Reflections on Romans

Going through the book of Romans in Bible college reminded me of deep fundamental truths of our salvation and it was a great opportunity to assess if my heart has come to understand them a little better. Christianity is not difficult to understand, no doubt – God didn’t bring a form of salvation that can only be understood by the elites, but by every human being created in His image. But while we may think we have grasped what Christianity is about, we are very likely to not fully agree with some of its fundamental truths at the subconscious level, and this is revealed in our imperfect lives. For example, how do the daily decisions I make in life square with how who I am in Christ? It is hence important for us to constantly renew our minds through the study of the Word of God. And in a way, the importance of having accurate theology is proven by the existence of the epistle itself. If accuracy of theology isn’t important, Paul would not have bothered writing his longest letter ever recorded on the Gospel to people who were already Christians. And Romans isn’t just Paul’s message to the Christians in Rome – it contains God’s universal message for all Christians.

And this brings me to my next reflection on the book: Paul’s genuine pastoral heart for his fellow brothers and sisters. From the historical context, it is clear that Paul wanted to get help from the Roman church so that he could use Rome as a base for his missions to Spain. However, this reason is insufficient to explain why he needed to give a lengthy discourse on the Gospel. It is also likely that Rome having no apostolic foundation contributed to his impetus to write the letter, to ensure the Christians there had a strong foundation in the Gospel. However, this reason is also insufficient to explain why Paul had to write the letter at that particular point in time. Perhaps the most pertinent reason for the letter from my readings was the ongoing disunity between Jews and Gentiles in the church that was caused by an incomplete understanding of the Gospel. This is interesting. Perhaps all disunities in any church are caused by an incomplete understanding of the Gospel, and it is only by going into the heart of the Gospel that the church can be truly united in spite of the failings and hurts that are caused by individual members. While serving in church, it is easy for me to focus on the disagreements I have with others, and the frustrations I sometimes feel. Rather than sweeping these differences under the carpet, I believe that I should learn to see them in light of the Gospel and see how that will allow these relationships to thrive even stronger than they were before.

Each time I go through the book of Romans, I also question myself how much I believe that I deserve eternal death. For it is only with a proper view of sin that we can properly appreciate the grace of God. And my natural tendency has been to count the amount of hurt that I have caused to others and feeling that it comes short of the penalty of eternal death. “I am far from even causing the physical death of another, why should I deserve eternal death?” But I know that this reasoning is flawed as it doesn’t take into account the reason why I have sinned, and that is the denial of the existence of God, much like the prodigal son. However, it is slowly but surely that I have come to see my acts of sin as just the symptoms of our human tendency to live a life independent of God, and hell is simply a place where God allows you to do just that.

Finally, I was reminded that we need to work out our salvation in humility and in love towards others. This is a simple truth, but sometimes it is easy to forget why we are doing what we are doing. Love is always intentional and therefore cannot be something we get used to. Each act of love requires us to step out of our comfort zone to give to others. In my workplace, it is often easy to become caught up with the tasks at hand, and only think about the needs of others when it is convenient for me. But I pray that I will be able to make the presence of the church felt in my workplace each and every day through simple acts of hospitality and kindness.

Getting closer to the source

I took Biblical Greek this sem, and had really mixed feelings going into it. I never have been good in languages, even in English. It took me much effort in university for me to improve my writing to a decent standard. Needless to say, I am hopeless in Chinese. However, the thought of being able to read the New Testament in its original language intrigued me. To me it seems that being able to read the bible in its original language will allow me to better understand the author’s thoughts, and more importantly the mind of God that is speaking to us through the author. Thus far, that expectation has not been disappointed. Even while learning the fundamentals of Greek, it became clear that there are areas in the New Testament where the nuances can be more accurately seen and understood if the passage is read in Greek.

I also appreciated the fact the module had a very specific focus: to understand the New Testament in its original language. As such, the usual components of an introductory language class, such as conversational Greek and writing Greek sentences, were absent from this class. It was a constant reminder that we should be focused in all we do, and not just gain knowledge for the sake of it, but to always keep the bigger picture in view.

To become good at any skill in life, consistency is key; and Greek is no exception. From memorizing vocab, to familiarizing oneself with the grammatical syntax of the language takes consistent diligence, which is something I definitely lack and need to work on.. As a first step, I plan to revise what I have learnt from this module before Greek 2 begins after the break. It will be difficult but I am really looking forward!