News flash: Christians are not called to live only within their Christian community. They also have live in the real world, with pagans and secular (and sometimes hostile) authorities. So how should Christians live in relation to “the world”? This is the very issue that Paul addresses in Romans 13. What is specifically in question…
With all that “Gospel theology” in Romans 1-8, and then the questions regarding ethnic Israel now explained in Romans 9-11, Paul turns his attention to explaining the practical application of all that to the everyday lives of the Christians living in Rome. This is the focus of Romans 12-16. By extension, what we find in…
In Romans 11, Paul wraps up his argument of Romans 9-11. Remember, Romans 9-11 is all focused on the issue regarding why Paul’s fellow Jews missed out and rejected their own Messiah. Final Question (Romans 11:1-6) And so, the final question in Romans 9-11 Paul addresses concerning Israel is, “Has God rejected His people, because…
Before we move on to Romans 10, I want to point out that we must realize that the issues Paul is addressing in 9-11 are issues he had been dealing with for years. He was once like his fellow Jews, but his encounter with the risen Christ changed everything. He came to Christ, not because…
Romans 1-8 is perhaps the most clearly delineated presentation of the Gospel in the entire New Testament. Hopefully, my mini-commentary on Romans 1-8 has been helpful. News flash, though—we’re only half way through Romans! We now come to the major next section of the letter: Romans 9-11. In my view, it is one of the…
Yes, suffering. Nobody likes it. We’d much rather avoid it, and instead focus on the uplifting ideas of salvation and triumph in the Spirit. Well, I’ve got bad news for you—part of the Good News of the Gospel is that suffering plays an essential role in our salvation. So yes, what Paul proceeds to tell…
We now come to Romans 8—the point Paul has been building up to throughout his entire argument. So pay attention… Now, Romans 7:7-25 is, to say the least, quite the bummer, full of pain and frustration, and that whole “I don’t do what I want to do, and I do what I don’t want to…
The late Christian music pioneer Keith Green had a song entitled “Romans VII.” It was on his album, So You Want To Go Back to Egypt? If you were a Christian kid in the late 70s or early 80s, you know who Keith Green is, and you know how powerful and amazing he was. The…
Romans 6:1-7:6 really act as a unit—it is a shame that whoever put in chapter breaks, put the beginning of chapter 7 where it currently is. What we find here is Paul’s specific answer the question, “What is going to keep one from sinning if you get rid of the Torah? If you get rid…
We now come to Romans 5:12-21, a section, ironically that is often used by young earth creationists to argue for the historicity of Adam. The argument basically goes like this: Since Paul refers to Adam, and since Paul is inspired by God, and since God cannot lie, therefore there must be a historical Adam. Since…