top of page

STUDIES ON THE BOOK OF ROMANS

Shaul's (Paul) letter to the Romans is an often misunderstood book. Shaul says that the Torah has not been done away with, but theologians then contradict him. All of Shaul's writings must be understood within the context they were written or we just end up making up what we are to believe.

Bible discussion group
Old hebrew bible book with pointer

ROMANS STUDIES

Applying an Original Biblical Context

The Bible was written by Jews and is full of its culture, so it is full of Jewish biblical context.  We often cannot understand the Bible properly without understanding what it originally meant in its cultural context. It's important!

Romans 1:1-7

Many of the words in the Bible have a specific biblical understanding. We understand the words we use within our own culture. For example, football means American football, but in Europe it means soccer. Common words that we see in the Bible cannot be properly understood outside of a biblical cultural understanding. They must be understood the way they were intended to originally be understood and not how we understand them now. *Look for the references I make in this article in the articles listed below.

Romans 10:4

Romans 10:4 actually tells us that the Messiah helps us to do what is right. What could be wrong with getting help from the Messiah Yeshua? Yeshua (Jesus) said to love one another. The world would be a better place if we all did that. The Messiah can be a big big help for our lives and for our spiritual walk.

Romans 14

Romans 14 is about Jews who were only eating vegetables because they were concerned that the kosher meat came from pagan temples. Some use this chapter to say that sin is okay. We have to understand the biblical context or we will believe hogwash.

Gospel - A Messianic Message

When people hear the word “gospel” they often think of their own version of what the Bible has to say and call it the “gospel.” When Shaul (Paul) uses that word he comes from a background entirely immersed in the Old Testament.  In the Old Testament portion we find words that mean gospel. This is an important interesting study on the meaning of the word "gospel."

Being a Tzadik

In Romans, Shaul (Paul) uses the word righteousness. What does that mean? Some say it is being right without doing what is right. Obviously, this does not make sense. When we see the word righteous we need to understand that the Messiah helps us to live right. Just doing any old thing and saying you are right is wrong doctrine.

Shaul of Tarsus - a Leading Jewish Teacher

Shaul (Paul) was both a Jewish leader and leading Jewish teacher in his time. He was a zealous and committed Jew that believed that Yeshua (Jesus) was the Jewish Messiah.

Called for a Purpose

When I first began learning about Yeshua (Jesus) one of the things I was taught is that I was called, called to be a Christian. I didn’t realize that was not what being called meant; I was being taught a theology. I was being taught a whole system of biblical philosophy that wasn’t biblically accurate.

God's Messengers

In some theologies, the word “apostle” is sometimes used of special people who some say can do no wrong, specifically the 12 apostles. The meaning of the word apostle means “sent one.” In other words, they are messengers for God. God has a special mission for them. The way the word “apostle” is used is misleading. God still has messengers today; theology has stolen the meaning and made it into a title instead of how God wants to use some of His people to serve others.

Set Apart Holy

When Rabbi Shaul (Paul) says we are “set apart” or “separated” he is thinking of a people who have separated themselves to be holy. Yeshua (Jesus) said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, accompanied by all the angels, he will sit on his glorious throne.  All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.” Matt. 25:31-32 CJB. The sheep are those who decide to live holy lives and keep God's commandments; the goats are the rebellious who do not choose to follow God.

God Reveals His Plans

Words that have to do with God revealing His plans were well understood by the Jewish people in the first century. They looked forward to what God was going to do and key words referring to God’s revealed plans were part of their faith.

Descended from David Physically

Why bother talking about biblical details? It helps us to understand the Bible in a more authentic way. When we talk about Yeshua being in the line of David it was a big deal back then and we need to understand the background of the messiah being in the kingly line.

Sons of God are Believers

The authentic biblical interpretation of the word “son” of God is someone who lives and behaves like a child of God (a member of the family) and follows God’s commands.

Power, Holiness, and Yeshua (Jesus)

Part of the argument that Yeshua is indeed the holy Messiah is associated with Yeshua’s powerful works which the people saw (in some instances it says Yeshua healed everyone in town – people wouldn’t forget this).

Grace Through the Ages

The Hebrew word for grace is Chen (pronounced like the “ch” as in the composer Bach) and is used 68 times in the Tanakh according to Young’s concordance. Most of the time it is translated grace or favor.  Theologians often make a special issue about God’s favor coming when Yeshua came and they make it sound like God’s grace/favor never existed until Yeshua came. Of course, that is not true.

bottom of page