There is other good news in addition to the gospel good news. I learned how to wash my hair when my noodle-like arms cannot bear to be lifted an hour after boxing.
3.
Paul wrote
to a church in Rome that was experiencing a time of relative peace, yet they
were a people and a church that he felt needed a healthy dose of basic gospel
doctrine. Communicating with what
appears to be a firmly established collection of believer in Rome, according to
Keck, Paul was writing from a port near Corinth (16:1) and was at a pivotal
juncture in his mission (15:19-23).
Further, he was on the cusp of concluding his work in the East and being
freed for his outright new venture to Spain.[1] Near Corinth, Paul likely encountered a
diverse array of people and practices—from rough and tough sailors and
conscionable merchants to affluent idolaters and enslaved Christians. The city was like modern day Vegas; it was a
hotbed of sexual immorality, idol worship and downright gross and unrighteous
behavior. So when Paul wrote all about
the sinfulness of humanity and the solution to it in God’s grace (5:1-19; 6:1),
he knew that of which he spoke as he was witnessing it first-hand daily.
Paul had made acquaintances with pretty much all circumstances of
the Christians at Rome and found that it was in desperate need of
attention. While it is possible that
there were both pagan converts and Jews who, with remaining prejudices,
believed in Jesus as the true Messiah in Rome, it is perhaps more plausible
that the audience was entirely Gentile.
The former possibility is perhaps explained by the contentious dynamic
created by the gentile claims of equal privileges with the Jews and said Jews
who said, “no way” unless the gentile converts became circumcised (2:27). Paul could have been writing to the
collective in Rome to adjust preconceptions and settle these differences. However, as the reconstruction of Das so
persuasively states, “Paul directly addresses his audience in Romans 15:15-16
and boldly justifies his writing to ‘you’ Romans because of his calling as a
minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.”
According to Das, the logic in those verses through verse 18 repeatedly
assume that the Romans are themselves Gentiles and thus, the rightful
recipients of Paul’s ministry.[2]
I found the reconstruction ridiculously compelling, to the point
my head is now spinning from picturing the intended audience of Romans devoid
of a single Jew.
4.
Chapters 1-4
of Romans encompasses Paul’s initial case-building that the entire world is
guilty before God, yet the primary role of humanity is to be worshippers (i.e.
foundation for ministry), sharing the gospel and teaching that our
righteousness comes only by faith in Jesus Christ apart from anything we can do
to earn it. Chapters 5-8 are instrumental in teaching that we are completely
reconciled with God through Jesus and they also addresses our spiritual lives. We are freed from sin and made alive through
Jesus, as our sin natures were crucified with him when we were baptized into
his death. Romans 9-11 deals with a
final assurance from Paul that God’s purposes in redemption (of Israel, the world)
will be accomplished; Chapters 12-15 is a charge and encouragement for us in
how we should be living today - through faith, as forgiven believers. It a conclusion for the unity of a body of
believers.
In Keck’s intro, the setting and purpose of Roman’s is one if the
key themes mentioned. Without question,
this will be the most challenging to my current understanding of the book, as I
always read through the two-fold questioning lens of “to whom is the author
writing” (my jury is still officially out) and “what message is the author
trying to convey.” Because I have not
yet landed on those final answers, it is going to be the most time intensive
part of this study. Keck surmises that
“most” of the people in Rome were Gentiles (p.30) and that Paul was writing to
garner support for his next mission to Spain, but he could not count on it if
everyone was squabbling over legalistic issues, and he knew full well that
those issues were caused at the core by a lack of understanding the gospel. Work needed to be done there before work
could be done elsewhere.
From a theological perspective, Keck also explains that another
key theme is the role of Scripture in Romans.
The difficulty I may have with this theme is as Keck states: it is
unevenly distributed throughout the book (I am a bigger fan of consistency,
black and white, inclusios, neat and tidy formats…) but noticeably prominent in
the early chapters (1-4) and the seemingly most difficult chapters, 9-11. As also stated, “Paul rewords the text and
uses various versions to ‘fit’ his points better.”[3] That creative license with which Paul takes
liberties is sometimes not the most conducive to quick and easy
understanding. Finally, “because Paul
does not read scripture in light of the historical circumstances in which it
was written, his interpretive moves often appear arbitrary to those who simply
assume that every text must be read in light of its historical context. Following
Paul’s theologizing by means of scripture may well be as much of a challenge as
understanding his ideas.”[4]
And all God’s people said, “Amen, Keck.” Seriously.
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