Posts from September 2021

Posts from September 2021

Basic Facts from 1 Corinthians (Part 1)

The church at Corinth was established by the apostle Paul when he arrived in that ancient city in Acts 18. The social and moral environment he encountered there was very similar to our modern western society; Corinth was an very wealthy city, and the Corinthian people were famous in the ancient world for their obsession with luxury and decadence. They were also renowned for both religious “diversity” and for flagrant immorality. To describe someone as a “Corinthian” in that era…

Basic Facts from Romans (Part 5)

In Romans 14, Paul speaks to the matter of “judgement” as it relates to the way Christians view one another and evaluate one another’s motives. Those engaged in sin often try to rationalize their misbehavior by asserting, “I’m not hurting anybody but myself, so butt out and quit judging me!” Paul points out in vs. 7, however, that “None of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.” In other words, the claim that a sin affects “only”…

Basic Facts from Romans (Part 4)

In the ninth through eleventh chapters of Romans, Paul writes extensively about national Israel’s relationship with God, and he emphasizes that it was based on God’s covenant with Abraham – not on the law given through Moses. Although Israel had enjoyed many benefits and advantages because of their relationship with the Lord, Paul points out that these blessings were not restricted only to the physical descendants of Isaac and Jacob. Instead, he emphasizes that all those who are “children” of…

Basic Facts from Romans (Part 3)

From a secular perspective, one of the most controversial statements in Romans appears at chapter 6:22-23, where Paul points out that Christians have been set free from sin so that we can become servants. (The Greek word here – douloo – can mean both bond-servants or slaves.) What is often ignored here is the fact that this “slavery” is the voluntary and grateful response of one who has received the gift of “holiness” (sanctification) and eternal life! The alternative (in…

Basic Facts from Romans (Part 2)

Beginning at Romans 2:12, Paul offers an extensive explanation of how the ancient Jews were justified by Moses’ law. He notes at the outset that the law applied only to Israel, not to all people generally. (Christians need to understand that we are not – and never have been – “under the ten commandments” because that law was never addressed to us). Paul em- phasizes that those under that law would be judged according to its requirements, while those not…