Biblical Worldview: Romans 1-8 Teaching
My analysis of Romans chapter 1-8 will cover the following areas of interest; culture, the natural world, human relationships, and human identity. Paul was inspired to write the book of Romans by the fault line, an obvious crack in the Roman society and culture which Paul adopted in framing his letter to the Romans. My view of the world is that, the sins the Romans committed since the days of Paul have not stopped even today (Ecclesiastes 1:9). I think we can learn an important lesson from Paul's letter to the Romans in that, Rome at that time was suffering severe moral decadence and the society we have today has been ravaged by total moral decay just like Rome. In my opinion, the society generally is not likely to change and that every individual needs some kind of divine intervention and revelation and salvation to be saved from such a world. This forms the basis of my worldview. The only way to escape is by Faith[footnoteRef:1]. [1: Jackson, Christopher. "Worldview essay on romans chapters 1-8." 2014. Accessed April 14, 2016 https://wordofGodGodGodGod1968.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/worldview-essay-on-romans-chapters-1-8/]
The Natural World
My opinion of the natural world as we have it today is one that constantly dwells in sin, sexual pervasion, murder and more sins are being committed today as they were being committed back in the days as mentioned in Genesis 6:5 (Romans chapter 1:18-32) Back in the days of Paul, Rome was filled with every imaginable sin[footnoteRef:2]. We see things like worshipping creation instead of God the creator. There were pagans everywhere; Moralists believed that achieving salvation and redemption without any divine help was easy. My wife's grandparents are one good example. They held the belief that simply living a good life and doing good outwardly were enough to make them see the gates of heaven which contrasts starkly with Romans 3:10. In the world today, the same type of sins committed in the past are still being committed that too with increased intensity due to influences like the internet, because sin is propagated with more ease and we are all interconnected. In the past, Rome worshipped several Gods because the more countries the Romans conquered, the more Gods they adopted and put them in...
The aim of this was for the Romans to enjoy certain favors with the people they have conquered and win their minds and trusts. In Romans chapter 1, Paul covers this subject because there was a fault line or an issue, a crack in the Roman culture and society and addressed this issue using the Roman Church[footnoteRef:3]. [2: Piper, John. "The Mighty and Merciful Message of Romans 1-8." 2002. Accessed April 14, 2016 http://www.desiringGodGodGodGod.org/messages/the-mighty-and-merciful-message-of-romans-1-8] [3: Jackson, Christopher]
Human Identity
Paul, in both the saved and unsaved, Jews and Gentiles, identified the human identity. According to Romans 2:15, Paul says, the Jews did not have the law, but the Gentiles did. In spite of the obvious difference, Paul opines that whether there is a law to abide by or not, every human stands condemned. (Romans 2:12) Paul continues by saying that whether the people have sinned according to the law or not, they all still stand condemned. Importantly, the Jews are often held in a much higher standard than the Gentiles. The human identity remains that, whether or not we are Jews or Gentiles, we all stand condemned by God in the same way but to varying degrees[footnoteRef:4]. But according to Paul, all humanity is doomed due to their numerous evil deeds, thoughts and actions. (Romans 7:9), Under Paul's explanation, knowing the law brought death and condemnation in the world. From personal interactions, people hold the belief that it is possible for them to be just nice and that alone is good enough to help them enter heaven and become righteous. Man has always had the tendency to make assumptions on issues about God, he is a loving God, no doubt, but because there is no sin in his presence (1st John 1:5), God needs to deal with the issue of sin and separate himself from sin. God cannot exist in the same place with sin[footnoteRef:5]. There is no difference between the Rome of Paul's era and our world today. Therefore, I again point to Ecclesiastes 1:9. [4: Turner, Eddie. "A Christian's worldview from Romans 1-8."2015. Accessed April 14, 2016 http://www.palestineherald.com/community/a-christian-s-worldview-from-romans/article_1070760e-8426-11e5-994f-2b27b8170b1b.html] [5: Jackson, Christopher]
Human…
