Romans: An overview
Romans:
Romans is, in many ways, Paul's magnum opus of systematic theology. Among the issues it deals with are the tension between Law and Grace, the nature of salvation and sanctification, and the ultimate fate of Israel. A key word in the book is "righteousness," which, along with its cognate "justification" occurs peppered throughout the text.
We generally read this term in the moral sense, but NT Wright suggests that we should instead be reading it in a covenant sense. In other words, think in terms of replacing the word "righteous" with the word "faithful," indicating a keeping faith with the terms of the covenant. We'll also explore a broader definition of "Law" as pertaining not only to the commandments, thus resulting in a blind legalism, but rather pertaining to the overall story of the Torah, This may help to explain Paul's sometimes seemingly contradictory statements about the Law. He is not referring so much to the role of the commandments as to the governing narrative of God's people.
Created over 4 years ago
