Truth Seeker

After seventy years of accumulating stuff, I now find myself looking for ways to give it away or get rid of it. While going through some old notebooks, I discovered one that con-tained my Sunday School and small group teaching notes spanning forty years. These pages contained precious truths that I learned while teaching and serving as a deacon and a small group leader. Rather than throw them away, I decided to revise and capture these hand -written notes in my computer. About a month into this project, I corresponded with a good missionary friend that we support. During our conversation, he lamented that he was getting old. (He is in his late 70s.) He had completed a basic Bible study course which was being used by pastors and congregations throughout Africa and India. He said there was a growing need for more advanced studies, but his health was not good, and he feared he would not be able to complete Bible studies for thousands of people who need-ed them. He did not want deep, theological dissertations but rather studies that everyone could use. I mentioned that I had recently started to compile my teaching notes and I of-fered to send him an example. After reviewing it, he said this was what he was looking for. This is how my Off the Shelf Sunday School Series of Bible lessons got started. Since there was a need for lessons beyond the basics, I decided to set a goal of complet-ing lessons for the New Testament books that deal with Christian living. I selected the epistles and developed lessons that systematically present each book with comments, ref-erences to other supporting quotes from the Bible, and discussion questions. These lessons are posted on the Christians Teaching Christians web site. This organization was started to provide Biblical teaching to pastors and volunteers in Africa and India. These teachers typically do not have access to Bibles, and they have limited theological training. As these studies began to appear on the CTC web site, I thought of the thousands of people who were using them in remote areas of Africa and India. It occurred to me that there were even more people around the world that needed Biblical teachings. I began to post these lessons on my Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin accounts. I expanded my audi-ence to include around fifty Facebook groups with over three million members. These groups include those interested in Bible studies, debates and discussions. Some are local churches and others are groups of theologians (including non-Christians). These lessons were posted two to three times a week. I have received mostly positive feedback from people with strange names. This is encouraging, as I hope to reach those who hunger for the Bible but are in places where access is limited. I am trusting that these lessons will have eternal benefits for those whom God is calling to be his children through faith in Je-sus. Indeed, God has promised that his words found in the Bible will not return to him without results. (Is 55:10-11) I am amazed and sad when I look at what is posted every day on social media. Humans are captivated by trivial things. Sports, family events and celebrations, gossip, self-promotion, and other things of passing significance fill the internet. I have not found any Bible studies posted outside of Christian groups. It is also rare to find systematic studies on these sites. They typically deal with debates, questions, and limited Bible quotes of the day. Systematic studies that go through each book are needed to give context and clarity to what the Bible says. Without this, people get limited and brief insights into what the Bible teaches. This can keep even Bible truth seekers shallow in their knowledge and stunt their spiritual growth. I believe that Christians are easily led into denominational silos where they “let the experts” do the Bible teaching without self-study or questions. My hope and prayer is that Christians will be exposed to objective and systematic Bible studies through my Off the Shelf Series. Christians are supposed to be people of the book. They should not neglect it or be afraid to look.   Off the Shelf Sunday School Lesson Romans 1 Background This letter was written by Paul in 57-58AD during his third missionary trip. It is among the first of Paul’s epistles and it is an explanation of the essentials of the gospel (or good news) of Jesus Christ. The main theme is the lost condition of humanity and justification by faith for everyone who believes in Jesus. This letter was sent to the Christians in Rome. Paul had not yet visited Rome. Christians from Rome traveled many miles to meet him when he later came to Rome as a prisoner. (Acts 28:14-16) The realization that hu-mans are justified by faith in Jesus alone impacted the thinking of many Christian leaders such as Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley. Introduction (1:1-7) Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his res-urrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among the Gentiles to the obedi-ence that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Jesus has paid a sin debt for those who put their faith in him. Therefore, Christians have been purchased from the kingdom of the devil to serve in the kingdom of God. This is why Paul calls himself a servant and so are all who call Jesus their Savior and Lord. (Rom 5:6-11) 2. Paul was called by Jesus to be an apostle or messenger of the gospel. Likewise, Chris-tians are called by God to be his ambassadors in spreading the gospel, the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. (Acts 9:15; 2 Cor 5:17-21) 3. This gospel was predicted by Old Testament prophets and fulfilled by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. (Isa 53:1-6) 4. Those who are born-again spiritually into the kingdom of God, are made holy in the sight of God. This is why Paul calls them saints. Saints have received grace and have peace with God, being reconciled to him by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 5. The gospel or good news about Jesus is that he chose us, he pardoned us, and he made us holy in the sight of God. This is entirely his work and his will. Christians are called the Bride of Christ. We respond in obedience to the will of Jesus our Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, good works come from God because it is from his work in us that changes us and gives us the desire to do his work. This is different from the world’s philosophy of becoming or achieving something through individual determination and effort. (1 Cor 15:1-4; Eph 2:1-10) Paul’s Desires (1:8-17) First, I thank God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being re-ported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gos-pel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.