| Author: | Lance Stewart | ISBN: | 9781476149400 |
| Publisher: | Lance Stewart | Publication: | May 12, 2012 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition | Language: | English |
| Author: | Lance Stewart |
| ISBN: | 9781476149400 |
| Publisher: | Lance Stewart |
| Publication: | May 12, 2012 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition |
| Language: | English |
I hope this may help in understanding the Christian faith. I think that if one book from the New Testament was to explain the depths of Christianity in only one book then it would be Romans. Of course, the Gospel and other books of the Bible do so as well and are indeed very important. I agree with most of what Paul says, but I didn't interpret Romans to what I personally believe but instead to what I believe to be Paul's interpretation of Christianity. There are many interpretations of the Bible and so what I write down as my interpretation as to what I believe Paul was saying is fully open for debate and discussion. Nonetheless, I think this will serve as a good guide toward your walk with the Lord, and for which I am greatly humbled to have a part.
As a side note I think the greatest part of Paul’s testimony for the Lord lies not in his understanding of the faith but in his redemption as a person. Paul, once known as Saul, was a strict Jew who hated Christians and persecuted them. It could also be argued he helped murder some including the martyred Stephen. In Acts, chapters 7-9, the book talks about Saul’s hatred and it is in Chapter nine that we see Saul’s conversion from a Jew who urges the death of the followers of Christ to one of Christianity’s greatest protectors and spreaders of the faith. On a walk one day, Saul is blinded by a light from Heaven and he falls on his face and Jesus asks, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
And Saul asks who is speaking to him and Jesus tells Saul who He is. Saul asks what the Lord would have him do and Jesus tells him to go to Damascus in which he was going and He would tell him there. Saul is temporarily blinded for three days and Christ sends a man named Ananias to him to restore his sight. The restoration of his eyesight is symbolic in the fact that he was once blind to the truth but in accepting Christ he could now see. Even when Christ reveals unto Ananias His purpose for Saul, Ananias doubts and says of the evil Saul has brought upon Christians and how powerful he is in the sight of the Jews, but the Lord answers and says, “Go your way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”
I encourage you to read Acts 7-9, or at least nine to grab a better understanding of the man whose work we’re looking at here. Basically, he was a horrible person who found favor with God and became perhaps the greatest Christian advocate in spreading the teachings and the word of Christ. For this fact, his life speaks so clearly of the love of God. Here you have a bad person that God loves and his life, his past, doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he accepts Christ. The same is with us. Our past doesn’t matter. If you accept Christ this does matter for this is far more important than what roads you traveled to get here. Look at Saul- not exactly the easiest road did he travel. As a Christian I firmly believe the greatest thing we can do is accept Christ. Though that’s good enough, it’s not nearly enough. There is so much more to the love of God and it’s through the knowledge and the following of Christianity that we may see His love.
I hope this may help in understanding the Christian faith. I think that if one book from the New Testament was to explain the depths of Christianity in only one book then it would be Romans. Of course, the Gospel and other books of the Bible do so as well and are indeed very important. I agree with most of what Paul says, but I didn't interpret Romans to what I personally believe but instead to what I believe to be Paul's interpretation of Christianity. There are many interpretations of the Bible and so what I write down as my interpretation as to what I believe Paul was saying is fully open for debate and discussion. Nonetheless, I think this will serve as a good guide toward your walk with the Lord, and for which I am greatly humbled to have a part.
As a side note I think the greatest part of Paul’s testimony for the Lord lies not in his understanding of the faith but in his redemption as a person. Paul, once known as Saul, was a strict Jew who hated Christians and persecuted them. It could also be argued he helped murder some including the martyred Stephen. In Acts, chapters 7-9, the book talks about Saul’s hatred and it is in Chapter nine that we see Saul’s conversion from a Jew who urges the death of the followers of Christ to one of Christianity’s greatest protectors and spreaders of the faith. On a walk one day, Saul is blinded by a light from Heaven and he falls on his face and Jesus asks, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
And Saul asks who is speaking to him and Jesus tells Saul who He is. Saul asks what the Lord would have him do and Jesus tells him to go to Damascus in which he was going and He would tell him there. Saul is temporarily blinded for three days and Christ sends a man named Ananias to him to restore his sight. The restoration of his eyesight is symbolic in the fact that he was once blind to the truth but in accepting Christ he could now see. Even when Christ reveals unto Ananias His purpose for Saul, Ananias doubts and says of the evil Saul has brought upon Christians and how powerful he is in the sight of the Jews, but the Lord answers and says, “Go your way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”
I encourage you to read Acts 7-9, or at least nine to grab a better understanding of the man whose work we’re looking at here. Basically, he was a horrible person who found favor with God and became perhaps the greatest Christian advocate in spreading the teachings and the word of Christ. For this fact, his life speaks so clearly of the love of God. Here you have a bad person that God loves and his life, his past, doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he accepts Christ. The same is with us. Our past doesn’t matter. If you accept Christ this does matter for this is far more important than what roads you traveled to get here. Look at Saul- not exactly the easiest road did he travel. As a Christian I firmly believe the greatest thing we can do is accept Christ. Though that’s good enough, it’s not nearly enough. There is so much more to the love of God and it’s through the knowledge and the following of Christianity that we may see His love.
