On Sunday, September 13, 2015 at Wildwood Community Church, I preached a message based out of Romans 2:17-29. This message was part 5 in the “Good News” series. Below is the sermon audio and a set of questions for those who want to go deeper for personal study or with their small group.
Sermon Audio:
To download the file to listen to later offline, click on this file:
To listen to the message online, use the online media player below:
Questions:
- Read Romans 2:17-29
- Imagine you are a Jew in the first century. In what ways would you have been tempted to believe that your religion made you “better” than the rest of the world around you?
- Have you ever been tempted to think that mere church attendance alone could somehow save someone’s soul?
- Are you able to live out all the Bible verses that you have learned in your life? Does this discourage you? Does this remind you to trust in Jesus Christ?
- Paul’s argument is not that religious people should be perfect, but that religious people are sinners too. If we had to rely on our religious activity to save us, this would be terribly discouraging news, however, Christians do not rely on their religious activity to save them . . . they rely on Jesus Christ! If you grew up going to a church, was there a moment when you realized that you needed a Savior?
- The Jews were tempted to rely upon their ceremony (circumcision). What are some of the external things Christians rely on for their salvation apart from Christ?
- Paul certainly was not against circumcision (he was circumcised and circumcised others) and he was not against baptism (he was baptized and baptized others). However, Paul did not want anyone to be confused about what the true need for humanity was . . . it was not membership in a club, but connection with the Christ. Have you been baptized since trusting in Christ? If not, what is keeping you from being baptized? Though baptism saves no one, it is a great expression of what Jesus has done on the inside of our lives.
- Any applications you take away from this message?
To access the entire Good News study, click here.
