For in it the righteousness of God is revealed though faith for faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith (Romans, 1:17). The Apostle Paul wrote several letters, in the New Testament, to cities that he visited trying to help them grow and flourish. In this letter he doesn’t want to state what they have done wrong, instead he talks about the salvation that is offered through Christ. This letter is the most important of his writings. Most of the letters he wrote were to the churches that Paul established. In this letter he wrote to a church that he had never been to. Paul is arrested before he could make the trip, and coincidentally, sent to Rome to stand trial. In this letter Paul makes his point in his assurance of salvation. (Romans, 12:12)
Paul, who was originally named Saul, was born ten to fifteen years after Jesus as a Roman citizen. He was raised as a Jew, but the was a Roman citizen too. He more than likely had the upper hand in an argument with a Jew. He was educated by his father. Paul was converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus. This is when his named was changed from Saul to Paul. The Jews were not too excited about this conversion experience. He later went on several mission trips to help early churches grow and flourish. The Church’s beliefs are based on Paul’s theology. (Harris, 464)
During Paul's time, Rome had a population that exceeded one million people, most of which were slaves. Paul wanted to attend Rome’s empire and he wanted to bring the information of Christ "to all ends of the earth". (Acts, 1:8) Around 49 CE Jews were told to leave Rome because of Christian disturbances. Later, under Emperor Nero, the Jews were allowed back into Rome. Gentile Christians began to look down upon Jews, because the believed that Jews were no longer God’s people. (Wikipedia, Epistle to the Romans)
The letter to the Romans was written at Corinth. Paul was said to have written this letter during his visit to Greece. During this time, Jews covered a substantial amount of the population in Rome. The Gentiles were able to become informed with the story Jesus of Nazareth through the Jewish synagogues.
Paul the Apostle, was a famous preacher of first century Christianity and was God’s tool used to spread the light of the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul is credited fir having written many books in the New Testament of the Bible. He was born an Israelite to a clan of the tribe of Benjamin, speaking the Aramaic and Hebrew tongues from infancy. He was an enthusiastic student and a stringent devotee of the Torah. He was the man that later had a peculiar meeting with the Lord Jesus Christ while on the road to Damascus. His life and duty were considerably altered and in turn eventually changed the course of the development of Western Civilization and culture.
With Jerusalem destroyed, Paul and others followers of the Jerusalem Church, which was a section of Judaism, began to spread the word of Jesus throughout Rome and the surrounding area to Gentiles. No one had a greater effect on spreading Christianity than Paul did, Paul was actually quite radical as he preached the teachings of Jesus Christ to Gentiles as they too could get God’s salvation. This can also be seen by looking at The New Testament as fourteen of the twenty-seven books in The New Testament have been linked to Paul. With Paul and other apostles spreading the word of Jesus after his death and resurrection the Early Church and Judaism began to clash which then caused the teachings of Jesus to break off. In short the Roman Jewish War gave the teachings of Jesus Christ the ability to take hold in ancient Europe which allowed those teachings to break off and form a new religion,
Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians was both his way of showing gratitude and to give further instruction to his early Christian followers on how to maintain their faith in Jesus Christ, they now all possessed. The Thessalonians had not always been followers of Christ they were previously Gentiles who then converted to Christianity. Paul gave thanks and further instruction to the Thessalonians so that they could stay prepared for the Advent. I believe that Paul was aware that the followers of Christ what be subjected to temptation and suffering for spreading the Gospel. The Gentiles and Satan could have a great influence on followers of Christ if they are not prepared. Paul knows the struggle of being converted and in result prepared the Thessalonians through ministry and prayer.
The main concern of Paul to witness God’s gospel was on the Jews (Rom. 1:16). It approves why he visited synagogues whenever he went to each towns. Except for Philippi , he mostly employed synagogues strategically as contact points to deliver Good News.
According to the passage 1st, I observed that the people in power were the Romans who were polytheistic. They completely rejected the idea on only one God or Christianity. The people who didn’t follow the beliefs of the Romans were usually poor and had no use for when they lived in the middle east according to the passage. Paul would preach to the poor about the savior Jesus Christ (according to the passage) .
At a bird’s eye view, the audience sees Paul’s letter as seemingly addressed to the Christians in Ephesus, where Paul “labored for well over two years.” Because the Ephesians as the addressee of the letters are absent from the early manuscripts, it suggests that “it is a letter generated not by the immediate circumstances of Paul or a specific community crisis, but by the desire to communicate the implications of his mission to a wider circle of Gentile churches.” Matera validates this by explaining that it was indeed “a circular letter to Gentile believers in Asia Minor” and that it “functions as a summary of Paul’s teaching for a new generation of Gentile believers.” Paul wanted to show his addressees how salvation is brought about by God’s divine
Paul, also known as Saul, was an apostle of God who wrote the book of Ephesians and was sent to set up churches for Him. He changed his name from Saul to Paul because he wanted to start his life over, follow God, and live for Him. He wanted to start over because he was known as a man who persecuted Christians. Saul did not even notice he was doing wrong until he started to reach Damascus and a voice yelled from the Heavens saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul answered back, “Who are you, Lord?” then the Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But, rise and enter the city, and you will be told what to do.” For three days Saul was made blind by Jesus and did not eat or drink. Then, Ananias walked into where Saul was staying and restored his sight, something like scales fell off his eyes and he could see. After being in Damascus with the disciples he proclaimed that Jesus is the one true God. Then, he fled to Jerusalem where he joined the disciples with the help of Barnabas, changed his name to Paul and became a missionary to Christ. He set out on three missionary journeys where on his third, he was put under house arrest in Rome for two years where he wrote the book of Ephesians. After his release, he left, went to Spain, and was eventually persecuted and martyred by Nero.
Throughout Paul and the Apostles journey, they reached a variety of types of people. Among those people were believers of Jesus Christ and non-believers of Jesus Christ. Approaching these churches, one thing I notice is people were willing to listen to what Paul had to say. Although some quickly dismissed him and question him because of his past as a persecutor of the Church, he reached a lot of people with the Gospel.
Harris calls Paul “the most influential apostle and missionary of the mid-first-century CE church and author of seven to nine New Testament letters” (H G-33). It would be quite an accolade to receive such recognition, but what makes it even more remarkable is that Paul, or Saul, (Saul was his Judean name and Paul was his Roman name (footnotes B 1943)) originally persecuted the ekklesia or “church”. Paul went from persecuting the ekklesia or “church” to being its “most influential apostle and missionary”. Why and how did Paul make such a drastic change? The answer to the question can be found in various books of the New Testament including some of the letters that Paul wrote. This answer also aids in the explanation of how and why Paul argue with the Ioudaioi.
The Book of Romans Romans is a very important addition to the Bible. This is written by Paul to the Roman church. Much of Romans is showing the righteousness of God in different ways. “Romans road” passages are a great description of how to lead someone to christ (His saving righteousness).
Paul wrote the letter to the church in Ephesus which was located in Western Asia Minor. It was an important city in the Roman Empire because it represented a multi-ethnic commercial region, and it was largely populated. Ephesus was also filled with many pagans customs like the cult to Artemis, gods, and magic practices (Arnold, 3-5). Still, because they had heard the gospel that Paul had shared to them, many Jews and Gentiles converted to Christianity.
After his conversion to Christianity, Paul traveled throughout the Roman Empire and preached the Gospel, similar to Jesus’ own ministry across Galilee. Paul’s teachings were more focused on the community and the relationships of its members with each other and with non-Christians, whereas Jesus’ teachings were geared towards the individual and his/her personal relationship to God. Despite this discrepancy in their doctrines, Paul’s teachings remain consistent with those of Jesus. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul’s teachings, such as unity in the community and love for others, echo the teachings of Jesus as depicted in the Gospel of Mark and Matthew. Paul essentially reiterates the teachings of Jesus, and applies them to the lives of the people he preaches to, so that they may understand Jesus’ teachings and embrace Christianity.
In these letters Paul provides the most complete statement of the doctrine in the New Testament. If want to know the ins and outs of Christianity, let people check out the writings of Paul to the Romans. So says a notable interpreter. Because of that this note on Romans should earnestly by every Christian, as very important and contains the full spiritual object.
When studying the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, many scholars regard the book of Romans as the most important of the apostle Paul’s letters. (Knight & Ray, 2005) This is perhaps because it contains the most in-depth exploration of Christian theology, namely justification through faith in Jesus Christ. (Hinson & Towns, 2013)The letter, especially chapters one through eight, contains a summary of what embodies a Christian worldview. Since Paul wrote to both the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome, he provided for them, as well as readers today, a biblical perspective that answers questions about the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and culture.
The Apostle Paul is known as the greatest missionary of the early church. Paul, who once vowed to wipe out belief in Jesus Christ, was later converted to do the work of Christ. He would author almost half of the 27 books in the New Testament. He endured sickness, rejection, and repeated attacks on his life to bring the message of God's grace and forgiveness to Gentiles. Paul was the apostle largely responsible for the solid inception and growth of Christianity. He spoke before Jews, Greeks, and Romans. Paul is known as the apostle to the Gentiles. He defended God's Word before kings and emperors of this world. By the end of his life, much of the Mediterranean world had been reached with the gospel.