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David Pawson - Romans Pt2 大卫鲍森 - 罗马书(二)(英文发音, 中文字幕)
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Thoughtful Thoughts 10.5.24 by John Dunning.
Romans Part 2. Paul’s “Teach-In” to the Gentile Christians in Rome.
Introduction…
Previously we looked at the relationship between Paul and the Romans in Part 1 of our overview to the Book of Romans. Now as we look at Part 2 of our overview on Romans. Remember;-
- Paul had not gone to Rome yet…
- Paul did not “found” this church…
- Paul is writing primarily to the disciples in Rome who are Gentiles. (Remember that the Messianic Jews in Rome had been expelled along with Jews under Emporer Claudius.)
- In Romans 1:5 Paul mentions that he was called to make disciples of Gentiles. Although all Jews had previously been expelled under Emporer Claudius, they had recently been permitted to return to Rome when he committed suicide, and Nero became Emporer. (Because they were such good businessmen.) Nero came to the throne in 54 AD.
- The letter to the Romans was written about 57 AD, so the Messianic Jews were still trickling back when this letter was being written, and the relevance of this will be seen as we continue…
The problem… Gentile church leaders V. Messianic Jewish leaders…
The Gentiles did not have the level of Scriptural knowledge that the Messianic Jews had. There was still no “New Testament”, yet. Paul had been anointed as the messenger to teach the Gentiles, 1:5. Important Bible teaching in the New Testament was alluded to in the “Old Testament”, (for those who had ears to hear).
Other Jewish Apostles made significant contributions, but not all of them could write, (ie Peter couldn’t and used Mark as a secretary to write for him.) Jews had a culture of home-schooling with their mother upto the age of 12, which meant they were mostly literate in Hebrew, but not all, as we see from Peter. At the age of 12, a Jewish boy went to learn the family business from his father.
In contrast, most Gentiles didn’t have that culture of systematic learning and so many would have been illiterate at that time. (The Romans would have been the exception as they were the privileged class at that time and therefore educated by their parents in Latin.)
For this reason, most Gentiles were still wearing “L Plates”, like car learner-drivers, as far as reading the Old Testament was concerned. However, that was where Paul came in. Without even realising it, he was being used to write much of the second half of the Bible, in the form of the New Covenant.
All of this is highly relevant as it explains why the Gentile-led Christians in Rome needed to have Professor Paul’s instruction. The New Covenant was in the Old Testament concealed. God used His Jewish disciples who could write, to reveal what was concealed in the Old Testament by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Even though Dr. Luke was a Gentile, the New Testament is just as much a Jewish book as the Old Testament, and Jesus said, “Salvation is from the Jews”.
The problem in Rome was, that the Gentile church leaders were not recognizing the pastoral giftings of the Messianic Jews returning from exile, to the church in Rome. (ie so the church was already splitting in two.) Writing in those days was very expensive. The expenses included buying treated animal skins and paying someone to ride to Rome with it. So let’s look at what Paul went to so much trouble to teach the Gentile Christians in Rome…
THE CONTENT…FAITHFULNESS, CERTAINTY AND AGAPE LOVE…
A). Chapters 1-4. The meaning of “faith”...
‘Faith’, as taught by the prophets and apostles, would have been better translated, ‘FAITHFULNESS’. Those who have the kind of faith in God which the Apostles spoke of, actually SHOWED the fruits of that faithfulness. (ie like a tree bears the fruit of a tree which it is part of; (Luke 6:43-45).
B i). Chapters 5-11. The meaning of ‘Hope’...
The word “hope” has lost its original meaning. Paul did not mean it like we do, when we say, “I hope you get well soon”. The word “hope” back then meant “certainty”, as in something we are waiting for, like an inheritance. “The hope of things unseen”. Paul is saying it is something you know to be true.
Let me explain further... When Churchill learned that Pearl Harbour had been attacked, he wrote in his diary that he slept well for the first time since the war began… Why?
Because he knew that with the Americans joining in the war, Hitler WOULD be defeated. The American military had the muscle to swamp the might of Hitler’s war machine. The hope Churchill had when he heard the USA had joined the war is the kind of hope Paul is talking about as the very hope that should sustain us. We have a future that Paul had SEEN in his visions.
One heroine of world war two was asked what kept her going in the dark times when Hitler controlled her country, and she said “Hope”. She knew the allies were stronger than the evil that had overtaken her country, especially after the Americans joined in. Paul uses HOPE as a certainty of victory, like that.
B ii) Chapters 9-11. The Mystery comes right in the middle of “HOPE”...
Paul is leading up to what he calls a mystery. The punchline of Paul’s message of ‘hope’ is the mystery of the Jews…
Right in the middle of Romans, amongst Paul’s overall theme of Faith, Hope, and Love, there is the “jam in the sandwich”, in which Paul talks about God’s plan for the Jews…
Romans 9 talks about what happened to Jews n the past…
Chapter 10 talks about what was in the process of happening to Jews in the time between their past, and end times…
Chapter 11 writes about God’s plans for the Jews…
C). AGAPE LOVE…Chapters 12 to 16…
Paul uses the Greek word “Agape” to describe the kind of love he is referring to which is the kind of love God has. This is important as the Greek language used different words to describe the different kinds of love. (The English language has one word for love as if one size fits all, but that is wrong.
If we AGAPE God, we will want to obey what God wants. We should ask ourselves, ‘do we care what God wants and feels?’ Paul did. Paul really did put God first. God revealed to Paul His plan that He is creating a family.
Summary…
The truly righteous wil be known by SHOWING the fruits of righteousness. What we need is GOD’s righteousness – and not our “SELF-righteousness”. God is looking for “Faithulness, Trust, and Agape Love”.
Chapters 9 to 11 is the summary of what Paul calls the mystery and is the heart of Paul’s letter. It is the centerpiece of Paul’s Open University teach-in to the Gentile Christians in Rome. God has an unfulfilled plan for the Jews. Paul revealed to the readers that God hadn’t finished with the Jews at all. Paul is explaining all this to the church, which is now being run by Gentiles, which is why Romans 9-11 is the ‘jam in Paul’s sandwich’.
CONCLUSION…
We need to have confidence in the inspired Word of God and believe what God has said in His Word. Ministries have been set up to counter “Replacement Theology” and re-teach Christians what Paul taught. (ie In New Zealand, “Christians For Israel” is one such ministry, and has a free newspaper available on request. Google for more.) Our weekly devotional is Dr. Luke’s description of the journey to Rome.
This is John Dunning signing off from “Thoughtful Thoughts” for another week.
This link takes you to our devotional https://blog.inspirationalmedia.org.nz/
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