Session #4 - Romans 7.7-12 - Leaders
LIFE GROUPS:
SESSION 4: THE SIN WITHIN
Leader’s Discussion Guide
SERMON PASSAGE FOR SESSION #4 Romans 7:77:7-12— 12— What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
INTRODUCTION: Icebreaker— Icebreaker— Discussion: ♦ Describe a time when seeing a sign or being told a rule caused you to suddenly desire to do something you wouldn’t have wanted to do before knowing it was forbidden. Leader’s Note: Pastor Dave will be sharing examples in the sermon. You can use these to prime the pump. However, have at least one example from your own life ready to share to get the conversation going. Also, make sure you explain that there will be no judging! This is a safe and free place to talk!
♦ Why is it that we are inherently prone to desire that which is forbidden?
♦ If you are honest with yourself, do you tend to live with a conscious
realization of the power of your flesh, or do you forget and buy the world’s lie that we are inherently good?
INVESTIGATION: Re-read Romans 7:7-12 below from The Message, and answer the following questions. (Some questions were inspired from Romans: A Double Edged Bible Study by the Th1nk LifeChange Series and from Romans 1-7 for You by Timothy Keller)
But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.” That’s certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it. Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.
♦ Write down the progression of thoughts and actions that Paul is
describing.
♦ Can you relate? Take a moment to reflect on your own faith story. How
does the theme Paul is writing about resemble your own personal struggles?
♦ Why is it important to remember that our internal attitudes, feelings and
thoughts are just as much to be considered sin as our external actions?
♦ Considering this fact, how does Romans 12:2 help inform us when it comes
to battling sin?
Read Matthew 23:23-28 and answer the following questions. ♦ What strikes you about this passage?
♦ There has never been anyone as passionate about following the Law as the
Pharisees. Why then does Jesus judge them so harshly?
♦ What warning should we take away for our own lives from this passage?
♦ How do we today often fall into internal sin while doing well at avoiding
external sin? In other words, how do we tend to act like Pharisees as Christfollowers today?
INTEGRATION: ♦ We see in Scripture that the root cause of sin is inherently idolatry. (See
Colossians 3:5 for an example). How can this truth give you the added motivation and ability to combat sin in your life?
♦ If sin is first and foremost idolatry (replacing God), how can properly
prioritizing your life help in the fight against sin?
♦ What is one change you can make this week to make sure God is in His
proper place in your life?
SESSION 4: THE SIN WITHIN
Leader’s Discussion Guide
SERMON PASSAGE FOR SESSION #4 Romans 7:77:7-12— 12— What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead.9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
INTRODUCTION: Icebreaker— Icebreaker— Discussion: ♦ Describe a time when seeing a sign or being told a rule caused you to suddenly desire to do something you wouldn’t have wanted to do before knowing it was forbidden. Leader’s Note: Pastor Dave will be sharing examples in the sermon. You can use these to prime the pump. However, have at least one example from your own life ready to share to get the conversation going. Also, make sure you explain that there will be no judging! This is a safe and free place to talk!
♦ Why is it that we are inherently prone to desire that which is forbidden?
♦ If you are honest with yourself, do you tend to live with a conscious
realization of the power of your flesh, or do you forget and buy the world’s lie that we are inherently good?
INVESTIGATION: Re-read Romans 7:7-12 below from The Message, and answer the following questions. (Some questions were inspired from Romans: A Double Edged Bible Study by the Th1nk LifeChange Series and from Romans 1-7 for You by Timothy Keller)
But I can hear you say, “If the law code was as bad as all that, it’s no better than sin itself.” That’s certainly not true. The law code had a perfectly legitimate function. Without its clear guidelines for right and wrong, moral behavior would be mostly guesswork. Apart from the succinct, surgical command, “You shall not covet,” I could have dressed covetousness up to look like a virtue and ruined my life with it. Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me. Without all the paraphernalia of the law code, sin looked pretty dull and lifeless, and I went along without paying much attention to it. But once sin got its hands on the law code and decked itself out in all that finery, I was fooled, and fell for it. The very command that was supposed to guide me into life was cleverly used to trip me up, throwing me headlong. So sin was plenty alive, and I was stone dead. But the law code itself is God’s good and common sense, each command sane and holy counsel.
♦ Write down the progression of thoughts and actions that Paul is
describing.
♦ Can you relate? Take a moment to reflect on your own faith story. How
does the theme Paul is writing about resemble your own personal struggles?
♦ Why is it important to remember that our internal attitudes, feelings and
thoughts are just as much to be considered sin as our external actions?
♦ Considering this fact, how does Romans 12:2 help inform us when it comes
to battling sin?
Read Matthew 23:23-28 and answer the following questions. ♦ What strikes you about this passage?
♦ There has never been anyone as passionate about following the Law as the
Pharisees. Why then does Jesus judge them so harshly?
♦ What warning should we take away for our own lives from this passage?
♦ How do we today often fall into internal sin while doing well at avoiding
external sin? In other words, how do we tend to act like Pharisees as Christfollowers today?
INTEGRATION: ♦ We see in Scripture that the root cause of sin is inherently idolatry. (See
Colossians 3:5 for an example). How can this truth give you the added motivation and ability to combat sin in your life?
♦ If sin is first and foremost idolatry (replacing God), how can properly
prioritizing your life help in the fight against sin?
♦ What is one change you can make this week to make sure God is in His
proper place in your life?
