We are One Body
Romans 12:5, NIV: “so in Christ, we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Paul in most of Romans 12 explains that the worship of our God is to become living sacrifices with Romans 12:3-8 detailing our responsibility as a living sacrifice. As the body of Christ, the church and everyone in it has a part to play. Our individual gifts are to work together to achieve glory to Christ.
As the church, Christ’s body on earth we are often spread across many different places with vastly different jobs, but together we are one unified “being,” a single entity with a single purpose.
In addition to this, we are to remember that we form ONE body. No one is left out, and everyone has a responsibility and should be wholly accountable to each other.
Things will work out
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28, ESV
On the surface, Romans 8:28 seems a simple verse to understand. Love God, and things will work out well for you. However, this is not the case as “good” does not translate to our human and earthly understanding of the word. When we think “good” we understand it as going well or comfortable. The following verse, Romans 8:29, elaborates “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
“Good” here means that we will draw closer to parity with the image of Jesus the more we love God and obey him. Our takeaway is that love and obedience to God may not materialise goodness in the way we imagine, but instead draw us ever closer to him.
Book Review: Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes
Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission
Review: Wu, Jackson. 2019. Reading Romans with Eastern Eyes: Honor and Shame in Paul’s Message and Mission. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic Press.
Eastern culture is a high context culture. What this usually means is that Eastern culture is very relational and communal, often described by the honor-shame framework. Within this framework, people in the East interacts with one another through the context of ‘face’ which is reciprocal and debt relationships within a power structure of hierarchy, loyalty, sacrifice, ascribed and achieved honor, and shame. This is often contrasted to the Western guilt-innocence framework. Jackson Wu (not his real name), a Westerner who have lived two decades in East Asia, examined Paul’s message and mission in Romans through the Eastern honor-shame framework. Jackson seek to find “[h]ow did Paul’s theology serve the purpose of his mission within an honor-shame context?” (p.3).
Rejoicing Amidst Challenges
Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (ESV)
In a mere 11 words, Paul gives three instructions to the Romans in the midst of challenges that they face in their walk with Christ. Romans 12 marks a shift for Paul as he moves from the doctrines he espouses in the first eleven chapters to practical outcomes of those principles.
Exposition of Romans (Evening Course)
#NT535 Exposition of Romans (3 Credits)*
Tuesdays, 7.00 pm – 9.15 pm
The 500th anniversary of the Reformation was celebrated in 2017. Martin Luther posted a manuscript in 1517, commonly named as the Ninety-Five Theses, which restated the doctrine that salvation rested on faith alone (sola fide) in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone. Luther came to that conviction by studying Romans. Would you like to study the book that transformed him and gave birth to the Protestant faith?
Romans is about gaining a right standing with God through the completed work of Jesus Christ, His Son. Both Jew and non-Jew are saved through faith in Christ. This is the clearest explanation of the doctrines of justification and sanctification in the Bible. God’s plan encompasses everyone, including the Jews, whom He has not rejected. In the last five chapters of the book, Paul taught what a sanctified life should look like.
*This course may be taken under the #FREE8ONLINE promotion.
Keith Shubert, PhD, is a staff member of Cru for 45 years, has ministered in more than 30 countries, and served as resident or adjunct faculty for four seminaries in Asia and the USA. He lived in Israel for three years while completing a Master’s degree in Historical Geography of Ancient Israel.
This class is for the semester of 20 July to 20 November 2020. It may be conducted fully online or a combination of online and in-person depending on situation. Registration deadline is Monday, 13 July 2020. You may register online or contact us for registration form.
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