Romans Bible Study - Part 2

Romans Bible Study - Part 2

Towards the end of chapter 1, Paul gives a glimpse of the rotten state of human nature and on why God had left them on their own. Paul directs his attention in the beginning of chapter 2 to Jews. I suppose that all of us who claim to be traditional and orthodox Christians, who stick to certain rules and rituals, who give prominence and importance to man-made traditions than God’s law can say that these things which Paul says from Verses 1 to 11 are meant for us.  Verse 11 which says “God shows no favoritism at all” sums it up. We need to look at scriptures without prejudice so that we absorb the real intent of it.

In short, all those of us who accuse and look down on others who are into sinning ways, be it homosexuality, pride, jealousy etc..should be extra careful that  we don’t do it. Verse 3 is very clear about it “ Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?” . Why God is patient with us then? Verse 4 has the answer as he is patiently waiting for us to repent and turn away from sin. We should never misuse grace or take it for granted.

Verse 5 is even more alarming as it says that if we don’t repent and continue with our own ways, we are storing up God’s wrath on ourselves. God is going to judge each one with all fairness. Those who do good will enjoy eternal life, and those who are wicked will face calamities. This applies to both Jews and gentiles.

in the contemporary setup, substitute anyone who sticks to the thought process of following a set of rules to please God for "Jews". This includes those who look down on people who are weak, teach one thing and do exactly the opposite, think that they are entrusted with some special revelations etc...you know what? God is fair and He will bring every secret motive to judgement. It doesn't matter whether we are jew or gentile, orthodox or nominal Christians. We need to be very careful. Nothing can be taken for granted. The race is still on to safeguard our salvation

I would like to place a special mention on Verse 16 which says that God will judge our secret lives too. How terrible that would be? Let us analyze and repent.

From Verse 17, Paul demonstrates that there is no point in just having the written law without following it. Even today, we say that we don’t watch TV or go out to a movie, but that is surely not enough. It is more on the intention on what are our motives and aspirations. It is all about the heart. Won’t people whom we consider as useless, but actually have a great respect and admiration for God be better than us when their motives and actions are better?

Towards the end of the chapter, we read that the change of heart is produced by the Spirit of God. This is very important. We cannot live the Christian life by our self. We cannot obey all the commandments by our self though we may preach to others about it. We all fail at various points of time in our lives. But the key is this, whether you are an orthodox or a nominal Christian, if you allow the Spirit of God to work in you, that is when you can live a life that would please God.

Let us analyze our lives and find out whether those things on which we accuse others is found in us? If so, we need to repent and turn back.

Romans Bible Study - Part 1

A clear understanding of Romans with the help of the Holy Spirit would serve as a great tool to overcome various wrong doctrines and false teachings. The first chapter of Romans starts with Paul reiterating the commission that he received to preach the good news of God, which is all about Jesus Christ.

If we just take a human view, Jesus was born into the lineage of David. It is just like how you and me have forefathers tracing back to hunderds of centuries. But, the very important fact is about Jesus's position as the Son of God. He had these two natures (David's lineage and God's seed or Spirit) in Him thus making Him perfectly human and perfectly divine.

In chapter 1, verse 4, Paul clearly shows the divine nature of Jesus. The Holy Spirit who was inside Jesus had the power to raise Him up again after His physical death. The Spirit had the power to give Him a new body and a new life. This is how it is with us believers too. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit who has raised us from our death through baptism when we first believed in Jesus. We are now dead to sin but alive in Christ to do righteous acts. This forms the central theme of Romans.

Verse 6 shows that God wanted to include the gentiles too in His plan of salvation, and Paul was called to preach the good news to Romans. He goes on talking about how he prayed for them and their needs and his willingness to meet them to be encouraged in each other's faith. This shows Paul's fervor and burden for the Romans. A real servant of God would pray earnestly for those to whom he is entrusted with sharing the gospel. Yes, Paul was a man of prayer.

In Verse 14, Paul speaks about his commission to preach the good news to both the civilized and uncivilized. This shows that the good news is the same for all, and gospel in its pure form has enough power to touch and change anyone. Paul talks about this in verse 16.

Verse 17 is a very important statement in the entire book of Romans. It puts an end to the speculation that we can please God through our efforts and make ourselves righteous. No, it is impossible. We are made righteous before God only through our "Faith". Always, be sure of this very fact. There is no other way in this world to become righteous before God than by trusting in Jesus Christ, that He gives us His righteousness to make us clean and perfect. Our every day life should be based on this glorious fact. We can never be righteous on our own apart from trusting in Jesus Christ and believing in what He has done. If we have forgetten this fact and are involved in a fruitless pursuit of self righteousness, let us stop that immediately and turn back trusting the favour of God.

From Verse 18 onwards, Paul talks about the anger and wrath of God and how people brought it on them. Whenever people supress truth with their wickedness, God is angry at them. This applies even today. In this period which we live, we can see this everywhere, The recent verdict on gay rights by the US court can be a great example of this. The truth in God's word which clearly specifies something as sin (homosexuality in this case, and for that matter is clearly showed as sin by God) is suppressed by human laws that are wicked and even justified as something which is right. This is a clear way of invoking God's anger and wrath.

You cannot think that someone does this without knowledge of God's laws, Everything is very clear to them as it is written in the word of God, the truth. But, alas wicked people supress truth by their wickedness.

Verse 21 shows that the moment you stop worshipping the true God, your mind is confused and you start acting in foolish ways, though you think that you are wise. The result, God abandons them to their own ways of their heart which is desperately wicked. You know what, human heart in itself without God is completely wicked!

The next set of verses till 30 talk about the extreme to which people were corrupted. The point to note here is that, God had given up on them and that is the reason for this chaos. When God is not there in whatever you do, only chaos will remain. Never dare to substitute the place that you need to give to God for anything else. We will be fools if we do that. This is a clear warning to each of us and need to be taken seriously every day.

Verse 31 shows that these people even went to the extreme of spoiling others around them. Today, this is very much true. People try to influence others with their foolish thinking and dubious doctrines, Be very careful as God will not spare those who wilfully continue doing it.

But, there is a remnant which God has chosen and they will never be given up by Him. This is the mystery that would be unlocked as we progress through the other chapters of Romans. You and I are priveleged as we belong to the remnant.