ROMANS 9:6-13

The Book of Romans is what Martin Luther called the most important letter that Paul ever wrote. The theological arguments and implications of Romans are far-reaching and the many topics are interconnected and entirely consistent with one another in argumentation and style. Within this cogent and comprehensive theological statement of belief and faith, Paul writes extensively on what it means to live a Christian life. He combines his understanding of the fall of humankind, the Old Testament law, and the fulfillment of the law in Jesus Christ with the post-Pentecostal period where the Holy Spirit dwells in believers who have professed their faith in Jesus as their Savior. According to Rom 8, the Spirit is integral to the Christian’s sanctification. The life of a Christian is one in which believers should rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them in their daily lives, a life where they are obedient to God and stand in faith on His promises.

“An Introduction To The Book Of Romans | Bible.org.” N. p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.

Metzger, B.M. & Coogan, M.D. “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. (1993). P. 806-818.

* Bell, Alvin Eugene. The Gist of the Bible Book by Book. New York: Doran, 1926

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.

While acknowledging the divergent views of Nygren and Bornkamm that Romans reflects Paul's past experience, this essay, however, sides with the view that the Sitz im Leben of Romans manifests itself as a letter addressed to the social interactions between Jews and Gentiles and the situation of the Roman Jewish community whom Paul hopes to persuade, as in 14:1 and 15:3, to build up a Christian community net-work in order to give concrete support to his mission to Spain and spiritual support for his journey to Jerusalem (L. K. Lo, 1998 and Ziesler, 1989). This manifestation is again revealed in Paul's discussion of the commonality of sinfulness of Jews and Gentiles in 1:18-32 and 2:21-24, arguing that their solidarity in sin has put them in the same situation of guilt and powerlessness (Lo, 1998). The problem of human sin affecting Jews and Gentiles can only be solved by the divine righteousness which comes to the rescue of human beings in their collective predicament and which is, as in 1:17, primarily a saving power available to all who have faith in and respond to Jesus Christ (Ziesler, 1989). It is therefore against this background that this essay will attempt to discuss Pauline doctrine of justification by faith as understood by scholars like Ziesler, Barclay, Kasemann, Lo and Heinecken and to highlight where relevant differences in their perceptions of the doctrine. In its latter part, this essay will take issue with contentions that the doctrine constitutes only a subsidiary crater (Schweitzer), that justification is only the consequence rather than the content of the gospel (Molland) and that Christology rather than justification is the theme of the epistle (Friedrich) and will argue that the doctrine is so important and...

Tenney, Merril C. New Testament Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965.

When we read the Pastorals, we can see that the concerns the author writes about are vastly different than the concerns written about in 1 and 2 Corinthians. For instance, in the Pastorals there appears to be a vested interest in establishing conv...

The book of Romans teaches us about many aspects of Christian life. It includes how we should view the natural world, our identity as people, our relationships, culture, civilization and more. Romans 1-8 in particular has so much information that it is almost impossible to get the full meaning without looking deeper into it. These chapters take us from our inability to walk in good works, to God’s faithfulness in justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us by our faith through his grace. This essay will discuss principles found in Romans which are essential in the formation of a biblical worldview. One’s worldview refers to a “comprehensive conception or image of the universe and of humanity’s relation to it” (Random House, 1459).

In Sarah Ruden’s book, Paul Among the People, Ruden strives to disprove modern society’s common belief that the apostle Paul was a man strongly against women and homosexuality. She makes the claim that he was actually fighting for more equality and love than what Roman society allowed in Paul’s time and even before his time. Ruden compares the words Paul wrote around the middle of 50 A.D. and into the early 60 A.D.’s against other popular literary works of the Roman first and second century B.C.in an effort to challenge contemporary negative thoughts regarding Paul. Despite the negative opinions that a majority of modern society hold about the apostle, Sarah Ruden does a remarkable job of refuting the claims that Paul was a misogynist homophobe by putting Paul in perspective inside the society that he lived in. She claims that Paul was offering equality and a better life for the people of his time. By doing this, Ruden attests that Paul was not the negative man that most people believe but that he actually fought for more equality and compassion than what he is given credit for by most people today.