Read and Study Romans

Over the past three months I have been recommending the exploration of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Each of the epistle’s sixteen chapters has important features which are compelling reasons to read the book. I invite you to scroll down and review my recent blog posts to read introductions to each chapter. The last chapter of Romans has it’s own instructive features which deserve our attention.

it has been said that Paul had “a genius for friendship.” Over his previous ten years of missionary activity in Syria, Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia Minor, he had accumulated many companions, disciples and fellow-missionaries for whom he felt sincere affection in the Lord. In Romans 16 he sent greetings to 26 of them, adding words of appreciation. It is interesting to me how he valued and maintained these relationships.

The chapter opens with a commendation for one of them, Phoebe, a prominent woman whom he calls his “sister” in the faith. She was likely the courier who carried the letter to Rome as she traveled there from Corinth, presumably on personal business. She is further identified as a “minister,” or deaconess of the Christian assembly in Cenchreae, a suburb of Corinth. Paul goes on to say how she had helped him as a supporter of his ministry.

This lets us know where Paul was when he wrote the letter to the Romans. In vv. 21-24 he names eight companions who were with him in Corinth. They added their greetings to the Roman Christians. One of them was Erastus, a local government official. I have seen a first century paving stone in the ruins of old Corinth with his name clearly inscribed in Latin. If that Erastus is the Erastus of Romans 16:23, then the inscription is the earliest reference to a Christian by name outside the New Testament.

This closing chapter in the letter contains important words of caution which are relevant to believers and churches today. In vv.17-20, Paul warns Christians to watch out for and avoid any who would obstruct the teaching which they had learned. This includes the teaching of the gospel in the book of Romans. Paul’s emphasis on the sinfulness of all humanity, the need for righteousness as a gift of God’s grace, and justification only by faith in Jesus Christ constitute his gospel message.

There is in Romans an entire vocabulary of key words to describe the different aspects of the salvation offered in the Christian gospel. Rich words such as redemption, forgiveness, sanctification, reconciliation, resurrection, and glorification accompany Paul’s emphasis on justification. These varied themes display God’s goodness and grace in saving people as the colors of the rainbow appear when light is refracted through a glass prism.

This assumes Paul’s authority as a spokesman for God. He was commissioned by Jesus himself to speak and to write the Word of God. Signs and miracles validated his ministry as a true apostle (Romans 1;1, 15:15-19). Thus, in his concluding benediction he could write that God is able to establish believers in accordance with the unchanging gospel that he (Paul) preached (Romans 16:25). This gospel is universally and eternally relevant. It is summarized and explained in the book of Romans.

That is why we should read it and welcome its message.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

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Be a Friend

I read about a man whose lawnmower had broken down. He struggled for a long time to get it running. Nothing worked. His neighbor appeared unexpectedly with a handful of tools.

“May I help?” he asked. In twenty minutes he had the mower functioning beautifully.

“Thanks a million,” the man said. “Say, what do you do with all those tools?”

“I make friends,” he answered. “Call me anytime.”

Making friends is a great way to share our faith. In today’s world it may be the best way. After all, how much attention do we pay to addressed-to-occupant junk mail or to bumper stickers about Jesus? How do we react when strangers show up at the door uninvited?

Real friendship is different. By building friendships we build trust. When people trust us, we can freely talk about what’s important in our lives.

Summertime is an opportunity to make new friends. We see our neighbors out-of-doors. We can fire up the grill and invite them over for burgers. Or invite them for a walk in the neighborhood. Or a round of golf. Or a Labor Day block party. Or PTA back-to-school events.

I once heard Howard Hendricks say, “I’ve never found a verse of scripture that tells unbelievers to go to church. But I have found lots of verses that tell Christians to penetrate the world.”

He quoted pollster George Gallup as saying, “Never before in the history of the United States has the gospel of Jesus Christ been professed by so many while at the same time making so little impact upon society.”

If we who follow Jesus will simply do what he told us to do and love our neighbors as we love ourselves, we can make a difference in society, and for eternity. The key is friendship, building relationships of trust.

Pastor Randy Faulkner

It’s a Beautiful Thing

It’s a beautiful thing when men meet together to pray. For many years I have participated in a monthly gathering of local pastors who get together to pray for each other, for our churches, and for our city and nation. We have supported each other when times have been hard, and we have shared each others’ happiness when life has been easier.

We represent different faith traditions, but we are united in our reverence for Christ and the gospel. Each month we meet in one of the churches and pray as expressed in the familiar hymn: Before the Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares (“Blest Be The Tie That Binds” by John Fawcett, 1782).

The benefits are real. Praying together builds trust and respect among the ministers. It lessens the possibility of professional jealousy and undermines the unholy tendency toward competition between churches. We know and love each other. We really do. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s a beautiful thing when friends get together to read books and discuss what they are reading. I belong to a readers’ group inspired by the men in the circle of friends that included C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. They called themselves the Inklings and they met regularly in the Eagle and Child Pub in St Giles’ Street in Oxford, England, from 1933-1949.

At our meetings, a member brings a book for each of the other participants to read during the coming month. We come to the next meeting prepared to discuss the book, and related topics suggested by the theme of the book. There is food, banter, laughter, and deep friendship.

Our group is called the Penlights. We have been meeting for over thirty years. Our leader solicits personal letters to the group from the authors whose books we have read. These are shared at the midsummer meeting. These letters, often from well-known writers, usually express delight in knowing we have read his or her book in this context of friendship.

John Eldredge wrote, “A boy has a lot to learn in his journey to become a man, and he becomes a man only through the active intervention of his father and the fellowship of men.” Many men today live their lives in isolation. They do not know how lonely they are. It was for good reason that Jesus and Paul joined their disciples into teams of men and taught them to pray together, to learn together and to encourage each other in living for God. It is a beautiful thing to share life with men who do this.

    –  Pastor Randy Faulkner

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