Paul's Use Of The Old Testament In The Book Of Romans
Paul's main intention in writing the letter to the Romans was to emphasize that it was essential for society to comprehend that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah. He considered that the Old Testament predicted the Messiah's coming and that he needed to relate to this document in order to provide more information concerning the importance of Jewish traditions. Much of the Book of Romans is concentrated on the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Even with the fact that he wanted to highlight the role Jews played in the general scheme of things, he did not want to paint a distorted people of the Jewish community and he practically considered it to be similar to any other community.
The Book of Romans in general
The Book of Romans is filled with accounts that are especially controversial when regarding things from a religious point-of-view. "Election and divine hardening of human beings" (Abasciano 1). are just some of the topics under discussion in the text, this making it possible for readers to understand that they are dealing with a document that is different from ideas present in the New Testament. The fact that Paul introduced controversial ideas makes the Book of Romans particularly exciting to study.
Paul's interest in creating links between old and new Paul's involvement in the Book of Acts actually emphasizes his interest in demonstrating that Jesus is the promised Jewish Messiah. Paul was determined to show that Jesus was one of David's descendants and he knew that this would play an important role in encouraging Jewish individuals to believe that this was the Messiah. Furthermore, by providing his community with the reality that they were actually no different from other communities that it interacted with, he expected them to accept that they needed to think of Jesus as being their savior. "It seems probable that Jesus' Davidic lineage was proclaimed when Paul established the churches during his missionary preaching"
The Book of Romans is certainly dedicated to highlight the fact that Jesus descends from David. Paul wanted individuals to understand that the common gospel's omission to mention the theme concerning how Jesus was a descendant of David did not actually mean that this person was not actually the Messiah. Paul identifies Jesus as being the Christ in an attempt to emphasize Jesus' Davidic background. What is even more interesting is that Paul does not try to discuss whether or not Jesus is actually the Messiah, as he believes that it would be pointless for someone to argue with regard to something that is obvious. Paul simply wants other people to gain a better understanding of Jesus' role in Jewish tradition in order for them to be able to acknowledge something that he considers to be noticeable.
Jews as sinners according to the Old Testament
The Book of Romans discusses sin in relation to the Jewish community and it is obvious that Paul intended to influence Jews in acknowledging that they too were sinners. Chapter three in the Book of Romans speaks about man's universal sinfulness and it does not attempt to privilege a particular community.
The Book of Romans 3:10-18 is actually concentrated on a series of ideas in the Old Testament with the purpose of showing man's sin. By trying to relate to how all people are sinners, Paul does not attempt to convince Jews that there are other communities that sin. He is actually interested in influencing Jewish individuals to understand that their community is no different from other communities and that they are also sinners as a result of their nature. Paul discusses the beginnings of Jewish tradition as a scene in which the founders of Judaism were saved by faith instead of being saved by works.
Paul did not believe that God intended to favor particular groups and that He was thus interested in saving both Jewish individuals and Gentiles without making exceptions. He related to how even with the fact that Jews initially appeared to be privileged, their rejection of Jesus played an important role in convincing God to consider that it was in the world's best interest for Him to save both Jewish individuals and Gentiles. By taking on this attitude, Paul expected Jewish individuals to accept their sins and to get actively involved in praising Jesus as the true Messiah.
Paul's legacy
While Paul was mainly focused on individuals living contemporary to him, his work can also be applied today in the case of present-day Jewish communities. While Jewish communities in the...
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