Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic

Unlocking Romans: A Guide to Christian Theology

• Nicholas Williams

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Speaker 1:

Hey, welcome back to Beyond Sunday. I'm Pastor Nick and I am thrilled to guide you through an in-depth exploration of the Apostles Paul's letters to the Romans. That is what we're diving in at church on Sundays, and I will spend some time on the podcast throughout this year talking through Romans probably not every week, hitting everything that we talk about, but I do wanna highlight some things as we go. Currently I'm sitting it's seven o'clock at night. I'm sitting it's seven o'clock at night. I'm sitting at my daughter's soccer practice in my car and it is 62 degrees outside. So I told my daughter you are on your own, I'm going to record a podcast. You guys get to hang out with me tonight Now, when we talk about Romans.

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This book isn't just a theological treatise. It's a revolutionary call to life in Christ that challenges believers to think deeply about their faith. This isn't easy reading. This isn't the light and fluffy stories that you might get in other places. This is some deep, just moments of Paul pouring out his heart about the gospel, and one of the things I love about this is that Paul actually didn't write it. He is the author of Romans, but he had a scribe writing and Paul is able to just think out loud and passionately, talk about what's going on, and I love that, because sometimes that gives us a more raw filter of what he's wanting and passion, rather than the edited words, and I love that. I want you to keep that in your mind as we study this year. But today we're also going to not only look at the introduction to the rich themes of Romans, but also offer a primer on how to effectively study any book of the Bible. Plus, we'll explore how we can truly rely on the Bible as the infallible Word of God, a topic we're tackling in this week's theology email. If you don't get that email, I send it out Monday. You can go to nick-williamscom and subscribe to the newsletter. I send those out almost every Monday. That's nic-williamscom. Would love for you to join me on this journey as we dive into theology through the newsletter. But we'll do a little bit of everything on here on the podcast. Whether you're looking to refresh your faith or deepen your understanding, today's episode will equip and inspire you. So let me first start with just that introduction to Romans.

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Romans is often considered the cornerstone of Christian theology. It's written by Paul to address both the Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome. That's important to remember as well, because when he's writing to two extremely different groups of people the Jewish people were the rule followers, the ones that were counting steps, the Gentiles they didn't know any of the rules. Hence he's got some division amongst churches in general because of that. Now, the interesting thing and I'll talk about this on Sunday is Paul, at this point in his ministry, hadn't been to Rome. He's writing to the church in Rome, but he had never actually been there. He had just heard about what was happening there, which is interesting because oftentimes when he writes, he's writing to churches that he planted places he had already visited, but this one, and he says it in the opening chapter of Romans that he had heard of all that was happening.

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This letter unpacks the comprehensive nature of the gospel. It addresses sin and salvation and the transformative power of faith. Paul constructs a meticulous argument on why both Jews and Gentiles need the gospel for salvation, emphasizing that righteousness comes from God, through faith, not by human effort. Moreover, romans discusses how this newfound righteousness should influence our behavior. Paul challenges his readers to live out their faith authentically and ethically in a diverse and often divided community. In today's world, where ethical dilemmas and cultural divisions abound. Romans offers profound insights into living a life that mirrors the teachings of Christ, making it a critical study for anyone seeking to navigate fate in a complex world. Let me say that in another way. What's happening in Rome in this day and age of the Bible is very similar to what's happening in our culture. There's such division amongst politics, amongst Christianity, amongst religions, and it was complex. The ethical and cultural divisions around the church were massive, and even in the church, and so Paul is addressing that. So it makes it really a great book for you and I to study, to realize how can we live out our faith in that same culture.

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The second thing I want to address on this podcast is how to study a book of the Bible. Studying a book like Romans requires a systematic approach to fully grasp its depth. So if you want to do that, whether it's the book of Romans or another, you begin with a complete read-through to understand the overarching message and structure. If you just read the first chapter, you may find something later that contradicts what you thought the first chapter said, because you didn't fully understand the message of the entire book. So we always start with a complete read-through to understand this message and structure the overarching theme. This initial overview helps you see how individual themes interlink and build upon each other, providing a roadmap for deeper exploration. Now, after you grasp the big picture, focus on individual sections, analyze keywords and phrases. In fact, in that first read-through, if you see a word or a phrase that keeps appearing, start underlining it, start highlighting it, write it down on a notepad, explore cross-references that illuminate the text and consider the historical and cultural context that shaped Paul's writing.

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That means that sometimes, when you're reading a book of the Bible, you need to go back and study what's happening in history at that time. Get out Google and start researching what is happening in this time frame. So about AD 57, in Rome, what was the culture like? What were the big issues? If you're really going to grasp the Bible, you've got to study more than just the words you read. These are great tools to dive in and see more word you read. These are great tools to dive in and see more. Tools such as reliable commentaries and Bible study software can provide invaluable insights into the historical background, the literary structures, the theological implications. I use a software called Logos. I've had it ever since I was in seminary and have upgraded over the years, but it is a great. They have a free version of it just a great study software to help you have extra resources as you study the Word of God.

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Now, engaging with the text also means applying it to your life. Let me say that again when you read the Word of God, you're also looking for application. You're also searching your heart on how are you gonna live out these verses and these theological insights that you're learning as you're reading. So reflect on how Paul's teachings about God's grace, on his teachings about moral integrity, can influence your personal and communal practices. Discussing these applications in Bible study groups or online forums can also enrich your understanding and offer diverse perspectives that challenge and deepen your own interpretations. This is why community is such a big deal.

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Speaking to other people can help you navigate these things. One of my close friends, joe Bradshaw, is a pastor in town that I served with a long time, and he's one of these guys. He sees things different than I do, and so for me, he's a great guy for me to talk to as I read through scripture, because he's going to have a different insight than I have. I may have a different insight than he has, and that allows us to grow with each other. The last thing I'll talk about in this section is what I talked about on Sunday.

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Another thing that you can do as you're studying a book of the Bible is there's a list of questions that you can ask yourself. This is not an exhaustive list, but this is a list to get you started. You can explore who wrote the book. Understanding the author gives us insight into the message. For the book of Romans, that's Paul, but you've also got Tarshish, who is the scribe writing it down, and you study both those people. The second question you look at is to whom was it written? The audience. Once you know the audience, it shapes how we interpret the book. If it's written to a certain group of people and you understand the issues with those people or the things that they're struggling with, it helps you understand why Paul talks about certain things over others or talks about them a lot more frequently.

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Third thing you're going to look at is when was it written? We talked about this a minute ago. The timing adds urgency and context, and so when you find out when it was written, you can go back and look in history. What was happening in that time. Number four why was it written? The purpose always reveals the heart of the book, and so once you figure out and this is again going back to reading the whole thing so you can understand why it's being written, and Paul talks about this and explains it on several different verses the last question that you can wrestle with is what is the main message? Again, this is valuable after you read the whole thing. What is it that ties the whole book together, or the whole letter together that Paul is writing? Now, the last thing I wanna talk to you about today is what we talked about in this week's theology email.

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We focused on the reliability of the Bible, which is foundational to everything we study and believe. The historical accuracy of the Bible is supported by extensive manuscript evidence and archaeological findings that corroborate its accounts. These discoveries lend credence to the Bible's narrative and affirm its role as a historical document. Let me say that in a different way. There have been thousands of manuscripts found of the Bible, and these are poured out over and over again and they're tested against each other some hundreds of years apart, and what this shows is the scribes' accuracy as they wrote. One of the things that would happen is if they were copying down Scripture and they were very meticulous how they would do it. If they made a mistake, they destroyed that entire page and started over again. It wasn't just a cross through and write something else. They wanted it to reflect the word of God. They took it that serious, and the good news for us is we find manuscript after manuscript and we compare them. The differences are minimal, if any, and so all of a sudden we can see the reliability over hundreds and hundreds of years of the Scriptures not changing Now.

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Furthermore, the prophetic accuracy of the Bible, where events were predicted decades or even centuries before they occurred, reinforces the divine inspiration of the scriptures. These prophecies, fulfilled in meticulous detail, validate the Bible's authority and reliability. Personal testimonies also speak volumes about the Bible's impact. Right Believers around the world testify how scripture has guided them through trials, has transformed their hearts, has deepened their relationship with God. These stories are evidence of the Bible's ongoing power to change lives.

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As we conclude today's episode, I want to encourage you to embrace the study of Romans and the Bible with a heart open to learning and transformation. If you're intrigued by our discussion on the trustworthiness of the Bible, want to delve deeper into theological studies, don't forget to subscribe to our weekly theology emails. Thank you again for joining me on Beyond Sunday. If you found today's episode enriching, please share it with friends and family who might also be inspired. Allow other people to hear the Word of God in different venues, and podcasting is a great way to do it. Until next time, keep seeking wisdom through Scripture and let your life be a testament to the truth that you discover in the word of God. God bless.