On the Bible and Business

For Sunday morning Bible class the last two weeks, we studied Romans 6 and 7. In these chapters, Paul talks about how we might abuse the grace of God and the gift of salvation offered to us. Paul begins here his conversation with the Christians in Rome about doing good and doing evil. He talks about this in a way different from the way we usually talk about. We might ask if doing this specific work is good or bad. Paul does not deal at the level of the specific but at the level of what is alive in us and in terms of what enslaves us. In chapters one through five, Paul outlines the gift of God's grace which we receive by faith. He first details how we have nothing good in us and how works righteousness is not an option for us because of the corruption of our bodies and the sins we commit. He then goes on to explain that there is a righteousness apart from works we can receive because of Christ through faith. In chapter 6, Paul deals with one improper response to this grace: licent...

The Fall semester is almost over. Next week Tuesday is the last day of class for my course before finals week. In the Fall, I teach Old Testament History and Theology for the certificate program. This week we studied the period between the Old Testament and the New. The question I try to answer for the students in this lesson is: How do we go from the return to Jerusalem from exile and the rebuilding of the temple at the end of the Old Testament to the Roman occupation as it is in the Gospels? The rebuilding of Jerusalem is basically done by 500 BC and Malachi is thought to have prophesied about 430 BC. This means that there are about 500 years of history between the Testaments. I find the history of this time to be rather depressing. It is a time of constant change for those who live in Judah and there is no word from God about what it means. Throughout the Old Testament, there are times of trouble. For the most part, these times of trouble are related to immoral kings...

We are studying Paul's letter to the Romans in the Bible study I teach at my church. This week, we looked at Paul's opening argument in chapter one starting with Romans 1:18. Paul is not always easy to read and this text says many controversial things about God's wrath and our sin. Most of us, if we are Christian, understand clearly God's revelation in Jesus Christ. God reveals his love, mercy, and grace toward us in the gospel. But, if God's grace is revealed through the preaching of the gospel, how is God's wrath revealed? Paul says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven." Paul argues that this is against all human ungodliness and unrighteousness which suppresses the truth. It is evident there is a God and that he is the creator. Paul says this is clearly revealed to us through creation. The eternal attributes of God can be clearly seen in the world he created. Humans, however, do not honor God as creator. Instead, we have made idols...