Romans | Paula Wiseman

STT: Romans

Romans is one of the cornerstones of the New Testament. In it, Paul lays out the key doctrines of Christianity in a logical progression. It's hardly a dry dissertation, though. Martin Luther touched off the Protestant Reformation when he grasped what Paul had written. The truths even make Paul stop and praise God. (See 11:33-36)

So how should you study Romans?

Slowly. Intentionally. Reverently. Just like any other study, right?

The book is roughly divided into three sections- Why we need salvation, how it's accomplished and how we should live as a result. A quick overview should answer those questions.

To go deeper, Romans lends itself to key word studies. Try tracking these words and recording what you learn about each of them:

Sin
Righteousness
Faith/ Believe
Hope
Grace

Another approach is to watch for all that GOD does.

Paul uses transition words like therefore frequently. Sometimes it's helpful to watch for the cause and effect on either side of the "therefore".

Finally, if you like to memorize Scripture, Romans is full of great material.

What's your favorite verse or passage in Romans?

Filed Under: Study Tip Tuesday Tagged With: Bible study, faith, gospel, grace, righteousness, Romans, salvation, Sin

What is the most difficult thing about living a Christian life?

By Paula 1 Comment

This isn't like my typical posts, I know, but I have a question for you.

Introducing a study of Romans, I asked my study group:

What is the most difficult thing about living a Christian life?

Keeping God's commands?
Staying focused?
Meeting expectations?
Discouragement?
Witnessing?

I don't have an answer. At least not an overarching, one size fits all kind of answer.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: Christian living, Romans

A Blessing

By Paula

Sometimes it's good to take a minute and tell people they bless you.

You bless me.

I hope you know what a blessing it is to write for you, to connect with you, to share with you. It is a holy trust I don't take lightly.

I treasure your emails and comments and the reminder they give that we are never alone in the body of Christ.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Filed Under: Monday Meditations Tagged With: blessing, Romans, writing

Routines

By Paula

Yesterday, my kids and I headed out to lunch at our favorite BBQ place, and my son ordered a catfish sandwich.

Okay, let me back up and tell you why that statement is huge. One, we were going out to eat for lunch (not at McDonalds) on a weekday. My husband is out of town this week, so it was just us. Second, and this is the big one, Alan has never had a catfish sandwich in his life. The boy who will eat cupcakes but not cake… go figure… ordered something completely off the wall. And he lived.

I suspect it has to do with his goal of becoming an extreme fisherman, like Jeremy Wade of River Monsters. If he's gonna catch these monster catfish, he should learn to eat them. But whatever his motivation, he took an amazing risk and broke out of his routine.

I am very much a creature of habit. I like the smooth predictability of routines. They allow my brain to go on autopilot, freeing up precious mental resources for other things. But I also find that routines can be boring, and can numb me. Especially in worship.

Paul says, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." (Romans 12:11 NIV)

In the sentence, zeal equals spiritual fervor. It is a passionate pursuit. Next week as we break out of our worship routines for VBS, I could use a little of that fervor restoration.

How do you know you're in a routine in worship? How do you shake things up?