IGNORING GOD’S TRUTH WITHIN US

SUNDAY SCHOOL OUTLINE FOR JULY 3, 2016

THEME FOR THE MONTH:            A WORLD GONE WRONG

TOPIC FOR TODAY:                      IGNORING GOD’S TRUTH WITHIN US

TEXT:                                             ROMANS 2:17-29

MEMORY VERSE: “It is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” – ROMANS 2:13 (NIV)

INTRODUCTION

The story is told that when Queen Elizabeth II of England was a young girl, her father, King George VI, told her to do something.

“I am a princess,” she is said to have replied, “and I will do as I please.”

“Yes, you are a princess,” said her father. “And that is why, for the rest of your life, you will never simply do as you please.”

Privilege brings not just honour or power but responsibility. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. Our lesson text is a solemn restatement of this principle. Paul reminded his Christian readers of Jewish background that their high calling as guardians of God’s law carried the responsibility of obedience. This is a responsibility that they, along with all people, had failed.

LESSON AIMS: To help class members to:

·        STATE the difference between knowing God’s law and obeying God’s law.

·      CONTRAST the person who knows more of God’s law but does not obey with the person who knows less yet does obey.

·        REPENT of failure to act on what he or she knows of God’s law. 

THE LESSON

1.  VAIN PRIDE OF THE JEWS — ROMANS 2:17-20

a.  What will be your role in improving your church’s efforts in being a “guide” and a “light” to those in spiritual darkness?

b.  In what ways do Christians sometimes project a “holier than thou” attitude because of their knowledge of God’s Word? How do we deal with this problem?

What you do in obedience to God’s law is the best sermon that can ever be preached.

2.  DISPLAY OF HYPOCRISY — ROMANS 2:21-24

a.  What are some common attitudes of Christians that easily make unbelievers have contempt for God?

b.  In what areas do Christians seem to need most to improve in making their practice of God’s Word match their knowledge of it? Why?

God’s standard is that you should live by the truth you know through His Word.

3.  PRIDE OF PHYSICAL CIRCUMCISION CONDEMNED  — ROMANS 2:25-29

a.    What are some “externals” that may become sources of false confidence for today’s Christians? Why?

b.    What are some good steps Christians can take to become better circumcised-in-heart?

Only faith in Jesus and acceptance of the remission of sin through His blood can make you to be in right standing with God.

THE CONCLUSION:

The Israelites’ failure to keep God’s law affected not just themselves. God’s promise was that all nations would be blessed through Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 22:18), that Israel would become “a light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6). So it seemed that Israel’s unfaithfulness could prove to be the undoing of God’s plans for the world.

But the gospel reveals something vital. Though Israel proved unfaithful, God brought his plan to fulfillment through one in Israel who did prove faithful, namely Jesus. His faithfulness, seen in submitting to death on the cross to take the punishment of the guilty, fulfilled God’s purpose and solved the problem of human failure for both Jews and Gentiles. How great is our failure? The cross shows us. How powerful is God’s solution to our failure? The cross shows us.

For the vast majority of us today, claiming spiritual privilege because of Jewish identity or circumcision seems very foreign. But we know how easy it is to claim such privilege on similar grounds. Looking at the chaotic world around us, we are tempted to congratulate ourselves that we know God and his Word. It is easy to observe the ignorance of the world and contrast that ignorance with what we know of God. Then it is all too easy to take the next step and think the difference has to do with something special about ourselves.

We would be better off contemplating the contrast between the good that other people see in us outwardly and the evil that we know still lives in our hearts. That reflection will lead us to think how God has welcomed us by his grace despite our failures. That in turn will remind us of how much we have in common with the world and of how much we have to share with it.

PRAYER: O God, we surrender our innermost selves to you! May we be yours, inside and out.

Next week’s topic: UNDER SIN’S POWER — PSALM 136:1-9, 26; ROMANS 3:9-20