After all the theology, after all the reasoning, Paul lets fly with the consequences of this theology and reasoning ... "present your bodies as a living sacrifice -- alive, holy, and pleasing to God." The rest of this chapter describes what that looks like in all kinds of detail. This is a chapter to read … Continue reading Romans 12.
Month: May 2023
Romans 11.
It's hard to tell if there was some kind of issue between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians that leads to Paul's exposition in chapter 11 of his letter to the church in Rome. Did the gentiles consider themselves superior in some way, so that Paul was led to describe the rejection of Christ by most … Continue reading Romans 11.
Romans 10.
Of the Israelites, Paul says, 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. Roman 10:3,4 The "end of the law" might be … Continue reading Romans 10.
Week 21.
Nearly 1/2 year of reading to date. We're nearing the end of May. Anyone have any thoughts about Romans from this past week? Or any questions? One item of note, is that our modern translations protect us from the lengthy sentences in Paul's original writings. Does that matter to you? I think it's a good … Continue reading Week 21.
Romans 9.
In the midst of his glorying in the good that God works for those who believe in him, Paul has to deal with the state of Israel. Paul is a Jew, through and through. But he sees that gentiles are putting their faith in Jesus at a much larger rate than Jews. What does this … Continue reading Romans 9.
Romans 8.
Paul leaves his own personal feelings of shortcomings in chapter 7, to state some truths about what a relationship with Christ actually means. One of these truths is that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Hooray! In Paul's moment in time as he writes this letter, he's suffering. "For we know that … Continue reading Romans 8.
Romans 7.
After the triumphant declaration Paul makes in chapter 6, that we are no longer slaves to sin, but should be slaves to God's righteousness, he then confesses that in spite of that truth, he still wrestles with sin. We see ourselves in his autobiographical confession. The gist of what Paul says, I think, is that … Continue reading Romans 7.
Romans 6.
Once again, Paul is making some powerful claims about our new life in Christ. Think about this (from the NLT): 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were … Continue reading Romans 6.
Romans 5.
So many promises are given by Paul in this chapter of his letter. I'll camp out on this one, which is stated several times in different ways. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
Week 20.
We've completed 20 weeks of reading. Hooray! Anything you'd like to say?