The beginning of Romans chapter 3
always makes me think of Grigori Rasputin, a Russian Orthodox fellow
occasionally referred to as the “Mad Monk”. Rasputin lived in
the late 19th century and is known for his whole hearted
endorsement of the precepts of these few verses. I wonder if he
bothered to continue reading? If you are ever curious about the
dangers of taking scriptures out of context, google a picture of
Rasputin (shudders....).
As Romans 3 progresses Paul repeats one
of his core themes; all, Jew or gentile are miserable sinners and
all would pay the price for living in constant sin had God not
sacrificed his Son Jesus to provide the ultimate gift of grace and love.
(Sidebar: I sometimes wish I could say I have “fallen short of the
Glory of God”, but I know that that is a bit of an understatement.
I have missed by miles and miles and miles).
It seems to me that Paul invested a lot
of time trying to get the Jewish people off of their pious pedestal.
I believe that Paul knows that if the Jewish people (of which he was one of) failed to give up
their pride in being God's chosen people, they would not have the
meekness and humility to truly accept and serve Jesus as Messiah.
In chapter 4 Paul (actually Paul is
writing a letter, somebody else put in all of these silly chapter and
verse things) expands on his discussion regarding the Jewish as God's
chosen. Paul asks how people were identified as
belonging to God prior to the physical act of circumcision started
under God's covenant with Abraham. Paul also reminds all that
Abraham didn't go to God with this great plan, God came to Abraham.
I really appreciate Paul's desire to
reason and logically explain his arguments, rather than “laying
down the law” or relying on nurturing a sense of fear to get people
to listen to his teaching. Do you think that the Christian church
has moved more towards this method of sharing the “Good News” in
the past decade or so, and is there ways this can be further
developed. Or, has the church already gone to far; think “Emergent
Christianity”. Comments?
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