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Paul’s Identity

1. READ

   Acts 9:1-31; 11:19-30; 12:25; Romans 6:1-14

2. CONNECT

   10min
   Culture is an important part of each person’s identity. It affects what we believe to be true, our priorities, our values, and how we live our daily lives. In order to properly understand the heart of Paul’s theology, we need to take into account his personal background, his life experiences, and the two very different cultures that shaped him.

3. Reflection

   • To what or to whom are you deeply loyal?
   • What is your ethnic identity?
   • Do you see any connection between those two answers? If so, what?

4. WATCH

   20min

5. DISCUSS

   10min
   • What is something new you learned about Paul from the video?
   • In what ways did Paul’s character and education prepare him for the work God had for him to do?
   • What impact did Paul’s Jewish background have on him and his theology?
   • Paul’s theology is deeply grounded in what God revealed in the Old Testament, so if we want to understand what Paul wrote, we too need to be familiar with the Old Testament. What has helped you understand the Old Testament?
   • What impact did Paul’s contact with Greco-Roman culture have on his ministry?
   • In Paul’s community, Jews were the “insiders” of the faith and Gentiles were the “outsiders.” In your community, who are the insiders? Who are the outsiders? What do we learn from Paul about how to relate to these two groups in a way that is true to the essentials of the faith?

6. Straight from the Heart

   15min
   The Believer’s Union with Christ Paul was able to straddle two opposing cultures because he did not derive his primary sense of identity from either of them. His identity came from his relationship with Jesus Christ who was both the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for and the hope of the Gentile nations. In Thirdmill’s video, Paul and His Theology, Rev. Dan Hendley says:

   Paul wants believers to have this as their critical identity, their essential identity. Who am I? I am essentially one with Jesus Christ as my Lord and my master. And that identity as being in Christ is preeminent over any other identity that anybody could have, whether it’s their family or their culture or their successes or their business or whatever it may be. It’s the essential identity of the children of God that we enter by faith in Jesus.

   • Throughout Paul’s letters, he emphasizes the change that Jesus Christ works in the landscape of reality. Read Galatians 3:26-29 and list the changes that being in Christ makes in the life of the believer.
   • Paul always links the truth with action. According to Romans 6:1-14, how do we become united with Christ? What changes does Paul believe should happen in the life of the believer as a result of being in Christ?
   • Rewrite Romans 6:2 in your own words: “How can we who died to sin still live in it?”

7. APPLY

   Take some time to consider the following questions:

   • Where do you get your identity?
   • On what basis do you evaluate the identity of others?
   • Where has this study encouraged you in your faith?
   • Where has it challenged you? What do you want to do as a result?