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At the end of yesterday’s Daily Reader, I challenged you to pay attention to the flow of logic: terms such as “since,” “therefore,” and “but now” form a bridge – either positively or negatively – between ideas.  This is paramount to understanding Paul’s individual points: each one is part of a whole thread.  You cannot discard any single conclusion without dealing with how its successors flow from it. 

If in the narratives context and flow are critical, in the epistles, they’re essential.  When we get to some of the big “Therefores” in these letters, like the one at the beginning of chapter 8, their conclusion rests on the entirety of what came before.  Unlike in narrative, where themes hide in the background and are teased out of the story, for these epistles, the theme is the outline.  Lean in and let yourself get swallowed up in it.

After yesterday’s assertion that righteousness is granted by faith, chapter 4 opens with a digression: “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” Again, you’ll have to follow the trail of logic, as Paul makes a chronological argument, based on the sequence of events. 

Abraham’s story grants Paul a historical analogue to illustrate his larger point, which opens chapter 5: that “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Another “type” from history forms the center of chapter 5, as Paul contrasts the condition of sin and death against that of grace and life.   

Now before you jump into Romans, it might be helpful to recount a key passage that Paul references today.  From Genesis 15:  

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  But Abram said, “O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”  And He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness.

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Romans 4 and 5.  Now let’s read it!

At the end of yesterday’s Daily Reader, I challenged you to pay attention to the flow of logic: terms such as “since,” “therefore,” and “but now” form a bridge – either positively or negatively – between ideas.  This is paramount to understanding Paul’s individual points: each one is part of a whole thread.  You cannot discard any single conclusion without dealing with how its successors flow from it. 

If in the narratives context and flow are critical, in the epistles, they’re essential.  When we get to some of the big “Therefores” in these letters, like the one at the beginning of chapter 8, their conclusion rests on the entirety of what came before.  Unlike in narrative, where themes hide in the background and are teased out of the story, for these epistles, the theme is the outline.  Lean in and let yourself get swallowed up in it.

After yesterday’s assertion that righteousness is granted by faith, chapter 4 opens with a digression: “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” Again, you’ll have to follow the trail of logic, as Paul makes a chronological argument, based on the sequence of events. 

Abraham’s story grants Paul a historical analogue to illustrate his larger point, which opens chapter 5: that “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Another “type” from history forms the center of chapter 5, as Paul contrasts the condition of sin and death against that of grace and life.   

Now before you jump into Romans, it might be helpful to recount a key passage that Paul references today.  From Genesis 15:  

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  But Abram said, “O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”  And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”  And He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness.

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Romans 4 and 5.  Now let’s read it!

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”  - Acts 19:21

The Apostle Paul spoke these words in Ephesus, after helping to plant churches throughout Asia Minor and Greece and in a few years his desire will be fulfilled.  Though under house arrest, awaiting a hearing before Caesar, we find him in Rome welcoming all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. 

This letter might have been written as Paul was nearing his goal, as he is praying that “at last” he might “succeed in coming to [them].”  The intended audience is believers: “to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” he writes in the opening chapter.  His purposes for wanting to visit, and presumptively to now write, are to “impart some spiritual gift to strengthen” them, and to “reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” 

These statements of audience and purpose are important.  While this epistle could be, and would be, circulated generally among churches and even read by unbelievers, there are original hearers who sit in the front of Paul’s mind.  Their situation, victories, trials, and temperament, flavor Paul’s letters just as any other correspondence.  We’ll treat these letters in the same way we’ve treated the rest of the Bible: as documents designed for listeners who occupied a place and time, by authors who highlight their concerns through style and emphasis.

After a personal introduction and recounting of the gospel of God, in the middle of chapter 1 Paul unfolds humanity’s descent into evil.  His opening observation: “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him” leads to futility in their thinking, “and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  Each unraveling is launched with “so God gave them up…” “to impurity”…”dishonorable passions”… and “a debased mind.” 

In chapter 2 this observation turns personal, as Paul switches to the second person in pronouncing God’s verdict: “Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God?... He will render to each one according to his works.”  The justice of such judgment, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, is the theme of the final two chapters, leading to the conclusive, “but now…” 

These first three chapters are among the most intense you will read in the Bible.  Paul’s style here is not subtle.  Remember the intended audience and context from which, and into which, Paul writes.  And follow the line of logic – each “since” and “therefore” and “but now” indicates the direction of the argument. 

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Romans 1 through 3.  Now let’s read it!

Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”  - Acts 19:21

The Apostle Paul spoke these words in Ephesus, after helping to plant churches throughout Asia Minor and Greece and in a few years his desire will be fulfilled.  Though under house arrest, awaiting a hearing before Caesar, we find him in Rome welcoming all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. 

This letter might have been written as Paul was nearing his goal, as he is praying that “at last” he might “succeed in coming to [them].”  The intended audience is believers: “to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” he writes in the opening chapter.  His purposes for wanting to visit, and presumptively to now write, are to “impart some spiritual gift to strengthen” them, and to “reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.” 

These statements of audience and purpose are important.  While this epistle could be, and would be, circulated generally among churches and even read by unbelievers, there are original hearers who sit in the front of Paul’s mind.  Their situation, victories, trials, and temperament, flavor Paul’s letters just as any other correspondence.  We’ll treat these letters in the same way we’ve treated the rest of the Bible: as documents designed for listeners who occupied a place and time, by authors who highlight their concerns through style and emphasis.

After a personal introduction and recounting of the gospel of God, in the middle of chapter 1 Paul unfolds humanity’s descent into evil.  His opening observation: “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him” leads to futility in their thinking, “and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  Each unraveling is launched with “so God gave them up…” “to impurity”…”dishonorable passions”… and “a debased mind.” 

In chapter 2 this observation turns personal, as Paul switches to the second person in pronouncing God’s verdict: “Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God?... He will render to each one according to his works.”  The justice of such judgment, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, is the theme of the final two chapters, leading to the conclusive, “but now…” 

These first three chapters are among the most intense you will read in the Bible.  Paul’s style here is not subtle.  Remember the intended audience and context from which, and into which, Paul writes.  And follow the line of logic – each “since” and “therefore” and “but now” indicates the direction of the argument. 

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Romans 1 through 3.  Now let’s read it!

And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.”  Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.  - 2 Chronicles 33:7-9

Did you notice this yesterday?  By placing Manasseh’s treachery within the context of God’s promise to his forefathers, the author is setting up a final showdown: how will the promise fare against evil that even the Canaanites – whom the LORD had driven out – had not conceived? 

As with all things for the Chronicler, the end of the story will have been ordained by God.  It may even fulfill the word of a prophet or two, just as Jeroboam’s success had been.  We’ll surely learn the fate of Jerusalem, the city of David, and of the Temple that Solomon so carefully constructed.  In keeping with his pattern of virtually ignoring Israel, the author will not reveal the fate of the kingdom of Jeroboam, Ahab, and Pekah.  Indeed, Judah’s northern kin had been wiped out during the reign of Ahaz, but did not make the final cut in this narrative. 

The final words of this book form the opening speech of the book of Ezra, which directly follows it in most English Bibles.  However, in the Hebrew scriptures the Chronicles are most often placed at the very end, forming the final piece of the “Writings” section.  Were you to combine the Hebrew Bible with the Christian New Testament, Chronicles would be followed immediately by the Gospel of Matthew.  The hopeful epilogue you’ll read in chapter 36 affirms that the end of the Chronicler’s story, and of the promise he clung to, has yet to be written.    

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

2 Chronicles 34 through 36.  Now let’s read it!

And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever, and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.”  Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.  - 2 Chronicles 33:7-9

Did you notice this yesterday?  By placing Manasseh’s treachery within the context of God’s promise to his forefathers, the author is setting up a final showdown: how will the promise fare against evil that even the Canaanites – whom the LORD had driven out – had not conceived? 

As with all things for the Chronicler, the end of the story will have been ordained by God.  It may even fulfill the word of a prophet or two, just as Jeroboam’s success had been.  We’ll surely learn the fate of Jerusalem, the city of David, and of the Temple that Solomon so carefully constructed.  In keeping with his pattern of virtually ignoring Israel, the author will not reveal the fate of the kingdom of Jeroboam, Ahab, and Pekah.  Indeed, Judah’s northern kin had been wiped out during the reign of Ahaz, but did not make the final cut in this narrative. 

The final words of this book form the opening speech of the book of Ezra, which directly follows it in most English Bibles.  However, in the Hebrew scriptures the Chronicles are most often placed at the very end, forming the final piece of the “Writings” section.  Were you to combine the Hebrew Bible with the Christian New Testament, Chronicles would be followed immediately by the Gospel of Matthew.  The hopeful epilogue you’ll read in chapter 36 affirms that the end of the Chronicler’s story, and of the promise he clung to, has yet to be written.    

Our verse for this week is Revelation 22:5: And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

2 Chronicles 34 through 36.  Now let’s read it!