Romans - Preliminary Thoughts

 I started doing an in-depth study of Romans this week. Here's been my process so far:

I made sure I am solid on my understanding of what the Epistle to the Romans is. It's a letter from Paul to Christian believers, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in Rome, the capitol of the world (at that time). It was written around the time described in Acts 20 (most likely), when Paul was heading to Jerusalem. It was also most likely written after Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome because of "Chrestus," which many scholars believe is a reference to Jesus. By expelling the Jews from Rome but leaving any non-Jewish believers, Claudius effectively caused a division among the Christians between Jewish and non-Jewish cultures. As the church grew without the influence of Jewish customs and traditions, it became a very non-Jewish environment. So, once the Jews were permitted to return to Rome, they encountered a church that felt foreign and possibly even pagan. It is most likely to this situation that Paul is addressing in the letter.

I read through the letter in one sitting (well, two if I'm being honest because I'm a dad of four kids and a very busy wife in the middle of a pandemic) and was struck by how much of the letter is devoted to discussing the place Jewish believers have in the Messiah community. The letter also emphasizes unity over and over again, unity in failure and unity in Christ.

Knowing that the Jewish believers were expelled because of the disturbances made by the community of Christians, it makes sense that Paul emphasizes things like submitting to government and paying taxes, especially if non-Jewish believers could affect the lives of Jewish believers and non-believers alike.

It struck me just how much of Paul's arguments come from the Genesis narrative and from Psalms and Isaiah. These three books were the biggest books in the three sections of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis in the Torah, Isaiah in the Neviim, and Psalms in the Ketuvim. These three books also deal a lot with all nations. 

It strikes me that I have always viewed Romans as THE book of the Bible that teaches about salvation. The Romans Road and the ABCs of Salvation all come from verses in Romans. I wonder if that's because Romans deals so much with understanding the sinful state of humanity. Yet so much of the symbolism Paul uses has never been part of the Romans presentation, and so much of the message of unity has been missed.

Onward!