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Welcome back! I hope you had a chance to consider where the Spirit is leading you to dig deeper in this passage and to focus on characters, locations, and timeframes in the text. Here’s what I noticed from my study so far.
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
I most felt the pull of the Spirit to verses 3 and 16. In addition to wondering what the author meant by sober judgment and the measure of faith assigned in v3, I felt convicted by both verses: not to think of myself more highly than I ought and do not be haughty. Feels like this study will challenge me a lot!
WHO (CHARACTERS)
- I, the author of this passage. In Romans 1:1, he’s identified as Paul, a servant [Greek doulos] of Christ Jesus. He also describes himself there as being called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.
- You, brothers who are the recipients of this letter. They’re described in Romans 1:6-7 as those in Rome who are loved by God and called to belong to Jesus Christ and to be saints.
- God, who is merciful (v1) and whose will is good, acceptable, and perfect (v2),
- Christ, in whom we, though many, are one body (v5). According to Romans 1:4 and 7, this character is also referred to as Lord. You are instructed to serve the Lord (v11), and vengeance is the Lord’s (v19).
- The passage also mentions several other characters in the verses discussing gifts—i.e., one who teaches, exhorts, contributes, leads, does acts of mercy (vv7-8)—and behavior expectations: those who persecute you (v14), rejoice, weep (v15); the lowly (v16); all (vv17-18); and your enemy (v19).
WHERE (LOCATIONS) AND WHEN (TIMEFRAMES)
I discovered just one location, this world (v2), but the footnote in my ESV translation indicates this term might also be translated age which we could consider a timeframe! At this point, I’m assuming Paul is telling the Romans not to conform to the culture in Rome at that time. I don’t feel the Spirit leading me to learn more about that right now, but if He is directing you to that verse, I suggest you plan to dig deeper there in the refining phase in a few weeks.
Dig-In Challenges
Here’s my plan this week:
- PRAY the prayer I wrote last week before I study.
- MINE: Look for repeated words or phrases in this passage and check for synonyms or pronouns that might refer to the same concepts.
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, requests, and/or warnings) in the passage.
- MINE: Note any lists (3 or more similar items) mentioned in Romans 12.
Remember, you can download this printable summary of the DISO process for more specific instructions. I hope you’ll check in with me next week!