March 11, 2009

  • Reading the Bible

    Just something I want to share. As Pastor OJ taught Simone and me in the 2+ years of one-on-one Bible study, there is no such thing as a wasted word in the Bible. Recently, I started re-reading and studying the book of ROMANS, and just as OJ did when he went through EPHESIANS with us, I have been trying to truly comprehend every word and ask “what is it saying?”

    So, in a simple opening of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we find more than just a letter’s standard greeting in Paul’s words in ROMANS 1:1–7.

    1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,   The verse establishes who Paul is. He not only serves Christ, he is a bond-servant, a servant indebted to Christ. He is “called” by God to be an apostle. What does it mean to be an apostle? Paul is not only a follower but a messenger of Christ’s teachings. Also, he is “set apart” from this world: he is to be different from this world. For what? The very purpose to preach the gospel of God. If you are a follower of Christ, are you also a messenger of God’s teachings?
    2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,   This, as in everything in the New Testament and the life of Christ, is preordained by God, as taught by the prophets in the Old Testament.
    3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh,   What is Paul teaching? Of Jesus, the Son of God. Verses 3-5 establishes the relationship of Christ to Paul and to all of us: Jesus is born of the line of David (establishing His earthly kingship),
    4 who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,   he is declared the Son of God with the power (God’s power) to overcome death (because He is holy);
    5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake,   it is through His death and resurrection that we have received God’s grace (mercy from the destruction due to our sins) for the purpose (as apostles—“called” followers—of Christ) to preach the gospel and bring about obedience in faith among all in and for His name.
    6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;   In verse 6 we are reminded of our duty based on our brotherhood of Christians, the name of Christ which we have taken.
    7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.   Even in the (finally) actual greeting of verse 7—“Grace to you...”— Paul reiterates exactly who he is talking to: those who are “beloved” and “called as saints.” These are terms he uses repeatedly to address those who are believer/followers of Christ: you are saints because of the sanctification that can only occur through the work of the Holy Spirit (which comes only after acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior), the namesake, by the way, which Paul reiterates again at the end of the greeting and of this verse.

    Beautiful, isn’t this? Just as in this greeting, there is Truth in every morsel of the Bible. Not one word is wasted.

    For those Christians out there, never stop reading and studying God’s Word. Never let this world’s ways lead you to believe that you no longer need to be refreshed in our Lord’s enriching guidance through the book which He made certain we would have. It is (and should be) all we need. Enjoy your reading!

Comments (5)

  • another truly beautiful thing to do is to look at the word pictures each word paints- looking at it in context with the other uses of it in the Bible, the hidden meaning behind it, the history of the word. in college we had to write papers based on one word in one text... it really makes you look at the scripture differently! now that i'm studying using my chinese/english Bible, i'm fascinated by the difference in vocabulary at times. Like the word light was translated as center in a recent text... so hmmmming!

  • Loved this post and the way that you broke down the scripture!

  • @jerjonji - Translations are so interesting. But sometimes they confuse the issue rather than make something clearly. When in doubt, go to the Greek (for NT) or Hebrew (OT), granted it’s easier to get Greek translated than Hebrew. Also, I’ve found that the NASB is the most faithful translation, at least for NT.

  • @bubenun - Thanks man! If only I made the time to do this more (as we should).

  • @athanasius2k4 - you're right of course, but sometimes i just need a different perspective bc i tend to get very jaded... plus i have a serious love/hate with greek since it almost kept me from graduating! :)

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