Romans Overview

As I have explained in the past, one of the reasons I am doing this blog is I am curious to see what kind of messages one might get from reading the bible. What might one learn as a take-away. Here is my quick summary of the good and bad from Romans.


The Good


3:3-4 intention matters


9:3 Be willing to make sacrifices for the benefit of others


12:5 Work together to make a strong society


12:9-21 big list of good ways to act toward one another


13:8 Love your neighbor


14:1-12 don't judge each other


14:14 nothing is bad unless you think it is bad


15:2 Be good to each other


The Bad


1:26-27 Being Gay is bad


1:29-32 Many things deserve death, including gossip and being envious.


3:23 We are all sinners (I know everyone won't see this as bad, but this is my list)


4:5 faith is all that really matters


8:10 we all deserve hell but Jesus saves us


8:17 encourages persecution complex


11:7-8 God messes with free will

Romans 16

Personal Greetings


He offers his servant to whoever he is talking to and then makes introductions to a bunch of people.

Final Instructions and Greetings


Keep your distance from those who would create obstacles for you.

This seems like good advice to me. I've definitely stopped hanging out with people in the past who always seemed to cause problems.


I rejoice in your obedience.

Obedience is an interesting thing. It is really important in some circumstances. But it can also leave you vulnerable. If you are just following someone else's lead, you can wind up working against your own self interest. So obedience is only a virtue if it is coupled with the ability to determine who should be trusted.


I want you to be wise to what is good and innocent to what is evil.


This is interesting too. It sounds good at first blush, "know about good things, ignore evil things". Sometimes I'll read a disturbing news article and wish I hadn't read it. I often won't share the story with my wife, why have that garbage rolling around in her head too? In that way, I can see how being ignorant of evil is a good thing. On the other hand, it can leave you vulnerable. If someone is trying to scam you, they will have a much harder time if you are familiar with the tricks that are employing. 


Doxology


An ancient secret has finally be revealed, obedience and faith are the most important thing.

I think my comments above reveal my thoughts on that.

Romans 15

The Example of Christ


Follow the example Jesus laid our for us. If you are strong, help the weak. Be good and encouraging to your neighbors.

This is good stuff. I know there are many Christians who focus on these parts of the bible. I don't really have much to say about it. Cheers!


Christ is the Hope of Jews and Gentiles


Anyone can follow Jesus and be saved.

Good recruiting call I suppose.


Paul the Minister to the Gentiles


Paul's goal is to minister to the gentiles and he will only speak what has been told to him through Christ. He will say what Christ wants him to that will bring gentiles to obedience. He won't necessarily build on the foundation of others, but instead he will work from the ground up for this group of people.

This is basically the problem isn't it? You tell different stories to different people, it works until you put all of the stories together. It makes me think of politicians. Before national news and the internet, they could get away with saying contradictory things all over the place. Now those things get pointed out (although no one seems to care much, so they still get away with it I guess)


Paul's Plan to Visit Rome


Paul has done all the work he can in those regions so he is coming home. He talks about some poor saints who should be doing better now, for if the gentiles are being converted they are giving the saints money.

I don't really think this was the driving force behind what Paul has done with the gentiles, but it is sure easy to read it that way. And it also seems clear that this idea was in his mind while he was doing it. Follow God and give us some money.

Romans 14

Do Not Pass Judgment on One Another


He says a few times that you shouldn't judge each other. Another person's relationship with God is his business and you shouldn't judge them for it. If 2 people have opposite ideas and do opposite things, they are both still doing it in honor of the lord.

This is clearly a good message, don't judge each other. Unfortunately, it is a very difficult command to follow, we judge each other all the time. Although I guess there is a big difference between a reflex judgement of another person and actually doing something about it. If the ideas in this verse were to keep someone from acting on their judgmental gut reactions that would be great.


Do Not Cause Another to Stumble


The title of this section, and what the general theme seems to be is really good. The idea of "don't cause another to stumble" sounds really good, don't cause someone else problems with your actions. I like that. 


However, the delivery of this section has me a bit baffled. The language is all centered around food. Example: v20 "Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God." and v15 "If your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love."


Sometimes the ability to eat is used as a metaphor for wealth in general, for example "someone's gotta put food on this table". So perhaps this section is using food in this way. If that is the case, the above verses I mentioned make sense "Do not, for the sake of [wealth], destroy the work of God". "If your brother is grieved by [how you make a living], you are no longer walking in love." This makes sense to me I think the section holds together viewed from this prism. Does this sound reasonable to anyone else? Is there another way to look at this that also makes sense?


There is one other thing in this section that caught my eye.


v14 nothing is unclean by itself, but if you think it is unclean it is unclean for you

This seems totally crazy to me, basically, anything goes as long as you think it is correct, however, if you suspect something is bad then it is for you. This seems to have some far reaching implications. For example, shouldn't most gay people be fine? As long as they don't see what they are doing as wrong, it isn't wrong. According to this verse, gay sex is not unclean by itself, however, if you think it is unclean, then it is for you. Blasphemy against the lord should be okay for me, I don't think God exists, therefore I don't see calling him names as "unclean" so for me it is fine. Obviously I have taken something out of context or misunderstood something. I'd be curious to see how a christian would explain this verse.

Romans 13

Submission to the Authorities


God is the ultimate authority, and no one can be in authority except by God's will. Therefore you should submit to whoever is in authority for suffer judgement.

Different people in power do opposite things, this doesn't even make sense. Also, what about when laws go against the bible? This is honestly baffling.


Fulfilling the Law Through Love


The rule "love your neighbor" encompasses all of the other commandments, so that is all you really need to do.

This seems to be basically saying that the golden rule is the most important thing. Care about each other and all of the other good stuff should follow. This idea is great. I don't really have much else to say here, good stuff.

Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice


Offer your body up as a living sacrifice to God. Let your mind be transformed by God and you will know what is right.

As a Christian, I found this very good advice. God is out there, just open yourself up to him and you will become a better person. He will change your mind when you are wrong and reinforce your ideas when you are right. What could be better.


The problem, as I see it, is if God doesn't exist this is very dangerous. If there is no God, then what is prayer? It is simply thinking on your own. If you have some crazy idea and you pray on it, and after praying on it it still seems like a good idea, then it suddenly has God's backing. How much harder will it be now for your mind to be changed? 


The crazy thing is, if God is real, and he is good, and he actually communicates with us, then this seems like a pretty good thing to do. Suppose you have some moral quandary, who better to ask than the perfectly good, all knowing God?


One last comment here, just the language being used, offer your body up as a living sacrifice to God. This seems like a good answer to the question of "Even if God isn't real, what have you lost by following him?" This often comes up when discussing pascal's wager.


Gifts of Grace


We should not think too highly of ourselves, but be happy with the position we are in through faith in God. We all work together as parts of the body of Christ. We each have different gifts and we should play to those gifts.

This generally seems like a good way to build a society. If you are naturally a good teacher, be a teacher, if you are naturally a good leader, lead, etc. If everyone plays to their strength we will have a stronger society in general and we will all be better off.


The first part about not thinking too highly of ourselves, to me that can be taken a couple ways. My first thought when reading it was something along the lines of "don't be an arrogant prick". Don't think you are better than everyone else basically. This seems like a very good thing to me. People who think they are better than  they are can get quite annoying. 


On the other hand, it also seems like it could be seen as something to keep the common folk in line. If you have a menial job that you hate, the message might look like "that is where God put you, know your place and keep doing your job." I don't like this at all. Not that there is anything wrong with having a menial job, but it's always nice to imagine you have the possibility of moving up in the world.


Marks of the True Christian


Basically a big list of good things to do, love each other, help each other out, these sorts of things.

Something I found interesting is it includes to try to be peaceful with everyone, and to never avenge yourself and let God be the one who is vengeful. Instead give your enemy food and drink when he is in need. Perhaps I am just showing my bias here, but it seems that this message is pretty anti-war. And yet it seems to me that in america at least, a great many Christians are pro-war.

Romans 11

The Remnant of Israel


Paul claims that God has not rejected his people. He recalls a time when Elijah said to God that he was the only one left worshiping him and his life was in danger. God replied that there were 7000 men that he had in reserve. Now is similar, God has a remnant of the old being pushed into the new way by grace. It also seems to be saying that those who are not pushed into the new way are having their hearts hardened.

Honestly, I had a bit of difficulty understanding this passage, so if anyone thinks I got something wrong please speak up. It basically seems to be saying that some people are staying with the old ways and some are coming to the new way, which is fine. But, it also seems to be saying that those who are staying in the old way are having their minds manipulated by God. That part I don't like at all.


Gentiles Grafted In


Paul talks of adding Gentiles into the fold. He uses a metaphor of a tree. Unbelieving Jews are being pruned out and gentiles are being grafted in their place. Then he warns the Gentiles that they must not become arrogant. God has cut off others, so if you go bad you can get cut off too. But don't worry, it is always possible that God will graft you back in again in the future. He also mentions that God has mercy for you but severity for those who have fallen.

This was strange, I guess because there is so much talking in metaphor. Basically it seems that Paul is expanding his ministry and justifying it. Although again, it does has it's logic to it. If he is spreading the glory of God (in his mind) why not spread it to as many people as possible. I wonder how people square the omnibenevolence with the severity for those who have fallen.


The Mystery of Israel's Salvation


By saving the gentiles, we will also save all of Israel.

That sounds good I suppose.

Romans 10

The Message of Salvation to All


Moses wrote that righteousness is based on the law (works), but in Christ righteousness is based on faith. Everyone who believes and calls on the lord will be saved. But how can people believe if they have not heard the story? We should all go out and tell everyone the story of Jesus.

This is interesting, as with much from Romans, this idea was very strong in the church I grew up in. Thinking back to when I was a Christian, I loved this message. Everyone can be saved is a great message, and if you can talk to someone and save them from an eternity of torture of course you should do it.


Looking at it now, I do still like the inclusiveness in this message. The idea that certain people are not eligible for your religion because they are not in a special group sounds bad to me, and this is the opposite of that. 


On the other hand, everyone being eligible to join is only important because the flip side is so terrible. If not being part of the religion isn't to spend eternity getting tortured, would it even matter if you can't get in? Along that train of thought, the whole idea of salvation is interesting, what are we being saved from? I've heard Christianity described as giving you the disease only to give you the cure, the good part of this message seemed to be tainted by that.


The other part of this is the 'go tell everyone' thing. I guess it makes sense. If you really believe the story the right thing to do is to spend as much time as possible telling it to anyone who hasn't heard it isn't it? That's not to say you should proselytize every minute, if someone is not interested you accomplish nothing by badgering them. But if they haven't heard the story or if you think you can convince them of it you should try right? I've gone through periods of time when I was really against this kind of thing, but I think that was born out of anger more than anything.

Romans 9

God's Sovereign Choice


Paul wishes he could sacrifice his place in heaven so that his brethren would make it there in his place.

A very noble desire. If everyone cared about others to the point they are willing to make sacrifices of themselves for the benefit of their neighbors the world would be a much better place. This is good stuff.


This is obviously not the way it works however. We cannot give up our spot for others, and more to the point, there are many people who do not make it to heaven. So Paul asks whether there is therefore injustice, to which he responds that there is not. God can have mercy or compassion on whomever he pleases, and he will also harden whomever he pleases. Paul then posits that someone might ask if this is unfair because no one can withstand God's will, to which Paul responds that it is up to do with us as he pleases in the same way as it is up to a potter to make one vessel for a righteous use and another for a dishonorable use.

In my opinion, Paul points out a very good question here and then doesn't really have a good answer for it. Are things fair and just? It doesn't appear so because some people receive mercy while others have their hearts hardened and are thrown into hell. Paul's response is that God created us and therefore he can do whatever he wants with us. I find this answer unsatisfying to say the least.


If I put on my Christian hat and try to defend this idea, I suppose I would say that the world is complicated and we can't know all of the details. Perhaps it is impossible to set things up in such a way as everyone goes to heaven. Furthermore, it is possible that by hardening one person's heart and dooming him to hell, many others are saved. God is looking at things on a different level than us so we can't say he is doing a poor job.


I don't think these answers are very good, but it is all I can really think of. They are in fact, some of the earliest ideas that I questioned as a child and I was never satisfied with the "God made us so he can do with us as he pleases" answer.


Israel's Unbelief


Paul points out that Israel tries to achieve righteousness through works (the law) and the gentiles try to receive righteousness through faith (Christ). He says that Christ is the end of the law and that righteousness is there for anyone who believes.

He basically seems to be saying that it is unfair for Israel to have to do works to be saved when gentiles don't, therefore everyone can be saved with mere belief. He also is again saying that we can get rid of the law, but that goes against what Jesus said. At least I think it does, I still don't really understand what it means for Christ to have "fulfilled the law".


If I put on my Christian hat again, I guess I would have read this passage as a really good thing because at the time I believed, and it is saying that I don't need to worry about anything, I have gotten into heaven no matter what I do from here. Looking back on that thought from my current perspective, I view this as a negative.


**disclaimer: When I put on my Christian hat, I am trying to view the passage as I think I would have when I was a Christian. I am certainly not saying this is how all Christians view it. If you have a different take on the Christian view please feel free to share.**

Romans 8

Life in the Spirit


If you live in the spirit, you are free from the law of sin and death. If you set your mind on the spirit you will be free, but if you set your mind on the flesh you will not be able to please God and you will die. If Christ is in you, your spirit will live on eternally even though your body is dead from sin.

This seems to basically be the message that most churches seem to have today. That we are doomed to hell except through Jesus Christ. We all deserve hell, but through Jesus we can be saved. This idea is something that I find pretty disgusting.


Heirs with Christ


We are not heirs of slavery, but heirs of Christ. You have been adopted by God through the spirit.

That sounds pretty good.


...heir of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may  also be glorified with him.

Hello persecution complex.


Future Glory


The glory that we will see in the future will not compare to the suffering we have come across so far. Also, the spirit of God helps us when we have weaknesses.

This is pretty good. Glory is ahead of us and we will get help when we need it. It will give people hope. 


God's Everlasting Love


God loves us so much that he sacrificed his son. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The only thing I can think to say here is fairly snarky. That the 'sacrifice' doesn't seem that big as Jesus was resurrected and is now at the right hand of God.

Romans 7

Released From the Law


The law is binding for a person only as long as they live. For example, a woman who lives with a man other than her husband when he lives will be an adulterer, but if her husband is dead she is free from him.

This sounds pretty reasonable.


Now that we have died through Christ, we are released from the law.

This is interesting, it seems to be saying that we don't need to follow the laws of the old testament anymore. Am I reading this correctly? What about when Jesus said not to even bend the least commandment? That was when Jesus was alive, after he died does it make sense to reverse the message? Jesus said "I have not come to abolish them [the laws] but to fulfill them". I am not sure what it means to "fulfill" the law, but he did specifically say he did not come to abolish the laws. It seems like a stretch then, to say his death abolishes the laws. This certainly looks like a contradiction to me. Thoughts?


The Law and Sin


"If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."

This is an interesting idea, but I would argue that we all covet, it's just that with their being a rule against it we have a name for it. 


I want to do good, but there is evil within me which wants to do evil. God is now within me helping me do good instead of evil.

Seems like the author of this is just a really conflicted guy. 

Romans 6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God


By being baptized in Christ, we are baptized into death, the death of sin. Therefore, don't let sin reign in your mortal body, focus on God.

Or something like that, it's poetic but basically seems to say "don't sin, focus on God"


Slaves to Righteousness


You can be either slaves to sin which leads to death, or you can be slaves to obedience, which leads to righteousness. You should be slaves to God.

What a strange way to put it. This is a letter to try to convince the Romans right? Is it persuasive to say this?

Romans 5

Peace with God Through Faith


We have peace with God through Jesus who has died for us and given us the holy spirit. Jesus died for the ungodly, which is amazing because it is hard enough to die for a good man, let alone a bad one.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ


Adam sinned and then sin spread to everyone, even before there were the laws of Moses. Then Jesus did his thing and we were all forgiven.

I don't have much to say here, I guess I'm not finding the book of Romans terribly interesting so far. They seem to be saying a lot of the things I used to hear in church, I guess that aspect of it is a bit interesting, but I haven't seen a lot of surprises.

Romans 4

Abraham Justified by Faith


Works are good, something to boast about, but not before God. "To the one who works, wages are not gifts but his due." What about the one who does not work but believes? His faith is counted as righteousness.

This also doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Belief in God is all that matters. If you do good works, that's nice, but it is just what it expected so don't expect any praise. If you believe and don't do anything though, you are still good.


The Promise Realized Through Faith


Abraham was promised that his offspring would be heir of the world not because of the law but because of faith. Even when Abraham's body was failing he had faith.

So faith is good, I get it.


v15:"For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression."

I'm not really sure what to make of this verse. It seems to be saying laws are bad because they bring wrath. All I can figure is that since we are talking about faith, the point is to focus on faith instead of focusing on the law. It doesn't seem to be saying that you should disobey the law or anything (although I could imagine people reading it that way). Anyone have a good idea what this verse is getting at?

Romans 3

God's Righteousness Upheld


"The Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God, what if some of them were unfaithful, does that nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar"

I think this means that it is possible that some of the scribes were lacking in faith and therefore might have not done a great job of writing down the word of God. He then asks if that shows we can't trust the Bible, and then he declares that the answer is no. That sound like an acceptable interpretation of this passage?


He then asks if our unrighteousness can ultimately glorify God do we still get punished for it, then declares that yes, you will.

This makes sense to me. If you do something with bad intentions and something good comes of it I think that should still count as bad.


No One Is Righteous


Both Jews and Greeks are under the law and everyone under the law is a sinner.

This is a message I hear fairly often, that everyone is a sinner. I can't help it, I just find the idea disgusting.


The Righteousness of God Through Faith


God died for our sins and paid out debt, because we are all sinner and fallen short of the glory of God, but we are redeemed through Jesus.

This message is one that people seem to really latch on to. I'm not sure it makes a whole lot of sense. I guess in a culture where sacrifices of livestock and such are common it might make some kind of sense, but as far as justice goes I don't think it does. If you get the death penalty no one can sit in the electric chair for you.


I know this is something Christians are going to disagree with, this idea is central to their faith. But that is part of the problem in my opinion. A central tenant of your religion is that everyone is evil, and the redemption story doesn't seem to make sense.

Romans 2

God's Righteous Judgment


You can't judge others because you are also guilty.

I guess if you equate all crimes and things like envy are crimes deserving death, then it is true that we are all guilty.


Those who seek glory, honor, and immortality will get eternal life. But those who are self-seeking and who are unrighteous will get wrath and fury.

Isn't seeking immortality also "self-seeking"? This doesn't make much sense to me.


God's Judgement and the Law


If you don't follow the law you have never heard of you will just perish. If you have sinned under the law you will be judged by it. If you have never heard the law and follow it anyway you are a law to yourself. (I'm not sure what that means) The law is written on your heart.

Sounds like you can be judged good even if you don't know about Jesus. How does that sync with the idea that if you don't know about Jesus you'll go to hell?


Don't teach the law and then also break the law.

Sounds good


There is a lot of talk about circumcision.

Why is God so interested in this?

Romans 1

Greeting


Romans is a letter from Paul to the Romans telling them about Jesus. In the greeting he says that Jesus is the lord and he tells them that Jesus loves them and they should follow Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome


Paul really wants to go to Rome to preach to them because he loves them. He has tried to go that way but he has been prevented up to now.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith


"I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes"

Why would he be ashamed? It is interesting that he says that. The message I see here is "You might think I should be ashamed, but I am not"


God's Wrath on Unrighteousness


The wrath of God is revealed to all unrighteous men who suppress the truth. For God's "eternal power and divine nature" have been clear since the creation of the world. "Although they knew God, they did not honor him as God"

That's interesting. It is a condemnation of people who know God but don't honor him. What about people who genuinely don't believe?


These people gave up the glory of God for mortal lusts. They were gay. They were also filled with evil, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. They know God says these things deserve death but they do them anyway.

As usual, when there is a list like this it always seems strange what goes together. Murder and gossip both deserve the same punishment of death? Also, for the random comment that the bible isn't actually antigay, look at v. 26-27.