Romans is basically a missionary support letter from Paul to the Roman Church. Paul is asking their support for his planned trip to Spain. it is not certain that he ever got to Spain. By this time, the Romans had probably heard of Paul - good and bad - about his gospel message. So, Paul takes 11 chapters to explain in his words the thrust of his gospel message - along the way he interacts with all of the objections he has heard along the way.
Paul begins with his total commitment to the gospel - "it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." It leads to "the obedience that comes from faith."
Paul takes vv. 1:18 to 3:20 to prove all men are condemned sinners before God - those that are aware of God's written law and those who don't have God's law. He argues that those who don't have the written law all have some set of right and wrong, but their consciences confirm that they don't keep even their own concepts of right/wrong.
He ends by saying that the law (God's or yours) does not save anyone - it convicts all as law breaking sinners. This would be a downer letter if it ended here. But it doesn't - see you tomorrow for some good news.
No comments:
Post a Comment