Walking in the
Spirit as Foreigners
Genesis 12:10-20 –
New International Version (NIV)
10 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to
Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As
he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a
beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they
will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say
you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life
will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a
very beautiful woman. 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her,
they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He
treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and
female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
17 But the Lord
inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife
Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to
me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why
did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then,
here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave
orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and
everything he had.”
When did Abram go “down to Egypt to live there for a while”
(verse 10)?
What does Abram
know about Sarai (verse 11)?
Who would the
Egyptians kill (verse 12)?
What is Sarai
supposed to say to the Egyptians (verse 13)?
In your opinion,
why would Abram behave this way (verse 13)?
What did the Egyptians
see about Sarai (verse 14)?
Who praised her to
Pharaoh (verse 15)?
How did the
Pharaoh treat Abram (verse 16)?
Why did the Lord
inflict serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household (verse 17)?
In your opinion,
how did Pharaoh discover that Sarai was Abram’s wife (verse 18)?
What command did
Pharaoh give to Abram (verse 19)?
Who sent Abram on
his way with his wife and all he had (verse 20)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Matthew 22:15-22 -
New International Version (NIV)
15 “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap
him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along
with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of
integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You
aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17 Tell
us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or
not?”
18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites,
why are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for
paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked
them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then
he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is
God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and
went away.”
How did the
Pharisees plan to trap Jesus (verse 15)?
Who went together to Jesus (verse 16)?
In your opinion,
why did they begin by saying “Teacher, we
know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in
accordance with the truth” (verse 16)?
In your opinion,
why did they ask Jesus if it was right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not
(verse 17)?
What did Jesus
know about their intent (verse 18)?
What did Jesus ask
them to show Him (verse 19)?
How did they
respond to Jesus question “Whose image is
this? And whose inscription?” (verses 20 and 21)?
In your opinion,
what does it mean to “give back to Caesar
what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (verse 21)?
How did they
respond to Jesus’ answer (verse 22)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what could Abram in his
interaction with the Egyptians in Genesis 12:10-20 have learned from Jesus
statement in Matthew 22:15-22 to “give
back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”?
Galatians 5:13-26 -
New International Version (NIV)
13 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But
do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly
in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one
command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and
devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the
desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary
to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in
conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those
who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and
desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and
envying each other.”
What did Paul say his brothers and
sisters were called to be (verse 13)?
How should we use our freedom (verse 13)?
In your opinion, how is the entire law
fulfilled “in keeping this one command:
“Love your neighbor as yourself”” (verse 14)?
Who might be destroyed “if you bite and devour each other” (verse
15)?
How do we walk to avoid gratifying “the desires of the flesh” (verse 16)?
What does the flesh desire (verse 17)?
Why are we “not to do whatever you want” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why are we not under the
law if we are “led by the Spirit” (verse
18)?
What is obvious (verse 19)?
Who will “not inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 21)?
What is “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control” (verses
22 and 23)?
Who has “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (verse 24)?
Why should we “keep in step with the Spirit” (verse 25)?
What should we not become (verse 26)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Paul in
Galatians 5:13-26 help us to understand how to do what Jesus instructs in
Matthew 22:15-22 “give back to
Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s”?
In your opinion, how does Abram’s
decisions and actions and in Genesis 12:10-20 show the conflict between flesh
and the Spirit that Paul talks about in Galatians 5:13-26?
1 Peter 2:11-17 –
New International Version (NIV)
11 “Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to
abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live
such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,
they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human
authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or
to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend
those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good
you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live
as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as
God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the
family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”
How does Peter
describe his friends that he is writing to (verse 11)?
What wages “war against your soul” (verse 11)?
Why might pagans “glorify God on the day he visits us” (verse 12)?
For whose sake should we submit to “every human authority” (verse 13)?
Who will “doing good” silence (verse 15)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “live as free people, but do not use your
freedom as a cover-up for evil” (verse 16)?
How should we respond to everyone (verse 17)?
How should we respond to “the family of believers” (verse 17)?
How should we respond to God (verse 17)?
How should we respond to the emperor
(verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does Paul’s instructions in Galatians 5:13-26 help us to know how to live “good lives” as Peter commands in 1
Peter 2:11-17?
In your opinion, how does Peter, who heard
Jesus say in Matthew 22:15-22 to “give back to
Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” expand on this command
in 1 Peter 2:11-17?
In your opinion, how
do Abram and Sarai in Egypt in Genesis 12:10-20 show the conflict that exiles
and foreigners have between using “freedom
as a cover-up for evil” and showing “proper
respect to everyone” as instructed by Peter in 1 Peter 2:11-17?
In your opinion, what do these passages,
from Genesis, Matthew, Galatians and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?
Next, back to Peter 2:18 –
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