Posts from February 2025

One of the apostle Paul’s favorite Bible stories comes in Genesis 15. For what Paul has to say about faith as the defining trait of those who belong to the family of God in Jesus Christ, he goes back to the beginning where all the talk of faith and God’s family began. In Genesis 15, God has already made a shocking and scandalous promise to Abraham, that Abraham will have a family and use that family to bless “all the…

At any given moment in the book of Romans, the author Paul is trying to convey at least one of three things: first, God’s faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham (Genesis 12 & 15); second, the new Exodus, our once for all deliverance from all that would enslave us and separate us from God; and third, the establishment of the one church that belongs to Jesus (composed equally of Jew and Gentile). When Romans gets dense and difficult,…

I don’t know what each of us might think the wrath of God actually looks like, but Romans 1 is offering us a bit of help with that. The Bible is the story of God constantly reaching across the threshold into human history, into human lives to mend what is broken and make something new. But when God’s wrath is revealed (Romans 1:18-32), that crossing of the threshold stops taking place. The wrath of God means God is leaving the…

Paul reveals to us in Romans that he’s never actually been to Rome. He wants to come, but circumstances keep getting in the way. So how does Paul approach this letter in such a way that convinces the Roman Christians to welcome his voice? For starters, he showers the church with praise and affection. He’s thankful for the church in Rome (Romans 1:8), giddy with excitement that there is a church in Rome, right under Caesar’s nose. He wants to…