Please read as much as you can of Paul's letter to the Romans. From the chapters you read, pick out a verse or two that you think is a particularly important part of Paul's recipe for helping Jewish and gentile believers get along with one another. Cite also a verse you find particularly puzzling and explain why you find this verse hard to understand. Alternatively, you might take a stab at explaining the verse another student found difficult/confusing.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Romans--Session I
Please read as much as you can of Paul's letter to the Romans. From the chapters you read, pick out a verse or two that you think is a particularly important part of Paul's recipe for helping Jewish and gentile believers get along with one another. Cite also a verse you find particularly puzzling and explain why you find this verse hard to understand. Alternatively, you might take a stab at explaining the verse another student found difficult/confusing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
20 comments:
The very first passage I noted as important to Paul's recipe for helping Jewish and gentile believers get along is early in the chapter and pertains to the gospel. The gospel was essential to spreading Christianity, and in this passage Paul says that he is not ashamed of it and that "...it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." I think Paul is trying to show that the gospel is crucial for everyone, regardless of whether or not he or she is a gentile or a Jew and that this gospel can educate and unite them.
One verse that puzzled me was about Abraham. Paul says that Abraham was not justified by works, but his faith, belief, etc. In my opinion, that could go two ways. The works could pertain to rituals, practices, etc. or to acts of charity, etc. I think people can read it differently.
Alyson Guthrie
Paul 14: 5, states “One man considers one day more sacred than the another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does to the Lord. He who eats meant, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
“As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’”
These are two very important passages, because it is Paul’s essential message: stop passing judgment and fully commit yourself to the Lord, for it is what you are supposed to do. Simply, we should stop complaining and fighting, because it is over the same basic principle. In order to help Jewish and gentile believers get along Paul implied that they should not destroy the word of God by having turmoil and strife between each other. They should accept each other just as Jesus accepted them. In order to fully accept Jesus and glorify God they must accept each other. These two verses help show Paul’s desire for unity, but it seems like he is tired of the ridiculous conflict between both groups. He is telling them to get over themselves and recognize that they are fighting for basically the same thing. They have a common goal to receive God’s love, but they are blinded by their own foolishness.
A verse I found confusing was 13:8 when Paul refers to debt. I think he is referring to actual material debt, but I do not know the significance of this verse. Although it is an important message, I do not see how that would help settle such religious disputes similar to the Jewish and gentile believers. Furthermore, this may simply be a warning against having wealth as a basis of character or thanks. Is there more to the verse? If so, I would believe that he may be warning against the use of money and debt, because it stands in the way of religious values and may hinder proper obedience.
Kirsten Saunders
Paul writes this letter as he is about to travel to Jerusalem with a collection of funds for impoverished Jewish communities. This letter goes into more details than his letter to the Corinthians because he knows the situation better, and as we read the letter, we can see this progression.
In Chapter 2, Paul first has to set the stage for his message and to do that he has to show both the Gentiles and especially the Jews that they are not the chosen people who are held in a higher regard. Paul says in 2:25 "Circumcision, to be sure has value if observe the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumsision. Again, if an uncircumcised man keeps the precepts of the law, will he not be considered circumcised? Indeed." What Paul is saying in this verse is that the mere possession of the law is no evidence of following it. For example, I can say that I am a Catholic, and go to church, but if I sin in my heart and believe things that are against God's will, I am not following the virtues.
In 13:14 "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh." What exactly this means is left up to interpretation.
In Suander's post, I believe what Paul was telling us is that we owe nothing to our fellow man except love. If we follow the commandments, there will be no contempt among people. We should not expect our neighbors to do things for us, but we should realize that our neighbors should love us. Paul also sums up the commandments by saying if you love your neighbor, you will keep the commandments.
Paul tries to unify the Jews and the Gentiles by making sure that those already in the Christian faith accept those that are starting their journey in Christ.
Romans 15:1-6 explains how the strong believers must please their neighbor to help them build up their faith in Christ. Paul's ultimate goal is to unify Jews and Gentiles "[6] so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
A passage that is confusing is the analogy of marriage found in chapter 7, verses 1-6. I don't make the connection between marriage and sin that the verses were trying to convey.
There are many passages in Romans that talks about The Jews and the Gentiles being in the same boat. First Romans chapter 2 talks about the judgement. "(9)Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; (10)But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile;(11)For there is no respect of persons with God. (12)For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;"
These verses are importanted because everyone is responsible for his deed no matter if they are Jews or Gentiles.
In Romans chapter 3 it talks about the world being guilty before God it just doesn't talk about the Jews being guilty before God. It also doesn't singles out the Gentiles, but says that "both Jews And gentiles are under sin."
Romans 3:29 "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:"
Since God is the God of both the Gentile and the Jew that gives them common ground to worship the same God and since they are worshiping the same God and the same God created them, that would give them a reason to get along.
Roman 10: 12 and 13 speaks that there is no differance between the Greek and the Jew and who ever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
Since both groups are able to be saved they should learn to get along with one another since they will have to spend al eternity with one another.
A passage I found confusing would be Romans 8:24 "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
I find this confusing because it is hard to determine what hope is.
Margaret Schiley
Paul is trying to show that Jews and Gentiles are equal. Starting in Romans 3:9, Paul basically says that "Are we better than they? Not at all." He shares that both Jews and Greeks are sinful.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5: 1-5) Paul is telling us that in order to become more like the Lord we have to have suffering and shows us the progression of growth in our hearts.
I would like to share a verse that has meant a lot to me lately. Romans 6:23,"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." It can be hard to remember what the greatest gift that we are given is, but really there are two: life and love.
The verse that I couldn't understand is located at Romans 11:6. "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." I am not sure what Paul is trying to say.
-Amanda Blood
I chose to comment on Roman's 7 "An Illustration of Marriage" This talks about a spouse being loyal to each other and being faithful. I strong believe that faithfulness in a marriage is important. I have heard about good, powerful people that committed adulteries against their spouses. These immoral things hurt a person's reputation. Some of these people who have committed this sin lose their friends, careers, respect, and family. I learned in church how unfaithfulness is wrong. My parents also explained to me how this is important after a friend of mine's family split because of this incident. Alex Mason
"Even the rightious of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that beleive: for there is no differece:For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." I beleive this verse is addressed to both Jews and Gentiles. It is putting them on a level playing feild and say that none of them are better than another and both are equaly important.
I find the verse in Amanda's post to be somewhat confussing as well. I understand that grace is unconditional love but think that Paul is saying that grace is freely given and we do not have to do "works" to receive it.
-Matthew Scott
romans 3:9-31
these i think were very important because there is no one person that is right we are all gods children we just have different ideas on certain things. Like passage romans 3:29-31.Is god the god of the jews only? is he not the god of gentiles too? yes ,of gentiles too. since there is only on god, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith do we, then jullify the law by this faith? not at all .rather we uphold the law. This passage is telling the romans that no matter wether your a jew or a gentile you are judge by the same laws the law of god.
the one i am confused about is romans 3:5-8 i am not sure what paul is saying in these verse.
dave potts
Romans 3:29 "Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also" This is common ground for Jews and Gentiles well enough, however it is more then that I think. The passage is an argument for unity because if you deny your neighbor you would deny God. Since he is the God of both groups to deny him in the other would be like denying him to your own affiliation.
John Schirado
i think a good passage that shows how Paul attempts to help Jews and Gentiles get along is 2:21-23. It tells the readers that if you are accusing someone of wrong doing you must also look at yourself to see if you are doing the same thing. So before a person casts others off as sinners, they must make sure that they are not sinners themselves.
A verse that puzzled me was 2:9-10. I do not understand why Jews are honored before Gentiles are, and Jews are punished before Gentiles are.
Eric Saathoff
Romans 10:11-16 is a perfect exaple of how Paul stressed how jews and gentiles should get along. He speaks of how they both believe in the same God. This exerpt also stresses the importance of how without someone recieving the message of the lord , one cannot spread the word. Its a cycle, and in order to serve the lord and spread his messages, they must work together. " How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. Who bring glad tidings of good things!" I think that Paul is emphasising that Jews and Gentiles may praise the lord, but without peace in their hearts between one another, they are not truly living the word of the lord.
Romans 8:24-25 is another verse that I found which I thought was really deep and profound. Im just not sure how it ties into how Paul stresses a recipe for helping Jews and Gentiles get along. The only guess that I could project is that he wants both sides to hope for peace,yet realize that sometimes hope comes in small, unnoticeable ways. Even though he wants both groups to get along, he even knows that it is going to take time.
-Maggie Madrid
Romans 3:21-24 "But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For ther is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
This passage is important because it says that no matter who you are, if you believe in Jesus, his grace will be your redemption.
Romans 5:14 really confused me.
"Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come."
Kevin Dahlberg
I saw a few passages in chapter 3 that all say about the same thing caught my eye. Paul says numerous times that neither the Greeks nor the Jews are any different because they both are 'under the power of sin, as it is written.' Paul also uses Abraham to bridge the gap between the gentiles and the Jews. In Chapter 4 he talks about Abraham before and after circumcision. He points out that Abraham was righteous before and after being circumcised making it clear that both gentiles and Jews are equal in the eyes of god if righteousness of faith is the measure of man.
Right away I see in Romans 1:20-23 a very specific understanding of Paul's teachings to the Romans.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
He doesn't specify 'gentile' or 'jew', but says 'man'. He puts everyone in the same group, not distinguishing between the two which is so often done. He says blantly, "This is who God is. And this is how you treated Him." He starts everyone off on a level playing field.
A random question I have comes from Romans 6:6...
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—
IF our old selves have been crucified and done away with, how is it we see people returning to that sin? Some may say that the person wasn't really Christian, but I know that I am a Christian yet I have temptations to do the same sins I used to do, and have at some point fallen into that temptation.
-Amber Eich
Chapter 3, verses 21-23 and 29
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes throught faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too"
Romans is filled with Paul's assertions that this principle or that teaching applies to both groups. There must have been some disputes between the two groups in the Roman Church, the Jews thinking themselves to still be better than the Gentiles. With the Jews feeling superior and some Gentiles feeling inferior, these assertions of Paul would have gone a long way in helping Jewish and Gentile believes get along, showing them that they are both equal in God's eyes when in really comes down to it.
I chose the verses I did because they speak of a very important subject--salvation itself. He again assures the two groups that Jesus Christ had fulfilled the old covenant and has issued a new one, that all who believe in Jesus will be saved, even though all are sinners. He reassures this in verse 29 clearly states that God is the God of both groups, that both are equal in his sight.
I find 7:15 confusing. It's easy to understand if you break it down and think about it, but it's confusing to me because I wonder why Paul used such simple words. Maybe it's just a bad translation to English, in which case I wonder why the translators didnt realize that they were creating a puzzling passage on the surface, one hard for some to understand. It reads as follows:
"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good."
Its just written kind of funny...
Rachelle Rasmussen
I picked out Romans 3:21-31. I think these verses are an important part of Paul's recipe for helping Jewish and gentile believers get along, because of two reasons. First, it justifies gentiles, in that Paul explains that they can be forgiven by faith in Christ, instead of threw works of law. Second, the passage pretty much sums up Paul's belief that Christians need not be circumcised. A verse that I found puzzling is Romans 78:13-25, Sin and Death. I found this verse to be hard to understand because of the relation made between sin and actual death.
Romans 12:9-21
This is the key to unity or harmony between any peoples, be it Jew, Gentile, Pagan, Christian, etc., etc. We must let love be genuine. Hate what is harmful, and cling to those things that are beneficial. Outdo one another when it comes to honor and respect. Do not lag in zeal but be earnest in the power that God provides. Be joyful in the knowledge that we will only receive good from God's hand (hope). Stand up under the pressures of life without wavering (patience). Continue in prayer. Give to God's people and be hospitable to strangers. Bless those who do not agree with you. Bless them and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. Live in peace with everyone. Do not be a snob, but associate with everyone. Do not act like you know more than you actually do. Do not repay a harmful act with another harmful act. Remember what is respectful and honorable in the eyes of everyone. As far as it is possible for you to do, be at peace with everyone. Remember that God will avenge you, he will repay the harmful deeds that others commit against you. He can do it a lot better than we can anyway. If your enemy is thirsty, give him something to drink. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. When we act this way toward people who do not like us or agree with us we make them angry, and frustrate their plans against us. Do not be overcome by the harmful acts that others commit but overcome their harmful acts with beneficial acts.
Donna Baskins
Jin-Seop Lee
Passages that are particularly important parts of Paul's recipe for helping Jewish and gentile believers get along with one another are 3:1~8. The verses are expressed well for Jews and gentiles who don't believe Jesus. In addition, these verse proved that god is true and just. It would help Jews and gentile who don't believe jesus.
7:14~21, these verses are puzzling for me. It is hard to understand what is do and what is wrong for myself. I can see the conclusion, 'when i went to do what is right, i inevitably do what is wrong.' but the process to reach this conclusion, it is hard.
Romans 3:9-19
My comment is closely related to Amanda’s. No one is better than anyone else because we are all under sin. John 3:16 relates back to this when John writes that who ever believes in Him shall not perish, but have ever-lasting life. The key word is who ever..not “if the Jews believe in him they will have everlasting life,” but is anyone. Romans 3:10 says “….There is no one righteous, not even one;” and then in verse 12 it says All have turned away.
A few confusing verses to me were 9: 14-19. In 14 it goes back to the Old Testament when God is talking to Moses saying that he will have compassion on those he wants compassion and the same w/ Mercy. Then 16 says that it does not depend on man’s desire or the effort, but on God’s mercy. Finally 17 also reverts back to Exodus when he talks about hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Then in 18 it states, God will have mercy on those whom he wants mercy and will harden those whom he wants hardened.
Why would God purposely not have compassion on someone? Wasn’t this the reason that Jesus came—to make a way for all? Shouldn’t all people have the chance to go? Also I do believe that Scripture says that no one shall die until they have heard the gospel at least once. If verse 18 is fact when it says that God will harden those he wants to be hardened…then does that mean that God wants people to go to Hell? Scripture also states that God doesn’t want any of his children to go to hell, but as punishment he must send them there.
Post a Comment