SOAP from Romans 10:13-17

Denise and I have been sticking to our church's two-year Bible reading plan. I'm in a small Life Group that discusses the Bible readings from that week. Each person shares for about five minutes a verse or section of scripture that stands out to them. We follow the SOAP method of journaling/meditating on scripture.

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S is for Scripture. "Write down a verse or passage that particularly spoke to you." 

O is for Observation. "What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words." I might add an "I" for Interpretation here. That requires using your God-given brain--considering things such as context (how the passage relates to those verses that precede and follow it), word definitions and historical context. In essence, don't interpret an isolated passage out of context from the rest of the Bible. 

A is for Application. "Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now.... Write how this scripture can apply to you today." 

P is for Prayer. "This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight on what He may be revealing to you." Also, listen to God as well. Write it down.

My SOAP passage for tonight's Life Group is from Romans 10:13-17  "13 For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!' 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

I observe and interpret this section to be a step-by-step description of how people get saved. The apostle Paul uses questions that work backwards to explain the process of salvation. The final step in receiving salvation is to call "on the name of the Lord." In order to call, we must believe. In order to believe, we need to hear the gospel. In order to hear, someone must speak/preach the gospel to us. The preacher needs to be sent.

It seems to me that, in verse 16, obeying the gospel is the same as believing. But this is an active faith that results in a real transformation of one's heart, which results in life change and a change in one's view of the world. If no change occurs, then perhaps true belief didn't occur.

Verse 17 is interesting. It implies that the gospel is closely tied to the word of God. When we hear the gospel (the word), then the Holy Spirit creates saving faith in the hearer. So, when we share the gospel with unbelievers, we should also quote scripture now and then. The Bible is powerful.

How can I apply Romans 10:13-17? If I am to share the gospel, then I should know and arm myself with the gospel and word of God. How can I share something I'm not familiar with? Next, I need to speak the gospel to hearers. I'm not saying we should bash people over the heads with our Bibles. I think honest and open dialogue with unbelievers is part of the process of salvation. Hopefully the unbeliever will ultimately believe and call on the name of the Lord.

There's also "pre-evangelism". Many unbelievers are not yet willing to hear the gospel, but they may have rational questions and a willingness to dialogue. Christians need to be sensitive to where an unbeliever is at.

My prayer is that God will use me as a sharer (preacher) of the good news of Jesus. My prayer is that God will bring people into my life who I can either directly share the gospel (evangelism) or dialogue/answer (pre-evangelism) rational questions. I pray that God will instill saving faith in their hearts. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit empower me with the word of God as I read and meditate on it.

So there's my SOAP passage for tonight's Life Group. Now if only I can keep my time within five minutes. Blessings to you all.