Preliminary Thoughts on Romans

Preliminary Thoughts on Romans 2006 January 25^th for February 22^nd

My impression going in is that the book of Romans, that is, the letter of Paul to the church at Rome, is one of the main places where my particular subculture of Christians gets a lot of their theology. (They certainly donÕt get it from the Law of Moses!) Paul, introduced to us in the book of Acts, is the great intellect, the great zealot of faith who, the course of his own faith changed by a direct encounter with his God, became the great post-Jesus spokesman for Christianity and, working from the background of his extensive Jewish training, developed much of the underpinning philosophy of the new faith.

This is one of PaulÕs many letters included in the Bible and one of the more lengthy and complex.

As with many other Bible texts, books and books are written about Romans, multiple undergraduate and graduate level courses are taught on the subject. Term papers and theses are written on only a few verses here and there, so much meaning is thought to be packed into them. The material bears this depth of inquiry. Our covenant here, however, is to do an even handed survey; to go through the Bible at about one page per day, the same rate given to the less theologically entangled lists of cities of inheritance given towards the end of Joshua, or to the adventures of Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. We do not attempt here to get into the full depth of this divinely inspired work, we only attempt, as in the other places, to see what it plainly says (and does not say) on a serious but relatively cursory reading. (Any reader is encouraged to get out their own Bible and go into any desired depth of study with Romans or any other book of the Bible, or check http://www.archivesbookshop.com/ for any number of other teachings on this material at a multitude of scholarship levels.)

My prayer is that God honors and is present in a work at this level, the level at which I can perform it. It is my belief that he must be able to do this.

With this said, that this is neither the most superficial nor the most in-depth possible reading of Romans, let us proceed to see what the Apostle Paul had to say to the Christians of the church at Rome, more or less at the same pace as when it was read from the pulpit to those Romans.

Romans 1 2006 January 26^th for February 23^rd

Those of you who are used to reading what I write are doubtless accustomed to my bent towards parenthetical digression and lengthy intra-sentence explanations with ever more complex detail, some relevant and some irrelevant.

Well, my own style has never approached the opening greeting of PaulÕs letter:

ÒPaul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God – [and, here we go] the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him and for his nameÕs sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

[breath in]

ÒTo all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his saints:Ó

And, though at this point he could simply say, ÒAmen. Sincerely, Paul,Ó he continuesÉ

He begins by making sure that they understand that he has been wanting to come to Rome and that he has tried many times, but due to his many responsibilities among Jews and Gentiles, wise and the foolish, has not been able to work it out yet. He wants to come be with them so as to give them gifts of faith and be mutually encouraged.

And this causes him to think of preaching the gospel, which he wants to do in Rome. He is not ashamed of it Òbecause it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.Ó

With these pleasantries out of the way, he launches right into his initial point, the depravity of mankind.

People have been godless and wicked from the beginning, and GodÕs wrath has been shown against all this. GodÕs nature, Òinvisible qualitiesÓ have also been obvious from the beginning. People have no excuse. They werenÕt thankful to God for what he had done nor did they glorify him for it. They became foolish and unenlightened.

In this depravity they did many evil things. The example Paul gives are:

- Worshipping man-made images of animals and such,

- Unnatural, lustful uses of their bodies, both women and men, doing Òindecent thingsÓ,

- General evil: greed, wickedness, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hating God, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness, disobediance to parents, and anything else they could invent: Òsenseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.Ó

God is righteous and decrees a penalty of death for such things (for everything actually), but people continue to do them and approve of other people who do them too.

Although these words can condemn nearly anything we see on TV, they are most often used to proof-text against homosexual behavior. PaulÕs point here, however, is not to condemn homosexuals in particular, but to demonstrate that every person who is alive and breathing is sinful and wicked. If you do not see yourself in this list of depravities, you are not being honest with yourself. Paul does not intend to give believers ammunition with which to condemn others, he intends to demonstrate that the reader, the hearer himself, that is everyone, is deserving of a punishment of death. Once you accept this, you are ready for what comes next.

Paul says in effect, ÔConsider yourself depraved and hopeless, deserving death.Õ In the next few chapters we hope for some encouragement over against this condition.

Romans 2 2006 January 27^th for February 24^th

In yesterdayÕs remarks, I was only guessing that Paul listed every known evil so as to condemn every person, not to create categories for those of us who are not sinners to condemn everyone else. TodayÕs opening statement confirms this:

ÒYou, therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.Ó

He is saying in effect, ÔThis means you!Õ By the very act of condemning others (while we, as Jesus would say, have a log in our own eye), we are unrighteous.

Being stubborn in unrepentance is the way to guarantee your share of GodÕs wrath on the day of GodÕs wrath. Being persistent in doing good in order to seek glory, honor, and eternal life, on the other hand, will earn eternal life.

He stops at several places to say that this applies to both Jews and Gentiles, using the phrase, Òfirst for the Jew, then for the Gentile.Ó Paul was Jewish and knew that the true God had come first to the Jews. He also understood fully that a new day had arrived, one in which everyone, including the Gentiles (that is, anyone who is not Jewish) would be acceptable to God on the merits of the content of their hearts, the essence of their being, not on the heritage of their faith.

Paul then makes distinction between Jews and Gentiles. He says that the Jew, though they have heard the law, though they have been circumcised into the covenant, though they know GodÕs truth, if they donÕt act accordingly, none of this does them any good. The Gentiles on the other hand, if they act according to the provisions of the law because their hearts are right, even though they do not know the law directly, even though they are not circumcised as Jews, are still acceptable to God.

What good does it do for a Jew to know everything and to condemn those who break the law when they just break the same law themselves? This is even worse than breaking the law due to ignorance. It leads to this: ÒGodÕs name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.Ó That is, people seeing evil and hypocrisy among the Jews then disbelieve in the Jewish God and swear against him.

This is worse than ignorance, and pervades the centuries. People swear against Christians today on the same sorts of grounds, vaguely citing Òwars, oppression, the InquisitionÓ in protest.

ÒA man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a manÕs praise is not from men, but from God.Ó

Paul is saying here that Jews do not have to be Gentiles and Gentiles do not have to be Jews to be acceptable to God, they have to be right inside. The Jews merely have less excuse, since they have the truth stated plainly within their faith whereas an average Gentile may not.

Romans 3 2006 January 30^th for February 27^th

Since Jews and Gentiles can both be acceptable to God, is there any advantage to being a Jew? Yes, Jews are in a privileged position, they Òhave been entrusted with the very words of God.Ó (God made the Jews and made them custodians of the law and had them in place so that when he came himself, he would be a Jew. This special relationship continues throughout history.)

If some are unfaithful, does this change GodÕs faithfulness? If our unrighteousness puts GodÕs righteousness into relief, should we be more unrighteous? Since good often results from evil, should we then do evil?

Of course not, to all of the above.

Paul then quotes several places from the law and the prophets demonstrating that no one, Jew or Gentile is righteous. All have sinned. No one is justified by having obeyed the law. The law only stands to demonstrate clearly that no one can follow it.

This would seem to be bad news but God has provided another way to become righteous: faith in Jesus. This is available to both Jews and Gentiles. Before offering Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement (we studied atonement in Leviticus), God did not punish every sin in the past. Because of this he can now show justice to those who now come to this faith in Jesus.

So, there is no boasting anymore for having followed the law (Paul used to be one of the biggest boasters), because no one really has. No one has been perfect about this. There is only boasting in righteousness due to this faith in Jesus. Jews still uphold the law; it is their heritage and their possession. Knowing what is right, they must do what they must do. More generally, however, the law only shows that there is sin and evil that needs justice and rectification and the only rectification that is really complete is in Jesus.

Romans 4 2006 January 31^st for February 28^th

How was Abraham justified before God, on the basis of his works (actions) or his faith (belief)? Was he justified before he was circumcised or after?

The answers are ÒfaithÓ and Òbefore.Ó Because of this, Abraham is the father, in faith, of all of us, of the Òuncircumcised (the Gentiles) because he had faith and was justified before he himself became Jewish. He is also the father in faith of the Jews, as was already widely believed and understood.

Faith in God is credited as righteousness. David spoke of this when he said that people whose transgressions and sins were forgiven were blessed and that God would not hold those sins against them.

Even though he was old and his wife was old, even though he was a good as dead (at age 100) and his wifeÕs womb was long thought dead (at age 90), Abraham believed that God would give him an heir. ÒHe did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.Ó

And so it was righteousness.

It doesnÕt mention the whole incident with Ishmael. I donÕt think it ever said that Abraham taking an additional wife and having a child with her was unbelief. It is possible to see this not as unbelief but as Abraham trying to help out in any way he could. Perhaps this is only Òmisguided.Ó God did come back after Ishmael and talk to Abraham about it, reiterating that the promised heir would be by Sarah. Even so, it was fourteen more years before Isaac.

Once Ishmael was there, God blessed him too. After all, Ishmael was offspring of Abraham, whose offspring were to be blessed, though not of the wife of promise, Sarah.

Romans 5 2006 February 2^nd for March 1^st

Since we have faith and are justified by it, we also have peace with God. ÒAnd hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.Ó

We are justified and saved from GodÕs wrath through JesusÕ sacrifice, also referred to as his Ôblood.Õ

ÒFor if, when we were GodÕs enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.Ó

I donÕt exactly follow this idea of degrees of salvation (Òhow much moreÓ). Paul may be using this usage for emphasis rather than syntactical exactness.

Death came into the world through the first man, Adam, and it reigned over mankind from then on, even before Moses, even before there was a law to point out that there was such a thing as sin and trespass. The good news is that reconciliation and justification came to mankind through one act of one person also, through the voluntary sacrifice of Jesus.

In summary, sin came into the world through Adam. When the law arrived through Moses, people were even more conscious of sin and the need for grace and reconciliation increased. Jesus provided that grace and when he was actually here on earth and actually submitted to the sacrifice, it became clear how this had come about.

There are many philosophical questions that are not answered or clarified here. Paul does not seem to be establishing a philosophy or theology; he speaks as if he is (repeatedly) stating facts.

My own view is that Adam is no different from any of the rest of us. Whichever person came first would have sinned and introduced sin into the world. Some labor under the impression that what is being said here is that sin was introduced into the world through Adam and that, if Adam had managed not to sin he would have lived forever and there would not have been sin or imperfection in the creation. Whether this is actually the case or not is not important to us. When we were born, imperfection was already in the universe and all people were already irreversibly subject to irresistible sin and imperfection. I do not think it helps much to sit around wishing that Adam had never sinned. My view is that AdamÕs sin was inevitable and that if Courtney had been the first person and Adam was sitting here typing this, Courtney would have sinned and Adam would have been stuck today.

The reason I think this is because the corruption that came through Adam is for all people in all time and the reconciliation that comes through Jesus is also for all people in all time. Matters of imperfection and grace being timeless, the only importance of the point in history when something occurs is whether we have it in our own historical record or not. Adam, being the first person in history, was bound to be the first recorded sinner.

Adam committed the first sin as a matter of opportunity, acting from a doomed nature. If you want to sit around wishing that someone didnÕt sin, wish it for yourself. Then we can move on. The good news for us then is that Jesus made it possible for all people to choose goodness, overcoming this inevitability of imperfection and sin.

How or why the perfect God created a creation and a people who are corruptible and imperfect is unanswered but we are here and we are they.

Romans 6 - 7 2006 February 3^rd for March 2^nd

So, should we sin so that there will be more grace? No, when we were baptized, it was into death so that we could be raised from the dead like Christ. We are now dead to sin. Before, we were slaves to sin, things we are now ashamed of, things that lead to death. Now we are slaves to righteousness. DonÕt go around offering yourself to sin. ÒFor sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.Ó

Because we are under grace, should we sin? No. We have received teaching that leads to righteousness and are slaves to it, not sin.

ÒFor the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.Ó

Here is an illustration from the institution of marriage. A woman married to a man is bound to him until he dies. If she becomes bound to another while he lives, it is adultery, but if he dies she is no longer bound and is free to join another.

Sin dies in us and we are made free to become slaves to righteousness.

Since the law points out sin, is the law itself sin? No. The law is holy and points out what sin is. Before knowing what it was to covet, Paul was free from the emotion, but when he learned the law not to covet, Òsin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandmentÓ made him covet everything. This was death.

The law is good; did it then become death? No. The law is there so that sin is recognized as sin and therefore becomes all the worse.

The law is spiritual but we are unspiritual. We were sold into sin as slaves, involuntarily and donÕt know what is up. We donÕt want to do bad but we do. We want to do good but we donÕt. ÒIn my inner being I delight in GodÕs law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.Ó

We talked about this yesterday, that we are naturally, inevitably imperfect and sinful.

ÒWhat a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!Ó

ÒSo then, I myself in my mind am a slave to GodÕs law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.Ó

One of the characteristics I remember of the theology of JehovahÕs Witnesses is that they believe that through salvation they lose the sinful nature and become perfect. They never sin again. It was always my opinion that this doctrine led not to perfection but to denial and deception. Paul does not understand it this way. He understands that, as spiritual beings we want what is right, we want to know and follow GodÕs law. As natural humans, however, we are slaves to sinful things, all the more since we know from the law what is and what isnÕt sin.

Romans 8 2006 February 4^th for March 3^rd

This chapter is considered one of the most central in the Bible, at least to our brand of faith. A whole BibleÕs worth of words in commentary has been written on this Òinner sanctumÓ of the theology of Paul, people having used the full extent of their in-depth analytical abilities to tease every possible nuance (and then some) from this letter, written to the Romans to apologize that Paul has not yet been able to attend them. When logic and reason fail, these analytical behaviors are justified through divine inspiration, both of the author Paul and of the readers and commentators.

Today, in our even-handed survey, we attempt to comment at about the usual level, interested now in what the text plainly says. By this I do not diminish the importance of this material; I merely stress two ideas that underlie this study: 1. All of the Bible is important, otherwise, why would it all be in the Bible? 2. By our own philosophy, it should be possible for Paul to communicate directly to a Christian reader of his material without all of this intermediary help. With that, we continue.

The law was an attempt to bring righteousness but failed because of its sinful nature. ÒThere is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.Ó His law of the Spirit sets us free from the Òlaw of sin and death.Ó

You can live either by the sinful nature, in which case it is impossible to do anything but what nature desires, and to ultimately receive death, which is not pleasing to God, or you can live by the ÒSpirit of lifeÓ which makes your spirit alive and your body dead, except that the Spirit of life also makes your natural body alive as well. After all, God raised Christ from death, he can make life wherever he pleases, and has.

The good news is that this ÒobligationÓ to the Spirit of life is not an enslavement as is the obligation to the natural spirit of death from which we have been freed, but it is the spirit of being an heir, a child of God, a co-heir with Christ himself, and all of the privileges implied by that. We are not slaves in this salvation; we are family. In this, we share in JesusÕ glory as well as his sufferings.

So is the tradeoff worth it? Paul says, ÒI consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.Ó The world we live in now is in upheaval, it is like labor pains preceding childbirth. Those of us who are saved by Christ are the ÒfirstfruitsÓ of that much-anticipated birth, and we wait for the culmination patiently, and in hardship.

In fact, we donÕt really know what it is we are waiting for. Moreover, we donÕt really know what it is that we should pray for. In this respect there is additional good news that Òthe Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with GodÕs will.Ó So, we have an inside track.

The next three verses are central to this central chapter. I quote them verbatim before editorializing:

ÒAnd we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.Ó

If a Christian knows one half-verse in the Bible, it is the first of these ÒÉ all things work together for goodÉÓ Many, who know nothing else, take great comfort in this, to the ignorance of the material less than a dozen verses away, ÒÉ indeed we share in his sufferingsÉÓ and so forth. In fact, to the ignorance of the other half of the verse, ÒÉ who have been called according to his purposes.Ó Things donÕt just Òwork outÓ in some simplistic sense for Christians, though it is my observation that they often do in ÒbigÓ things and though I believe it is GodÕs presence that accomlishes this. Things work out because God works them out under certain conditions which are specified here and that demonstrate his goodness. It doesnÕt mean that nothing ever goes wrong or that Christians never experience opposition. Quite the contrary, actually, as is discussed elsewhere here and throughout the Bible. But there is basic goodness, it is the presence of God, and we can trust it.

The next phrases are often used as a basis for the doctrine of Òpredestination,Ó that is, the idea that God knows everything about the universe in total detail before it even started (indeed, that God is outside of time and therefore ÒstartÓ and ÒfinishÓ are objective realities to him anyway) and that he knew, or decided, who would and would not be saved. People then latch onto this, some believing that it doesnÕt matter what they do, they are either saved or they arenÕt. Some also believe that you canÕt even know until the judgment. Just do whatever and hope for the best. My own view is that these are lazy heresies that derive from Newtonian or ÒdeterministicÓ thinking about the universe. Without getting into the details of relativity and uncertainty, let me just say that there are other ways of thinking about these notions, other implicit philosophies that underlie the ÒlogicalÓ conclusions that can be drawn from this and other relevant texts and that they all suffer from the human frailties of incomplete knowledge and incomplete methods of reasoning. In other words, all sides of a debate over predestination will contain incompleteness and error.

My view attempts to circumscribe them all by claiming that it doesnÕt make any difference to we mortals whether predestination is a correct understanding of GodÕs knowledge and interaction with the creation or not. We do not know what God knows, we cannot think like God thinks. We have to live in an imperfect creation with insufficient information and erroneous intellectual tools. We are left with a simple choice, either trust God to take care of you, or donÕt, from the perspective of our own Òoccurring world.Ó

What we are supposed to pick up from this is that we are siblings of Jesus in GodÕs view. We therefore have callings from God, we are therefore justified, and we are even glorified.

You can easily see how so much has been built up on these verses. Despite my introductory protestations to the contrary, I have been caught up in the volume of commentary myself.

So, concluding:

God didnÕt even spare his own Son in reaching out to save and justify us. This being the case, ÒIf God is for us, who can be against us?Ó With God justifying us and Jesus sitting at GodÕs right hand interceding for us, who can condemn us? Can anything happen that can change this, God being supreme? PaulÕs answer to this is:

ÒFor I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Ògod that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.Ó

In other words, no.

Romans 9 2006 February 6^th for March 6^th

Paul is troubled and sorrowed for his brothers the Israelites because they had it all, the relationship with God, the covenants, the means of worship, and even kinship with Jesus but are still not all GodÕs children because they are not all right.

Not all of AbrahamÕs offspring were part of the race, only those through Isaac, that is, through the promise to Sarah. Not all of IsaacÕs children either. Before the twins were born, before they did anything good or bad, the word came from God that the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob, that is, Israel) and the blessing went on through Israel. (When Moses and Joshua were wandering through the desert they had familial concern for Edom, that is, Esau, but we donÕt see stories of God leading and blessing Esau.)

ÒIt does not, therefore, depend on manÕs desire or effort, but on GodÕs mercy.Ó

So, why bother then, how can God still blame us? PaulÕs answer to this, ÒBut who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ÔWhy did you make me like this?ÕÓ

Paul doesnÕt answer his own question. It is more like, ÔI canÕt know and you canÕt either. God can do what he pleases.Õ

There are many examples throughout the Bible of God setting somebody up to crush and thereby show his power. Consider Pharaoh. (Consider Bush, with whom also is GodÉ.) Also, God often chooses those who are not in the covenant as loved ones. Consider Hosea (who we will get to later) whose personal life symbolized the infidelity of Israel. Even Israel himself, another prophet (who we will also get to (Isaiah)) says, ÒUnless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah.Ó

So we see that it is through God that Israel was and now is blessed or cursed, and not by any other means. And we also see that it is through God that others who are not of Israel are blessed, or cursed, as the case may be and, also, not by any other means, not by their desires or anyoneÕs actions. The law did not bring righteousness to Israel. They only stumbled on it for the most part. Paul ought to know, the law had been his passionate avocation.

Romans 10 2006 February 7^th for March 7^th

Paul reiterates that it is his chief desire that all Israel be saved but that their zeal for God has been misdirected and they have not learned where righteousness really comes from. ÒChrist is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.Ó

A person is saved by believing in the resurrection and saying so. In this respect there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Both can be saved. Both can miss being saved.

There is a need to get this information out. People cannot confess something that they donÕt know about and they canÕt know about something unless they have heard somehow. Those who preach this news are a blessing indeed.

Both Moses and Isaiah testify both that those who are not of the nation of God are still used by him to bring about understanding to Israel. God also says, ÒI revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.Ó So, while struggling with his chosen people who are Òdisobedient and obstinateÓ he also reaches out to those who are not thought to be ÒchosenÓ at least racially.

My interpretation of this would be that this creation and all of its contents harbor imperfection. The people chosen by God are imperfect by his standards as are those who are not chosen. Being the God of everything and everyone in the universe, he works with both sets, the chosen and the unchosen, and succeeds in drawing some of both to himself. Some of both also fail to respond and are not saved.

Romans 11 2006 February 9^th for March 8^th

So, is it hopeless for Israel? No. Paul himself is an Israelite, of Benjamin. Do you remember when Elijah complained that all Israel all fallen away but God had reassured him that there were 7000 believers remaining? God stupefied some so they could not see and understand, but not all.

Because of the fall of the Israelites, salvation has come to the Gentiles too, but GodÕs promises are irrevocable, the root of the tree of Israel is good and the whole tree is good. Paul refers to it as a cultivated olive tree. Some branches have broken off and in their place God has grafted wild olive branches (Gentiles), but beware, those can break off just like the originals did and God can graft back in the originals if he wants.

God was stern to those who fell and kind to those who replaced them.

Because of the gospel, the Israelites and Gentiles are enemies, but due to the eternal promises and relationship of God with the Jews, they are still blessed.

ÒGod has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.Ó

GodÕs riches and wisdom are above us. None of us can advise him. He owes none of us anything. ÒFor from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.Ó

Romans 12 – 13 2006 February 11^th for March 9^th

DonÕt do the worldÕs things anymore, sacrificially offer your bodies to God, Òbe transformed by the renewing of your mindÓ and then you can figure out GodÕs will with less difficulty.

In the same way that not every part of the body has the same function, so all the members of the body of Christ (the church) do not have the same function. Do your function, not thinking unreasonably highly or lowly of yourself compared to others. If you are a teacher, teach, if a leader, govern diligently. If you are gifted in helping others or showing mercy, do it cheerfully.

ÒShare with GodÕs people who are in need.Ó Enter into rejoicing or mourning with those who rejoice or mourn, donÕt take revenge or return evil for evil. Quoting from Proverbs:

ÒIf your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.Ó

God has established authority and you should submit to it, whether it means paying taxes or doing service or honor or showing respect. Authorities have the power of life and death and the responsibility of order. To rebel is an affront to God. Obey them, both from fear of punishment and because of conscience.

Note that Paul does not distinguish civil or religious authority. He is upholding all authority. I do not believe that he is trying to cover every possible extremist case. I do not think it is a reasonable reading of this text to submit to a clearly evil dimension of an authority. The Nazis did throw this text at their Christian subjects. Evil is permitted by God, but not established. Conscience and duty to God are more important than fear of punishment.

Follow the commandments: do not commit adultery, murder, steal, covet, and so forth, whatever else was commanded. ÒBehave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.Ó DonÕt think about how to do these things anymore but ÒÕLove your neighbor as yourself.Õ Love does no harm to its neighbor.Ó

Be alert, the day of salvation is now closer than ever!

Romans 14 2006 February 13^th for March 10^th

DonÕt let details of faith be divisive. If someone eats anything, that is OK. If someone eats only vegetables (because his Òfaith is weakÓ whatever that means) that is OK too. It is not right either to condemn the man who eats anything or for the man who eats anything to look down on the one who eats only vegetables. Paul himself is convinced that all foods are clean, but this doesnÕt mean that everyone thinks that or that such details should be allowed to become stumbling blocks for each other.

Some people have a sacred day; others do not. This is all OK too. ÒEach one should be fully convinced in his own mind.Ó Both are OK. Christ died for all of us. We do what we do or refuse to do what we refuse to do for God. When we live it is to God. When we die, it is to God. It is not our place to judge our brothers; they are also GodÕs servants. It is not our place to judge the servants of someone else. They stand or fall based on the masterÕs views, not ours, and God will make everyone stand. We all must give our own account to God.

It is not our place to judge GodÕs other servants for God.

Not everyone will go with this either, however. If you are one of those who eats anything and this act gives someone who thinks differently heartburn, donÕt blatantly go out of your way to do what he thinks is wrong. That is a stumbling block to him. Better to follow some of someone elseÕs rules than to Òcause your brother to fall.Ó

ÒSo whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.Ó

Romans 15 2006 February 15^th for March 13^th

Those who are strong in faith should use this to build up the weak, not to fault or tear them down. All of the scripture was written to teach and to give hope and encouragement through endurance.

Christ died for and accepts all. Similarly, we should accept everyone. This is all Òso that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.Ó

ÒMay the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.Ó

Now Paul returns to addressing those of the Roman church specifically. He has confidence in their knowledge and goodness and their ability to teach each other. He has written some rather strongly worded reminders in this letter.

He has been delayed in his desire to visit the church in Rome because he was preaching to the Gentiles throughout the region, Òfrom Jerusalem all the way around to IllyricumÓ. He has been doing a new work there, telling Gentiles about this God that they didnÕt know about before.

Now, Paul is planning to go to Spain, and he plans to stop over in Rome and visit and rest there for a while. The Romans will have an opportunity to help with his trip. Before he can do this (more delays), he has an offering from Macedonia and Achaia for the poor in Jerusalem that he must go and deliver. He says that those Macedonian believers owed this offering, ÒFor if the Gentiles have shared in the JewsÕ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.Ó

He asks them to keep praying for him, particularly that the work in Jerusalem will go well and that he be Òbe rescued from the unbelievers in Judea.Ó

Romans 16 2006 February 16^th for March 14^th

In this final chapter Paul greets everyone he knows in Rome: Priscilla, Aquila, the church that meets at their house, Epenetus, Mary, Andronicus, Junias, Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, the household of Aristobulus, Herodion, the household of Narcissus, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus and his mother, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas. He tells little reminder stories about some of them, for instance, he had been in jail with Andronicus and Junias and Herodion was a relative.

He also commends Òour sister PhoebeÓ from Cenchrea as a very helpful person to himself and many others. From context it appears that she will carry the letter.

In what is nearly a postscript, he goes back to preaching. Perhaps Romans 16:17 should be the verse on the tip of everyoneÕs tongue rather than 8:28: ÒI urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.Ó

Greetings are extended from all the churches. ÒGreet one another with a holy kiss.Ó Then, greetings are given from many who are there with Paul: Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater (more relatives), Tertius (who actually wrote down the letter), Gaius, Erastus (the ÒcityÕs director of public worksÓ) and Quartus.

Finally, a benediction:

ÒNow to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey him – [breathe in!] – to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

Concluding Thoughts on Romans 2006 February 16^th for March 15^th

Page wise, Romans is a shorter book than I had expected, especially after Luke and Acts. Perhaps we could have spent more time going through it more slowly mining it for every detail. On the other hand, Paul repeats himself, retelling the same thing from many angles, using many words saying the same thing over and over. As a teaching aid this is fine, but it is also lends to significant compression in a summary.

In our modern Protestant usage, Romans and the other epistles are books of deep theology, relevant to what we think of God and how we act. Inasmuch as they go into detail dealing with specific issues and problems, there is danger that these works are sometimes taken more seriously than the direct teachings of Jesus himself. Looking at the broader outline of themes, however, it is not clear that theology is the only intent of this material. Indeed, one of the major themes is for believers not to put religious stumbling blocks in front of each other. Here is one possible outline of PaulÕs major points in addressing his friends in Rome:

Paul has been trying to visit Rome for years, and still is.
All people are depraved; all people are condemned; no one measures up to GodÕs standard. (He really means no one.) It is not our job to condemn each other; this only brings more self condemnation.
ChristÕs sacrifice was for all people.
The Jews only special privilege is a long running relationship with God. This is really more responsibility than privilege since it means they ought to know better.
Knowledge of the law only condemns, it is not life giving. The Spirit of God is life giving.
The natural is enslaving. (That is the meaning of Òthis body of deathÓ used to refer to the natural body.) The spiritual is freeing. By being saved, we are GodÕs heirs and siblings with Jesus, God himself, not slaves as we were to nature.
We cannot be separated from God involuntarily. (Maybe not voluntarily.)
God is good and makes good possible and accessible.
We are all different in our relationship to God and in our gifts to each other. It is none of our business why God chose to do this or why a particular one of us is the way he/she is.
We are to submit to authority. We are to follow the commandments. Gentiles, however, do not have to become Jews first to be saved. They have their own deal.
The Jews were privileged at first but some of them have fallen away and some non-Jews have been ÒgraftedÓ in.
DonÕt be arrogant with your religion and cause stumbling among your fellows. This is wrong. DonÕt lack integrity with yourself either. Be convinced and do it, but donÕt harm others for whom Christ also died.
Greetings, commendations, prayers, and praises.

Recently from this and other material, my view that God lives and works outside of the past-present-future constraints of timekeeping has been strengthened. Viewing all of history (and future) as a whole, God came to exist among his created people by establishing a race in perpetuity, a race that has special knowledge of and relationship with God. The individual who is God himself entered time and space as one of the people of that race but he was and is and will be always everywhere in spirit. It is as if GodÕs being on earth was too big to be just one individual. The ÒeventÓ as we think of it, reverberates throughout all space and time and one of the echoes, one of the expressions of God is the Jewish people. By living in the part of history that is after the time of the man Jesus, we have a clearer image of what and who he was. At least having a clearer image is in the realm of possibility.

But, God never intended to be exclusive to or from anyone. The book of Romans emphasizes this. It doesnÕt say, Òeveryone is depraved, everyone should straighten up and act right before God will accept them,Ó it says, Òeveryone is depraved, period.Ó It is hopeless except that God has come among the people to provide a way out. People from the very first one were depraved and unworthy. God came himself, as an individual, to get beyond this universal condition, and to make us siblings with him.

Remember Joseph and his brothers in Egypt when he had summary power over them? They deserved to die and no one would blame Joseph if he had killed them but, if he had done this, they would have been dead and he would not have had brothers anymore. God has done the same thing for all the brotherhood of humanity by coming in the form of Jesus, someone who certainly had the right and the motivation to kill us all but did not. Rather, he died himself, in our place, and embraced us as his long lost family, both the racial family of Jews and the rest of humanity. This relationship goes back even further into the mists of what we think of as history, long before Abraham.

We are all depraved, like the brothers of Joseph, but those same brothers became the tribes of GodÕs chosen people, Israel.

God is not exclusive with this gift; he is the exact opposite of exclusive. God does not make distinction on trivialities of philosophy or doctrine and, in this book, he tells us not to beat each other up with them either. All are depraved; all are ignorant; all are hopeless; all have error in their thinking. Deal with God about this; it has been made possible. Do not deal with your brothers and sisters about it (this will be covered elsewhere), except to encourage them to deal with God about it themselves.

So much of the history of religion that gives us a bad reputation has just plain ignored this. God, despite what individuals think, profess, or do, does not want anyone lost. It is not a matter of particular words that one says or particular images of God that one develops that makes the difference. It is GodÕs own work that makes the difference. It is up to us to accept as much as we can understand of this and to leave the rest of the responsibility for us with God himself. It is not up to us to make clubs that are exclusive, but rather, to be like God and include all who will be included. It is not our place to say that someone else is wrong. That is obvious. Everyone is wrong. Our responsibility for this is to God alone. Our responsibility to each other is to be peers in the struggle, not judges over each other.

I am thankful to God that things are this way. It is unimaginable to me, and probably to anyone, how bad this world, this universe, could be without the inclusive and good presence of God.