Romans

Dr. H often uses the analogy of using different glasses or lenses to read a text. He says that often when we read a text we are influenced by our modern lenses which we read it through—meaning our culture, previous education, personal experience, and societal expectations. Another major lens is religion. Paul used the scriptures to condemn the Christians as blasphemers before his conversion, but after having his experience with the risen Savior on the road to Damascus, he used the same scriptures to prove that Jesus was the very Christ. Paul was then reading the scriptures with new glasses, or through the Christian lens, and he saw that Jesus was in fact everywhere therein.

I have read the book of Romans before, but not through the same lenses as I do now. Throughout my study of the New Testament this semester I have gained a much greater understanding into the culture, circumstances, and beliefs that persisted at the time that this text was written, and it is a very neat experience reading the text from this new perspective. This is not to say that anything I may have learned when reading the book before was incorrect, but merely that I am now able to gain new and different insights than I gained before.

I heard another great analogy in class that I think applies very well to this situation. Paul quotes the Old Testament in his epistle to Timothy: “For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward” (1 Timothy 5:18). Paul was quoting a passage from the Old Testament and applying it to his current situation. The original passage was most likely meant to be taken literally (it was talking about actual oxen), but Paul applied it to his fellow laborers in Christ. Since he applied this scripture that was literally talking about oxen to people, does that make his interpretation incorrect? No, of course not! As long as the application is sound and in harmony with the Gospel, why would it be wrong? I would apply that same analogy to my previous readings in Romans. That is to say, I made valid applications to my life and learned good lessons from interpretation, but I do not think that I understood as well what Paul’s literal meaning was when he wrote (or, rather, dictated).

A beautiful example of this is found in Romans chapter 3. Verses 23 through 26 teach us an amazing lesson about the way our loving Heavenly Father works. It starts by saying that we have all sinned. We have all transgressed—offended the law of God, or perhaps we could even say offended God in our actions. In the typical Greco-Roman culture of the time, if you believed that you had offended your god then you would offer a propitiation, or in other words, a peace offering. This was a gift meant to appease the gods and curb their anger. Although the Israelites did not hold this same view, they still offered burnt offerings of thanksgiving unto Jehovah, and the specified sacrifices in the temple for the atonement of their people. However, what we see here in Romans is completely different. We have offended God, we have sinned against Him, but instead of us offering a sacrifice to Him, he sacrificed His beloved Son to atone for our sins. Our Heavenly Father provided the propitiation for our sins—His Son Jesus Christ.