Reflections on Romans

Romans 14:19-15:13 (Abbe Womble)

To me this passage is about helping others to build a
stronger community in the not so obvious was and then
appreciating the gift of the community that creates.

Paul seems to be saying you can't just take care of
yourself and your issues.  You have to think of the
big picture and your actions affect others.  In doing
this you create a special community for which we
should be proud and thankful to be a part of.

This reminds me how thankful I am for our church
family and all I receive to help me not struggle.  I
am also thankful for how accepted I have always felt
here, truly without judgment.  I am also grateful for
our leadership and the direction they lead us in and
the lessons they choose to emphasize.

I feel challenged to think more about how all my
actions affect those around me in the subtle things I
do.  I am truly accepting of others without judgment?
Am I working to intentionally help others at all times
in all my actions?  Am I attempting to be aware and
supportive of the quiet struggles my family members
are experiencing?  I also feel charged to be more
thankful and allow myself to experience the joy this
community creates.

I am struck by the fact that those I consider
spiritual mentors embody this passage well.  They are
people who always make me and those around me feel
accepted and supported in all aspects of my life.
These people are open and encouraging.  As a result
these people also appear to be humbly experiencing the
reward Paul promises, they are joyful and thankful. 

This passage is to me a more in depth "love your
neighbor."  As someone who has grown up in a church
family at all times it is easy to become complacent,
and assume I have the big things figured out.  This
reminds me there is always so much more to be working
on, and layers to uncover to ensure that I
contributing to my community and appreciating what I
have. 

I think this is relevant because we are selfish in
nature.  As a result our temptation is to work on our
struggles and to find the way to conquer them that
works best for ourselves, and then assume that this is
the best way for everyone and expect them to follow
suit.  This reminds us we all have unique struggles,
but that we are part of a group and that we affect
each other.  We all need to be helped and encouraged,
not judged or hindered.  We will be grateful that we
did because we will create the community Paul
describes for which we can be thankful and enjoy. 

Growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to go fishing with my dad on a family ranch in Oklahoma.  A good fisherman knows that in order to catch the best fish, one must be prepared to cast his first line at daybreak.  Therefore, on the morning of these trips we would wake several hours before sun up.  If it was any other morning, I would fight to stay in bed, but on these mornings my excitement would usually wake me when I heard my dad’s footsteps coming up the stairs.  There were so many things to do before we could set out on our adventure.  We needed a good breakfast for early morning energy, and we packed snacks to sustain us throughout the challenges of the day.  To ensure a successful trip, we would load the car with our best fishing attire, poles, tackle, and bait.  Once all our preparation was complete, we set out in the early morning hours for what was always a day of great joy.

Like the early mornings of my childhood fishing trips, Romans calls us to “wake up from our slumber” and make the necessary preparations that are vital for a successful Christian life.  But what are we waking from?  What is our slumber?  Romans suggests that the “deeds of darkness” keep us in spiritual night.  For me, my deeds of darkness are the distractions of a busy schedule.  These distractions put me into spiritual slumber, and keep me there until one of life’s major events catches my attention.  The good news is that we don’t need to wait for a life changing event to wake up.  By “putting aside” my distractions, I can begin to prepare for and focus on the purpose of our lives, Jesus Christ.  As mentioned before, my dad and my fishing preparations  included wearing our latest and greatest fishing attire.  As Christians we get to “put on the armor of light” and “clothe outselves with the Lord Jesus Christ”.  Unlike these trips, I don’t need food to sustain my Christian walk, but by “behaving decently” I am building the character and stamina to live a life for Him, regardless of the challenges life may throw at me.  The good news according to Romans 13 is that we aren’t waking early and preparing to catch the biggest fish.  We are waking from our spiritual slumber and preparing for salvation, because “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed”.  

Romans 12:1-8  (Lisa Goolsby)

I long to be a living sacrifice.  I search within myself to find the parts of me living in ‘view of God’s mercy.’  How few times do I reflect on the impact of God’s mercy when making decisions or interacting with others?  How quickly do I jump to conclusions about God’s will for myself and especially for others?  But I cling to Paul’s words. I will offer myself as a living sacrifice, fight against the ways of the world and be changed by the word of God. 

I’m convicted by Paul’s connection between our bodies as living sacrifices and all of us being many members of one body. The mercy and grace I have received from God leads me in to community.  My living sacrifice to God is the way I use the gifts he has given me among His people.  In that same vein I am comforted knowing that I’m not in this alone!  We are partners and friends in this life on earth and God has given each of us the perfect gift to share with each other.

Romans 12:9-21 (Brant Bryan)

Let’s be honest:  This world is all about me.  At least, that is way I usually see it.  I’m not alone.  You see it the same way.   

Almost everyone I know, including you, struggles with self-centeredness.  With self-absorption.  We instinctively interpret everything from our perspective, we are self-protective, and we try and solve problems with me as part of the answer:   

• What is best for ME?
• How do I grow in MY relationship to God? 
• How do I prepare for MY retirement?
• What type of worship/music/sermon/class speaks the most to ME?
• What do I need to do to improve MY health? 
• How can I use MY talents best in service for God?  What does he have planned for ME?
• What makes ME happy/ fulfilled/complete? 

This is one of the most basic parts of the human condition.  We have a hard time getting outside ourselves. 

The Roman church has a problem with conceit and arrogance.  People seem to be trying to take care of their rights, their concerns, and their needs.  In chapter 12 Paul shifts from telling WHY none of us should over-value ourselves to HOW we should live given this perspective.   

I think this chapter is particularly about how members of the body (that means you and me) live together.  In the first part of chapter 12 Paul talks about how we should be sacrifices, are one body, and how we function in a ways to care for each other.  Beginning in verse 9 he describes a life free from conceit, arrogance and self-centeredness. 

• Love is real.
• Honor others above ourselves. We help others achieve their goals and forget about ours.
• Share because others have need. Not because of what we have.
• When people mistreat us, we still work to help them.
• Focus on the other person and don’t worry about how it looks.
• Live at peace and don’t try to get even.
• When bad stuff hits, we strike back with the really good stuff: love, kindness, and joy. 

This is what life looks like when it is not about ME, but about OTHERS.  It seems that this perspective is what God has always been about from Creation to Easter to Today.  He is doing everything for us.   

My goal:  Stop thinking about me as the central part of the answer.  Love others enough that I am focused on them and their needs.

Romans 9 (Melita Bryan)

This chapter brings to my mind a good father, who at the sunset of life looks at each of his offspring.  After decades of tending for the needs of his children, teaching them and loving them, this good father knows his children. Imagine this man looking into the eyes of each child and the volumes that would unfold in his mind. Lifetime’s of memory. Successes, failures, tragedies, betrayals, disappointments, pride, greed, contentment, he has seem so much. What must a father think? The sweat and tears. Sleepless nights. The effort of parenting. It is a hugh amount of work, but add to that effort the care and concern that one has for their children to do right and be right.  It is an enormous task.  So many years of hard work.

      If this father is like our Father God who is spoken of in 9^th chapter of Romans, he has great care for those children who have embraced his values and who reflect his spirit. He cares not that they are his biologically, that they have the family nose or knobby knees. He cares that they have the life and soul of the family that is expressed in their values and behavior.  The reward is to the son that carries the traits that are of his own heart and choosing, not those given by a DNA code. And so, when the will is read and the piggy bank is distributed, the father looks around and says in no uncertain terms, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  The end. Period.  “It’s my choice and I am the father.  I do not have to, nor will I, give answer to you children.”  And the father goes on to say, “Further more, I am going to give some to the neighbor’s kids. I will call them mine even if, they are not.” Pointing his long bony finger at his own flesh and blood, he says “I told you guys what to do. You sat at my table and walked by me in the fields.  Day after day I cared for you and taught you my ways and you did not obey.  You spend your time picking over the family rules trying to figure out the system.  But look at the neighbor kids. They peered over the fence and saw a good thing.  They do a better job of reflecting my values than some of my own children.  So boys and girls, the deal is off.  The goods go to the ones who followed my heart, (even if they don’t bear my name.) Those will live under my mercy and I will name them as one of my own, because I am just that big. Done.” 

      “Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will be saved.” 

       “And the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 

      Chapter 8 is for funerals……..chapter 9 is for the reading of the will.

Romans 10 (Kasey McCollum)

One of the key points of Paul's argument in Romans is for a church to reflect God's love there is no room for ethnic division.  If the church is to be faithful, it is to reflect the diversity of God's people by surpassing the dividing walls of race, ethnicity, socio-economics, gender, etc.  This is best seen in the personal greetings in chapter 16 as well as the discussion throughout the book on the relationship between Jew and Greek and Jew and Gentile. 

Authentic discussions about the implications of Romans particularly to relationships with Jews, are hard to come by these days.  There is great anti-Semitism in our cultures and now a great sympathy for Jews in light of the Holocaust.  Chapter 10 is in the heart of the section discussing the relationship between Jews and Gentiles (chapters 9-11) and this section is loaded with significant theological questions.  "Has the word of God failed?" (9:6), "Is God unjust?" (9:14), "Has God rejected his people?" (11).

I am struck by the sense of deep grief Paul feels about the situation of Israel (his own people) at the beginning of chapter 10.  Paul is clearly concerned about he salvation of God's people (and his people).  Paul's understanding of God up to this point does not have room the salvation of Israel and this creates a traumatic experience to which Paul must evaluation his concept of God.  According to Paul at this point, Israel has not met the qualifications for salvation.  Paul is left disoriented.  This disorientation confronts Paul's understanding of God and so raises the crucial questions mentioned earlier.  This is really important to me because I too wrestle with my previous concepts of God when my daily experiences in the world are not congruent.  I have to reevaluate my previous conceptions of God.  This process is not simply an academic correction but a spiritual transformation.  Reading this section of Paul challenges me to face these situations head on, acknowledging the grief that comes with losing a previous image of God in hopes that a new and transformed image will follow.  This process is extremely disorienting, but I hope that like Paul, on the otherside I am able to have a transformed image of God where 'all of Israel will be saved.' 

Romans 11 (Krister White)

To the unsuspecting reader, Romans may appear to be about only a few things (in the order they appear): homosexuality, justification by faith, law & grace, Christ as the second Adam (God’s answer and antidote to the first Adam), etc. It may appear that Paul is merely making a theological statement in this letter, that Paul is writing a general treatise on the nature of Christian faith to a rather generic audience. In my study I have come to the conclusion that nothing could be further from the truth. Romans is, first of all, written to a particular community, most likely a mixed bag of Judeans (Jews) and Greeks (Gentiles) as opposed to only Gentiles or only Judeans. One of the most helpful lenses through which to view Paul’s letter to the Romans is that of an ethnic conflict between two groups. We see this early on in Romans 1 and 2 where Paul exposes the variety of ways that both Gentiles and Jews (Jewish-Christians) fall short of their capacities for God-likeness. As an apostle to the Gentiles, Paul finds himself in a strange situation as it relates to how he reconciles his identity as an ethnic Jew who follows Jesus as the Christ and his role as a proclaimer of the hopeful message of Christ that extends beyond all tribal and cultic boundaries. From my vantage point, chapters 9-11 provide the reader (and Paul’s original audience of listeners) with an intimate portrait of a man genuinely in the throes of inner turmoil about his own identity as a follower of Christ and what it might mean for his own people (ethnic Jews) while also wrestling with the theological difficulties that Christ presents to God’s initial promises to Israel. We see this passion in the beginning of chapter 9 where Paul says in verse 2, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.” This is not simply a theological state of the union address from Paul. This is a personal letter with very personal and communal theological implications.

      Paul engages in all types of theological gymnastics to develop an answer that will satisfy both his own conscience and his audience as it relates to what God is up to from reinterpreting what election means (9:8-11), to asserting God’s freedom to do what God will (9:15-18), to explaining that what God really meant by including Israel in the plan of salvation history had to do with a relatively small population of Israel called the remnant (9:27). Again in 10:1 Paul reveals the personal difficulty he has in writing this letter saying, “my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they (Israel) may be saved.” Near the end of chapter 10 Paul makes it clear that there is a rhyme and reason for the way things have gone down between the Israelites and the Gentiles; namely, by pointing to the situation between the ethnic Jews and Greeks as part of a larger storyline, one that requires the inclusion of the Greeks in order to create jealousy on the part of the Israelites. With the end of this chapter, however, we enter into the meat of Paul’s argument and finally land on the helipad that is the focus of my commentary.     

Chapter 11 begins with an important question from Paul. “I ask then, has God rejected his people?” This is a question with roots in Paul’s own ethnic self-identity that informs the rest of his writing in this chapter. The question for Paul can be traced back to the Judaic understanding of covenant and their experience as the people of the promise. The original promise was initiated by God and did not include stipulations to the relationship. There were no divine prenuptial agreements in God’s initial promises to Abram in Gen. 12, no “if ______ happens, then I may annul this relational contract.” Instead, we see the beginnings of a promise to bless all people through the person who would be called Abraham. God seals this covenant in Gen. 15 by walking between animals that had been split in two. The symbolism of this act says, “If I break my promise to you, let my fate be the same as these animals whom I pass between.” This is not a flippant agreement God is making. This covenant is expanded in Gen. 17 (it now called an everlasting covenant) with the only requirement being the circumcision of all males.

Fast-forward to the middle of the first century. What are we to make of these promises considering that Christ has now come? What does Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection mean in light of God’s promises to Israel?

      Paul, determined to hold up both God’s original promises to Israel while also upholding the salvific nature of Jesus Christ, reasons that God upholds the original promise by virtue of applying that promise to a remnant, an elect group who satisfy both criteria. I am referring here to the phenomenon of Jewish followers of Christ. Paul remarks in 11:7, “What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened.” It is safe to assume that Israel refers to ethnic Israel, the group of people as a totality, while the elect are the holy remnant of Jews who believe that Christ is the messiah. The rest who were hardened are presumably the remaining ethnic Jews who continue to attend synagogue but who have broken ties with those who accept Jesus.

      Theologically, I find the language of “hardening” somewhat troubling. Does their hardening come about as a result of their own doing, is it primarily an act of Divine interference, or is it a combination of the two as in the story of Pharaoh and Moses with the ten commandments. As you will recall, there is a moment in the story where it seems like the Pharaoh is ready to relent, but because of his heart’s hardened state he is unable to let the Israelites leave. The scripture that Paul quotes in 11:7 lends itself to the second explanation, that of God overruling the will of the Israelite people.

      So are we to believe that the Israelites are without hope? “[H]ave they stumbled  so as to fall?” as Paul says. The pendulum of Paul’s reasoning seems to swing to the other side in the second half of 11:11 where he responds emphatically, “By no means!” Paul explains that something good can come from Israel’s stumbling, namely the opportunity for the Gentiles and the rest of the world to share in Christ’s salvation. But Paul does not stop there. He adds the clause, “and if their defeat means riches for Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!” (Rom. 11:12) It seems clear to me that here Paul is holding out hope—more than hope— expectation that the full inclusion of the Israelites would take place at some point in the future.

      Beginning in Romans 11:16b-24, Paul uses an interesting analogy to explain the relationship between ethnic Judaism and Gentile Christians. Because I have written about this at length in other places I will refer my readers to a paper written to explore the agricultural imagery utilized by Paul. Rather than being an obscure reference to communities familiar with the practice of grafting roots, Paul’s use of this metaphor is quite intentional and laden with theological and soteriological (having to do with salvation) import. For those interested, I invite you to read this paper as one person’s attempt to understand these verses.  http://theoblogia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/romans-1116b-24.pdf

      As Paul winds down his argument, the culmination of 3 chapters addressing the difficulties inherent in a belief system and community shaped and informed by traditional ethnic Judaism yet devoted to a person considered to be the messiah, he calls once again for humility (recall his warning to the Jews in his audience in chapter 2) on the part of his audience. The explanation Paul arrives at is at once ambivalent and definitive at the same time. The relationship between Israel and the Gentiles is a mystery. Apparently the hardening of Israel’s collective heart will continue until “the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” What this means is beyond me. What constitutes the full number? It’s not clear. What is clear is Paul’s statement shortly thereafter in Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel will be saved…” My understanding of Paul’s writing that God’s gifts and callings are “irrevocable,” illustrates Paul’s refusal to simply let go of his heritage in his vocation as apostle to the Gentiles. While this is an act of mercy and grace on God’s part, Paul makes it fairly clear that Israel was, is, and will always be the recipient of God’s promise and original covenant. We are, as Krister Stendahl has pointed out so well, guests in the house of Israel. I have attempted to explicate this idea in the following paper on Romans 11:25-26.  http://theoblogia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/romans-1125-26.pdf

Implications for us today 

      Although I believe that most scripture is inspired and useful for modern day Christians, I would stress that we must first understand the context (social, political, economic) out of which such an address arises. This is first of all a letter from Paul written to a particular community for a particular purpose. Rather than spend time practicing eisegesis, the practice of interpreting a text by reading one’s own ideas into it, we must explore what the text meant when it was written originally (exegesis), how a community would have understood it during that time. In Romans 11, I think Paul is really struggling with his faith from a theological standpoint, a situation that may not be all that uncommon for many of us as we transition into adulthood and try on beliefs and theologies that may diverge from those with which we grew up.

      One thing that this chapter challenges is the ever-prevalent belief in supersessionism within conservative evangelical circles (including but not limited to Churches of Christ). Supersessionism is the belief that Christianity has replaced Judaism as God’s religion of choice and that God’s original covenant with Israel is null and void in light of the advent of Christ. The idea that God would divorce Israel (for that is one image we often see in the Hebrew Scriptures) goes against our common understanding of God as a faithful partner and against numerous scriptural accounts of God’s hesed, God’s faithful, committed, loving kindness toward Israel and all those who have fallen under the umbrella of the blessing that comes from God’s promise to Abram that all nations would be blessed through him.

      I think that Romans 11 also challenges us to embrace humility by recognizing our own history. This is especially pertinent to a group of people birthed as people of the restoration movement. We often fall victim to the belief that we suddenly arrived on the scene through the early church but forget that there were hundreds and hundreds of years separating the birth of the Israelite people and the birth of Christ. In the same way, 1800+ years separated the early church and the movement that spawned the Churches of Christ. Just as we must learn to appreciate that which came before Christ we must learn to humbly recognize those who kept the faith alive in the years preceding the Restoration movement. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, whether Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.

      Finally, Paul provides us with an honest portrayal of what the life of faith looks like in practice. It requires struggling with theology, what we believe about the nature of God. If God breaks God’s promises, what might that mean about God’s trustworthiness as it relates to our situation? Do we believe in a God who is the same or in a God who changes God’s mind? Is consistency important when it comes to God? How does Christ fit into this puzzle? I believe we can take solace in Paul’s use of the word mystery. He doesn’t claim to have all the answers, but he attempts to articulate what he considers to be the best explanation that coheres with a theologically responsible view of God that neither trivializes his own conversion nor abandons his history as a member of the Israelite community. In a sentence, Paul is about building a bridge that spans the chasm between Judaism and Christianity. We would do well to emulate such bridge building in our lives. As Paul states in the closing of chapter 11:  “For from him, and through him and to him are all things.”

 

Romans 7:1-6 (Rachel Cooke)

This passage focuses on Paul’s continuing discussion on a Christian’s relationship with the law and sin. Here, he uses an analogy, which he knows his audience will understand: the laws of marriage. The basic argument is that marriage is a binding while both people are alive. If one dies, the marriage is no longer binding. However, if both people are alive and one person marries another, that would be adultery.  

Throughout this passage, Paul uses the language of being bound and being free. He uses this language when describing marriage to set the framework for the point he intends to make about the law.  

“In the same way” that the law applies to marriage, it also applies to Christians regarding the Jewish law. Because we have died to our old lives and the law through Christ, we are now free to be united with Him.

Furthermore, while bound to the law, Paul says, “we were living in the flesh,” which he says equates to working to “bear fruit for death.” But by dying with Christ, “we may bear fruit for God.”  

Continuing in the language of bondage and freedom, Paul closes this passage by describing us as slaves, but “not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.” This slavery to the “new life” offers freedom.   

These verses reinforce what it means to be united with Christ and how that changes our lives. While this passage clearly speaks to the Jewish Christians who may have been struggling to let go of the Torah, we can also glean significance from Paul’s analogy. It is only by the death of the law that we can be  “married” to Christ. Life in the Spirit must take the place of life in the law.  

I think it may be helpful to imagine what a life-changing idea this might have been to those who built their lives around learning and serving a law that was given to them to follow. How radical would it have been to look at that law in a new light and then, decide to bind them by committing to Christ instead of the law? Especially confusing would have been how this would look in practice. Would they ignore the law, much of which conforms to basic morality and ethics? What does it mean to be “discharged from the law”? Paul addresses this in other areas of Romans, but this question of practicality applies to us as much as it did the Christians at the time. I believe that Paul is trying to convey the idea that the ideal by which we measure our lives is now Christ and no longer the law and that we cannot be bound to both at the same time.

Romans 3:21-31 
  
The subtitle in my bible for this section says "Righteousness Through Faith," but I think it could just as easily be titled "Romans in a Nutshell."  Many of the major themes in Romans are mentioned in these 11 verses:  justification by faith rather than by observance of the Law, the inclusion of the Gentiles, and redemption through Christ. 
  
This section causes people to have many questions.  Is faith all that's necessary?  If the Law doesn't justify me, do I need to keep it?  Where do works come into play?  When Paul says "faith," does this imply other things (baptism, repentance, etc)? 
  
There is a lot of meat in this section, and it's really a springboard into later sections where Paul goes into more detail about each subject.  So rather than try to disect everything Paul is trying to say, I reread the section and tried to hear it the way his original recipients would have heard it.  
  
To us today, these verses are a foundation of our faith.  But to the Romans, this was brand new information.  We read the verses and say, "Yep, that's the way it works."  The Romans heard these words and it was fresh.  I think more than establishing doctrine, Paul is trying to convey his excitement about this new righteousness that comes not from the Law, but from faith.  He's excited about letting Gentiles know that they aren't excluded.  He's excited to tell people about the justification that we can now have through Christ's death.  I think this excitement gets lost after you read or hear these words all your life. 
  
That's the thing I think we can all take away from this.  These words that Paul writes are truly inspirational.  We are justified by faith!  We have been redeemed!  It's available for ALL who believe!  We need to be careful that when we do closely examine his words, we don't overlook the joy and the good news of his message. 
  

Romans 4:1-12 

In Romans 4, Paul has set out to explain why “works” alone will not give you justification of righteousness in God’s eyes. Instead, believing in Him is our chance at salvation.  This was first pointed out in Genesis 15:6; 22; “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Paul begins this section of Romans by using Abraham as an example of justification. Abraham is a Biblical character that the Jews, Arabs, and Christians all admire. To the Jews, he is their highly esteemed patriarch; the father of the Jewish nation.  To the Muslims, Abraham was the father of Ishmael who was the father of the Arabs.  Did Paul intend for us to use this as a witnessing tool for both Jews and Muslims? 

I found it very interesting that Paul uses our jobs to describe our relationship with God. Romans 4:4 states “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.”  Although this statement was written thousands of years ago, we can still understand this metaphor today.  When we are paid at our job, we’re obligated to complete our work. The company does not see our paycheck as a gift for the work we’ve done.  

Paul sees our relationship with God as being the opposite. Romans 4:5 continues “However, to the man who does not work but insists God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” If our payment is salvation, God does not grant us this gift because of the work we do in his name. He grants us salvation because of the faith we have in him.  When we serve at church or in our community, it’s important to remember that we don’t do this so God will show favoritism towards us, but as a way of sharing our faith in God. If we were only able to earn salvation through our deeds, we wouldn’t be saved. Man is naturally sinful.  Our acts would give us what we deserve, and we would be condemned. Unlike our careers, God does not want us to be obligated to him. He has given us a gift; forgiveness of our sinful acts through Jesus. 

Paul sums up his statements with a clarification on a common misconception of the time.  Those who have faith are not justified by God as righteous because they’ve been circumcised. The act of circumcision is not what God is asking for, but the act of faith that was shown by Abraham through circumcision. Abraham’s faith was credited as righteous BEFORE he was circumcised, not after (Romans 4:9-11). The circumcision was a sign and a seal of his faith.  

After reading this section of Romans, I have a better understanding of what it means to serve.  I want to try and remember what Paul is teaching when working on my “6 Commitments” to Richardson East in 2008. The 6 commitments all have ways of serving people, sharing God, and giving to God by how I live my life.  It’s important to remember that I’m not committing to these tasks to earn favoritism, but to show my faith.    

Romans 1:18-32

In Romans 1:18-32, Paul focuses on God’s wrath towards those that have followed a life indulgent to worldly living. These people who God focuses his wrath on are described in words such as “inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, and ruthless” It’s hard, as a born- and-raised Christian, to read a passage like that and not immediately revert to some heathen mental image that we first created in Sunday school when our teacher described in a scathing voice the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah. We think of chaotic sin blaring like late night TV with scenes of a hellish frat house partying in the background.

      Paul describes these people as those who did not see fit to acknowledge God, and explains that because of this God gave them up to “a debased mind.” And as a Christian, I easily read this and think: “Well obviously, they deserve it.” My internal monologue begins to justify why I would never be on that list. And though I can almost write myself off the guest list for such a setting, I slightly cringe to think that I could probably have quite a good time around this type of person. If these are the inventors of evil, I am sure their jokes are pretty original and clever. If they are people who covet, you know they will drive the best cars. And who didn’t think that being haughty was something to aspire to? It means you make other people not think they are as good as you.

      It’s right about this point in the digression, that a horrible thought hits me: If this is the accountability that God holds people to that may not have ever heard the story of Jesus but should simply believe because “what can be known about God is plain,” then what kind of disgust does he feel towards me when I allow myself these worldly pleasures?

      For if there is any person on this earth that can not use the excuse of living without hearing the truth in this life, it isn’t me. I have been immersed like many of us in the culture of Christianity since birth, in studying of scripture since I could read, and married to a believer who is there to hold me accountable when I am weak. I am surrounded by faith. I have no excuse. I am therefore more responsible for my actions and the way that I live my life since I have been shown so much about God and his nature.

      Perhaps I should take great comfort in the redeeming blood of Jesus at reading this, but sometimes it can be hard to fully believe that his grace is sufficient for a sinner like me. Thankfully Paul does an equally convincing job of that in latter chapters, as he does in convicting me in this section.