WEEK 1, Romans 1-4 / DAY 1, Romans 1:16-17
Thank you all for joining our blog and Sunday School class. We're going to do our best here to study and understand Paul's letter to the Romans. Please feel free to comment, or to ask questions! And please be sure to READ the chapters! This will help us all to explore some pretty complex theological ideas. For this first week, we covered the first four chapters which were pretty heavy. So let's spend time this week looking at the chapters one by one, and dialing into some of the themes that were presented in the outline.
Today's post is going to concentrate on Paul's understanding of the gospel. He uses the gospel as the central hub of his letter. It's the theme to the whole letter, and sovereignly the theme to the entire message of the bible.
His theme is, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith (Romans 1:16-17).
- What does Paul say the gospel is? How would you define the gospel? Why?
- Why does Paul say the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes?
- What does it mean that the righteous will live by faith?
- What is righteousness?
im very interested
ReplyDeletePaul says the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. I define the gospel as the good news of Jesus Christ to share to the lost and dying world because the gospel is defined as the good news.
ReplyDeleteIt is the power of God who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins that only He could provide and not because of what we do but because of who He is.
The righteous will live by faith in Jesus that He is the son of God, the second being of the Trinity, the perfect lamb of God in whose blood redeemed us from the power of sin and Satan.
Righteousness is God's gift to us of salvation to everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Thanks Tracey for commenting! It really helps the conversation. You mentioned one very important and interesting thing. Once we recognize the good news for what it is, we should be motivated to share it with others. Just think of when you've learned about something good in your life. You want to tell everyone about it! -- especially those "get that free product today!" Like free donuts, or free ice cream. You don't have any problems sharing that with everyone. You're quick to spread the good news that with this certificate you can get a free serving. The problem is that many people don't fully appreciate the good news. In Paige's words, the good news isn't really all that good. They don't see that they've been rescued from very dark sins, and that others can be rescued too. When that truth is lost, the gospel is often put under a wet blanket. So, may we all recognize the good news, and celebrate it.
DeleteReally looking forward to these classes. I struggle everyday as a lot of people do. I hope I can grow from this experience.
ReplyDeleteDear Father
DeleteI ask that you help our friend Gwen grow. Help her with her struggles. Help her with gaining knowledge. Help us all grow together. Use her struggle to strengthen her, and to cement your love in her heart, and your wisdom in her mind.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Very well put! I strive to live by faith and become more and more of who God wants me to be. Sometimes, I literally have to back away from people so I don't get caught up in the worldly influences. I found personally that when I worked in a public setting, I was influenced in a negative way by who I hung around (never would of thought that) but God showed me, I needed to step away from that bc of the unhealthiness it was bringing into my life. I pray that I could live my life through faith and that be ecident to not only God but others. It is, after all our example and testimony that draws people in. God uses us in lives of others. Anywho, good feedback ❤
DeleteI think I replied to the wrong area lol sorry Kelli. It was meant to reply to you
DeleteYou know, the words in these verses have a familiar ring to me, but do I really appreciate the weight or value of their meaning? I decided to see what the NLT version says:
ReplyDelete16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.[a] 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.
Hmmmm, the power of God at work....a working power to bring any and all to salvation who choose to believe. Now that is some good news!!!! Through this good news we are made right in God's sight. So I guess that is how I would describe the Gospel - good news about the power of God to make us right in his sight. Why would I describe it that way? Well, I suppose for my definition to have meaning, it would require a level of realization that I am "unright" to begin with and in need of being made "right". With inspection, realization and recognition though, indeed my definition would be good news.
In regards to the righteous living by faith.......Well, the NLT puts it in the context of a righteous person ONLY having life THROUGH faith. Interesting way to put it because we ALL have life but it seems that Paul is saying that is only through faith that a righteous person will have life. Faith, as Paige described it, involves a collapsing action, looking entirely away from yourself and to Jesus. In fact, our relationship with God is broken due to disobedience at our core, our focus on ourselves and what we want, stuffing God to the side, to have our own way. In and of ourselves there is no way to live righteous. God is the standard of what is right and the righteousness God is who God is in His perfection. We are on a pursuit as Christians to become more and more like Jesus and that requires obedience to His right ways. And obedience is a visible expression of invisible faith.
This state of recognizing our sinfulness is important. James says as much in James 1:14.
DeleteHe argues that our desires are what lead us in to sin. It is our UNrighteous desires that move us further away from God. He hammers it home in James 4:1-10 where he tells us that our passions and desires are what really cause us SO many problems, and that if we will get rid of those desires and draw close to God, then God will draw close to us -- and that is Good News - but only for those who have eyes to see it, and a heart to accept it.
Agree with this! Desires can be Godly and good and then there are desires that are sinful and what I call selfish. Those desires can cause us harm and pull us further from God.
DeleteI guess I see this study in a pragmatic way, as it pertains to me. My take away is that it's not about me and my sin. It's about God's mercy and His wrath. If you keep this in your mind in your day to day, you're more apt to stay in balance. Similar to my kids. They know if they mess up what the consequenses are, as well as if they do good what the rewards are. You know, "as a man thinketh..." If you're always thinking about the struggle, then it will be a struggle. It shouldn't be a struggle, it should be a natural desire to please God. Not to say, that we won't mess up. We are only human. But, God wants us to enjoy our lives and the good things in it, He just wants us to put him first. I am finding in my life, if I pray and have a conversation with God before I do other things, hobbies like photography, graphic design, retouching, etc., then I'm spending time with Him and am reminded to keep things in perspective.
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie for responding! I'd like to understand your sin and wrath statement a bit better. For instance, you say that it's "not about me and my sin," but that it's about "God's mercy and His wrath." Can it really be about God's mercy and wrath, and NOT also be about you and sin? You also make a really interesting statement about how God wants us to enjoy life. I tend to agree with that. He is our father, afterall. So I guess I'd like us to try and harmonize that with something that God may be more concerned about than our enjoyment -- our holiness and righteousness. He is our father, afterall. As a parent which of these things would I want more for my kid? Would I be more interested in his enjoyment and comfort, or would I be more interested in him or her being righteous? In terms of God, I often wonder how (or if) those two ideas can be harmonized.
DeleteWell, maybe I think outside the box. I find in my life here on the planet, which is where I'm residing right now, if I try to set my sights on God and the creations of God, immerse myself in life around me (from my creative photographer perspective I suppose), in my wonderment of His glory, I am reminded to think of Him. When I am in communication with God, I have joy and all the good things He wants me to have. It's like driving a car. When you look way down the road, it's easier to stay straight, if you look at the road right in front of you, you tend to over correct and make mistakes. It seems to have everything to do with what you set your sight on. Focus on God, life is enjoyable despite the pitfalls, focus on self, the road is full of potholes and hard to manuever. I don't make it a job, a struggleby always trying to correct my sin. If I did, I would always be fighting a battle. I don't think God wants my life to be a constant battle, otherwise why would He have made such a beautiful world just to have me distracted by a constant lifetime struggle? I can't correct anything in my own power. Like Paige said, there is NO condemnation. So, I don't beat myself up anymore when I screw up. I remind myself that God sees me much differently than I see me, so I don't waste more time than I have to thinking about my mistakes. I know I failed, I talk to God about it and move on to the next thing He has for me to do which creates joy and happiness in my life. Does this make sense or am I just too simple minded?
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