Study session scripture: Romans 13

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Study session topics:

• Marks of the Christian Community, Part 3

• The Christian’s relationship to the government (vv. 1-7)

• Governmental authority is from God

• The legitimate role of the government

• A positive reason to obey the law: conscience

• Scriptural limits on government power

• The Christian’s relationship to all people (vv. 8-14) -“Owe no one anything”—The Christian’s financial responsibility

• Love: the sole exception to not owe anything

• Paul’s exhortation to live the Christian life now, and not put off serving God

Study session scripture: Romans 14:1-12

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Study session topics:

• Mutual acceptance between strong and weak, part 1

• A call for the “strong” in faith to accept those “weak” in faith (v. 1)

• Dietary differences (vv. 2-4)

• 4 principles to keep us from scorning fellow believers

• Other Christians answer to God

• God has accepted other Christians as they are

• Other Christians stand by the grace of God just as you do

• You too are accountable to God

• Differences in special days (vv. 5-6)

• 3 principles for how Christians should conduct themselves in disputable matters

• Be convinced in your own mind

• Serve the Lord

• Give thanks

• Further calls to unity (vv. 7-12)

• Paul’s reason for speaking as he does: unity

• Modern-day disputable matters

Study session audio:

Study session scripture: Romans 14:13-23

Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Study session topics:

• Call for m utual acceptance between strong and weak, part 2

• The guiding principle of liberty: consideration of others (v. 13)

• Legalism vs. responsible consideration

• Paul’s parenthetical: the strong are correct (v. 14)

• Nothing is unclean of itself

• For the one who believes something is unclean, it is unclean

• The strong’s responsibility:

• Abstain for the sake of weaker brothers (vv. 15-16, 20-23)

• Three reasons why the strong should forgo privileges for the sake of the weak

• Two important caveats

• The ultimate reason for the strong to abstain: the Issue is not the issue (vv. 17-19)

Study session audio: