These Bible Study Briefs are deliberately informal. They are structured so that they can be considered in a short twenty-minute session or become the basis for an hour-long discussion.
The studies are intended to provide you with accessible, usable, and brief Bible studies on topics that touch on the peculiar needs, problems, and dilemmas that confront Christians in the legal profession.
No formal leader is required. After reading the brief scriptural passage (perhaps with a couple of different translations available in the group to add nuances of meaning), use the questions as prods for discussion. Please add your own questions, because the concerns and interests of each study group are different.
Some discussion "Do's":
- Do resist the temptation to make Bible study a mere intellectual inquiry or to parade your finely tuned analytical skills.
- Do provoke each other into finding concrete ways to apply and incorporate scriptural insights into your lives.
- Do commit yourselves to encouraging each other to stick to these commitments through friendship and prayer.
We're grateful to the Christian Legal Society for sharing these Bible Study Briefs with us.
Introduction
This title is rather dramatic, yet it does suggest that importance of this passage to Christian lifestyle and attitudes. A helpful way to study the passage is to explore one verse at a time and concentrate on all of its implications, even the obvious ones. In many ways, this passage is a model for any Christian fellowship group. Consider applications for these verses, and commit yourselves to one another through them.
Questions
Romans 12:9-21
- Read verses 9-10. Discuss the standards of behavior within a Christian fellowship.
- Read verses 11-12. How does the law school community perceive you personally? Your group? How are you able to cope with the challenges and frustrations the life of a law student includes?
- Consider the admonition in verse 13. What avenues have you and your group employed for service to others?
- What is your attitude toward classmates who are hostile toward you or your beliefs? See verse 14.
- Read verse 15. Can a Christian remain detached from the emotional concerns of others?
- Read verse 16. Who are the “lowly” among you, and what is your relationship to them? How do nonbelievers at your school relate to them? Do you battle with feelings of smugness?
- Consider the special injunction to “take thought for what is noble in the sight of all” in verse 17.
- Read verses 18-21, and discuss the Christian approach to “vengeance” and “victory.”
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