Paul To The Roman Church example essay topic

Romans is a very important addition to the Bible. This is written by Paul to the Roman church. Much of Romans is showing the righteousness of God in different ways. Romans road passages are a great description of how to lead someone to christ (His saving righteousness). Falling into this importance is Romans 3: 21-26.

This is the basis of Gods righteousness in the Death of Jesus (Schreiner p. 25). Refering to the different versions of this text, there is not much of a variation. Several words and phrases are changed but the same meaning is kept. The two versions of the text which will be shown as examples are the New International Version (NIV) and the New American Standard (NAS).

Others versions were used but these two were the best examples that I found. Verse 24 has gift in the NAS version, but freely is used in the NIV. Also found is in verse 25 is the differing between what God was trying to demonstrate. The NAS says: ... this was to demonstrate His righteousness... , but the NIV says: He did this to demonstrate His justice...

The last variation between these versions is in the final verse (31). The NAS says: ... we establish the Law., but the NIV says: ... we uphold the Law. These differences are somewhat small, however they could alter the meaning slightly. Finding the meaning is the reason we compare different versions. The basic structure of Romans is fairly simple. It is called letter-essay style by some, though there is no proof that it was read to any group of people.

It is the gospel of Gods righteousness. Sections of Romans are even dedicated to showing the basics of christianity like the Romans road. This basic knowledge allows for a good foundation as a christian. Some historical conte must be discussed before the text can be taken apart.

Paul wrote to the Romans from Corinth during his three month stay. Paul was on a missionary trip passing through the east and was on his way to Rome. It was one of two letters; One to Rome and the other to Ephesus. They must have already had churches started in Rome because We can safely assume that the church was not planted by an apostle (Schreiner pg. 11).

The Church was most probably started by Jewish Christians. Thus leading into the text. The literary context is thought to be easily identified. The target text is part of a letter which is written in the same genre as the rest of Pauls letters. The style of Romans fits with Pauls other letters that are accepted as authentic...

(Schreiner pg. 2). The text also fits in very easily with the rest of the scripture around it. It starts off the section about the saving righteousness of God which continues from there (3: 21-4: 25). The theological context is very broad since Biblical principles are built from the target text.

There are many texts which involve salvation in the Scripture. Some of the obvious texts are John 3: 16, Ephesians 1: 4-8, some other parts of the Romans road, and the list goes on. This is due to the fact that there are many different parts of texts which also add to the Salvation texts but are not directly related. Salvation is the most important concept in theology.

It is the key concept which opens up the rest of the scriptures. Just as important as context, content must be carefully looked at in this target text. A basic outline and list of terms defined of this passage follows: The Great Turning Point-But Now (D.M. Loyd-Jones pg. 23) 1) Intro to salvation a) how b) who is it available to 2) God prepared this 3) faith comes in a) not by works b) not by keeping the Law 4) Jews and Gentiles fit into the plan 5) We must establish the Law A list of terms: righteousness - the following of Gods rules faith - trusting something unable to be seen redemption - turning something into another all - everyone, including Gentiles demonstrate - to show, give a guideline principle - something generally followed by a specific group, pre-planned rule uphold - to keep, stay with a pre planned idea Paul wrote this passage so that the Roman church would learn two important things. The first is the salvation plan.

The other is that the Jewish were not the only ones able to be saved. Gentiles are allowed also. God shows his mercy and caring for his people through this text. The people, the church of Rome, needed to hear the salvation message.

Some things can be inferred by the topics choosen to be written about. Mable the church was having a problem with Jew / Gentile relationships. Also, following the Law may have been stressed instead of heart matters. That was the main content in the passage. The life issues, being salvation, legalism, and Gentile acceptance, in this text were very important.

These can be applied in my life in several ways. One is actually using the text directly in my life. This could be not just following Laws set out for me, but find the reasons behind them. Make these ritualistic acts a heart matter. The other way I can apply this scripture to my life is put it in my witnessing. I can use what I learned to help lead others to christ.

I can also be a more effective witness. That is exactly why I need to study and find out the real meaning of scripture. I did not use all of these sources directly, but I would like to acknowledge the books, references, and other resouces that I did read. Also more were used in research but were not enough to recognize. Schreiner, Thomas R. Romans (Michigan; Baker Books, 1998). pages 1-27,178-199 D.M. Lloyd-Jones. Romans: Chapters 3: 20-4: 25 (Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 1970). pgs.

23-38 Mills, Sanford C. A Hebrew Christian looks at Romans (Michigan; Dunham Publishing Company, 1969). pages 76-108 Other resources: Strong's Concordance youngs Analytical Concordance Harpers Bible Dictionary NIV Application Commentary.