Romans Ch.1 & 2

Throughout Romans we see the word righteousness. Paul tells us that a righteousness from God is revealed by faith. He is referring to Christ. He also states that the righteous will live by their faith, not through obedience. However, let's not forget that faith without works is dead. We can't work our way into Heaven. It's a free gift. But God also reminds us that it's not a license to do as we please.

Next Paul discusses the wrath of God and the actions of those deserving of it. It's interesting that gossipers are included in the same boat as murderers and God-haters. As Christians we sometimes look down on others because their sins are "worse" than ours. But God cannot tolerate any sin. None. It's not that He's waiting to punish evil sinners. He wants all of us to return to Him. In fact it's God's kindness, not a fear of punishment, that leads us to repentance.

The law is also a common theme in Romans. The law is inherent. Jesus summed it up with 2 commandments: Love God and love your neighbor. When a person (even an unbeliever) follows one of these out of instinct, it confirms God's truth. As Christians, we are not judged based on the law. Rather, our salvation comes only from the Righteousness of God that we talked about earlier.

Paul talks about the Jews and the Gentiles regarding the law. To the Jews who were bragging about their relationship to God, Paul gave them a sobering reminder which came straight from the OT, "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." And as I read it, the word Gentiles just didn't quite seem right. We could easily replace it with the word outsiders. Like the Jews, we can get caught up in our oh-so-fake image meanwhile we are dying on the inside. Paul compares it to the act of circumcision. It means nothing if is only done outwardly. There has to be a circumcision of the heart.