Romanizing

How do we live together in peace when we disagree?  Paul’s answer might surprise you.  In this bonus episode, we explore Paul’s teaching on the “weak” and “strong” and the disputable matters they're grappling over.  Turns out, they're issues that still divide Christians today.

Finally, we crest into Romans 8, at high-altitude.  Paul announces an earth-shaking reality:  there is now no condemnation (i.e. death) for those in Christ Jesus.  What the Law couldn’t do, God did.  Sin is condemned, not you.  And everything from here on runs on the Spirit, not the flesh.

It's the most debated passage in the Bible.  Paul describes the maddening tug-of-war between wanting to do good and watching our flesh sabotage us like it has its own agenda. Call it "Sanctification Tension," call it Spider-Man syndrome, call it “Why on earth did I do that?”  Whatever you call it, every Christian feels the war.

This week, we crack open Romans 6–7 and watch Paul prove that Sin isn’t just bad behavior - it’s an active hunter , and Law is the very weapon it uses to kill us. We dig into why you cannot mix law and grace systems, why the “Law of Christ” isn’t a legal code demanding perfection, and why being “under grace” doesn’t mean moral free-for-all but a change of allegiances . 

Grace super-increases over sin, but does that mean we can live however we want?  Paul says absolutely not.  In Romans 6, he explains that Christians have died to sin by being buried with Christ in baptism, and now live a resurrected life.  This episode dives into what actually happened when we obeyed the gospel, why sin is no longer our master, and how sanctification begins.   If you aren't dead? ...

Adam wrecked everything by introducing sin into the world.  But Jesus doesn’t just patch it up, He completely reverses the Fall.  Paul shows how one man’s sin unleashed death itself, but one Man’s selfless gift unleashes grace's unstoppable, overwhelming force.  It never runs out.

Think Abraham’s promise was exclusively for Jewish folks? Paul says nope - if you’ve got faith, you’re family. We’ll trace how the promise to Abraham runs straight to Jesus, and how faith, not performance, brings peace with God and access, a pipeline, to grace.

Abraham’s story demonstrates righteousness by faith, not by law.  We chew on how God’s promise comes by grace so it can rest on faith.  And David shows up to give corroborating evidence. 

How exactly can a perfect God reconcile fallen humanity?  It’s the mystery of atonement:  paying for sin, and repairing an irreparably damaged relationship.  God provides - and receives - the perfect sacrifice.

Everybody’s guilty, and without a defense strategy.  But in one of the most important passages in the Bible, Paul proclaims justification by faith, apart from flawless commandment keeping.  Nobody expected it.

Paul turns his guns on religious people who think they’re exempt.  God’s judgment is impartial, and true obedience is a matter of the heart.

The wrath of God is revealed against human sin.  Paul shows how idolatry and evil leads to moral collapse, and why the world desperately needs the gospel.  We introduce three standards of judgement that might surprise you.  And everyone is in big trouble as he moves his  "condemnation" argument forward.

Paul introduces his letter with a central theme: the revelation of the gospel as God’s power to save.  We chew on the famous declaration, “The righteous shall live by faith,” and begin to investigate the origins of God’s wrath.

Tired of trying to be good enough, and then blowing it, yet again?  Tired of looking down the barrel of impossible expectations?  You need some good news.  There’s a way.  Romans can help.