Article archive
07/24/2017 07:40
Paul’s insistence on being judged for our works may create a troubling splinter stuck in the skin of our overall structure of belief. We have been born in sin, correct? We have inherited this sin from our first parents, Adam and Eve, correct? We are then guilty before God for that very first sin...
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07/17/2017 08:07
Paul began chapter 2 saying that anyone who charges others with and condemns them for wrongdoing should realize that they too do wrong and are guilty of condemnation. Paul is presenting (on the basis of chapter 1) the fact of universal guilt (which he will sum up at the end of this entire...
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07/10/2017 12:14
To ensure we keep a solid hold on the handrails as we move along, I want to review our outline so far. (Don’t worry if you see slight changes of wording now and then. We are refining as we go.) Part 1 covered the introduction to the letter.
Romans Outline
Part 1: Introduction...
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07/03/2017 09:23
In verses 24 and 25—the summary of God giving us up—Paul provided two categories of the cravings of our hearts; the first was sexual impurity, and the second was believing the lie. Paul goes into more detail of these two categories in the rest of this chapter. The first of these—sexual impurity—is...
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06/26/2017 05:42
In studying an epistle such as Romans, in which Paul offers so much intricate explanation of the multi-faceted diamond of the gospel, it is easy in our concentration of one facet to forget the contextual arrangement of the whole. Often interpretations can skew because we see nothing but the...
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06/12/2017 06:03
The point in seeing death around us is not simply for us to quake at the awesome power of God. The wrath and punishment meted out are meant to show his displeasure—his incompatibility with sin. His wrath is juxtaposed with the truth, goodness, and beauty of God that Paul goes on to say are also...
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06/06/2017 07:28
Paul continues in his opening by explaining further what his calling—his mission—is. He tells the Romans that he (and the others) have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith. Grace is translated from the Greek charis. We often think of the quick and common definition...
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05/28/2017 08:00
After explaining that he is the slave possession of Jesus, commissioned with a message to deliver, and informing that it is good news (the gospel), Paul in brief speaks of the subject of this message (which the message itself—the rest of this letter—will describe in detail): Jesus the Son of God,...
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05/08/2017 08:34
Recapping the theme of Romans found in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, we find that Paul is not ashamed of the good news which comes about from Jesus’s death because that death (and resurrection)—and therefore, the good news—is the power of God for salvation. And it is good news to everyone who...
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04/24/2017 07:23
We have discussed who wrote this letter. There is not much debate out there. That Paul wrote it is the general consensus. We have discussed when he wrote it, which was in the late 50s, toward the end of his last (third) missionary journey. And we know why he wrote it rather than wait until he got...
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