I had said that we were going to start going through Matthew and Mark, but since Luke ends the book of Acts with Paul in Rome I figured reading what Paul had to say to Roman Christians would be the natural place to continue. Agreed? Aren't you curious on how Paul preached to those in Rome. We only got so little from the end of Acts.
Let me just forewarn you that Romans is one of the most theologically (theology is simply the study of God, by the way) dense books in the Bible. Don't be surprised if I have to slow the pace even more as we make our way through one of the most influential books of my Christian life.
Ya'll ready?
Romans 1 (Read it here)
So the year is around 58 AD. Jesus has been dead and resurrected for nearly 30 years. Ironically, the book of Romans was written before Luke and Acts; Luke wouldn't write and distribute his gospel and the book of Acts for another 2-5 years. It would make sense that the Romans wouldn't know anything about Christians other than the fact that people were denouncing their faith (Acts 28:22) because they don't have a gospel that describes the life, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection of Jesus yet. So, the purpose of Paul's letter to the church in Rome was to present a detailed explanation of the gospel of Jesus.
I hope that we can now revert back to much of Paul's story in Acts with familiarity as we go through the book of Romans.
From his conversion experience, in which he was blinded and commissioned by Jesus to preach the gospel, it is obvious as to why Paul would consider himself a slave who was chosen by God to be an apostle to preach. (v. 1) This gospel that Paul preaches is not his invention but was promised by God long ago through what we now know as the Old Testament. (v. 2) The Old Testament all points to Jesus, God's Son, who was King David's 7x great-grandson (v. 3) and proven worthy of worship as Savior when he was raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit. (v. 4) No human had a hand in raising Christ, God Himself raised His Son from the dead.
And it was through Jesus that Paul was given the right and privilege to preach to Gentiles (non-Jews) everywhere. Having them come to faith in Jesus pleases and honors God greatly. (v. 5) Paul wants all Romans to know that they are definitely urged to become apostles, as well. Not just followers, but fellow spreaders of the gospel! (v. 6) There is no other way to belong to Jesus than to spread his fame and glory! In fact, all people, including Romans (who were generally hated by Jews for occupying their lands), are loved by God and called to be His people! (v. 7)
It is very easy to miss the importance of the last half of verse 7, though. With the statement, "May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace," Paul is telling his Roman audience to accept this letter with peace of mind, knowing that God shows no favoritism; that He shows grace to all!
Ain't that the truth? I can attest to that.
--------------------
Because of the faith exhibited in the church in Rome, the center of civilization back then, people are hearing about Jesus all over the world. (v. 8) Of course Paul prays for them but he says that his true love is displayed to God by continuing to preach the good news about Jesus. (v. 9)
Did you catch that? The way we can truly show our love to God is by sharing His love and grace with others...and yes, by actually speaking! Actions may speak louder than words, but no one will know the purpose of your actions without you telling them why you do what you do, right?
What does Paul mean when he says, "I always pray for...the opportunity...to come...see you"? (v. 10) Many scholars believe that Paul composed his letter to the church in Rome while staying in Corinth. Perhaps, that is one of the reasons why Paul stays in Corinth for a year and a half. (Acts 18:11) In fact, we find out in Romans 16:22 that Paul didn't literally write the letter at all. Tertius, a friend of his from Iconium, wrote down what Paul spoke. Paul would eventually make it to Rome 3-4 years later.
The phrase we find in verse 11 "spiritual gift" maybe better interpreted by the original Greek to mean that Paul wants to impart grace to them. After all, they would need Paul's patience if they were just learning about how to follow Jesus. Yet he still wants to be encouraged by the faith they already have. (v. 12)
Even though perfection is not expected, Paul does expect spiritual fruit to be evident from the Christ-followers in Rome. (v. 13) If God is impartial then it is Paul's calling to be the same way; preaching to everyone, no matter where they live or their social status. (v. 14) Paul is eager to preach in Rome (v. 15, and he does, starting in Acts 28).
This may be the statement that explains why Paul continued his preaching even though he was constantly threatened with the possibility of being killed, imprisoned and rejected. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He believes that the gospel has power to save and literally change everyone who believes it. It was offered first to the Jew but then to everyone else (v. 16, Gentiles).
It is by Jesus' sacrifice that we are made right with God. All we have to do is have faith. Notice I didn't say just believe. To believe is to think or know but to have faith is to trust what you know! For instance, in James 2:19, the half-brother of Jesus and bishop of the church in Jerusalem said, "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror." You wouldn't say that demons place their faith in God would you? Of course not, yet they do believe that He exists!
People better make that distinction because it is by faith that a righteous person has life. (v. 17, He's also quoting an Old Testament prophet in Habakkuk 2:4, too) People don't accrue faith by being righteous or perfect, its the other way around.
--------------------
What are examples of righteousness and spiritual fruit? There are many, actually, but Paul chooses to focus this next part on what is immoral and signs of bad spiritual fruit.
God is truly angered when sinful, wicked people prevent others from hearing the truth, or worse yet, convince them to believe a lie, even though they know what they "believe" is wrong! (vs. 18-19) Everyone from prehistoric man to Mayans to Greeks have assumed that a higher power or powers have controlled the earth because of its sheer mass. Something with great power of a divine nature had to have made this universe. That alone leaves no excuse for not knowing there's a God, Paul says. (v. 20)
Instead of giving God the thanks He deserved, people preferred to philosophize about what God was like (which explains why there are so many carvings, statues and paintings in so many cultures trying to depict what their "god" looks like). They became so "smart" that they became confused fools. (vs. 21-22) The true God that created this universe, and any other that exists, cannot be fashioned by human hands like the idols that are made to look like people, birds, animals and reptiles. (v. 23, which all these creatures were, well, created by God)
So, in response, God did a scary thing. He let them believe and do whatever they wanted to. He didn't try to stop them from believing in their false gods. And when God is out of the equation, Paul says, people do vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. (v. 24) When people have ultimate freedom apart from God, they'll start worshiping and serving the things God created instead of the Creator! (v. 25) How true is that? Don't we often really desire the material things or even other people more than God Himself? This is the ultimate insult to God.
Turning away from God would mean turning from His word, the Scriptures, too. Even though it was condemned by God, sodomy became "normal," even though it was never intended to be. (vs. 26-27) Notice that neither Paul nor I said homosexuality itself is a sin, but the action of sodomy is what is condemned by Paul here. However, it was the desire, or you can say the homosexuality, that caused the shameful sexual things to occur.
In my humble opinion (or belief), if homosexuality can be tempered or controlled, a gay person can definitely be a Christ-follower and bring glory to God! If not, it may act as an idol, causing one to reshape God to fit the sexuality or lifestyle. But aren't we all sinners? Don't we all struggle with different things? There is nothing especially horrible about sodomy that it should cause a phobia or harsh treatment, ever!
Yes, I live in Asheville where gay pride is alive and well. But I don't agree with the philosophy of acting a certain way if you were born a certain way. I could pose another question in return (and this is just how it sounds to me): If a person is genetically predisposed to being having an addiction to alcohol, should that person then become an alcoholic because he/she was born that way?
Sodomy was not the only symptom to perverse theology; being apart from God causes many other things that should never be done. (v. 28) If we abandon God, even for a second, anyone runs the risk of greed, hatred, envy, murder, arguing, lying, slandering, gossiping, back-stabbing, blaming God, arrogance, pride, disobeying parents, breaking promises, being heartless and unmerciful. People even concoct new ways to offend God. (vs. 29-31) In our most carnal and undisciplined moments, aren't we capable of most, if not all, of those things that Paul lists? Aren't Christ-followers even susceptible, too?
People know that these things are wrong because, ultimately, nobody wants others to do any of those things listed above to them, right? And Jews, who knew the law very well, should know that for such grave misbehavior to God and to other humans, His creatures, this warrants a penalty, death. But the worst part, again, are the people who know this truth but yet encourage others to act as they do (v. 32), which may be why the phrase "do as I say, not as I do" may never cease to exist.
Questions
1.) Paul says that he shows his true love for God by continuing to preach the gospel in verse 9. Jesus also told his disciples, "If you love me, obey my commandments," in John 14:15. Many times, Jesus commanded his disciples to preach the good news. Do you believe that you have to share your faith in Jesus with others to prove your love and devotion to God? Why or why not?
2.) Would you say that you believe in Jesus or have faith in him? Can you now distinguish the difference between the two? How would you explain the differences to someone else?
3.) Do you agree that anyone and everyone is vulnerable to do evil deeds if God is forsaken, even for a moment? Remember the long list that Paul gives (greed, hatred, envy, murder, arguing, lying, slandering, gossiping, back-stabbing, blaming God, arrogance, pride, disobeying parents, breaking promises, being heartless and unmerciful)? Which of these are you most susceptible of falling into or have fallen into before?
Bonus Question: What do you think about my beliefs on the subject of homosexuality versus sodomy? Is Paul condemning sodomy or homosexuality or both? Also, do you believe that my rebuttal question (regarding the alcoholic) is rational, non-applicable or what? I am completely open to being educated further myself, by the way.
In response to the bonus question, I like your rebuttal question, but I disagree with your interpretation of v.26-27. Where do you get sodomy? My Greek is ridiculously week, but I just don't see that. "God gave them over to shameful lust. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relationships with women and were inflamed with lust for one anther..." Now the next sentence may deal with sodomy. Like I said my Greek is no good and I know NIV is not top rung, just what I have in front of me. But I don't see these condemnations speaking about sodomy. How do you work out these words?
ReplyDelete-Brandon G
I appreciate you making me go take a second look back in the Greek for this, Brandon. I don't know if I can particularly explain with exact clarity what I believe to be true regarding verses 26-27. Yes, the homosexual desire is sinful, just like the mental undressing of a random woman by a man is, as well. However, everyone deals with those urges and desires. You can't tell me that you haven't had the desire to hit someone, right? The true presence of the Spirit of God in our lives is the opposite desire or instinct to shun that "shameful" lust. But that lust is between people and God, which is still sin. But it takes on a whole different level when someone acts on that desire and engages in an "unnatural sexual relation." To act on a degrading desire is to ignore God and His promptings, which Paul said makes us capable of unspeakable perversions.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes the desire itself is sinful. But my point is that everyone has sinful desires; its human nature. When someone ignores or gets to the point where God doesn't attempt to stop them from acting on those desires anymore (He gives them up), then sodomy is one of those unspeakable, unnatural acts. Yet still in line (and not special) in comparison to the laundry list that Paul gives.
Did I make sense or just murky the water further?
That clarifies it for me, and I'm in agreement with that. I thought you were saying something you weren't. :)
ReplyDelete