Rmans and Racial Recnciliatin Paul s letter t the Rmans summns Christians t ethnic, cultural, tribal recnciliatin with ne anther by reminding us that all f us must cme t Gd n the same terms, thrugh Jesus Christ and what he has dne fr us. Craig Keener Universality f the Prblem f Sin (1:18-3:20) The whle wrld stands deserving f cndemnatin Jew and Gentile alike. Gd s Peple and the Righteusness f Gd (3:21-26) 1. Gd s Righteusness Revealed Thrugh the Faithfulness f Jesus (3:21 26) Jesus Christ faithfulness reveals Gd s righteusness and restres Gd s peple t a right relatinship with Gd. 2. One Gd, One Faith, One Peple (3:27-31) Paul returns t the Jewish bast that they are the cvenant peple and, therefre, nt part f the cndemned. But Gd is Gd f all and all thse wh have faith will be declared part f Gd s cvenant peple. 3. The Cvenant Family f Abraham 4:1 25 Gd had always intended that recnciliatin wuld include Gentiles and Jews and wuld be grunded upn faith. Abraham was nt Jewish when Gd made the cvenant with him. He was uncircumcised and did nt have the Law. It has always been abut this faith/trust, nt DNA (4:16-17). Abraham respnded in faith, leaving his extended family behind and mving t Canaan befre he was given the sign f circumcisin. Abraham trusted Gd even when it seemed t be an impssible prmise. Faith grew upn faith, and it is this faith that put Abraham right with Gd (4:18 22). 4. The Meaning f Christian Faith (4:23 25) Thse wh have resurrectin shaped faith in Jesus Christ are reckned t be righteus; they becme part f Gd s righteus cvenant peple.
Gd s Peple in Christ as the True Humanity (Rmans 5:1 8:39) 1. The blessings that accmpany justificatin (5:1-5) Believers are nt nly righted with Gd. They are recnciled t Gd. Jesus ushered believers int faith and grace. Believers can bast in suffering because it leads t hpe. The Spirit cnfirms ur hpe, s we are nt ashamed. Thse wh have been recnciled with Gd will be glrified will share in the presence f Gd. 2. The Death f the Messiah and the Lve f Gd (5:6 11) Jesus death reveals the depth f Gd s lve fr us, undeserving enemies f Gd thugh we may be. Thse wh view their wn nature as basically gd but with a few prblems have a difficult time with the ntins f sin and wickedness. Indeed, if all we need is a little fixing, then the biblical stry desn t make sense. 3. Christ Reverses Adam s Disbedience (5:12 21) Descendants f Abraham are als descendants frm Adam. We are brn int Adam and we sin like Adam. Death entered the wrld thrugh sin. (5:12-14) Life is brught by Christ (5:15-21) Adam intrduced sin t thse in slidarity with him. Jesus intrduces true righteusness fr thse in slidarity with his bedience. Christ is superir t Adam. Jesus des nt merely reverse Adam s punishment. He frms a new basis fr humanity enabling peple t serve Gd frm the heart. 4. Baptism and Freedm (6:1 23) Rmans 5 emphasizes that Adam s sin incurred death. Rmans 6 says that Jesus experienced death nce-fr-all. In him, ur Adamic death is accmplished. We are brn int humanity in Adam. We are baptized int Christ, thus int a new cllective identity. 6:1 11, Dying and Rising with the Messiah 6:12 14, The End f Sin s Reign: Gd reckns us righteus. We reckn urselves dead t sin.
Three Cmpeting Laws: Gd s Law, Sin s Law, The Law f The Spirit (Chapters 7-8) 1. Gd s Law and Sin s Law (7:1 25) Gd s Law is gd, but dwells utside f me. It penetrates my mind but nt my will. It tells me what t cntrl but desn t give me the pwer t cntrl it. Mere knwledge f Gd s righteus Law des nt prduce righteusness. Sin seizes the chance f the Law (7:7 12). Because we have that sinful seed in ur makeup, the law awakens ur desires t sins. Paul exemplifies this truth using the tenth cmmandment: D nt cvet. This the ne cmmandment that cannt be enfrced, but unless we bey it, we wn t bey the thers. (Cveting is a heart desire, cntrasted with the actins f murder, stealing, etc., which are brn in the mind.) 2. The Life f the Spirit (Chapter 8) Gd Gives Life Thrugh the Sn and the Spirit (8:1 11). If we believe in the Gspel, that Jesus rse frm the dead, that Gd is giving yu the same Spirit that rse Jesus frm the dead, we have victry ver the flesh. This is cnnecting ur thelgy t ur practice. This is the pwer f the Gspel! The Law f the Spirit free us frm the Law f Sin and Death and empwers us t vercme the flesh. The Inheritance Guaranteed (8:12 30) v.12-17 expands n the implicatins f vs. 11 (yu have believed that Christ Jesus rse frm the dead, and He lives in yu): Yu are nt slaves anymre, yu are Gd s children the Spirit assures us f this. The future is assured by the present leading f the Spirit. The Hpe f Renewal (8:18 30) Gd has redeemed us. We are the first fruits: All f creatin awaits in hpe f the fretaste f what Gd has dne in us. Humanity s prblem has been all f creatin s prblem and nw Gd has achieved ur and even the redemptin f ur physical bdies. As Christ was raised, s shall we be raised. As Christ was raised, s shall all f creatin be renewed. The Triumph f Faith (8:31 39) Nthing Will Separate Us frm Gd s Lve
What Abut Israel? (Rmans 9-11) Rmans 9-11 deal with the questin f the purpse, prmises, present state and future f the Jewish peple. If Gd is giving all peples equal pprtunity fr salvatin thrugh faith in Christ, des this mean that Gd has cmpletely cut ff Israel s special place in his plan due t their unfaithfulness? Paul s intentin in Rmans 9-11 is nt t give a cmplete expsitin f predestinatin and electin, he restricts his cmments t Gd s chice f Israel 1. The Privileges and Tragedy f Israel (Rmans 9:1-29) Gd s purpse and Justice (9: Israel as the chsen peple Christ is the chsen ne 3. Israel, The Natins and the Messiah (9:30-10:21) The stumbling stne The fulfillment f the cvenant (10:1-13) Gd has really been faithful t the cvenant, fr the Messiah is the end f the law The Call t the Wrld (14-21) 4. The Remnant f Grace (11:1-6) The idea f a remnant -a few peple wh remains after judgement- is at the heart f the Old Testament. What happened in the exile is nw happening t the Jewish peple as they are cnfrnted with the greatest crisis f all: the death and resurrectin f Jesus. Gd is nt dne with the Jewish peple; Paul himself is an example f that. 5. The Tw Olive Trees (11:17-21) The elect branches were cut ff s that nn-elect branches culd be grafted in. Gd wants t bless the wrld thrugh His peple, and if ne grup f peple fails in this Gd-given task, Gd will find smene else t d it If this secnd grup als fails, they t can be remved. Gd can raise up a peple fr Himself frm rcks (Matt 3:9). 6. Mercy Upn all t Gd s Glry (11:25-36) Paul summarizes his argument with an invitatin t wrship. The nly thing left t d is t praise the Gd whse purpses, plans and wrks are much greater than anything we culd have imagine urselves.
Frm Orthdxy t Orthpraxis (Rmans 12-16) The Gspel Grunds and Shapes Christian Life. In Chapters 12-15 Paul is cncerned with the applicatin f the Gspel in their relatinships. 1. Relatinship t Gd and its effects n ur relatinship t the wrld (Rmans 12:1-2). Prper understanding f Gd s grace leads t surrender and wrship. These verses set the tne fr the rest f the passage. They relate ur wrship t ur cnduct and service. 2. Christian s relatinships with fellw-believers, in the church (Rmans 12:3-16). 3. Christian s relatinships with the wrld (Rmans 12:17 13:14). One s enemies (12:17-21), Gvernment (13:1-7) Preaching and living the gspel means annuncing and fllwing Jesus, rather than Caesar, as the true Lrd. Gvernment rule has Gd given authrity. The church must live as a sign f the cming kingdm. The Kingdm f peace, lve and jy cannt be inaugurated in the present by chas, hatred and anger. Gd is the Gd f rder, nt chas; the Christian respnse t tyranny is nt anarchy but the creatin f a cmmunity wrshipping Jesus as Lrd. One s neighbrs in general (13:8-10) One s relatinship t wrldly sins and fleshly indulgence (13:11-14). 4. Chapters 14 and 15, Christian s relatinship t fellw-believers in the cntext f differences. Differences f cnvictins between the strng and the weak, Jews and Gentiles. Racial and cultural differences are underneath a lt f what we d and we shuldn t deny them. Embracing bradmindedness and tlerance per se are cunterfeit slutins. The right apprach t tlerance: Make negative evaluatin Secular tlerance says d nt make negative evaluatin f anybdy, but als d nt let anybdy regulate the way yu live yur life.
Christian acceptance makes negative evaluatin and accepts (draw in) thse wh have different ways. As Christians, we are called t adjust ur lives t make rm fr thse wh think and behave different than we d: Bear with the failing f the weak. Gd gives us the pwer t d this by the hpe and pwer f the Gspel (15:4-7). 5. Paul deals with the Rmans relatinship with him, as an apstle f Jesus Christ t the Gentiles. (Rmans 15:14-33) Their relatinship with Paul shuld result in their participatin with him in his ministry, even as he has endeavred t be invlved with them. This invlvement shuld include thers, like Phebe, whm Paul cmmends t them fr hspitality and ministry (16:1-2). 6. Christian relatinship with thse wh reject the truth and wh wuld mislead the church (16:17-20): Avid such truble-makers! Clsing dxlgy (16:25-27) The dxlgy celebrates Gd s ways and revelatin giving glry t Gd and the Messiah. Knwledge f truth leads t wrship! (The bk ends with the main prblem intrduced in chapter 1 slved. In chapter 1 Paul had states that the main human prblem was idlatry. Ignrance and rebellin had led t false wrship. Knwledge f Gd and his truth leads t exalting wrship.)