For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you that you may be established.
This week we are going to go a bit deeper into the Greek words that Paul used. That way we can get an even better understanding of his message in this great book. Interestingly enough, in his original epistle (letter) the only words that Paul uses are: long--so--see--impart some spiritual gift--established. This makes reading the passage a little difficult if we do not understand the meaning of the Greek words used. I will try to list the Greek words and their meanings so that we can better understand it.
Epipotheo (ep--ee-poth-eh'-o): means generally longing or a great desire
Horao (hor-ah'-o): to see, to become acquainted with
Metadidomi (met-ad-id'-o-mee): to impart
Tis: some
Pneumatikos (pnyoo-mat-ik-os'): belonging to the Divine Spirit (filled with/governed by the Spirit of God
Charisma: grace or gifts denoting extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians and enabling them to serve the church of Christ, the reception of which is due to the power of divine grace operating on their souls by the Holy Spirit.
Sterizo (stay-rid'-zo): to strengthen, make firm.
Now because Paul wrote using Koine (from the Hellenistic period which is to say after Alexander the Great left his mark on the world) Greek which was the lingua franca (common second language) in the Roman Empire, the syntax of that tongue frequently does not make sense to the common reader. Sometimes Bible translators will put words that do not directly appear in the text in italics. These inserted words are used in order to make the reading less difficult. Additionally, while I defined those Greek words, some of them have more meanings than the single one I used; this is because context matters.Whenever you want to get the proper meaning out of a passage, you use the definition that makes the most sense in that passage. Now with the word exposition done lets look at what Paul was saying in this short sentence.
Firstly, Paul expresses his great desire to meet with them. Heretofore he had been prevented by God's sovereign will. Paul's great affection even for people he had never actually seen. This is sine qua non (Latin: an essential condition; a thing that is absolutely necessary) for effective preaching as even the wonders of Christ's gospel (good news) will not be properly received if delivered in a tone of criticism, indifference, or cold admiration. Of course the gospel cannot be adequately delivered without the law being there as well. If you were to say, "you must be saved!" without a knowledge of sin a person may respond, "saved from what?" People must understand their dire condition before they will cling to the life-raft of the gospel. However, we must remember to share the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
Secondly, Paul wishes to impart a spiritual gift to this congregation in Rome. It appears unclear the exact nature of this gift; it could be miraculous (e.g. prophecy, healing, tongues [ability to speak languages], interpretation of tongues [understanding languages]), or just sharing his understanding/ of God's word, teaching in fact. These gifts uniquely equip the various members of the church to fill different roles and all of the roles are important. Of course you need a pastor/overseer to lead and teach each congregation but you also need other jobs as well. The pastor may have a gift for preaching and teaching, but he may have no sympathy. Some members are gifted in knowing how to just lend mundane aid to those in need (e.g. cook meals) or are good at building things and maintaining property. In this light we should consider the preeminent teacher and evangelist that was the Apostle Paul.
When you consider Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus), he is very different compared to the other apostles: some were fishermen (Simon/Peter, Andrew, James, and John), one was a tax collector (Matthew or Levi according to Luke), and one was a terrorist (Simon the zealot); the others were generally blue-collar workers and non of them had any formal theological training. Heck, Jesus' profession was a carpenter (based on Joseph's profession). And they all ended up with the career of itinerant rabbis (so to speak). Saul of Tarsus, on the other hand, was highly educated. Born and raised in the cosmopolitan city of Tarsus, he undoubtedly received a superior there. Afterward, he obtained rabbinical instruction from the celebrated instructor Gamaliel in Jerusalem and became a Pharisee. Although these men were normally cast as the villains in the gospel accounts (and there were), their education was so rigorous they typically memorized the Law, the Prophets, and the writings (the Old Testament) by rote. That means that they memorized it all. So when Jesus called Saul to work for Him, that was certainly going in a new direction.
Lastly in this passage, Paul is trying to help strengthen and establish the new congregation. The beauty of this remarkable book may stem from the fact that he had never met them before. Every other letter that Paul wrote was to churches that he founded and the letters were always addressing specific issues that needed to be addressed. Once again, as Paul could not know what issues the Roman church was struggling with or confused about, he just addressed them all. The book or Romans is practically a Christianity 101. I will see you next verse and I will try to get it up with more regularity.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to your name give glory,
Because of your faithfulness,
Because of your truth.
Saturday, June 2, 2018
Friday, May 18, 2018
Romans 1:10
always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.
In this part of his introductory address to the church at Rome, Paul expresses is great desire to come to meet them; however, he recognizes the limitation of his own desire to God's will. Previously he had wanted to preach and evangelize Asia. I am fairly certain that is referring to Asia-Minor (modern day Turkey). However according to Acts 16:6-7, "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." However Jesus prevented Paul from going to Asia-Minor is entirely a matter of speculation but it also serves to suggest an example of God saying no to an earnest prayer request. When Paul had a rather bothersome "thorn in his side because he may have gotten a sneak-peak at heaven, "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me -to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that might leave me. And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'" (2nd Corinthians 16:7-9a emphasis mine). You can just imagine how hard Paul's life mush have been: stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, always afraid of danger in the city and in the wilderness; and he has to contend with a tormenting messenger from Satan? I think you or I would have begged God more than three times to get rid of that mess. Yet Paul went on to say, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2nd Corinthians 9b). Once again, even though Paul may have greatly desired to visit the church at Rome, God had thoroughly trained him to wait on His timing; like James 4:14a,15 says "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow...Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" In the present day, we should carefully look for God's timing before we set out in any task if we want to be successful.
Now I would always try to avoid as much eisegesis (the practice of putting your own meaning on the text) as possible the main reason being conformation bias. With too much eisegesis, you can make the Bible say anything you want it to. That is one of the chief aims of this blog: to use as much exegesis (drawing out meaning from the text as opposed to putting meaning on the text) in the hermeneutics (interpretation of the Bible) as possible. I hope we all learned something this week and I will see everyone next week.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory.
Because of your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
In this part of his introductory address to the church at Rome, Paul expresses is great desire to come to meet them; however, he recognizes the limitation of his own desire to God's will. Previously he had wanted to preach and evangelize Asia. I am fairly certain that is referring to Asia-Minor (modern day Turkey). However according to Acts 16:6-7, "Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to." However Jesus prevented Paul from going to Asia-Minor is entirely a matter of speculation but it also serves to suggest an example of God saying no to an earnest prayer request. When Paul had a rather bothersome "thorn in his side because he may have gotten a sneak-peak at heaven, "Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me -to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that might leave me. And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'" (2nd Corinthians 16:7-9a emphasis mine). You can just imagine how hard Paul's life mush have been: stoned, beaten, shipwrecked, always afraid of danger in the city and in the wilderness; and he has to contend with a tormenting messenger from Satan? I think you or I would have begged God more than three times to get rid of that mess. Yet Paul went on to say, "Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me." (2nd Corinthians 9b). Once again, even though Paul may have greatly desired to visit the church at Rome, God had thoroughly trained him to wait on His timing; like James 4:14a,15 says "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow...Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.'" In the present day, we should carefully look for God's timing before we set out in any task if we want to be successful.
Now I would always try to avoid as much eisegesis (the practice of putting your own meaning on the text) as possible the main reason being conformation bias. With too much eisegesis, you can make the Bible say anything you want it to. That is one of the chief aims of this blog: to use as much exegesis (drawing out meaning from the text as opposed to putting meaning on the text) in the hermeneutics (interpretation of the Bible) as possible. I hope we all learned something this week and I will see everyone next week.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory.
Because of your lovingkindness,
Because of your truth.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Romans 1:9
For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you.
In this part of the letter, Paul alludes to how frequently he prays for them. Even though this assembly of believers were famous for how well they were expressing Jesus Christ to their community and consequently the Roman world they still need the support of prayer; as it is written, "therefore let him who thinks that he stands take heed that he does not fall," (1st Corinthians 10:12). The more effective that anyone is in their Christian walk and witness the more careful they need to be without blame. Any sinful behavior in Christians damages their reputation and taints the message that we preach as is written, "As dead files give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly out weights wisdom and honor." (Ecclesiastes 10:1 NIV). Additionally there has always been many who would resort to ad hominem (Latin for to the man or person) assaults. So as to discount the message or to justify themselves, some naysayers will just revile the person. The Gospels are full of examples of Jesus' opponents berating Him (e.g. calling him a Samaritan [a hated group of half-Jews], has a demon, was the result of fornication, performed miracles through Beelzebub, etc.) because they could not contend with His preaching. In a similar fashion, adversaries will malign Christians by saying that they are just hypocrites. Of course no one is perfect, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us," (1st John 1:8) but prayerful support of fellow believers can be of great assistance as it written "Therefore, confess your sings to one another, and pray for one another...The effective prayer [lit. supplication] of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16).
In his adjuration on prayer, Paul frequently makes mention of the importance of prayer: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18 emphasis mine) and again "pray continually," (Thessalonians 5:17). He consistently set aside specific times every day to prayer not just for all Christians but from them specifically; this leads to Paul's next maxim of prayer. Prayer must not only be constant but also specific. That is not to say that we need to keep an omniscient [all-knowing] God informed. Even as Jesus said "...your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Mathew 6:8b). One of the ways I like to think about is that our heavenly Father is like a parent to us; He knows what we need and what is best for us; so He wants to give us what we ask for. However, He is not a genie who is obliged to grant our every whim. Imagine if God were to give you everything you want. In our finite minds we literally cannot always know what is best for us.
As an example of of the wrong use of prayer The movie Bruce Almighty presents a hypothetical scenario where a mortal man is imbued with the power and authority of God Himself. In the story Bruce first answers as many petitions as he can by typing yes until he is overwhelmed with the sheer enormity of the requests. After that he utilizes the select all function of his email/prayer program to broadly say yes to everything. Chaos ensues; because Bruce acting as God granted every one's wishes practically everyone suffers. As on example: apparently multiple people prayed to win the lottery, because the all won they each received approximately $17 dollars. Notwithstanding the various other problems with that movie (like what happens when Bruce stops answering prayers after the yes to everything debacle) it does give us an example of why God (who always answers prayer) will sometimes say no or not yet to our requests.
I apologize that it took so long to develop this posting. I will try to get a new input every week to week-and a half.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of your mercy,
Because of your truth. (Psalm 115 NKJV)
In this part of the letter, Paul alludes to how frequently he prays for them. Even though this assembly of believers were famous for how well they were expressing Jesus Christ to their community and consequently the Roman world they still need the support of prayer; as it is written, "therefore let him who thinks that he stands take heed that he does not fall," (1st Corinthians 10:12). The more effective that anyone is in their Christian walk and witness the more careful they need to be without blame. Any sinful behavior in Christians damages their reputation and taints the message that we preach as is written, "As dead files give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly out weights wisdom and honor." (Ecclesiastes 10:1 NIV). Additionally there has always been many who would resort to ad hominem (Latin for to the man or person) assaults. So as to discount the message or to justify themselves, some naysayers will just revile the person. The Gospels are full of examples of Jesus' opponents berating Him (e.g. calling him a Samaritan [a hated group of half-Jews], has a demon, was the result of fornication, performed miracles through Beelzebub, etc.) because they could not contend with His preaching. In a similar fashion, adversaries will malign Christians by saying that they are just hypocrites. Of course no one is perfect, "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us," (1st John 1:8) but prayerful support of fellow believers can be of great assistance as it written "Therefore, confess your sings to one another, and pray for one another...The effective prayer [lit. supplication] of a righteous man can accomplish much." (James 5:16).
In his adjuration on prayer, Paul frequently makes mention of the importance of prayer: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18 emphasis mine) and again "pray continually," (Thessalonians 5:17). He consistently set aside specific times every day to prayer not just for all Christians but from them specifically; this leads to Paul's next maxim of prayer. Prayer must not only be constant but also specific. That is not to say that we need to keep an omniscient [all-knowing] God informed. Even as Jesus said "...your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Mathew 6:8b). One of the ways I like to think about is that our heavenly Father is like a parent to us; He knows what we need and what is best for us; so He wants to give us what we ask for. However, He is not a genie who is obliged to grant our every whim. Imagine if God were to give you everything you want. In our finite minds we literally cannot always know what is best for us.
As an example of of the wrong use of prayer The movie Bruce Almighty presents a hypothetical scenario where a mortal man is imbued with the power and authority of God Himself. In the story Bruce first answers as many petitions as he can by typing yes until he is overwhelmed with the sheer enormity of the requests. After that he utilizes the select all function of his email/prayer program to broadly say yes to everything. Chaos ensues; because Bruce acting as God granted every one's wishes practically everyone suffers. As on example: apparently multiple people prayed to win the lottery, because the all won they each received approximately $17 dollars. Notwithstanding the various other problems with that movie (like what happens when Bruce stops answering prayers after the yes to everything debacle) it does give us an example of why God (who always answers prayer) will sometimes say no or not yet to our requests.
I apologize that it took so long to develop this posting. I will try to get a new input every week to week-and a half.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of your mercy,
Because of your truth. (Psalm 115 NKJV)
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Romans 1:8 (the bridge)
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
After addressing the people he was writing to, Paul expresses his gratitude to God because of the work that He had accomplished among this body of believers. We must remember that all believers are God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Further in the text, Paul personalizes his faith in saying my God. To him, God is not a ephemeral impersonal force that has no affection for mankind, but rather a father with whom every Christian has a personal relationship with. God is so invested in establishing a relationship with His children that He calls us, pursues us, and regenerates us. In Ephesians 2:1-5 Paul informs us of our pathetic state, "and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly live in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, end ans the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with He loved us, even when were were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved)." We were naturally dead, spiritually speaking, because of our sinful nature and we were His enemies (Romans 5:10) but because He loved us He sent Jesus Christ to die in our place; to receive our punishment and be a propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a fancy theological term that comes from a Greek word hilasterion (hil-as-tay'-ree-on) which means an appeasement or a covering for sin. This same word even goes so far back to the the original Ark of the Covenant. The lid of the Ark was referred to as the Mercy Seat because on Yom Kippur (or day of atonement) the high-priest would sprinkle blood from the sacrificial animal on it. Under the lid was the law represented by the two tables of the Ten Commandments. The spirit of God would hover over (or rest on) the Mercy Seat and when God looked at the lid, the law would be atoned or covered by the blood of the sacrificial animal. In the same way, when Christ shed his blood by dying His blood atoned the requirement of the law.
your faith
The church in Rome had a genuine expression of faith that was so strong that in A.D. 49 the emperor Claudius Caesar expelled all of the Jews due to the apparent influence of "Chrestus" which clearly alluded to Jesus Christ. While the Romans may have been familiar with the Jewish religion, they did not know what to make of these "Followers of the Way (Acts 9:2) or Sect of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). They were not called Christians until Antioch (Acts 11:26). Generally speaking members of the strange new religious sect were either poor or slaves. These Christians could get in trouble by refusing to worship the Emperor or any other of the gods of the Roman empire. Because of the danger, they would often meet in secret; yet their influence was beginning to be noticed.
is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Because Rome was the center of the Roman Empire as well as known world, whatever happened there was known everywhere. Therefore it was an ideal place from which to spring-board off for an Evangelism journey. Paul had planned to use Rome as a stepping-stone on a trip to preach the Gospel in modern-day Spain.
Well here ends another chunk of our examination of this amazing book. I apologize that it took me so long to post new messages but I will try to make contributions more regularly.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of your lovingkindness
Because of your faithfulness
After addressing the people he was writing to, Paul expresses his gratitude to God because of the work that He had accomplished among this body of believers. We must remember that all believers are God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10). Further in the text, Paul personalizes his faith in saying my God. To him, God is not a ephemeral impersonal force that has no affection for mankind, but rather a father with whom every Christian has a personal relationship with. God is so invested in establishing a relationship with His children that He calls us, pursues us, and regenerates us. In Ephesians 2:1-5 Paul informs us of our pathetic state, "and you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air [Satan], of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly live in the lusts of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath, end ans the rest. But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with He loved us, even when were were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, (by grace you have been saved)." We were naturally dead, spiritually speaking, because of our sinful nature and we were His enemies (Romans 5:10) but because He loved us He sent Jesus Christ to die in our place; to receive our punishment and be a propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is a fancy theological term that comes from a Greek word hilasterion (hil-as-tay'-ree-on) which means an appeasement or a covering for sin. This same word even goes so far back to the the original Ark of the Covenant. The lid of the Ark was referred to as the Mercy Seat because on Yom Kippur (or day of atonement) the high-priest would sprinkle blood from the sacrificial animal on it. Under the lid was the law represented by the two tables of the Ten Commandments. The spirit of God would hover over (or rest on) the Mercy Seat and when God looked at the lid, the law would be atoned or covered by the blood of the sacrificial animal. In the same way, when Christ shed his blood by dying His blood atoned the requirement of the law.
your faith
The church in Rome had a genuine expression of faith that was so strong that in A.D. 49 the emperor Claudius Caesar expelled all of the Jews due to the apparent influence of "Chrestus" which clearly alluded to Jesus Christ. While the Romans may have been familiar with the Jewish religion, they did not know what to make of these "Followers of the Way (Acts 9:2) or Sect of the Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). They were not called Christians until Antioch (Acts 11:26). Generally speaking members of the strange new religious sect were either poor or slaves. These Christians could get in trouble by refusing to worship the Emperor or any other of the gods of the Roman empire. Because of the danger, they would often meet in secret; yet their influence was beginning to be noticed.
is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Because Rome was the center of the Roman Empire as well as known world, whatever happened there was known everywhere. Therefore it was an ideal place from which to spring-board off for an Evangelism journey. Paul had planned to use Rome as a stepping-stone on a trip to preach the Gospel in modern-day Spain.
Well here ends another chunk of our examination of this amazing book. I apologize that it took me so long to post new messages but I will try to make contributions more regularly.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of your lovingkindness
Because of your faithfulness
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Romans 1:7 (the introduction) Part 2
"to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
"who are beloved of God" this speaks of the special privileged relationship that the Christian has with the Heavenly Father; of course, God has love for all His creation and Jesus died to not only save all those who would believe in Him, but also that creation itself would be fixed in the fullness of time when He makes all things new. However, God has set aside a special affection for those whom He has elected after His own name for His name's sake; as it is written, "but as many as received Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, born not of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12,13). Therefore as children also heirs, for we are co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ "and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him"(Romans 8:17) Paul uses the Greek word agapetos (ag-ap-ay-tos) and also the Hebrew word Hephzibah (hef-zuh-buh) which literally means "my delight is in her". God shows His love to us by giving Himself for us: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) and again, "nor height, nor depth, nor any otheer created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39) and last example (there are many more) is the verse that everyone knows, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). God's law sets the bar so high that the only way to be just while justifying sinners (to express His love) is to pay the penalty Himself. Jesus set aside His heavenly glory to be born into this world; He lived a perfect life; He died as the perfect sin sacrifice at the perfect time; and was raised to life on the third day to show that the debt had been paid perfectly.
Well that is all the time we have for this week kiddies. Tune in next week for the continuing adventures of the Romans.
Not to us, O Lord not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
"who are beloved of God" this speaks of the special privileged relationship that the Christian has with the Heavenly Father; of course, God has love for all His creation and Jesus died to not only save all those who would believe in Him, but also that creation itself would be fixed in the fullness of time when He makes all things new. However, God has set aside a special affection for those whom He has elected after His own name for His name's sake; as it is written, "but as many as received Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, born not of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12,13). Therefore as children also heirs, for we are co-heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ "and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him"(Romans 8:17) Paul uses the Greek word agapetos (ag-ap-ay-tos) and also the Hebrew word Hephzibah (hef-zuh-buh) which literally means "my delight is in her". God shows His love to us by giving Himself for us: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) and again, "nor height, nor depth, nor any otheer created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:39) and last example (there are many more) is the verse that everyone knows, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16). God's law sets the bar so high that the only way to be just while justifying sinners (to express His love) is to pay the penalty Himself. Jesus set aside His heavenly glory to be born into this world; He lived a perfect life; He died as the perfect sin sacrifice at the perfect time; and was raised to life on the third day to show that the debt had been paid perfectly.
Well that is all the time we have for this week kiddies. Tune in next week for the continuing adventures of the Romans.
Not to us, O Lord not to us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Romans 1:7 (the introduction) part 1
"to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
This verse wraps up the introduction to his letter. He explained who he was and what his authority in the first verse because the church in Rome possibly only knew by reputation and as far as they knew he was still one of the most fervent persecutors; in the same way, after Saul (who was latter called Paul) became a Christian and started preaching the Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues, "All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, 'Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name [Jesus Christ] and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?'...When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple." (Acts 9:21, 26). This is a mighty testimony to the transformative power of God to so thoroughly change a person and to use someone who was, in earlier times, the worst enemies of Christians. Paul also points out that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not so dramatically new and different than what was written in the Law, the Prophets, and the writings (what we call the Old Testament) but rather that it was all leading up to, is, and will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He briefly touches on the the basics of the gospel in the next few verses in the person of Jesus (verses 3, 4) and the nature of his ministry (verses 5, 6), and now we come to the "to whom" of the introduction.
"To all," Paul is referring to all confessing Christians in Rome. Whether Jew or Gentile (non-Jew), rich or poor, slave or free, educated or uneducated, they all met and fellowshipped together in their mutual Lord and savior, Jesus Christ; for we are all parts of the same of the same body, in which Christ is the head and all are just as much in need of God's grace.
Well that is all the time we have this week. I apologize for the brief posting as I did not budget my time properly this past week. Tune in next week for the continuing adventure into this amazing letter.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your Name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
This verse wraps up the introduction to his letter. He explained who he was and what his authority in the first verse because the church in Rome possibly only knew by reputation and as far as they knew he was still one of the most fervent persecutors; in the same way, after Saul (who was latter called Paul) became a Christian and started preaching the Lord Jesus Christ in the synagogues, "All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, 'Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name [Jesus Christ] and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?'...When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple." (Acts 9:21, 26). This is a mighty testimony to the transformative power of God to so thoroughly change a person and to use someone who was, in earlier times, the worst enemies of Christians. Paul also points out that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not so dramatically new and different than what was written in the Law, the Prophets, and the writings (what we call the Old Testament) but rather that it was all leading up to, is, and will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He briefly touches on the the basics of the gospel in the next few verses in the person of Jesus (verses 3, 4) and the nature of his ministry (verses 5, 6), and now we come to the "to whom" of the introduction.
"To all," Paul is referring to all confessing Christians in Rome. Whether Jew or Gentile (non-Jew), rich or poor, slave or free, educated or uneducated, they all met and fellowshipped together in their mutual Lord and savior, Jesus Christ; for we are all parts of the same of the same body, in which Christ is the head and all are just as much in need of God's grace.
Well that is all the time we have this week. I apologize for the brief posting as I did not budget my time properly this past week. Tune in next week for the continuing adventure into this amazing letter.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But to Your Name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness,
Because of Your truth.
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