_Introduction to the Book of Romans, for the Voyager Investiture Achievement
As part of the Voyager Investiture Achievement we will be reading the New Testament book of Romans. Romans is one of the 13 Epistles (or letters) of Paul. Much of the New Testament is made up of Epistles, letters sent usually to a specific person or group of people, but often circulated widely among the early Christian churches, and thus having meaning beyond their initial audience.
The book was originally addressed to the church in Rome, but later circulated to many (if not all) of the early Christian churches in Paul’s lifetime. It presents in a single letter a treatise on Christian theology, highlighting such key concepts as justification, sanctification, guilt, sin and the purpose of the law. It lays out and explains the plan of salvation for all peoples, Jews and gentiles. It also provides personal insight into Paul’s struggle with his own identity as a Jewish Christian, a Pharisee trying to sort out the difference between tradition and essential truth.
Paul (originally named Saul, a Greek translation of the Hebrew name meaning “desired”) was a Jew from the Tribe of Benjamin. He was born a Roman citizen, and lived in Tarsus, the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, located in modern-day Turkey. Paul was a devout Jew, trained as a Pharisee, and at the dawn of the Christian movement, he was zealously dedicated to crushing the emerging sect. It was on the road to Damascus, where he was going to persecute the Christians, that he was confronted by Jesus Christ, and underwent a rapid conversion, emerging as one of the most powerful First Century proponents of Christianity. It is in the book of Acts, chapter 13, that we see Saul’s name changed to Paul, with little explanation. From that point on, he is referred to as Paul, a name meaning “small” or “little.”
In the book of Romans, Paul unfolds Christian theology, explaining the unrighteousness of all people, then building through the concepts of justification and sanctification. These latter words are often heard, and just as often misunderstood. Neither justification nor sanctification are the result of our actions. Both are truly and only received as a gift from God. Justification is, in short, the opposite of condemnation. It is what God has done for us through Jesus Christ - God views us a righteous not because of our actions, but because of the sacrifice of His Son, who took on sin for us. Sanctification is being set apart, it reflects what God does in us once we accept Jesus Christ as our salvation. Again, sanctification is not something we can do for ourselves, but God’s working through the Holy Spirit in us. If we are sanctified, set apart, we are called to live as a new being, one no longer living “according to the flesh,” but “according to the spirit.”
As we study the book of Romans together, we will come to better understand these terms, but more importantly come to understand what they mean for us. In the book of Romans, we see the theology of salvation lain out, and the implications for our lives and our future.
The book was originally addressed to the church in Rome, but later circulated to many (if not all) of the early Christian churches in Paul’s lifetime. It presents in a single letter a treatise on Christian theology, highlighting such key concepts as justification, sanctification, guilt, sin and the purpose of the law. It lays out and explains the plan of salvation for all peoples, Jews and gentiles. It also provides personal insight into Paul’s struggle with his own identity as a Jewish Christian, a Pharisee trying to sort out the difference between tradition and essential truth.
Paul (originally named Saul, a Greek translation of the Hebrew name meaning “desired”) was a Jew from the Tribe of Benjamin. He was born a Roman citizen, and lived in Tarsus, the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia, located in modern-day Turkey. Paul was a devout Jew, trained as a Pharisee, and at the dawn of the Christian movement, he was zealously dedicated to crushing the emerging sect. It was on the road to Damascus, where he was going to persecute the Christians, that he was confronted by Jesus Christ, and underwent a rapid conversion, emerging as one of the most powerful First Century proponents of Christianity. It is in the book of Acts, chapter 13, that we see Saul’s name changed to Paul, with little explanation. From that point on, he is referred to as Paul, a name meaning “small” or “little.”
In the book of Romans, Paul unfolds Christian theology, explaining the unrighteousness of all people, then building through the concepts of justification and sanctification. These latter words are often heard, and just as often misunderstood. Neither justification nor sanctification are the result of our actions. Both are truly and only received as a gift from God. Justification is, in short, the opposite of condemnation. It is what God has done for us through Jesus Christ - God views us a righteous not because of our actions, but because of the sacrifice of His Son, who took on sin for us. Sanctification is being set apart, it reflects what God does in us once we accept Jesus Christ as our salvation. Again, sanctification is not something we can do for ourselves, but God’s working through the Holy Spirit in us. If we are sanctified, set apart, we are called to live as a new being, one no longer living “according to the flesh,” but “according to the spirit.”
As we study the book of Romans together, we will come to better understand these terms, but more importantly come to understand what they mean for us. In the book of Romans, we see the theology of salvation lain out, and the implications for our lives and our future.