Today we re-read chapter 4 in Romans and also read chapter 5. We took a peek at the end of chapter 6 too. We also read most of the notes associated with chapters 4 and 5 in the Jewish Annotated New Testament.
Sadly, just as we got started, as we were readying the notes, Renee decided she did not understand any of what chapter 4 and what the notes said and suddenly decided to leave the group. She said it was just not making any sense at all to her and she had better things to do.
I agree with Renee, these chapters in Romans are hard to understand. The New Testament has sounded like gibberish to me for most of my life, but I want to understand it. I want to understand too why the words in these chapters seem to mean something to Christians. Although so much of this can be confusing, I am determined to understand it.
For the entire hour, Jo Ann, Karen, and Dave were present, but we did get a quick visit from Athena and my husband Dan was able to join us during this lunch hour. We did miss David. I am sure David would have helped us understand more about what we read today.
Just as Dan joined the group, we were trying to figure out what summarized what we read today. Dan mentioned that Judaism was not just about atoning for sin. He said that the Judaism and the Torah is about this life and is not all about seeking eternal life. It is about a good life here on earth. Paul brought in the ideas associated with Christianity.
When Dave read Chapter 5, we noticed that references to circumcision were repeated over and over again, but Paul was trying to make it clear that there was no difference between Jew or gentile when it came to having faith and following Jesus. Circumcision we learned last week refers to becoming a Jew.
Karen pointed out that all this was about faith. She shared that Paul looked at Jews and gentiles as equals and spoke his messages to all of them, Jew or gentile. She shared that Jews during Paul’s time were very tied to the law, commandments, and clean living. The believers of the time had faith and belief in what Paul shared in chapters 4 and 5 of Romans. It involved faith over observation of the law.
There was a comparison of Adam and Jesus in chapter five. They are opposites according to Paul. Adam is guilty of bringing the whole issue of sin into our world. Jesus is responsible for wiping out sin for those who believe.
We learned that believing in what Jesus did, according to the text, leads to eternal life. Eternal life Dave noticed, is also mentioned again at the end of chapter 6, so it looks like Romans is a book describing how one can obtain eternal life based on belief.
Please…add to my summary if you can. This was hard for me to summarize.
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