparisons can be made between people giving their lives for others and Christ’s death for all people? (5:7–8)
9. *What was our relationship to God when Christ came to die for us? (5:8)
10. What aspect of Christ’s death justifies a person in God’s sight? (5:9)
11. *How did God act to remove the barrier between Himself and all people? (5:9–10)
12. If God has demonstrated His love to us through Jesus’ death, what can we anticipate concerning our future relationship with God? (5:10)
13. *For what reasons can a Christian rejoice? (5:11)
Get It
1. How is peace with God different from peace of mind?
2. *What does it mean to be justified?
3. *How were we formerly God’s enemies?
4. What are the benefits of being justified with God?
5. What is the connection between suffering and hope?
6. How should Christian hope affect a person’s attitude toward his or her current circumstances or goals?
7. What is hope?
8. What keeps us from being full of joy and hope in the middle of difficult circumstances?
9. In what ways does suffering produce endurance?
10. How can suffering produce positive rather than negative results?
11. How did Jesus’ death affect our security in God’s love?
Apply It
1. In what difficult circumstances do you need to stop grumbling and stay focused on joy in Christ?
2. *Who in your life needs to hear that through Jesus Christ they are no longer enemies with God?
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ—Romans 5:12–21
Topics: Death, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, Law, Life, Sin
Open It
1. What advantages and experiences have you had that many others in the world have not?
2. *In what ways can the decisions of a few leaders change the lives of millions of people?
3. What experiences have you had with death?
Explore It
1. What did Adam introduce into the world and pass on to his descendants? (5:12)
2. What is the root cause of death? (5:12)
3. How did the coming of God’s law affect the presence of sin in the world? (5:13)
4. How did the coming of God’s law affect our understanding of what sin is? (5:13)
5. *What came into the world through Jesus Christ? (5:15)
6. What is God’s solution to the inevitable problem of sin and death? (5:16–17)
7. *In what ways are the acts of Jesus and Adam similar? (5:18–19)
8. What is the relationship between the amount of sin and grace in the world? (5:20)
9. What effect did God’s righteous law have on rebellious people? (5:20)
10. What does sin in this world produce? (5:21)
11. *What does grace given by God to this world produce? (5:21)
Get It
1. In what ways are all people the same?
2. What fears or anticipation do you have about death?
3. What effect did Christ’s death on the cross have on your life?
4. At what point in your life did you realize you were guilty of sin?
5. At what point in your life did you realize God’s love for you?
6. *How can God justly judge us for Adam’s sin?
7. How can a person have his or her sins forgiven by God?
8. *What makes Jesus’ action more powerful than Adam’s?
9. How can knowing you are forgiven and righteous before God through Jesus Christ affect your attitudes and actions?
Apply It
1. In what ways can you thank God today for the grace He has bestowed on you?
2. *What can you do this week for unsaved friends still suffering from the consequences of sin?
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ—Romans 6:1–14
Topics: Change, Consequences, God, Holiness, Jesus Christ, Life-style, New Life, Salvation, Sin, Slavery
Open It
1. What would most people like to change about their lives?
2. What is one thing you’d like to change about your life?
3. *What motivates people to make major changes in their lives?
Explore It
1. Why should a forgiven, justified person make a strong effort not to sin? (6:1–2)
2. For what reason would a person not want to live in sin any longer? (6:2)
3. What does baptism symbolize about our relationship to Christ? (6:2–4)
4. *What makes it possible for a person to live a new life? (6:4)
5. Before a person is united to Christ, to what is he or she a slave? (6:6)
6. How does being united with Christ through His death change our relationship to sin? (6:7)
7. After Christ died and was raised, why did neither sin nor death have any power over Him? (6:7, 9–10)
8. *How will uniting with Christ in His death change the future of our lives? (6:8–10)
9. *In a person’s new relationship with God, what is his or her relationship to sin supposed to be? (6:11–12)
10. What change in attitude and action toward God happens in a person who follows Christ? (6:11–13)
11. Under whose control does a Christian live? (6:14)
12. How does being under grace change a person? (6:14)
Get It
1. What does this passage tell us about God and Christ?
2. What does this passage tell us about all people and their relationship to God?
3. What kind of changes does God want to make in our lives when we become Christians?
4. *Why should a Christian stop sinning even though he or she knows God has forgiven and will forgive those sins?
5. *How does God help a person discard old habits and tendencies?
6. How does God give a person a new self?
7. What are the symptoms of a person in slavery to sin?
8. How would you describe the character of someone who is alive to God in Christ?
9. What does it mean to live a new life for God?
10. In what practical sense is sin no longer the master of a Christian even though he or she might still commit specific sins?
11. In what ways is a Christian truly free?
Apply It
1. How can you actively resist the tendency to sin in your everyday life?
2. *How can you offer yourself as an instrument of righteousness to God and to others this week?
Slaves to Righteousness—Romans 6:15–23
Topics: Change, Consequences, Eternal Life, Life-style, New Life, Righteousness, Sin, Slavery
Open It
1. *What bad habits can control and damage a person’s life?
2. If you had to forfeit your personal freedom to become a slave, whom would you want to be your master?
Explore It
1. Why shouldn’t a Christian continue to sin willingly? (6:15–18)
2. Who or what determines the things that dominate or control a person? (6:16)
3. *How does sin dominate a person’s life? (6:16–18)
4. *What results follow from being a slave to obedience to God? (6:16, 19, 22)
5. *What is the result of being a slave to sin? (6:16, 21, 23)
6. With what attitude do believers obey their new master, righteousness? (6:17)
7. What change has happened to people who have put their trust in Christ? (6:17–18)
8. What is the result of being a slave to righteousness? (6:19, 22)
9. What are the wages of sin? (6:23)
10. What is the gift of God? (6:23)
Get It
1. What attitude should a Christian have toward sin?
2. What causes a person to be a slave to sin?
3. *What benefits and pleasures do people think they gain from sinful, selfish living?
4. Before knowing Christ, when did you feel regret for the selfish things you had done?
5. How does sin destroy a person’s life?
6. *What are the benefits and pleasures of righteous living?
7. Why can’t a person be his or her own master, enslaved to neither God nor sin?
8. In what ways is our relationship to God not like slavery?
9. To what degree is each person responsible for his or her sinful or righteous living?
Apply It
1. *How can you show your wholehearted obedience to God this week?
2. In what areas of your life do you need God’s help to loosen the grip of certain sins?
An Illustration From Marriage—Romans 7:1–6
Topics: Change, Growth, Holy Spirit, Law, Marriage, New Life
Open It
1. What were some of the basic rules of behavior you were taught as a child?
2. *How do your present values differ from the ones you were taught as a child?
Explore It
1. What illustration did Paul use to explain a Christian’s relationship to the written law? (7:1–3)
2. Whom does the husband represent in Paul’s illustration? (7:2–3)
3. Whom does the married woman represent in Paul’s illustration? (7:2–3)
4. *To what did Paul compare the death of a woman’s husband? (7:2–5) Why?
5. What is the purpose or goal of a Christian’s new life? (7:4)
6. What changes a person’s relationship to the Law? (7:4–6)
7. *What are the primary differences between the old life under the Law and the new life in the way of the Spirit? (7:4–6)
8. What controls a person before he or she becomes a Christian? (7:5)
9. *How is a person released from being bound by the Law? (7:6)
10. How does the Christian’s new life compare with the old life? (7:6)
Get It
1. What role should God’s written law play in a Christian’s life?
2. What keeps a Christian from sinning if the penalties of the Law have been forgiven by God?
3. How can strict adherence to God’s law affect a Christian negatively?
4. *What does it mean to be a new person in Christ?
5. How can the Spirit help us please God in a way that following the Law couldn’t?
6. How do a person’s attitudes and outlook on life change when he or she comes to Christ?
7. How can knowing that God loves you unconditionally change your behavior?
8. *What is the difference between keeping religious laws and following the Spirit of Christ?
Apply It
1. *What old ideas about pleasing God through religious activity do you need to discard this week?
2. What can you do this week to build your living relationship with Christ instead of merely following the rules?
Struggling With Sin—Romans 7:7–25
Topics: Conflict, Death, Discouragement, Law, Sin, Weaknesses
Open It
1. As a child, how did you respond to the commands given to you by your parents?
2. How do you tend to respond to authority?
3. *What sort of bad habits are hardest to break?
Explore It
1. What is the purpose of the Law? (7:7–8)
2. What bad effect does knowing the Law have on a person? (7:7–8)
3. When a person has no knowledge of the Law, what becomes of sin? (7:9)
4. *How does knowing the Law bring the possibility of death to a person? (7:9–11)
5. How does the Law put a person to death? (7:11)
6. What are the characteristics of the Law and the commandment? (7:12)
7. How does the awareness of the Law produce death in a person? (7:13)
8. *What did Paul share about his own attempts to follow the Law? (7:14–16)
9. *What did Paul blame for his continuing failure to do good? (7:17–20)
10. How did Paul describe his own struggle to do what was right? (7:21–23)
11. How did Paul describe himself and his situation? (7:24)
12. To whom did Paul turn for rescue from his agonizing situation? (7:24)
13. What division did Paul acknowledge in his own mind and nature? (7:24)
Get It
1. What are some of the various ways people respond to God’s law?
2. How can reading and understanding God’s law be discouraging to a person?
3. How can a Christian continue to commit sins even though God is his or her master?
4. *How have you experienced a struggle with sin similar to what Paul describes?
5. *What hope do we have of deliverance from sin here on earth?
6. How can we take hold of the power of Christ to overcome sin?
7. What should we do when we become discouraged and confused in our Christian lives?
8. How can knowing that God has achieved the ultimate victory over sin affect your prayers, thoughts, and attitudes?
Apply It
1. *How can you remind yourself each day this week of God’s victory over sin?
2. What recent struggle with sin do you need to hand over to God today?
Life Through the Spirit—Romans 8:1–17
Topics: Desires, Holy Spirit, Law, Sin, Spiritual Rebirth, Weaknesses
Open It
1. *If you were released from a three-year captivity as a hostage, what would you do during your first week of freedom?
2. What impact can a good father or a bad father have on a person’s life?
Explore It
1. What is the status of a person who trusts in Jesus Christ? (8:1)
2. *How is a person set free from the law of sin and death? (8:2)
3. What did God do that the Law was powerless to do? (8:3–5)
4. What is the difference between those who live according to their sinful nature and those who live according to the Spirit? (8:5–8)
5. *How can a person know if he or she is controlled by the sinful nature or by the Spirit? (8:9)
6. What promise is given to people living in the Spirit? (8:11)
7. What kind of obligation do Christians have? (8:12–14)
8. What happens to the person who lives according to the sinful nature? (8:13)
9. *By what means can a person find life? (8:13)
10. What is true of people who are led by God’s Spirit? (8:14)
11. What kind of spirit do God’s children have? (8:15)
12. What are the benefits of being a child of God? (8:15–17)
Get It
1. What feelings of condemnation and rejection may Christians feel?
2. *In what ways does knowing Christ set us free?
3. How does living for Christ change the desires of our heart?
4. What have you seen the Spirit of God do in a person’s life?
5. *What does unchecked sin and selfishness produce in a person’s life?
6. How does seeing and experiencing God as a loving Father change your understanding of what it means to live as a Christian?
7. What benefits does God give to His children?
Apply It
1. What area of your life do you need to turn over to God’s mighty power? How will you?
2. *What changes have you been resisting in your life that you are now willing to allow your loving heavenly Father to complete?
Future Glory—Romans 8:18–27
Topics: Future, Hope, Prayer, Suffering, Waiting, Weaknesses
Open It
1. *What type of sacrifices do people commonly make for the sake of a future reward?
2. What makes it hard for some people to pray?
Explore It
1. *How did Paul describe the difference between his present and his future? (8:18)
2. What is the world waiting to see? (8:19)
3. For what reason has the world been forced to wait? (8:20–21)
4. To what human experience did Paul compare his waiting? (8:22–23)
5. For what are the children of God waiting? (8:23)
6. *What is and is not genuine hope? (8:24–25)
7. What causes us to wait patiently? (8:25)
8. How does the Spirit help us in our weakness? (8:26)
9. For whom does the Spirit intercede? (8:27)
10. What is the relationship between God and the Spirit? (8:27)
Get It
1. What are some of the sufferings a Christian can experience?
2. *What does God promise to us that can make any suffering bearable?
3. How does suffering affect our relationship with God?
4. What hinders us from being what God intends us to be?
5. In what ways do Christians live in glorious freedom?
6. What frustrations do Christians feel as they wait for Christ to return?
7. What counsel would you give a Christian who has grown weary of waiting for Christ’s return?
8. *What is real hope?
9. In what circumstances do Christians find it hard to pray?
10. What do we learn about God’s love for us when we realize that the Holy Spirit helps us even when we cannot pray?
Apply It
1. *In what circumstances of your life do you need to wait patiently for God to act?
2. For what can you ask the Spirit’s help this week?
More Than Conquerors—Romans 8:28–39
Topics: Angels, Demons, Love, Persecution, Purpose, Security, Victory, Zeal
Open It
1. *How do you explain why bad things happen to nice people?
2. What causes people to lose their faith in God?
Explore It
1. *How does God work in all the situations and events of a person’s life? (8:28)
2. For whom does God promise to work all things for good? (8:28)
3. Who is our ultimate example? (8:29)
4. How does God seek to change His people? (8:29)
5. What does God want each person to become? (8:29)
6. What has God done to make people what He wants them to be? (8:30)
7. What made Paul confident that God takes care of His people? (8:31–32)
8. *Why should we feel confident that God is not against us or condemning us? (8:31–34)
9. Where is Jesus Christ right now? (8:34)
10. *What possible tragedies or hardships are unable to separate us from the love of Christ? (8:35–39)
11. What kind of persecutions have God’s people often faced? (8:36)
12. How are God’s people to respond to persecutions and tragedies? (8:37)
13. What gives God’s people the ability to respond in triumph to persecution? (8:37)
Get It
1. How can God produce good results out of bad situations?
2. What is God’s intention and plan for each Christian?
3. In what practical ways can each of us be like Christ?
4. How can we be sure God really loves us?
5. What can Christians expect God to do for them?
6. How important should the opinions of others be to a Christian?
7. *How can a person be sure that bad times aren’t a signal of God’s displeasure with him or her?
8. *What gives Christians confidence as they go through hard times?
9. In what situations do you need God’s conquering power?
10. How have you experienced God’s never-ending love in your life?
Apply It
1. *How can you commit your difficult circumstances to God this week?
2. How can you show trust in God to work out your circumstances for good?
God’s Sovereign Choice—Romans 9:1–29
Topics: Blessing, Burdens, Justice, Opportunities, Rejection, Sovereignty
Open It
1. When have you felt that you were judged unfairly in a contest?
2. *How do you react when someone brags that God is on his or her side?
Explore It
1. What strong emotion was Paul feeling? (9:2)
2. What situation made Paul feel sad and anguished? (9:2–3)
3. How far was Paul willing to go for his fellow Jews? (9:3)
4. What gifts and opportunities had God given to the Jewish people? (9:4–5)
5. How did Paul explain the difference between Jews who believe and Jews who do not believe? (9:6–8)
6. Whom did God bless as the parents of the nation of Israel? (9:7–9)
7. *What did Paul say to people who claim to be children of God merely because they are descendants of Abraham? (9:8–9)
8. Who were the children of Isaac and Rebekah? (9:10–13)
9. What decision did God make about Jacob and Esau before they were born? (9:12–13)
10. *How did Paul defend the accusation that God is unjust in His treatment of people? (9:14–15)
11. *What determines how God bestows favor on people? (9:16)
12. What examples from history did Paul use to demonstrate God’s choice of blessing? (9:17–18)
13. What right do we have to question God? (9:19–21)
14. Why does God show great patience with us even though we deserve His wrath? (9:22–24)
15. What did the prophets Isaiah and Hosea tell us about God’s patience and justice? (9:25–29)
Get It
1. What burdens do you carry for friends or relatives who do not know Christ?
2. *How could a person come from a very religious background and still not have a personal faith in God?
3. In what ways do people depend on a religious heritage for their salvation?
4. What’s wrong with depending on a religious background or heritage for favor with God?
5. What sacrifices would you be willing to make to give others a chance to know Christ?
6. Why do we tend to question God’s actions toward us or anyone else?
7. According to this passage, why are Jewish people often resistant to the message of peace with God through Jesus Christ?
8. What does this passage teach us about God’s character?
9. What implications does Paul’s burden for Israel have for our lives today?
10. *On what basis does God choose people to inherit His promises?
11. How have you experienced God’s mercy and patience in your life?
Apply It
1. *What sacrifices or efforts can you make this week to help a friend come to faith in Christ?
2. When can you take time this week to thank God for His acts of mercy and love to you?
Israel’s Unbelief—Romans 9:30–10:21
Topics: Desires, Jesus Christ, Law, Righteousness, Salvation, Self-righteousness, Unbelievers, Zeal
Open It
1. *When have you known someone who refused to listen to any advice or instruction?
2. How carefully do you follow the instruction sheet in a ready-to-assemble product?
Explore It
1. By what means have the Gentiles (non-Jews) obtained righteousness? (9:30)
2. *What kept Israel from obtaining righteousness? (9:31–32)
3. Over what has Israel stumbled? (9:33)
4. What was Paul’s greatest desire? (10:1)
5. What positive trait did Paul recognize in the Israelites? (10:2)
6. What had the Israelites done instead of submitting to God’s righteousness? (10:3–4)
7. What is the relationship between Christ and the Law in a person’s pursuit of righteousness? (10:4)
8. How did Moses describe righteousness that comes by the Law? (10:5)
9. How does righteousness produced by faith come about? (10:6–9)
10. What were the simple instructions Paul gave regarding personal salvation? (10:9–10)
11. What promise is given to anyone who puts his or her faith in Christ? (10:11)
12. *What distinctions did Paul note in the way that Jews and Gentiles obtain their salvation? (10:12–13)
13. What does it take to get the message of God to someone? (10:14–15)
14. How have the Israelites responded to hearing the message of God? (10:16–18)
15. *How did Paul answer the argument that the Jews have not had adequate opportunity to hear God’s message? (10:18–21)
16. How had the response of the Gentiles to the message of God differed from the response of the Jews? (10:18–21)
Get It
1. What makes it hard for Jews to believe Jesus Christ is the Messiah?
2. What hinders non-Jews from believing Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world?
3. *How can a person have great zeal for God or religious activities and yet be misguided?
4. What are the similarities and differences between a sports fanatic and a committed Christian?
5. How legitimate are claims by people who profess ignorance about Jesus’ identity as Savior?
6. *What groups of people in our society resemble the unbelieving Jews of Paul’s time?
7. Why is it essential to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead?
8. Why is both believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth important for salvation?
Apply It
1. *When could you spend extended time in prayer to bring before God those groups or peoples who have shown little interest in the gospel?
2. Who in your circle of friends and family needs to hear about God’s plan of salvation? When?
The Remnant of Israel—Romans 11:1–10
Topics: Christianity, God, Hardheartedness, Lost, Rejection, Stubbornness
Open It
1. How would you turn down an invitation to an event that your boss wanted you to attend?
2. *What might a person do to get another person to love him or her?
3. When in your experience has a large project been saved by the efforts of a few people?
Explore It
1. What was Paul’s background? (11:1)
2. How did Paul answer those who believed that God had rejected the Jews? (11:1–6)
3. *How did God answer Elijah’s call to destroy Israel? (11:2–4)
4. *What has God chosen by grace? (11:5)
5. What caused God’s remnant of people to survive? (11:5)
6. How did Paul describe the people in Israel who please God? (11:5–6)
7. Who are the elect? (11:7)
8. What had Israel done to try to obtain righteousness in God’s sight? (11:7–9)
9. *What prevented Israel from responding to God as the elect had responded? (11:7–9)
10. What results from God’s decision to harden people’s hearts? (11:9–10)
Get It
1. What commitment has God shown to the Jews?
2. *What characteristics separated the remnant of Israel from the rest of Israel?
3. What causes God’s people to turn away from Him?
4. What causes people reared in Christian families and church activities to turn away from God?
5. *In what ways do you see a remnant at work in your community?
6. By what means other than grace do people try to please God?
7. How is it possible to seek intently for God by doing good deeds, and yet miss Him?
8. What hardens a person’s heart against God?
9. What can God do to change the hearts of people who have turned away from Him?
Apply It
1. What can you do this week to avoid the influences in your life that could harden your heart against God?
2. *What can you do this week to encourage a Christian who feels outnumbered or overwhelmed?
Ingrafted Branches—Romans 11:11–24
Topics: Attitude, Faith, Grace, Humility, Repentance, Salvation, Spiritual Rebirth
Open It
1. What is your favorite fruit? Why?
2. *What success have you had with gardening?
Explore It
1. What hope do the Jews ever have of recovering their relationship with God? (11:11)
2. How have Gentiles been helped by the Jews’ rejection of God’s salvation plan? (11:11–12)
3. What will be an even greater result than just the response of the Gentiles to God’s plan? (11:12)
4. How did Paul hope his own Jewish people would respond when they saw him ministering to the Gentiles? (11:13–14)
5. What did Paul imagine the response of the Jews to God could bring to the world? (11:15)
6. *What long illustration did Paul use to describe the situation of the Jews and Gentiles? (11:16–24)
7. *To what did Paul liken the Gentiles? (11:17)
8. Why do we need to be careful not to boast that God has reached out to us? (11:18)
9. To whom does God show severity and kindness? (11:22)
10. *What is promised to Jews who do not persist in unbelief? (11:23)
Get It
1. *What lessons can we draw from Paul’s analogy of the olive tree?
2. How would the repentance of Israel affect the world?
3. What is significant about the fact that the Jews have stumbled but not fallen?
4. How could the kind of envy Paul described help lead a person to Christ?
5. For what reasons could a Gentile be tempted to feel superior to a Jew?
6. *What attitude should we have toward the fact that God has chosen to reach out to us?
7. How could a person miss salvation by trusting in family background or heritage?
Apply It
1. *What can you do this week to acknowledge that you depend on God’s kindness?
2. What can you do this week to share Christ with a friend who is separated from God?
All Israel Will Be Saved—Romans 11:25–32
Topics: Covenant, Disobedience, God, Hardheartedness, Mercy, Salvation, Sin
Open It
1. What would it take to get you to knowingly break an important promise you made?
2. *How can a bad situation bring good results?
Explore It
1. To what mystery did Paul refer? (11:25)
2. How had Israel responded to the message Paul preached? (11:25)
3. *When would Israel’s period of hardening end? (11:25)
4. What will eventually happen to Israel? (11:26)
5. *What promise has God made to Israel? (11:26–27)
6. In what two contrasting ways were the Jews described by Paul? (11:28–29)
7. What did Paul say about God’s promises? (11:29)
8. *What has been the good result of the disobedience and unbelief of the Jews? (11:30)
9. How is God responding to the unbelief of the Jews? (11:31)
10. For what reason has God allowed all people to be disobedient? (11:32)
Get It
1. What makes God’s plan of salvation a mystery?
2. *What does this passage reveal about God’s character?
3. How will “all Israel” be saved?
4. *How does our commitment to God affect His dependability and trustworthiness?
5. When has God shown you mercy despite your disobedience?
6. What promises of God can help us deal with the difficult circumstances of our lives?
Apply It
1. *Which of God’s promises do you need to focus on and memorize this week?
2. What can you do this week to show God’s unique love to someone who has turned away from Him?
Doxology—Romans 11:33–36
Topics: God, Knowledge, Praise, Wisdom, Worship
Open It
1. What was your idea of God when you were a child?
2. *How has your idea of God changed as you have grown up?
3. When are you most inclined to praise God?
Explore It
1. How did Paul describe God’s judgments? (11:33)
2. What is beyond our understanding? (11:33)
3. *How did Paul describe the mind of God? (11:33–34)
4. What force or power is higher or wiser than God? (11:33–34)
5. How did Paul describe God? (11:33–36)
6. Why did Paul praise God? (11:33–36)
7. *What does God owe? (11:35)
8. *What is God’s place in the universe? (11:36)
9. What is from God, through God, and to God? (11:36)
10. How did Paul summarize his doxology? (11:36)
Get It
1. Why do you think Paul concluded his discussion of Israel’s salvation with this doxology?
2. How do skeptics and agnostics try to explain God?
3. *In what ways do we underestimate God?
4. What limits all human explanations of God?
5. *What reasons do we have to worship God?
6. How can God’s wisdom help us?
7. How does God hold you and your life together?
Apply It
1. *How can you worship and praise God with enthusiasm and devotion this week?
2. What is one way you can reflect God’s character to others through your personal life?
Living Sacrifices—Romans 12:1–8
Topics: Body, Commitment, Gifts, God’s Will, Humility, Mind, Sacrifice, Self-esteem, Thinking, Worship
Open It
1. *What skills or qualities are necessary to play a team sport well?
2. What influences have significantly shaped your life?
Explore It
1. How do people properly worship God? (12:1)
2. What is the most reasonable response to God’s great mercy? (12:1–2)
3. *How is the Christian to be different from unbelieving people? (12:2)
4. How should the mind of a Christian be changed? (12:2)
5. What must happen in order for a person to discern and agree with the will of God? (12:2)
6. How should Christians think about themselves? (12:3)
7. What facts should keep a person from feeling superior or inferior to other Christians? (12:3–6)
8. *What did Paul use the human body to illustrate? (12:4–5)
9. What makes Christians different from one another? (12:4–6)
10. In what way are all Christians alike? (12:4–6)
11. What are the gifts of God? (12:6–8)
12. *How should each person use his or her gifts? (12:6–8)
Get It
1. What right does God have to ask us for a full-life commitment to Him?
2. *What makes offering our bodies as living sacrifices an act of worship?
3. To what worldly life-styles or values do we typically conform?
4. What are the patterns of the world that tempt us to conform?
5. How can a Christian renew his or her mind?
6. How does understanding God’s love raise our self-esteem?
7. How does understanding God’s love reduce our selfishness and conceit?
8. How do people united in Christ act toward each other?
9. *How can the gifts God bestows on Christians help others in the church or community?
10. What gifts from God do you see in others?
11. What gifts from God do you see in your life?
Apply It
1. What is one step you can take this week toward eliminating habits that merely conform to the world’s pattern?
2. *How can you put a spiritual gift to work for others this week?
Love—Romans 12:9–21
Topics: Conflict, Enemies, Forgiveness, Life, Love, Revenge
Open It
1. What might a friend do to you that you would have trouble forgiving?
2. *What advice would you give to someone who wanted some practical wisdom on how to get along with others?
Explore It
1. What should we hate? (12:9)
2. What is genuine love like? (12:9, 13, 18–21)
3. What attitudes should we strive to have? (12:9–16)
4. *What down-to-earth advice did Paul give? (12:9–21)
5. *In what ways ought we to treat others as more important than ourselves? (12:10, 13, 16, 20)
6. What instructions does God want us to observe in our relationships? (12:10, 13–21)
7. How is a Christian to treat enemies? (12:14, 17–21)
8. *With whom does God want us to live at peace? (12:18)
9. Why should we not take revenge? (12:19)
10. What is the purpose of showing kindness to an enemy? (12:20)
Get It
1. What can we do to learn to hate evil?
2. How can one hate evil yet not hate the evildoer?
3. *How can a Christian learn to love others as God loves them?
4. In what ways is Christian love more than emotion?
5. What does it mean to honor one another?
6. Why should we be joyful when we are suffering?
7. Why is it wrong to repay evil with evil?
8. *How does doing good to an enemy overcome evil?
Apply It
1. *In what ways can you honor someone above yourself? Who?
2. Whom do you need to love and bless this week even though he or she hurts you?
Submission to the Authorities—Romans 13:1–7
Topics: Authority, God’s Will, Government, Law, Submission
Open It
1. What irritates you most about our government?
2. *How do you feel when you have to prepare your income tax forms?
Explore It
1. How is the establishment of any government related to God? (13:1)
2. How is a Christian to respond to the laws and leadership of government? (13:1–7)
3. *What attitude is a Christian showing toward God when he or she rebels against the government? (13:2)
4. What consequences will those who rebel against the government bring upon themselves? (13:2)
5. *What should a Christian do to maintain a good relationship with the government? (13:3–4)
6. For what reason are government officials in power? (13:4)
7. What motivation does the Christian have to submit to the government? (13:5)
8. What are governmental authorities? (13:6)
9. *How should a Christian respond to the tax laws and requirements of the government? (13:6–7)
10. In addition to tax revenues, what does a Christian owe to his or her government? (13:7)
Get It
1. How would God want us to act if government leaders were openly persecuting Christians?
2. How do evil, cruel rulers serve God’s plan and do good for God’s people?
3. *Under what circumstances should Christians disobey the clear commands of government authorities?
4. *What is the Christian’s responsibility for maintaining a good government?
5. What positive support should Christians give to government leaders?
Apply It
1. Which government official could you write or talk to this week and express your concerns?
2. *How and when could you set aside time to pray for national, state, and local public officials?
Love, for the Day Is Near—Romans 13:8–14
Topics: Holiness, Last Days, Law, Love, Purity, Sin
Open It
1. *What sort of actions communicate love to you?
2. What are some of the evil activities tolerated and even promoted by our society?
Explore It
1. *In what area of life is a Christian to maintain a continuing debt? (13:8)
2. What is the sign that a Christian has fulfilled the Law? (13:8)
3. *What one command sums up all the other commands? (13:9)
4. What act and attitude is the fulfillment of the Law? (13:10)
5. What “hour” had arrived for the Roman Christians? (13:11)
6. How did Paul encourage his audience to live godly lives? (13:11–12)
7. What specific behaviors does God forbid? (13:12–13)
8. What kind of behavior contrasts with what God wants of us? (13:13)
9. With what are Christians to clothe themselves? (13:14)
10. *What should a Christian be thinking about each day? (13:14)
Get It
1. *What does it mean that love is the fulfillment of the Law?
2. What specific acts of love can Christians show to friends, family, neighbors, and strangers?
3. What are the signs that the present age is nearly over?
4. How would you live if you knew the world would end in six months?
5. What deeds of darkness practiced in our world today sometimes attract and seduce Christians?
6. In what practical ways can a person clothe himself or herself with Jesus Christ instead of pursuing evil desires?
7. *What personal relationship do you want to improve by earnestly loving that person as yourself?
Apply It
1. *What specific gesture of love or kindness can you use to build a relationship this week?
2. When can you take time this week to identify habits or tendencies in your life that hinder your relationship with the Lord?
The Weak and the Strong—Romans 14:1–15:13
Topics: Acceptance, Freedom, Help, Love, Sin, Unity
Open It
1. What do you do when a homeless person asks you for money?
2. *When have you refused to eat something that was put before you?
Explore It
1. How should a fellow believer who is weak in the faith be treated? (14:1)
2. *What reasons did Paul give for not judging people on disputable matters? (14:1–12)
3. What issues did Paul believe were not worth fighting over? (13:2, 5)
4. *What should be the primary motivation for a person’s decision to eat meat or celebrate a sacred day? (13:6–8)
5. What will each person do when standing before God’s judgment seat? (14:12)
6. What should we do instead of judging fellow Christians? (14:13)
7. What was Paul’s personal belief about unclean foods? (14:14)
8. What consideration should a Christian give to the opinions of fellow believers on controversial matters? (14:14–15)
9. When should a Christian defer to another Christian’s beliefs? (14:15–16)
10. What is the true focus of the kingdom of God? (14:17–18)
11. *What is a Christian’s responsibility for building peace among the other believers? (14:19–21)
12. How should concern for other believers affect our personal choices? (14:21)
13. What is the responsibility of a strong Christian toward others? (15:1–2)
14. What is the purpose of Scripture? (15:4)
15. What does God want to give each believer to guide his or her Christian life? (15:5–6)
16. By what standards should a person accept others? (15:7)
17. For what reason was Jesus sent to the Jews? (15:8–12)
18. With what does God want to fill us? (15:13)
Get It
1. *What life-style rules and issues do Christians argue about today?
2. What responsibility do you have to be a good example for others?
3. What practice would you be willing to give up if it proved to be a bad influence on others?
4. *When Scripture is not explicit on an issue, how should a person decide what is right and wrong?
5. What are some areas of life that we should examine carefully for practices that cause others to sin?
6. How can Christians share a spirit of unity despite having different views on certain practices?
7. How would you distinguish between an activity that is merely permissible and one that is clearly immoral?
8. How can a strong Christian use his or her strength to help other Christians?
Apply It
1. What area of your life can you review this week for practices that may cause difficulty for Christian friends or associates?
2. *What can you do this week to spread peace and mutual edification among Christians?
Paul, the Minister to the Gentiles—Romans 15:14–22
Topics: Ambition, Evangelism, Humility, Mission, Pride, Serving, Witnessing
Open It
1. What foreign culture interests you most? Why?
2. *What factors influence a person’s calling or vocation in life?
Explore It
1. How did Paul describe the Christians at Rome? (15:14)
2. How did Paul understand his own mission? (15:14–16)
3. *Why did Paul preach to the Gentiles? (15:16)
4. What was Paul’s “priestly duty”? (15:16)
5. What was the focus of Paul’s life? (15:17–18)
6. *What was the only thing that Paul was willing to speak of? (15:18–19)
7. To what did Paul credit his success in evangelism? (15:18–19)
8. *What was Paul’s ambition? (15:20)
9. Why did Paul preach the gospel where Christ was not known? (15:20)
10. What had hindered Paul from coming to see the people in the church at Rome? (15:22)
Get It
1. What various tasks does God give to people like us to serve Him?
2. *What has God given you to use in serving Him?
3. For what do you want to be known?
4. When is being proud of your work for God a sin?
5. *How can you tell if your work for God is motivated by selfish pride or selfless devotion to God?
6. What groups of people have not heard the gospel message?
7. What sections of your community have not had enough opportunities to hear the gospel message?
Apply It
1. *At this point in your life, what could you do to determine whether your vocation is in line with God’s desires for your life?
2. How can God best use you as a witness, both this week and in the future?
Paul’s Plan to Visit Rome—Romans 15:23–33
Topics: Ambition, Generosity, Gifts, Help, Mission, Plans, Serving
Open It
1. How do you react when your travel plans are delayed or canceled?
2. *If a friend had $10,000 to donate to charity and asked you for advice, what worthy causes would you recommend?
Explore It
1. Where was Paul planning to travel? (15:23–24) Why?
2. Why was Paul planning to visit Rome? (15:23–25)
3. *How did Paul want the Roman Christians to help him? (15:24, 30–32)
4. What was Paul’s immediate destination? (15:25)
5. *What was Paul taking to Jerusalem? (15:26)
6. What had the Jews done for the Gentiles? (15:27)
7. *How did Paul explain why Gentiles should give financial assistance to Jews in Jerusalem? (15:27)
8. What would Paul bring with him when he visited Rome? (15:29)
9. For what did Paul ask the people to pray? (15:30–32)
10. With what benediction did Paul close his request? (15:33)
Get It
1. What is your greatest ambition?
2. How does your greatest ambition compare with Paul’s?
3. How can our plans to serve God be hindered?
4. How should we react when our plans to serve God are hindered?
5. *How can we help fellow believers and missionaries?
6. What benefits are realized by helping a missionary?
7. *How should we show sensitivity when giving someone a gift?
Apply It
1. *What sacrifice can you make this week to help another believer who is struggling with a burden?
2. How could you help and show appreciation to the person who helped you come to faith in Christ?
Personal Greetings—Romans 16:1–27
Topics: Appreciation, Friendship, God, Praise, Serving
Open It
1. *What do you do to thank people who help you with a project?
2. How valuable is a letter of thanks and appreciation?
Explore It
1. What did Paul ask the Roman church to do for Phoebe? (16:1–2)
2. *Why did Paul praise Priscilla and Aquila? (16:3–4)
3. What risks did Priscilla and Aquila take? (16:3–4)
4. What special distinction did Epenetus hold? (16:5)
5. For what did Paul commend Mary? (16:6)
6. What experiences did Andronicus and Junias share with Paul? (16:7)
7. What qualities did Paul recognize in Apelles? (16:10)
8. Why did Paul praise Tryphena, Tryphosa, and Persis? (16:12)
9. What greeting did Paul suggest the church share? (16:16)
10. What kinds of divisions should the church not allow? (16:17)
11. How should the church deal with a person who causes divisions? (16:17)
12. What should we do about people who cause division among Christians? (16:17–18)
13. *What encouragement did Paul give the people in their struggle with evil in the world? (16:19–20)
14. Who actually wrote down this letter for Paul? (16:22)
15. With whom had Paul been living? (16:23)
16. *What did Paul say about God? (16:25–27)
17. What did Paul say about the gospel? (16:25–27)
Get It
1. *What is a meaningful compliment a Christian could give to another believer?
2. For what would you like to be remembered?
3. What opportunities does a Christian have to serve?
4. *In what areas of life should Christians take risks for God, as Priscilla and Aquila did?
5. What does our level of generosity reveal about our understanding of God?
6. What causes division in churches and between Christians today?
7. How can we avoid dividing churches unnecessarily?
8. How does focusing on the greatness of God increase our ambition to serve Him?
Apply It
1. In what specific ways could you be generous to other Christians in need?
2. *To what fellow workers in the Lord’s service do you want to express your appreciation? How?
Adult Questions for LESSONmaker (2024). Bellingham, WA: Logos, p. Ro 1:1–16:27.