dar334

The definition of Romans per Dictionary.com reads as follows:  of or relating to the ancient or modern city of Rome, or to its inhabitants and their customs and culture:  of or relating to the ancient kingdom, republic, and empire whose capital was the city of Rome.

The introduction to Romans in my Life Application Study Bible NIV reads, in part, as follows:  The apostle Paul was intelligent, articulate, and committed to his calling. Like a skilled lawyer, he presented the case for the gospel clearly and forthrightly in his letter to the believers of Rome.

The introduction goes on in more detail about the book.  Apparently there were some Jews that had come to faith during Pentecost (a Christian holiday that commemorates the Holy Spirits descent on the apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ) and they took this new found faith with them back to Rome where they started a church that contained mostly Jews and some Gentiles.  Paul was going to visit there and sent a letter before hand to introduce himself to them.

What neither the internet or the introduction fails to tell you is you will more than likely experience a moderate to severe headache early on in the book.  There should be a caution about the stress it can cause on your forehead as you scowl at the words trying to decipher what Paul is trying to convey, then reread them a second or even third time before giving up and reading the study note, twice.  Here are some examples:

Romans 2:14  (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.)

Romans 2:25-27  Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised.  So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirement, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised?  The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.  

The letter to the Romans goes on for 16 chapters like the above examples, but I can’t end my pondering with out my all time favorite headache producing scripture:

Romans 7:15-20  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.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Mr. Hobson read that last scripture in church a couple weeks ago, and we were talking about it later.  Our grandson Josh, who will soon be 13, said “That’s a lot of do do.”  Hopefully God got a chuckle out of it too.

One of our Disciple studies was mainly on the letters of Paul.  I trudged through my reading, headache after headache, until the class was done.  I wasn’t a fan of Paul then.  Recently my dislike of Paul has turned to admiration.  Perhaps it’s because, after reading bits and pieces of his writings over the last 5 years and completely an entire study, I’m finally able to understand the message he is trying to get across.  Granted it could have been done in fewer words, Jesus is Lord, but his desire to argue his case, and the fact that he was in prison a lot of the time, he had plenty of time to write.

God wanted Israel, (the country not the man that used to be called Jacob, which could lead me into another blog about God changing peoples names and then calling them by both throughout the whole Bible also causing confusion and delay) to be the special people.  They were the “chosen”.  But as the sin that lives in us all caused problems, they wouldn’t obey the laws so God decided to send his son who would be the ultimate sacrifice for all our sins.  Everybody.  Jews and Gentiles alike.  Paul worked very hard to get that message to us all.  So I hope you take the time to read the letter Paul wrote to the Romans.  And then read it again, and again.  Ponder on it.  If only we followed his guidelines today, this wicked old earth would be heaven.

Always pondering,

dar