Romans 1-4 - Questions & Answers

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy & Group of Men
​Series: Romans (Acts)

Rusty & Group Discussion Notes

Romans 1

• Al Costlow
• Romans 1:17- For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.[1] (Habakkuk 2:4)
• How is it that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel?
• Exactly what we are doing here on the stage… passing our faith to family and friends.
• Not necessarily in words as much as in actions that are a byproduct of what we believe.
• The Gospel is God at work.
• In the Old Covenant it was proven by works, in the New Covenant it is proven by faith.
• Not only just salvation, but a person being transformed and living in freedom.
• Watch people walk this earth of chaos and bring a little bit of heaven to it.

 
Romans 2

• My sister sent me this message this week: “I need more explanation of Romans 2:5-10 sometime”.
• Romans 2:5-11 - 5 Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness. 9 There will be affliction and distress for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no favoritism with God.[2]
• Bob’s Romans Study: Romans 2:5 states that even the moral man will receive God’s “wrath” due to his “stubbornness and unrepentant heart.” Paul also states that the lost are “storing up wrath for … the day of wrath” (v. 5). Do you realize that God’s “wrath” will be poured out on unbelievers in proportion to the amount of “wrath” they have stored up—in proportion to the degree of their sin? They will face the “great white throne” judgment (Revelation 20:11–15), a judgment of condemnation for all who have refused to exercise repentance and faith while depraved. This “judgment” will be “righteous” (Romans 2:5), which means that it will be just and upright. The unrepentant man will receive exactly what he deserves. After all, he had every opportunity to believe. The “great white throne” judgment (Revelation 20:11) differs from “the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). No believer will be judged at the “great white throne,” for it is a judgment of wrath. A New Testament believer faces “the judgment seat of Christ,” a judgment of rewards. Each of our works will be tested “with fire” (1 Corinthians 3:10–15), and we will be rewarded for deeds done in faith. God “… will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6) Those who do “good” will receive “glory … honor … peace … and immortality, eternal life” (vv. 7, 10). Those who “do not obey the truth” receive “wrath … indignation … tribulation and distress” (vv. 8–9). According to verses 7–10, all who habitually do “evil” and enjoy it, proving that they have never repented of sin and accepted Christ as Savior, will receive God’s “wrath.” All who do “good,” if their good deeds result from yielding to Christ’s indwelling presence, will receive “glory … honor and peace.” After studying this comparison, do you wonder how anyone could choose to reject Christ? Note: These verses do not teach that good deeds yield a right standing with God. Paul will confirm this fact to a greater degree in subsequent verses.

 

• Brandon Leum
• In the study, Romans 2, verse 13 talks about "doers of the law" And how this can be misconstrued with "if we do good things (good works) this results in God justifying us or looking better upon us.
• I know that the only thing that matters is that Jesus died one time for us on the cross - One time only!
• I think that in life it can be hard to not fall into being a "doer of the law" and if we do something good (volunteering - helping someone in need – tithing, etc.) for some reason we feel better about how God views us.
• How can we in our mental mind work through every day that "it doesn't matter...Just believing and trusting through FAITH in Christ is the answer is satisfying our Lord and Savior?
• Because of this, we do things in the Spirit...and trusting these are good things.

 

• Bob mentions. Yes, God loves man enough to allow man to live eternally separated from his presence should he (man) so desire.
• If you have a man or woman that has a good heart, does good things, yet does not have a relationship in Christ, it hurts my heart to think that person will be "thrown in the lake of fire" based on Revelation 20:15 (Again, just a discussion around this would be good)

 
Romans 3

• Brandon Leum
• On page 20 of the study, the question for the 4th day, #2.
• In Romans 3:4, Paul writes let God be found true, though every man be found a liar..." what does this statement communicate?
• Would we continue to view God as being "true" and worthy of serving if everyone you know should deny him?
• It communicates Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.

 

• Al Costlow
• Romans 3:23---What is "the glory of God" that is spoken of in this verse that "all have fallen short of"?
• It’s not a thing. It is the greatness, beauty, and perfection of all that He is.

 

• Doug spoke of righteousness and justification that we now have. But doesn’t that lead to a license to sin?

 
Romans 4

• Ryan kept talking about the Old Covenant and New Covenant rather than the Old Testament and the New Testament. What is the difference?

 
Chris Pickrell
You are going through a current season of difficulty with family health/issues… how does what you know from this study impact you directly during this time?

• I grew up in a family that had rules but we didn’t have church. I always knew there was a God that loved me however I came to know that but we didn’t do church or nightly prayer time. I am not even sure I remember a Bible in our house but sure we had one somewhere.
• My point is when I studied Romans, it was easy for me to understand because I didn’t have the preconceived ideas and beliefs to unlearn. I had felt like people had always judged me all through my life, too small, too poor, didn’t belong with this or that group.
• I always treated people how I wanted to be treated and was taught to help others but strive for perfection in my own self. I started thinking perfection wasn’t possible so why try. If I had to walk the tight rope then I wasn’t going to make the cut anyways, had to many personal issues for Jesus to want me in His house. 
• What Romans did for me was give me peace and freedom and my question would be why are people so critical against or so fought against by other people and churches. It is in the same bible most groups read and study.
• Romans 8:1- Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus[3]
• If He loves me, why would He condemn me? I spent my time worrying about and thinking about my actions instead of focusing on who loved me. Why do “Christians” spend so much effort worrying about and judging people (sin comparison- like one is worse than the other) instead of recognizing He died to cover them all regardless of what or when they happened. 
• Like I said- Romans was the good news I always thought the Bible was supposed to be so I guess it just made more sense to me that Jesus would love me no matter what instead of because of what I did or didn’t do. It just made sense. 
• I am not a biblical scholar and trust that loving Him and others with all my heart is what I am supposed to do.  It looks good some days, ugly others and “just not sure” days but what I don’t do is stay in that.   

 
David Speckman
One man discipled you through this study. Tell me about that relationship and how it impacted your family and work.

• About Big Micah (Langmaack) taking me through this, I don't even know where to start....  I feel so far removed from my original line of thinking/feeling but the best way to describe it would be to say I was "lost & confused" prior to going through this with Micah.  It's kinda cool (and pathetic) how much I relied on him to figure out almost everything in my life.  Not sure how in depth you want me to go in this response but I think the biggest thing he helped me realize is that I don't have to control everything.  I can just take a deep breath and relax (Micah always uses the word "REST") and know that no matter what happens "God's got it" as Micah would say.  Watching what he and Shannon are going through with Anna right now is the most amazing testament to that.  He definitely practices what he preaches.
• I always knew/felt that there was a God but I didn't really know what that meant or who he was and what was his role in my life. For me though, I always looked at it like you were either "Team God" or not. I always felt like the guy that wanted to be on the team but was never good enough if that makes sense. So I just always watched from the sidelines and admired. I thought that in order to play for the team I'd have to give up everything and make a drastic change to who I was (at that time I was always in trouble). The irony was that once I learned more about Him, the things I found joy in drastically changed. I thought I had to change my behavior to learn my identity in Him but instead learning my identity in Him changed my behavior....

 
Greg Dugger
How long ago and how long did it take for you to see things differently? How has it impacted your life?
 
Al Costlow
I want to hear from you on Sunday about coming to the revelation of your identity through the Romans Study after so many years of viewing it different. You have touched on this recently.
 
Brent Sutton
Would you be willing to share where you are right now and knowing what you do from Romans how it is leading you on a day to day basis?
 
Danny DiSalvo
How does the revelation of grace and identity unfold with you as you lead your family. Share as much as you want.

• Here’s a few questions I have about Romans 1-4.
• Righteous? Me? Right now? Really? How?
• If I am righteous (by faith) what is going on when I commit a sin? Isn’t God upset or mad at me at least?
• If it’s the kindness of God that leads us to repentance... Does that mean I shouldn’t get sideways with people who are lost?
• If the wages of sin are death, and I have been given a gift of eternal life in Jesus, why do I still feel at times like God has to deal with my sin? Wouldn’t that mean I getting paid for something that Jesus paid for? If there is something else that needs to happen for me to be right now today perfect, righteous, blameless, forgiven before God, what is it?
• How can I put expectations of “obeying the law” on my kids or on my spouse if I know that God has no expectation on me to uphold the law?
• If my spouse and kids are righteous because of Jesus....wait what?

 
Brandon Leum
Your journey hasn’t been any easier… how has what you know now impacted your daily conversations with work conversations and friends?

• Growing up in the Lutheran segment of church, there were a lot of rules and expectations in terms of "being a good Christian". Along with that, I grew up in a very small (population 600) town where everyone knew you and the things did. At age 10, I moved away to the city (Indianapolis) and that was when my independence really started. In both of these environments, I knew the figure "Jesus Christ". Even going through confirmation in 7th & 8th grade, I didn't understand. 
• I can tell you this, it took me until I was 45 yrs. old that I finally "tapped out" wrestling with faith, religion, being the good guy, and overall just trying to meet the expectation in order for me to feel good.
• Losing my brother to suicide was not the event, but yet it was the event when the holy spirit walked into my life.
• At that point, that night, was the like the 12th round of a heavy weight match. It took me another almost 4 months until I finally tapped out.
• It took me another 4 months after that to embrace the Leavener family....and it took another 10 months until I started my walk in Roman's.
• What I know, is that is all okay. It didn't matter the time. But I can tell you this, how it came together was truly the Holy Spirit working and knowing us intimately.
• A verse that was shared with me early on was this...Romans 7:17-20. This opened the door to understanding the flesh and the spirit and the spiritual warfare that is going on in this world.  But, I needed more... and that led me to the Romans study...
• That study started on June 23, 2016 and we are still meeting every Friday morning!  
• To all you men,

I struggle everyday with flesh poo poo of life, but I can tell you that I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I am no longer afraid to raise my shield every day and pronounce that when presented that question. He has backed me since the day I was born and walked along side me that entire time. It just took me a little while to see him. But when I did "REALLY" see him, I knew him like my brother, my father, my best friend and my Savior.  All wrapped up in one!

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 1:17). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 2:5–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 8:1). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.