Fifth Sunday in Lent Romans 8:6-11

Ancient Lens

What can we learn from the historical context?

Body versus Spirit

When Paul writes to the church in Rome about struggles between body and spirit, he is not the first to join this discussion. Even if you limit the conversation to just the Mediterranean world, it is a debate had been going on for centuries.

Philosophical schools asked ethical questions about what what was right, wrong, virtuous, vicious, and so on. A few rejected the idea of knowable objective right and wrong, with might making "right." Others found their moral guide within—you might say you "follow your gut."

For example, hedonists like Epicurus (late 4th century BC), maintained that our…

1. What do you find causes the most tension or division in a group? It may be at work, in a family, among friends, or at church.

2. Have you had experiences when a divided group came together and found some sense of unity or harmony? What happened? What changed?

3. How does Paul expect the church to find peace and unity? 

4. If the Spirit of God is governing our minds—our thoughts and…