Romans: The Natural World In The Book Of Paul

The Apostle Paul’s strategic mission of expanding the church and spreading the Gospel was significant considering the challenges he had to conquer. His life and example was and is applicable to modern cross-cultural leaders and organizations. Philippians 2 is a letter written by Paul to the church of Philippi. It was prepared during his imprisonment in Rome for spreading the Gospel of Christ in an area where people predominately and traditionally believed in Judaism. His writing in this passage highlights Christ as the ultimate example of humility and Paul’s encouragement to his followers to keep the unity, as they are the light of the world.

Paul’s distinctive contribution to Christianity is his heresy- the doctrine of salvation by faith. A salvation available not just to the descendants of Abraham, but to the pagan, non-Jewish world as well. When he was writing to those in the Roman capital, Paul makes the declaration that proved to be the cornerstone of all his writings Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live

Paul more than anyone was responsible for the spread of the Jesus movement into the Gentile world. By the end of the first century Christianity had become an important religious force. Paul while respectful of its Jewish origins moved the Christian faith into a position where it was no longer bound by Jewish law and was able to embrace people of any cultural background. After his own conversion, Paul passionately espoused his message from the Palestinian world through Asia Minor and southern Europe to Rome, the heart of the empire. Some of his letters by Paul to fledgling churches throughout the Roman Empire are contained in the New Testament and outline Paul 's theology. He insisted that Gentiles had as much access to the faith as Jews and that freedom from the Law set everyone free. It was this teaching which was essential for the development and success of the early church which would otherwise have remained another Jewish sect.

In the time Paul was writing to the Romans there was conflict between the Gentiles and the Jews. Many of today’s scholars have presented a number of likely reasons as to why Paul may have written the book of Romans. One of these believed reasons was for him to address the continued power struggle between the Gentiles and the Jews. In the book of Romans, Paul encourages unity as people of God and begs the Jews and Gentiles to have peace and love with not only each other but with everyone in the world.

Paul’s letter to the Romans can be broken down into four major sections. Within each of these sections there is a single compelling issue. Within the context of these respective issues, several interpretive questions can be answered through the interpretative process. These answers help us to understand how to apply the spiritual principals to our lives, as well as, help us compel other individuals to apply these spiritual principles within their lives.

The book of Romans was written by Paul to present a basic system of salvation to a church that had not receive the teaching of an apostle before. In this book, the basis of a biblical worldview can be illustrated by Paul when it comes to explaining the natural world, our human identity, human relationships, and culture.

We’ve heard it said before that we are products of our environment or culture. The culture of Rome in biblical times was much like the culture of a large city today. They had not only accepted the wicked lifestyles that were being practiced, but they were also approving the practice of such things (Rom 1:32). We can see a lot of the same things going on in our time and our world that was going on in Rome when Paul wrote this epistle. We are quickly heading down a path towards the same destruction

The purpose behind this paper is to offer a brief review on a book called “Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism” . This review will focus on four major components, first being the editor’s information. The editor’s information will cover education, any positions they hold today, and whatever scholarship information that is currently available. The second thing that will be reviewed will be a concise summary of the major theme of the book followed by the third, an honest and courteous evaluation of the book. The fourth thing that will be added is a bibliography at the end of the paper for reference of the book.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is known as one of his greatest theological works. It has been passed down for thousands of years and is still just as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern day Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes strong sentences such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18) one may say that the times have changed. Some may say that these issues in Paul’s time are acceptable in society today. Jesus is all loving not wrathful. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

It all began with Adam and Eve, if they had never sinned then this world would know no sin. Since they sinned we naturally to this day have a culture full of sin. Culture appears to be the reflection of human’s relationships. As people reject God, the cultural guidelines begin to decay. Social rules were broken when people started to live in a world of corruption. “…their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another…” (Romans 1:26-27). It is natural for a human to “fit in” with the world rather than stand out for Christ. When one person convinces another of something, then it begins a snowball effect and everyone wants to be a part of it, creating a sin-filled

The book under review is titled, Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism, edited by Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, Jason Maston with a foreword by Francis Watson.

Paul’s letter to the Roman’s was an occasional epistle as opposed to a systematic theology. However, Paul did present the Gospel in a systematic way. He was writing to an unknown audience of Christian’s, so he made sure to explain himself thoroughly in all areas, more so than if he was writing to those who knew him or had heard him speak before. He wanted to give the Roman’s a good foundation to work from. In doing so he has given Christian’s of today a good foundation for their biblical worldview. While one certainly cannot extract their entire worldview from the book of Roman’s, it is certainly a good basis. Paul covers several areas that are important to one’s worldview in this letter. They will be discussed in this essay. They are creation, sin, salvation, eschatology, ethics and theology. Each topic will be given a closer look as we proceed.

Paul’s letter to the Romans is of his greatest theological works, passed down for thousands of years and still as relevant today as it was in Paul’s time. How exactly is it relevant the modern Christian may ask? What with its harsh language that includes statements such as “the wages of sin is death” (6:23) and “the wrath of God” (1:18), one may say that current times have changed. Some may say that the issues Paul addresses are acceptable in today’s society. What exactly is the Christian to think? The purpose of this short essay is to examine how the Book of Romans relates to the Christian in the twenty-first century and how it helps to shape his worldview.

1. Discuss the occasion and purpose for the writing of Romans. Paul’s letter to the Romans is held in high regard by Kostenberger and colleagues, as made evident by this statement, “the book of Romans may be the most important letter ever penned in human history.” It is commonly accepted that Paul wrote, or dictated, the letters to the churches in Rome around winter of 54-55 AD. This was a time when the Roman church was facing difficulty finding unity because of Jewish and Gentile conjectures.

In this letter Apostle Paul showed how great his love was for the church of Philippi, showing his gratitude for their financial support to further the work of the ministry and to express his concern about their spiritual walk. His only thought was about advancing the cause of Christ and building the Philippians’ faith to continue their mission in spite of the persecution they were facing. Within their church many of the people were at odds and some were trying to hinder the spread of the Gospel. Because of this, Paul encourages the church of Philippi to "stand fast, be of the same mind, rejoice in the Lord always but by prayer let your request be made known and the peace of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (4:1-7).