Romans 4:9-13
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- Last Updated: Saturday, 20 May 2017 09:53
- Published: Saturday, 20 May 2017 09:53
- Written by Wilma Zalabak
1. We are in the midst of the chapter about the wonders of “imputed” (counted, reckoned, concluded, accounted, esteemed). Paul took this word straight from the LXX for Abraham (Genesis 15:6) and David (Psalm 32:2). With which of those two OT characters does Paul continue his argument?
2. Read again Romans 2:25-29 and review how Paul uses here the words “circumcision” and “uncircumcision” (“foreskin”).
3. For fun go read https://atoday.org/is-being-left-handed-a-sin/. Consider the many human differences and issues around 1) being born a certain way, 2) being shaped by societal or environmental forces you didn’t choose, and 3) making responsible choices that shape your life.
4. Consider how Paul shifts the use of word “circumcision” from meaning a whole race, to meaning the act of cutting one man. Try to understand what a turn that might have been to the first readers and how that emotional jolt would have helped Paul’s argument, or hindered it.
5. What joy or excitement comes to you from this text? What questions arise for you out of the reading of this text? What did you learn that was new to you, or a new way of looking at something? What does this text tell you about God and about yourself? About humans in general?
4:11 Genesis 17:10 (9-14). Sign, token: Exodus 31:13-17, Ezekiel 20:12-20.
4:13 Genesis 12:3