Romans Chapter 5 (and maybe Chapter 4) is like an oasis in the midst of sin. All around it Paul deals with the sin issue but Chapter 5 is different. A jewel set in the midst of the darkness which shines the brighter because of it. Romans chapter 5 is about the Results of Justification. Then Paul moves back to the struggle with sin again in Chapter 6 and 7.
Chapter 8 is a glorious stepping out of the darkness of sin into no condemnation / no separation. It is packed with much good stuff; not to say the rest isn’t. This chapter indeed has some gems to be investigated.
Then we come to Romans 9-11, the parts that some see to be unconnected, even to the point of doubting the authorship. No serious scholar does that; only those who can’t work out how it is all connected. See if you can solve the problem yourself by carefully examining the chapters.
That then brings us to what is many people’s favourite verse and one they have memorised by heart. As an ex-Navigator it was one of the first memory verses I learned early in my Christian life: Romans 12:1&2. This is a verse connected to all that has gone before it. Therefore Brethren, I appeal to you . . . connection time again. This is the point in Romans, that Paul reaches in all of his letters, where he gets intensely practical. A pattern of Paul’s is always after he has shared the doctrine, the theory, he gets practical and looks at how it applies in every day life. This puts the rest of Romans into focus. Chapters 13 to 15 is Paul’s advice on practical Christian living.
Finally we will have to look at Chapter 16 which is interesting to say the least and answer some basic questions about Paul’s ending and look in detail at the people included in his list.
There you have the overview of the letter and a hint of what’s to come. At the same time when you are looking at summarizing what has been covered I have given you a short outline of what is to come. We will unpack the details of this as we proceed. Just thought as we are taking a bird’s eye view of what has gone by (review) we would preview at macro level what is to come. We will see how it all fits together as we move forward. But I trust it will help to know what lies ahead so you can pay close attention to it for yourselves. Like I said in the last Gem, learn to pay attention to both the macro level and the micro level. It will help you immensely to understand the text of the Bible.
Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America (the west) and became an enterprise.
Anon
- Happiness keeps You Sweet,
- Trials keep You Strong,
- Sorrows keep You Human
- Failures keep You Humble
- Success keeps You Growing,
- But Only God keeps You Going Anon