Reading the BiBle with John Stott R E A D I N G R O M A N S with JOH N STOT T VOLUME 1 WITH QUESTIONS FOR GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS JOHN STOTT with DALE & SANDY LARSEN InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 ivpress.com [email protected] ©2016 John Stott’s Literary Executors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press. This volume is abridged and edited from The Message of Romans ©1994 by John R. W. Stott, originally published under the title Romans: God’s Good News for the World, by permission of Inter-Varsity Press, England. Some of the discussion questions are from Romans: Encountering the Gospel’s Power ©1998 by John R. W. Stott, originally published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. ® ® InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA , a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, visit intervarsity.org. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW ® ® ™ INTERNATIONAL VERSION , NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Cover design: Cindy Kiple Interior design: Beth McGill Images: © Yolande de Kort / Trevillion Images ISBN 978-0-8308-9332-4 (digital) ISBN 978-0-8308-3191-3 (print) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Stott, John R. W., author. | Larsen, Dale, author. | Larsen, Sandy, author. | Stott, John R. W. Message of Romans. Title: Reading Romans with John Stott / John Stott with Dale and Sandy Larsen ; with questions for groups or individuals. Description: Downers Grove : InterVarsity Press, 2016. | Series: Reading the Bible with John Stott (RBJS) | “Vol. 1.” | “This volume is abridged and edited from The Message of Romans...” | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2016011664 (print) | LCCN 2016017713 (ebook) | ISBN 9780830831913 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780830893324 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Romans, I-VIII--Devotional literature. Classification: LCC BS2665.54 .S76 2016 (print) | LCC BS2665.54 (ebook) | DDC 227/.107--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016011664 Contents How to Read the Bible with John Stott 7 Introduction 11 1 Romans 1:1-17: Gospel Power 15 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 2 Romans 1:18-32: A Downward Spiral 27 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 3 Romans 2:1–3:8: God’s Fairness 39 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 4 Romans 3:9-26: Unholy Togetherness 54 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 5 Romans 3:27–4:25: Forgive Us Our Debts 68 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 6 Romans 5:1-21: Peace with God 82 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 7 Romans 6:1-23: United to Christ and Enslaved to God 96 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 8 Romans 7:1-25: Battling Sin 110 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 9 Romans 8:1-17: Rescued by God’s Spirit 123 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 10 Romans 8:18-39: Present Pain, Future Glory 137 Discussion Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Guidelines for Leaders 153 Praise for Reading Romans with John Stott 158 About the Author 159 Reading the Bible with John Stott Series 160 More Titles from InterVarsity Press 161 How to Read the Bible with John Stott During John Stott’s life from 1921 to 2011, he was one of the world’s master Bible teachers Christians on every continent heard and read John Stott’s exposition of Scripture, which was at once instructive and inspiring With over eight million copies of his over fifty books sold in dozens of languages, it is not surprising that Time magazine recognized him in 2005 as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World” and Christianity Today called him “evangelicalism’s premier teacher and preacher ” At the core of his ministry was the Bible and his beloved Bible Speaks Today series, which he originated as New Testament series editor He himself contributed several volumes to the series, which have now been edited for this Reading the Bible with John Stott series The purpose of this volume is to offer excerpts of Stott’s The Message of Romans in brief readings, suitable for daily use Though Stott was himself an able scholar, this series avoids technicalities and scholarly debates, with each reading emphasizing the sub- stance, significance and application of the text 8 Reading Romans with John Stott Following each set of six readings is a discussion guide This can be used by individuals to help them dig more deeply into the text It can also be used by study groups meeting regularly Individuals in the groups can go through the six readings be- tween group meetings and then use the discussion guide to help the group understand and apply the Scripture passage Discussions are designed to last between forty-five and sixty minutes Guidelines for leaders at the end of this volume offer many helpful suggestions for having a successful meeting If you are a group member, you can help everyone present in the following ways: 1 Read and pray through the readings before you meet 2 Be willing to participate in the discussion The leader won’t be lecturing Instead all will be asked to discuss what they have learned 3 Stick to the topic being discussed and focus on the par- ticular passage of Scripture Only rarely should you refer to other portions of the Bible or outside sources This will allow everyone to participate on equal footing 4 Listen attentively to what others have to say Be careful not to talk too much but encourage a balanced discussion among all participants You may be surprised by what you can learn from others Generally questions do not have one right answer but are intended to explore various dimensions of the text 5 Expect God to teach you through the passage and through what others have to say How to Read the Bible with John Stott 9 6 Use the following guidelines and read them at the start of the first session: • We will make the group a safe place by keeping confi- dential what is said in the group about personal matters • We will provide time for each person to talk who wants to • We will listen attentively to each other • We will talk about ourselves and our own situations, avoiding conversation about others • We will be cautious about giving advice to one another John Stott had an immense impact on the church in the last half of the twentieth century With these volumes readers today can continue to benefit from the riches of the Bible that Stott opened to millions