Boasting in the Cross

Paul’s Own Hand

1.       How can you make a letter to a person you are not on good terms with sound sincere?

2.       Is a handwritten letter superior to an email? Why or why not?

Boasting in the Flesh

1.       Is it alright to seek the support of non-church members in your struggles within the church when you are in the right. In other words is it alright to use outsiders to fix problems inside the church?

2.       Do any forms of persecution exist within my church?

Boasting in the Cross

1.       What are things that I boast about myself, my family, my church?

2.       Have I ever boasted about the cross?  How does one do that?

3.       How did Paul’s life and preaching demonstrate boasting in the cross?

A New Creation

1.       How does the experience of baptism contribute to becoming a new creature?

2.       Can the rite of circumcision accomplish the same thing?

3.       What does it mean or feel like to be a new creature? How will you know if you are a new creation?

Final Remarks

1.       What are some of the different standards by which people determine what is right or wrong in church?

2.       What kinds of scars do believers have as a result of their relationship with Jesus?

The Gospel and the Church

Restoring the Fallen

1.       What are various ways Christians respond to a fellow-Christians moral fall?

2.       Disfellowshipping a fallen believer seems to be going out of style.  Is that good or bad?

3.       How often do we see real compassion for the fallen member?

Beware of Temptation

1.       Are we immune to temptation if we keep alert?

2.       Why do say “pride goes before a fall?

3.       Does the fact that we may have fallen into the same sin make us more compassionate when another falls to temptation?  Can you think of more examples to support this or to contradict it?

Burden Bearing

1.       How can we help bear the burden of one who has fallen into sin?

2.       What factors influence whether or not we go to another person for help when we have fallen into sin?

3.       What are some examples of burdens that nobody can help us bear?

The Law of Christ

1.       How can helping bear another person’s burden be fulfilling the law of Christ?

2.       How can Adventists in India get rid of prejudices relating to caste, class, gender, and tribe that  plague our church?

Sowing and Reaping

1.       How can we say that people reap what they sow when righteous people suffer equally or more than the wicked; and the wicked seem to prosper more than the righteous?

2.       Is a harvest always in proportion to the amount of hard work put into the field?

3.       What is the general response of a person who is offered help by his/her enemy?

4.       What if there were no judgement day or harvest? Would it still be worth “sowing?” 

Living by the Spirit

Walking in the Spirit

1.       Why do we use the metaphor of “walking” for the paths we choose to follow?  Can you think of other terms in an extension of the same metaphor?

2.       Why do OT Wisdom books describe the good way as broad and level and the wrong way as slippery and crooked, while the NT describes the way to heaven as narrow and rugged and the way to destruction as broad?

The Christian’s Conflict

1.       Do only Christian’s feel guilty when they do wrong or do unbelievers also feel guilt?  What about non-Christians?

2.       If a person feels guilty even after confessing, is it an indication that the wrong has not been forgiven yet?

The Works of the Flesh

1.       Why do we give credit to the “Spirit” for good works, but blame the “flesh” for bad behavior?

2.       Is it easier to do wrong than right?  Why or why not?

The Fruit of the Spirit

1.       Is it possible to observe the Ten Commandments and at the same time not love God and our neighbour?

2.       What can we as Adventists do so that we will be known as a people of “love,” “joy,” “peace,” “patience,” “kindness,” “goodness,” “faithfulness,” “gentleness,” and “self-control” instead of people of the Ten Commandments?

The Way to Victory

1.       Do we have to crucify the “evil humanness” in us or will Christ do it for us?

2.       Can it ever become easier to do right rather than wrong even before going to heaven?

Freedom is Christ

Christ Has Set Us Free

1.       What is the difference in being a slave to the law and being a servant of Christ?

2.       What are the differences between bondage to the law and bondage to sin?

3.       How would you feel about a person freed from jail who because he could not handle freedom, desired to go back to the familiar life of prison?

The Nature of Freedom

1.        Are those who are free really free?

2.       Are there limits to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, etc.? Why or why not?

3.       Is there something in my life enslaving me?  How badly do I desire freedom from it?

The Dangerous Consequences of Legalism

1.       Are we Adventists happy with our tag of “people obsessed with the law?”

2.       Would it be better to be known as “people of love and compassion?”

3.       Is it possible to be both?

4.       Why wouldn’t God appreciate a slavish servitude to keeping His law?

Liberty Not Licentiousness

1.       Why would God not appreciate a generous use of His grace by people not bothered to keep the law?

2.       How does freedom from bad habits affect our relationship to others?

Fulfilling the Whole Law

1.       Is it necessary to keep the whole law or is loving God and our fellow humans enough?

2.       Is it easier to obey the law or to love God and our neighbors?

The Two Covenants

Is anybody around you causing you to suffer in any way for your religion? 

Is your religion causing anybody around you to suffer?

Covenant Basics

1.       If Abel was so much more meticulous than Cain about his offering to God, why do we not consider him legalistic and “under the old covenant?”

2.       Is something wrong with our relationship to God if it does not inspire us to give him our very best?”

The Abrahamic Covenant

1.       How does Abraham’s experience with Sarah and Hagar illustrate “faith” and “works?” 

2.       Could Paul have picked another Bible character as an example of both faith and works?  Why was Abraham picked?

Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar

1.       Had Hagar done anything wrong? Is it necessary to examine her side of the story to understand “faith and works?”

2.       Was Sarah an example of faith?  Was it necessary for her to have had faith or was Abraham’s faith enough for them to have a son?”

Hagar and Mt Sinai

1.       Why was Abraham compelled to reject Ishmael?

2.       Why did God give the law on Mt Sinai, if the Israelites were not expected to keep it?

Ishmael and Isaac Today

1.       In what way are judaizers, those who emphasize the keeping of the law, not true Jews?

2.       Is it easier to prove that we are still under the law rather than free from it?