Romans - Book Review
When
I started reading Romans (by the way, it was not the first book we read on this
week) I imagined that Paul had planted the church in Rome and he was just
writing a letter to them to check how they were doing and/or to rebuke them for
something… but I did not realize at first that he had never met them. I started
realizing about this detail when Paul said “One
of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at
last to see you.” (Romans 1:10) And even more when he added “I want you to know, dear brothers and
sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now.”
(1:13)
Even
when Paul had never been to Rome, he had heard about their issues and little
problems. For example, Paul tells them not to condemn each other (14:10), he
also urges them to respect their authorities and pay their taxes! (13:1-7) But
the most interesting thing is that they were struggling with the concept of
grace; somehow they thought that because they had grace they could keep on
sinning because God would just extend more and more and more grace for them.
Paul explained that God’s grace has set us free from sin, therefore we should
sin no more! (6:1-13) But then Paul says something rather controversial: grace
also makes you free from the law… wait a minute Paul, does that mean that we
can do whatever we want? Well, Paul was very smart, and he knew that they (and
us) were going to ask that very thing, so he answered it as well:
“Well then, since God’s grace has set us free
from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you
realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a
slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads
to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you
wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your
slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.” (1:15-18)
Oh
Paul, he was so smart…
The
main idea of the book, for me, is the idea of relying solely on God’s grace for
our salvation. (SourceView Bible p. 1452) “Yet God, with undeserved kindness,
declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed
us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:24)
Church
mentioned in Acts?
The
Jews that lived in Rome had been invited to walk out of Rome (gentle way to say
they were kicked out of there) by Claudius. So, the actual church of Rome is
not mentioned in Acts, but we can read a little bit about this deportation and
about Paul meeting some Jews who suffered this exile, at Italy:
“Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had
recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when
Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them,
for they were tentmakers just as he was.” (18:1-3)
God’s
character:
God
shows His anger toward sinful and wicked people (1:18)
He
has “eternal power and divine nature”
(1:20)
Creator,
worthy of eternal praise (1:25)
“…wonderfully kind, tolerant and patient…”
(2:4)
God
shows no favoritism (2:11)
He
is true (3:4)
God
gives us “undeserved kindness (3:24)
“…God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for
sin.” (3:25)
Ruler
over all (9:5)
Sovereign
(9:11)
Merciful
(9:16)
God’s
grace is free and undeserved (11:6)
1 Corinthians
Paul
is very grateful for this church! (1Cor. 1:4-5) They are one of the churches
who have the different Spiritual Gifts. (1:7) However, very quickly he starts
to point out a few problems that he noticed. In the first chapter, he tells
them they should live in harmony, he also lets them know that there should not
be divisions in the church. He even emphasizes the idea of them being “…of one mind, united in thought and purpose.”
(1:10)
The
church of Corinth was facing several problems at the time they received the
letter from Paul. For example, they were having some sexual immorality (5:1),
and that is a big no-no in Paul’s list. He also addressed division in the
church (11:18) And finally, he
answers the questions
in the letter that the Corinthian church sent him (7:1 Having your own spouse /
7:25 To marry or not to marry… / 8:1 Eating food sacrificed to idols / 12:1
About Spiritual Gifts)
The
main idea of this letter is LOVE, to love each other and more than that to do
everything with love. This idea is repeated several times throughout the book:
“Let
love be your highest goal!...” (1 Corinthians 14:1)
“And do everything with love.” (1
Corinthians 16:14)
In
Acts:
“Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.”
(Acts 18:1)
God
is:
“Faithful
to do what he says…” (1:9)
Wise
(1:20-21)
Our
deliverer from sin (1:30)
“…our
glorious Lord” (2:8)
2 Corinthians
Here’s what’s going on with the Church in the second letter of Paul:
Eager to give (8:11-12)
So, Paul urges them to give generously (9:6-7)
They happily put up with whatever anyone tells them, even changing the
gospel that they first received (11:4)
Paul is afraid that whenever he comes back to visit the church in
Corinth, he will find that “many of you have not given up your old sins. You
ave not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful
pleasure.” (12:21)
Paul urges them to “examine” themselves to see if their faith is
“genuine” by checking is Jesus is among them (13:5)
The main idea here is that Paul is trying to address and correct the
reoccurring problems of the church in Corinth: dissension, false teaching, and
problems with church leadership. Therefore, he finishes his letter by
encouraging them to live in peace and solve their conflicts with each other. (13:11)
Because there’s nothing worse than a bunch of Christians quarreling! [That’s my
new word from reading this letters, there was a lot quarrelers around, I guess]
In Acts:
“Then Paul left Athens and went to
Corinth.” (Acts 18:1)
God’s Character:
Merciful father, and the source of our comfort (1:3)
God commissioned us… (1:21)
He is freedom, and He gives us understanding (3:16)
He is the father of our Lord Jesus (11:31)
Galatians
It
seems like Paul is not really happy with the church of Galatia, because he
always starts his letters with a blessing and a few sentences telling them how
happy he is to be able to write back to them. But not this time! Very early in
his letter he tells them that they have been “…fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.”
(Galatians 1:7)
This church is mentioned in Acts Chapters 13 & 14:
“Paul
and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port
town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. But Paul
and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia.” (13:13-14)
“When
the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, ‘These
men are gods in human form!’” (Acts 14:11)
I
believe Nelson’s Maps and Charts does a wonderful job at capturing the main
idea of the book when it reads: “Paul writes this forceful epistle to do away
with the false gospel of works and demonstrate the superiority of justification
by grace through faith.” (p. 383) In several places in the book I could see
that the main idea is that people are saved by grace and not by works. Paul
even gets all upset in this passage:
“Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil
spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you
as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one
question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of
course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard
about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in
the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have
you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?” (3:1-4)
God’s character:
He is just, He has no favorites (2:6)
We are His heirs, and His promises to Abraham belong to us! (3:28-29)
Christ has set us free (5:1)
Christ gave us salvation! He saved us at the cross (6:12)
Ephesians
The
church of Ephesus was a good church, Paul calls them “Holy people” and
“faithful followers of Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 1:1) He also refers to them in
verses 15 & 16 this way:
“Ever since I first heard of your strong
faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not
stopped thanking God for you.”
However,
the city of Ephesus was, like many other places in Rome, a “world famous center
of idol worship in the Roman world. It was a magnet for sexual immorality and
every pleasure-seeking lifestyle imaginable.” (SourceView Bible p. 1516)
So
the local church had a very difficult task: remain in Christ while around them
it is all falling apart in sin! Even when they were so good, they were still a
little pagan, if one can say that. He keeps urging then to abandon their sinful
nature and their old life style away (4:22).
Paul
also goes over some general rules for Christians, which might seem very obvious
to us, but it looks like they needed this basic rules reminded to them. This is
either a very gentle rebuke or a light encouragement to the church in Ephesus.
He talks about, not lying, not cheating, quit stealing, not using foul
language, edifying others with what they say, not falling into sexual
immorality, impurity or greed! He even talks about rules for family, and
slaves!
In Acts:
“Paul traveled through the
interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several
believers.” (Acts 19:1)
I
consider that the main idea of the book is to “imitate God” and find their
identity in Him so that they do not fall back in their sinful nature. An
example of this idea is 5:1-2 “Imitate
God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a
life filled with love, following the example of Christ.”
God’s
Character:
The
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:3)
He
is rich in kindness and grace (1:7)
His
power is incredibly great (1:19)
Above
all rulers and authorities (1:21)
Rich
in mercy (2:4)
Savior
of those who believe (2:8)
Father
(3:14)
Creator
(3:15)
He
has “glorious unlimited resources” (3:16)
Christ
is generous (4:7)
Truly,
righteous and holy (4:24)
Philippians
Philippi
was a colony of Roma, therefore, the people who lived there were roman
citizens. And that meant that they could buy and sell property, they did not
have to pay certain taxes, and they were protected by law from the death
penalty and some other punishments. I don’t know about you, but I think this
was a great deal for people who were not really romans by birth. Somehow, the
Roman Empire had decided to grant them all citizenship and they were really proud
about it.
And
that’s the main problem that Paul is addressing. He is telling them to be
humble and to live an “other-centered” kind of life.
The
church there is facing:
· Disunity (4:2)
· Selfishness (2:3) [They should use
this formula: Jesus / Others / Yourself = J.O.Y.]
o
God
exalted Jesus because He humbled Himself first! (2:8-11)
· Status & Privilege
o
Paul’s
autobiography (3:5-6)
o
He
believes all of that is trash (3:7-11) for the sake of Jesus, our Lord
o
Paul
urges them to leave their pride and privileges for the Kingdom of God
This
church is mentioned in Acts 16:11-12
“We boarded a boat at Troas and sailed
straight across to the island of Samothrace, and the next day we landed at
Neapolis. From there we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia
and a Roman colony. And we stayed there several days.”
Main
idea:
Paul is telling the Philippians to
lay down their Status, Proud and Privilege to have a more “other-centered” life.
In that way they would not be as selfish as they were
God’s
character:
Jesus
is equal to God, he has divine privileges, he is humble (2:6-7)
“Name
above all name… at His name every knee should bow… Jesus Christ is Lord… and
God is the Father.” (2:9-11)
Merciful
(2:27)
God
is our supplier, He has “glorious riches” (4:19)
Colossians
Paul
refers to this Church as “…God’s holy
people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ.”
(1:2) And continues to say that he has “…heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all God’s people, which comes
from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.”
(1:4-5) However, they seem to be drifting from the truth, so Paul urges them to
stay firm in the assurance they received when they first heard the “Good News”
(1:23) They were also told that there was a secret they did not know as
Gentiles… so Paul unveils the secret for them: “And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance
of sharing his glory.” (1:27) I feel kind of sad for them because they
already knew this “secret”, but they let others lead them astray from the
reality that they already knew their place in Christ and they should have never
focused in nothing else but the knowledge that salvation is too for them, the
Gentiles!
Mentioned
in Acts:
No!
God’s
character:
“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” (1:15)
Creator
(1:16 / 3:10)
Christ
is the head of the church (1:18)
God
is fair, He has no favorites (3:25)
1 Thessalonians
The
church of Thessalonica:
They
have faith in God, and other people talk about it! (1:8)
They
turned away from idols to serve the true God (1:9)
They
suffered persecution because of their faith (2:14)
Paul
urges them to be holy and to stay away from all sexual sin (4:3)
He
also tells them to encourage each other as they already doing (5:11)
Paul
addresses respect to leadership (5:12-13), laziness vs. patience (5:14), doing
good (5:15), being joyful (5:16), praying (5:17), being thankful (5:18),
stifling the Holy Spirit (5:19), not scoffing prophecies (5:20), holding on to
what is good (5:21) and staying away from everything that is evil! (5:22)
It
seems like the church and Paul have had some other letters going on, in which
the people had questions for him. Paul replies to the question that the church
asked in a previous letter about when and how, the Lord will return. He tells
them what they already know: “…the Lord’s
return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.” (5:2)
In Acts:
“Paul and Silas then traveled
through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where
there was a Jewish synagogue.” (Acts 17:1)
God’s
Character:
He
is our God and father (1:3)
Jesus
Christ is our Lord (1:3)
Living
and True (1:9)
Jesus
was raised from the dead, and He rescued us (1:10)
2 Thessalonians
Paul
is very happy with this church. I can see that from the very beginning when he
says “Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t
help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for
one another is growing.” (1:3) And then he adds “We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and
faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering.”
(1:4)
Obviously
they are having some troubles, but not the kind other churches at the time are
facing, but mainly persecution. However, it seems like they have been having
some questions. Paul addresses the question of the return of the Lord. I can
see how this is very relevant for these people because they want to know when
their persecution will end! However, Paul reminds them that he had already
talked about that. (2:5) But he does talk, again, about the answer by telling
them that certain things have to happen first:
“For
this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until
the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. Then the man of
lawlessness will be revealed, but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath
of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming. This man will come
to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. He will
use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction,
because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. So God
will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. Then
they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-12)
Paul
also talks about certain issue: laziness. Paul is addressing this problem by
saying “Stay away from all believers who
live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us.”
(3:6) And he goes a little further by giving them this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.”
(3:10)
In Acts:
“Paul and Silas then traveled
through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where
there was a Jewish synagogue.” (Acts 17:1)
God’s
Character:
God
is our Father (1:1)
Jesus
is Lord (3:6)
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