The wrath of God

• v12: What did he mean by ‘mutual encouragement’?
• v11: What ‘spiritual gift’ did he have in mind?

• What would have blocked such ‘faith obedience’ if Paul would never have written this letter?
• vv16-17: How did he summarize what the gospel is and how it will achieve its purpose of faith obedience?

• Hint: How is man experiencing the wrath of God, and why does this rule out any possibility of salvation except through faith?
• In which way is “…God’s wrath being revealed” (pesent tense)? v24

• What people is he talking about, and what does he claim about God, and what these people know about him?
• Do any of these statements strike you as particularly offending or insightful? Hint: Is this compatible with the modern Darwinian world view or attacking it?

• What does homosexuality illustrate more graphically than other sins about how people exchange the glory of the immortal God for created things?

• How do people prove that they actually know God’s ‘righteous decree’? Hint: Why do people seek to justify even their immorality?
• Paul wrote this in a culture that had not been permeated yet by any Christian values or ethics. Did he mean that knowing right and wrong is a universal human ability?
• Why is it important whether we follow here Paul’s reasoning and whether we agree with its conclusion?

• What emotion(s) do you sense if you hear of ‘faith obedience’: Does this have negative or a positive connotation? Why?
• What do you think is the root problem that the gospel has been given to solve? Does only the gospel address this? What alternative(s) are offered to us by our culture?