Read Through the Bible in a Year 2018 Day 326: Context

Good morning, everyone!

Today I read Romans 1-3.

There are quite a few verses I could talk about today, but I'm going to do something a little different to kick off our study of Romans.

The book of Romans is actually a letter written by Paul to the Romans to tell them about the gospel of Christ. It is one of many that he wrote while in prison.

Many of Paul's letters are in the New Testament, and we'll get to them later as well. Before we do, I wanted to take a moment here at the beginning of Romans to talk about context.

Sometimes, reading Paul's letters can feel like he's hitting you over the head, as though you've done something wrong. The reason some of his letters are worded so strongly is because he was writing them for a specific group of people, specifically the churches in different areas, who professed to know Jesus and to follow Him, but were doing all the wrong things, according to their own desires.

Context means taking into account who Paul was writing to, and why he was writing to them. The purpose of his letters.

I have been following a great Bible study on Youtube, and there was recently a lesson on context. It was super informative, and I encourage you to listen to it.

So, moving forward into Paul's letters, I hope we can all remember to keep it in context. Some of it may be strong, or it may feel like Paul is scolding.

Some of it may seem like he's talking to us, or about people we know. Some of what he says may seem like it applies to your generation, or my generation.

And perhaps it does. Perhaps something Paul wrote will speak to us, teach us, or encourage us to change something in our lives that we know to be wrong.

But if we don't keep it in context - in this case, Paul is writing to the Romans - then sometimes Paul can seem abrasive.

So, that's what I wanted to share today. I hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Romans 4-7.