A Gentle Ramble Through the Bible - Chronologically

Paul makes seven main theological points in his writings. We cover the first three today:

1. God’s overarching intent for humanity--the essence of the Good News
2. The purpose of the Law
3. The significance of Jesus--his life, death, and resurrection

Special Class Handouts:

• Handout-Summary of Paul's Theology
• Handout-Expanded Summary of Paul's Theology

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Paul is shipwrecked while being transported to Rome for trial. Because of him the entire crew, the soldiers and all the other prisoners survive the shipwreck.

When Paul arrives in Rome he is kept under guard but continues to be well-respected and is allowed to preach and teach to visitors. It is during this imprisonment in Rome that he writes another letter to the Philippians (what we know as the first 2 chapters of the book).

After this, we don’t really know what happens to Paul. The Book of Acts ends. Some sources trace him to Spain but others say he is beheaded in Rome.

We cover: Acts 28:10-31

• Philippians 1-2

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Governor Felix never gives Paul a full trial. He lets him sit in jail for two years. Paul takes the opportunity to write several letters.

Paul is still there when Governor Festus arrives to relieve Governor Felix of duty. Festus can’t figure out what to do with Paul. He has a trial that goes sideways in a hurry and Paul appeals to bring his case before the Emperor, as is his right as a Roman citizen.

Festus knows he needs to appease the Jewish High Priests and religious leaders, but he can’t figure out what charges to bring against Paul but he’s got to send him to Rome anyway now that Paul has appealed to Caesar.

We cover

• Acts 24:24-28:9
• Philippians 3-4
• Philemon

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Over the strenuous objections of all those who love him, Paul persists in returning to Jerusalem in spite of the danger. He delivers the contributions he’s collected for the church, and they advise him to make a public display in the Temple of how devout and law-abiding he is.

The plan backfires spectacularly. Instead of appeasing the Jewish faction, Paul’s appearance in the Temple causes a riot. He is arrested and sent north to Governor Felix in Caesarea for trial.

We cover Acts 22:1-24:23.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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Paul is very clear about what it looks like to live as a true Christian. We need to paste his list on our mirror! He’s never been to the church in Rome and is making plans to come see them as soon as he takes the contributions he’s gathered back to the suffering church in Jerusalem.

In the meantime, he sends personal greetings to a ton of folks in Rome, including a female deacon and a female apostle.

We cover Romans 12-16.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Keeping Paul’s overall context in mind, we dive into passages where Paul explains how, in his opinion, God’s chosen (elect) people (the Jews) ended up opposing Jesus Christ. And how God worked that to the blessing of the Gentiles.

But lest we Gentiles become arrogant, Paul makes it quite clear that in the end all of Israel will be saved, regardless. He says God lumps us all together in our disobedience and uses it to show his great mercy on us all.

We cover Romans 9-11.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Paul devotes this central part of his letter to his grief over the Jews of Israel who do not believe in Jesus Christ and to his joy over those who do.

It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when he uses words like “predestination” and “election,” but if we put them in context then those seemingly random words start to make a lot more sense. And it helps to make sense of how Paul uses Jacob and Esau as examples.

This part of the letter spans chapters 7-11, so today we take a peek at the ending of the section so we know where we’re heading--kind of like looking at a map before setting out on a trip.

We focus especially on Romans 9.

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We’re hitting the “steep” part of Romans now. Paul’s theology is beginning to get uncomfortable. (Yeah, I know, it's already been steep. I told you that Romans is the Mount Everest of the New Testament.)

He smack-talks the Law and the flesh. He keeps saying the Law is good, but what he says about it sure doesn’t sound good. And what he says about the flesh sounds just as bad.

This is one of those passages we will need to wrestle with in our breakout groups and on our own.

Then, for the first time, Paul begins to talk about predestination and election. There’s more about that next week, but we do some interesting excavation in Greek that sheds new light on these words.

We cover Romans 7-8.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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More info at PastorintheWild.org.

Paul has something of a reputation for anti-Semitism. We hit a few of those passages today. We look at them through the lens of Paul’s deeply held Jewish roots and his understanding of the role of the Law.

We also talk about works vs grace. And we discover that the Greek word for grace is charis, literally the charisma of God. That opens up a whole new vista of what “grace” might mean for us.

Lastly we examine what Paul might mean when he talks about Jesus dying for the benefit of the wicked and reconciling us to God. There’s a lot to unpack here.

We cover Romans 3:27-6:23.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

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Paul throws us in the deep end here. Romans is densely packed with theology. Don’t worry. We take it in bite-sized chunks. He talks about the value (or not) of being a Jew as opposed to being a Gentile. Paul has deep roots in the Law but he sees it now as something that pointed to Christ--something fulfilled in Christ.

We join Paul as he reflects on how the sin offerings under the Law showed God’s justice and righteousness in the same way Christ did, but with Christ, God’s righteousness and justice are revealed even more brilliantly.

We cover Romans 2:1-3:26.

A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.

Click here for an index of all classes.

More info at PastorintheWild.org.