The next few weeks here in the “Pew” we will spend some time with the writings of one of the best known, most traveled and I would argue the reason the Gentile Church became a force to be dealt with. What made these letters so important? First which books are we looking at? The Pauline Epistles are Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. They contain much of the doctrine the Christian faith is built upon, especially in relationship to salvation and are significant for teaching on difficult theological issues such as election, predestination, foreknowledge, the deity/humanity of Christ, God’s ongoing relationship with Israel, and the Judgment Seat of Christ. They can be considered to be a very practical tool on teaching how the church should function, containing teaching on spiritual gifts, qualifications of church leaders, the role of women in ministry, and the relationship between law and grace in the life of a Christ-follower. Paul was important to the unifying of the church among the Jews and the Gentiles…thus the Christian Church of today and The Pauline Epistles are part of that unity, and the teachings they contain are equally inspired and in complete harmony with the rest of the Bible. In the weeks to come we will look at selected verses and such from each of these books.We will start at the very first of the list…Romans. Our Sunday School teacher in remarks about Romans, said this… “one of the fullest statements of the Christian faith.” There are many fine books and thoughts about the Book Of Romans and I was particularly fond of these. They are taken from:

https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-romans/ 

It always helps to look for and understand the KEY elements that shape the writers thoughts and help us understand his point better. With that in mind here are some Key Points to our book this week.

Key Themes

  • God’s gift of rescuing humanity through Jesus.
  • God maintaining his promises to Israel.
  • Love unifying the diversity of the Church.

I am going to pass along some things about this Book, most likely  one of Pauls best writings. I will also place the source of this information at the end of each revelation. First, you that have joined me in the past here in “The Pew” know how much I respect the proper use of words. Here are some key words to pay attention to…

Key Words – Some of the key words in the book of Romans, and the frequency of their use in the epistle, include: law (78 occurrences); sin (60); faith (39); righteousness (39); spirit (29); flesh (26); grace (24); gospel (13); Israel (12) & Jew (11); works (9); justification (3).  (https://livwat.com/pdffiles/ROMANS.pdf ) 

These words and their frequency of use set the tone of this letter. Paul also makes a Theological point and clearly calls to our attention who was lacking in their responsibilities. 

“Paul argued that Jesus is the only righteous one. As we read his letter to the Romans, we learn that Jews and non-Jews alike have missed the point. The Law cannot make someone righteous, but it can point to the one who is, Jesus, who came to make all things right. He mends the rifts that separate us from one another.”(The Bible Project)

It is best that we acknowledge that the Holy Trinity…Father, Son, Holy Ghost cannot exist in a place of dispute. God is Love, and trust and truth serve Him best.

One web site I encourage you to take the time to visit is a favorite of mine… //www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Romans.html 

This is a summary of the book of Romans… a good read. I give you this as a closing thought from…Got Questions…

 Romans is about the good news—the gospel. The word gospel is prominent at the beginning and end of the letter, and it’s foremost in the letter’s thesis statement in Romans 1:16–17: “I’m 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 is a powerful read and I encourage you to explore it and its truths often. 

Life is Good

jk