Lesson 10 | Trace Themes
Instructor’s Work
Reminder: apply this lesson to your course project.
Open the course project you should have already begun. Markup your passage using the Theology lens.
Add dot notes with descriptive observations and probing questions, focusing on the four questions from this lesson.
Low-Tech Style (Optional)
Go to your course project, select the Theology lens in the Markup module, open the module settings, then click Print. Finally, complete this task on paper.
Prepare to turn in your course project.
Review all the lenses. Add to, clean up, and sharpen any markups or dot notes as you see fit. All of your work should be contained within one Markup module, including markups and dot notes for each lens. (Low-Tech Style students should have a print-off with markups and footnotes for each lens.)
Write a devotional based on your study that is between a half and a full page in length (150–300 words). Your devotional should bring together content from multiple lenses and focus on:
one truth about God, man, or God’s plan that you understand from your passage (interpretation)
one related takeaway (application)
Note: Be sure to write your devotional prior to beginning the assessment. We have provided an example devotional based on the current assignment at the bottom of this page.
Listen to the instructor’s audio while you examine his work.
Example Devotional
The Apostle Paul suffered many hardships and afflictions, and yet he persevered. What bolstered his confidence? He tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “…as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.” Chapter 5 unpacks several of those unseen, eternal realities. Let’s consider one of them.
In vv. 14–16, Paul argues that the new reality brought about by Christ’s substitutionary death completely transforms the lens through which sees people. He no longer sees them for what they are in this world but for what they are (or could be) in Christ.
In Christ, God no longer counts people’s sins against them. And so, Christ’s substitute death removes the opposition that stands between us and God. This reality so defines the gospel that Paul calls his evangelistic work “the ministry of reconciliation.”
But isn’t this stunning to see that when Paul says at the end of v. 20, “We implore you … be reconciled to God,” he is directly addressing the whole Corinthian congregation! The message to those who were not yet truly believers is clear. But in 6:1 he explains how this appeal applies to believers: “we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” That is, do not make shipwreck of your faith. They have believed in Christ—Paul is laboring to keep them in Christ.
What an important word for you and I to hear. Let us not take our salvation for granted, but look to persevere in the faith, living wholly for him who for our sake died and was raised and looking to walk in all the glorious salvation that Christ has won for us. Hear Paul say to you, “Dear friend, we implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”