DAY 211

THE HIMALAYA’S OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Psalm 49 & 50 and Romans 1

Yesterday I commented that the end of one road most often leads to the beginning of another…and so we begin Romans. Romans might be thought of as the “Himalaya’s of the New Testament;” the going is steep and the air is thin…but do not panic. People who climb high peaks practice and work up to them, and you have been doing just that. You are almost 2/3’rds of the way through the Bible. In many ways you know the “big picture story of God’s Plan, and you even know many of the details. What Romans might be considered is a “legal brief;” the argument if you will of how God’s Plan in Jesus fits all we have ever known about God.

I am going to try very hard to help us through it. “Romans is the longest and most systematically reasoned of Paul’s letters. Paul announces its theme in 1:16-17: the gospel is God’s power of salvation, because it shows us that the righteousness of God is through faith for all who believe. Paul explains the need for justification through faith because of sin (cf. 1:16-4.25). He then spells out the results of justification by faith in terms of both present experience and future hope (5:1-8:39). In the next three chapters, he expresses his sorrow that many of his fellow Israelites have not embraced the gospel, and he wrestles with the theological implications of this in chapters 9-11. He concludes by describing how the gospel should affect on everyday life in chapters 12-16.” Paul is thought to have written this letter circa 57 A.D. In todays lesson he writes to them about how he longs to see them, we have just read of his long journey to Rome which was by way of being arrested and a ship wreck! (The quoted material is the introduction from my ESV Bible.)

I said above that in the early part of the letter he explains the need to be “made right with God” because of sin. In verses 17-31 you might be thinking, “Man does he ever!” Paul is not pulling any punches. I want you to think about our world and ask yourself if you agree with his assessment. Has most of the world given itself over to human passions and forsaken God? Ponder that question a bit and tomorrow I will give you a few more of my thoughts about it, but today I think you need to stare at what Paul is suggesting.