Day 162, Romans 1 and Acts 20:1-3
Today we begin our journey into the Apostle Paul’s most famous and impactful letter. Written to the church in Rome, it was intended to be circulated in the same way as Paul’s other letters, to edify and teach the believers from Paul’s experience and wisdom (both directed by the Holy Spirit).
Watch for two themes throughout this letter ( as in many of Paul’s letters): doctrine that is aligned with God’s truth and living that demonstrates God’s truth.
What we believe and what we do flow from who we now are in Christ. This is the “gospel” (Greek: euangelion), or good news, that Paul expounds in his letter.
The subtitle for this letter could be “Grace and Glory” and it should be read as a love letter from God to His beloved. You can see this passion in the first part of the chapter, as Paul describes his calling, his role, and his experience of God’s grace. Paul’s intent is to impart this same life-changing encounter with the risen Jesus to his brothers and sisters in Rome.
Take care to carry that same perspective into the second half of the chapter. Some have misrepresented Paul to be angry at sinners, and thus representing God’s anger toward sinners. This would be contradictory to all that Paul has written in the first part of the chapter. Notice verse 18 says that God reveals His anger against every form of sin (not against every sinner). Thus God’s wrath can be seen as chemotherapy against cancer rather than punishment for wrongdoing. We cannot make Romans a letter of retribution when it was written as a letter of romance.
Tone is important in writing, and I suggest you read the second half of the chapter with a tone of sorrow in mind. This makes God’s heart toward all humanity come alive, as He reveals anger over the corrupting darkness and disorder sin has brought into the human experience. This is the result of living that conceals God’s truth with chaos. It was precisely this chaos that Jesus targeted in His incarnation, ministry, and death. His resurrection is the source of victory over the darkness and the elimination of all corruption.
God wins, and this letter is written to remind us of this, even while honestly cataloging the corruption of our present world.
Read with hope. Reflect on grace and glory!
Have a great day!
Mark.