Discussion Forum 5: Galatians
Provide 2 quotes from Paul’s letter to the Galatians that show emotion, sarcasm, earthy language or metaphors.Testament Reading: Galatians.please. only. use. the. sources provided no outside sources. thank you.
New Testament Reading: the Letter of Paul to the Churches in Galatia
Galatians chapter 1  LinkLinks to an external site.
Galatians chapter 2  LinkLinks to an external site.
Galatians chapter 3  LinkLinks to an external site.
Galatians chapter 4  LinkLinks to an external site.
Galatians chapter 5  LinkLinks to an external site.
Galatians chapter 6  LinkLinks to an external site.
The Letter of Paul
to the churches in Galatia
Structure of the Letter
I. Salutation 1.1-5
II. Thanksgiving — No thanksgiving
III. Body 1.6 – 4.31
IV. Ethical Exhortations and Instructions 5.1 – 6.15
V. Closing 6.15 – 6.18
In this letter, there is no Thanksgiving!
Also, in the Closing, there is no Greeting and no Kiss.
This tells us that something is terribly wrong.
There is a curse for Paul’s opponents* right from the start
1.6-9 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called
you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – not that
there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want
to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven
should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you,
Let him be accursed.”
*Opponents are traveling Christian preachers who come into churches after Paul has left.
Notice: the earthy language here – “let him be accursed”
and sarcasm – “even if … an angel from heaven should preach another gospel …”
The letter ends with a blessing 6.15-16
“For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision
but a new creation. Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule.”
So Galatians is said to be a magical letter
cursing some and blessing others.
In Galatians, Paul is defending his gospel and apostleship.
He states that his gospel is one of freedom,
freedom from the religious law and
freedom from the sins that trap us.
Traveling preachers are bringing what Paul sees as a false gospel,
a different gospel than Paul’s.
So he must defend himself and his gospel.
They are requiring that the Gentile Galatians
follow the Jewish law to be good Christians.
He has a polemic against the law throughout the letter.
The first accusation:
They (the opponents) say Paul is just being a people pleaser
and that is why he didn’t make them follow the law.
In 1.11-2.14, Paul’s defends his apostleship and his gospel.
He states how zealous of a Jew he was
hunting down and persecuting Christians.
This shows he is not an easy-going people pleaser.
1.13 “You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently
persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in
Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age for I was far more
zealous for the traditions of my ancestors.”
This is his defense to the accusation that he is a “people-pleaser.”
The second accusation: They accuse him of making up his gospel.
1.11 “For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was
proclaimed by me is not of human origin; (12) for I did not receive it from a
human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus
Christ.”
Based on his polemical argument here,
it appears that the opponents
accuse Paul of making up his gospel.
So he provides a chronological account of his life
showing that what he teaches is from God and Jesus,
and that the pillars of the church approved it (Peter and James).
First, Paul says that he was called by God,
that God planned before he was born,
that he would be an apostle.
1.15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born
and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me,
so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles …
Second, he writes of how he received what he teaches.
1.12 I received it (the gospel he teaches) through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”
Third, after conversion, he went to Arabia for 3 years
to be alone and pray – like the Desert Fathers.
So no person influenced what he teaches.
1.16 “I did not confer with any human being,
(17) nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me,
but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.
(18) Then after three years …”
Fourth, only then,
did he go to Jerusalem and talk to Peter and James (1.18)
Fifth, after Jerusalem,
he went to Syria and Cilicia to start churches
teaching his gospel for 14 years.
Paul is showing that his gospel is not man-made
that there is no one he could have gotten his gospel from
except God, Jesus, Peter, and James.
In Galatians 2.1-10, Paul describes The Jerusalem Conference.
This is where the leaders of the Church – James, Peter, and John
approved Paul’s gospel.
2.2 “After 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus
along with me. I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them …
the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was
not running, or had run, in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not
compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
Notice: metaphor – running
This polemical argument shows
that the traveling preachers in Galatia
are requiring the Galatians to be circumcised
and to follow the Jewish Law in general.
(This is the same type of opponents as in Philippians and 2 Corinthians.)
Also, at this Conference
James, Peter, and John commissioned Paul to be
“the Apostle to the Gentiles.”
Peter had been commissioned to be the Apostle to the Jews.
Galatians 2.11-14 is about The Antioch Incident.
This was a controversy between Peter and Paul
at the Church in Antioch concerning the law.
A little history from the Book of Acts:
Peter had a revelation from God
that all foods were acceptable,
overturning the Jewish dietary laws.
Paul says, “and then when some men of the Jerusalem church,
people from James (not James himself) saw Peter eating non-kosher foods”
he was intimidated and backed down from his convictions.
Even Barnabas caved in to “the circumcision party” (2.12).
(“Party” is used in the sense of a faction).
So Paul confronted Peter.
This confrontation is the Antioch Incident.
Paul said to Peter:
“If you though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew,
how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Paul told Peter
that following these rules is a perversion of the gospel.
Why?
Because it takes away from the real emphasis
which is the Spirit.
Dietary laws have to do with the flesh.
Paul’s view is that the gospel is about the spirit.
Paul’s gospel (so far in Galatians)
1. no circumcision
2. no dietary laws
Both are about the flesh.
2.15-21
“If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
For Paul, Christianity is about faith in following the Way.
Early Christianity was called the Way.
When you bring in the law, you nullify what Christ did.
3.1 – 4.31 Paul says that they have been bewitched:
“Oh foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
Having begun with the spirit,
are you now ending with the flesh?”
Notice: earthy language – foolish, bewitched
Paul is saying that mature Christianity
is not about following the laws, the do’s and don’ts,
– that has to do with the body and the flesh.
Mature Christianity is about the spirit within.
He says, the Galatians even had miracles happening
and still they are not sure if they need to be doing more.
Someone has “bewitched” them,
telling them they need to be following the Jewish laws.
In chapters 3 and 4
Paul explains why faith is more important than law.
He provides 6 examples from the Old Testament.
1. Abraham believed (had faith in) God’s promises.
Genesis says that Abraham would be rewarded for his faith
by becoming the father of many “ethne” which means nations,
but it can also mean Gentiles.
So Paul capitalizes on this dual meaning, saying in 3.8 that
the Gentiles are the sons of Abraham too because of their faith.
2. Genesis also says that Abraham “believed God.”
And this belief was considered “righteousness.”
Therefore, believing God is righteousness.
3. Abraham’s act of belief was before
the giving of the law to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
So justification by faith takes precedence over
justification by works (following the laws).
4. According to the law,
Jesus was cursed because he broke the law.
“Cursed be anyone who breaks the law”
according to the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.
Paul argues that therefore,
there is something wrong with the law.
This is what is meant in 3.13
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
having become a curse for us.”
The Greek word for redeemed is exegorasen
which means “paid the price to buy back a slave.”
We were slaves under the law and slaves of sin.
Christ paid the price with his life
to show that the law is wrong.
(Recall how often Jesus broke the law in the gospels.)
Notice: earthy language – exegorasen, a term used for slaves
2.21 If you make the law your focus
“you nullify what Christ did” says Paul.
Paul is very serious here that Gentile (non-Jewish) Christians
should not submit to the Jewish laws.
5. Paul then argues that the Mosaic Law
came 430 years after the covenant with Abraham.
Since no one changes a will or covenant after a person has died,
Abraham’s covenant (that God would bless his descendants)
was based on Abraham’s “belief” and cannot be changed
by the Mosaic law which came later.
These descendants are those who have faith like Abraham.
Notice: earthy language – a legal will
Before he gets to the 6th reason, in the next section,
Paul discusses what is Good about the law.
3.24
Between the time of Moses and Christ
the Law functioned as a paidogogos.
This is a Greek word meaning governess,
a teacher of small children.
Notice: earthy language – a governess
With the coming of Christ, however
the law has been superseded.
Mature Christians no longer need to be under
the authority of the law,
just as grown children
no longer need a governess.
Galatians 3.26
“For in Christ Jesus,
You are all sons and daughters of God through faith.”
You are a son of God, like Jesus.
The Gospel of John said the same thing.
The next point Paul makes:
If we all are sons and daughters of God
then we are in the same family,
and in the same family there are no distinctions.
Galatians 3.28
“There is neither Jew nor Greek,
There is neither slave nor free,
There is neither male nor female,
For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This means that no distinctions are to be made
between people who are different. Treat all people the same.
Galatians 3.28 is Paul’s famous line of equality.
Know it, learn it, tattoo it on your arm.
Don’t let any preacher or church tell you
that because you are a woman you are some how less than a man.
image: Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Supreme Court Judge
The 6th reason why faith is more important than law:
In Galatians 4, Paul uses an allegory of Hagar and Sarah.
He says we are not the children of the slave woman Hagar
but of the free woman Sarah (Abraham’s wife).
We are children stemming from the faith of Abraham
and his wife Sarah who was a free woman,
therefore we are children of freedom.
Galatians 5.4
“You who would be justified by the law,
have fallen away from grace.”
“For through the Spirit, by faith,
we wait for the hope of righteousness” (5.5).
This shows Christianity is a process again as in 1 Corinthians,
that even though baptized, we have not yet reached a state
of pure righteousness; that over time through turning to God in faith,
the Spirit transforms you
into greater and greater degrees of righteousness.
5.1 “For freedom, Christ has set you free.
Stand firm, therefore and do not submit to a yoke of slavery.”
Notice: earthy language – yoke of slavery
So now having gone through all the examples of the Old Testament
showing why Christians are free from the law,
he says we are free from the law because
we follow a higher Law.
What???
This metaphorical law is
“Faith working through Love” (5.6)
Paul realizes that some people will say,
Hey, we don’t have to follow the law,
so we can do whatever we want.
Right? No, says Paul.
5.16 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters,
only do no use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence …
Galatians 5.13-14
“Do not use your freedom for an opportunity for the flesh,
but through love be servants of one another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word,
‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
In chapter 5
Paul sets up a dichotomy between flesh and spirit.
He says flesh and spirit are opposed to each other.
If you satisfy the desires of the flesh,
you are working against the spirit.
In 5.19-21 Paul lists the works of the flesh:
“Fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife,
jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions,
factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing
and things like these.”
He contrasts this with the Fruit of the Spirit
5.22-23 “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.
There is no law against such things.”
Fruit of the Spirit:
1. LOVE
2. joy
3. peace
4. patience
5. kindness
6. goodness
7. faithfulness
8. gentleness
9. self-control
Against such, there is no law.
You are growing your spirit.
A tree has to grow a long time before it produces fruit.
5.15
“We await the hope of righteousness,” he says.
6.7
“Whatever one sows, so shall they reap.
One who sows to the flesh,
will reap from the flesh corruption
But one who sows to the spirit,
will from the spirit reap eternal life.”
This wisdom from Paul can change your life. Feed your fleshly cravings and it
grows like a beast; starve them, and it dies. Feed your spirit, and your spirit
grows strong and powerful, giving you miraculous powers.
— Something to think about.
Treat one another with
Love and gentleness (Galatians 5.13).
Summary
1. Christ tore down the restricting wall of the law
2. To follow it again would nullify his work
3. Christians are to follow Christ, who followed
the spirit and the higher law of LOVE
4. We are to feed the spirit (not the flesh)
5. We serve one another in love.
Closing remarks: 6.16
“Neither circumcision counts, nor un-circumcision, but a New Creation.”
What he means by a New Creation is that we are
transformed into higher and higher spiritual beings.
Note: There are only two times in Paul’s Undisputed Letters
where he says, “I write this with my own hand.”
1. In Philemon, because he wants to invoke the idea of a legal document
“I will repay whatever financial damage Onesimus has caused you Philemon.”
2. In Galatians, 6.11
Because he is extremely frustrated at the Galatians.
He writes in large letters a summary of his main point:
NO! It is not about the law! It’s about the spirit!
“See what large letters I make when I am writing in my own hand!”
He is angry in this letter and says:
“I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves”! (5.12)
In very earthy language, Paul is saying that he wishes that the traveling preachers
who are insisting that the Gentile Christians become circumcised like the Jews,
would castrate themselves.
Now we see why there is no Thanksgiving in this letter.
Summary:
Traveling preachers have come into the churches of Galatia
after Paul had established them. They are teaching the new Christians
that they must follow the Jewish law which includes circumcision.
Paul provides 6 reasons, based on the Old Testament, as to why this is wrong.
Paul also says that the law applies to the flesh,
while Christianity is about the spirit.
He calls us to grow in the spirit.
To do this, one is to starve the flesh and feed the spirit.
In this way, we become new transformed beings.
Lecture on Galatians by Prof. J. Corey, Ph.D., Victor Valley College
Paul’s letter
to the Romans
Introduction
Paul addresses the letter to the church in Rome in 58 CE from Corinth.
He sends this letter with Phoebe, who is the courier of the letter
and a deacon of the church of Cenchreae.
Cenchreae is a port city right next to Corinth.
16.1 “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae.”
Reasons to write the letter to the Church at Rome
1. In 15.23-29 we find out the first reason for Paul’s letter.
“But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since
I have longed for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I
go to Spain, and to be sent on my way by you, once I have enjoyed your
company for a little while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem with
aid for the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some
contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem; they were pleased to
do it, and indeed they are in debt to them, for if the Gentiles have come to
share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in
material blessings. When therefore I have completed this, and have delivered
to them what has been raised I shall go on by way of you to Spain.”
Paul is on his way to Jerusalem first to bring the collection for the poor.
After Jerusalem, he is planning to go to Spain to start churches there.
Since Rome is on the way to Spain,
he is planning on making a visit to the church there.
He may want to have Rome as a base of operation into Spain.
Jerusalem is in bottom right corner of map. Rome is in upper left corner.
So he sends this letter with Phoebe,
a deacon at the church of Cenchreae,
to inform the people at the church in Rome that he is coming.
However,
he never makes it to Spain
because he gets arrested in Jerusalem,
appeals to Caesar because he is a Roman citizen,
and then is transferred from the Jerusalem prison to a prison in Rome
where he will be executed a few years later (somewhere between 64 to 68 CE).
2. The second reason Paul writes this letter
concerns the historical-social context in Rome.
In the late 40s, there was rioting between Jews and Christians in Rome.
It was so bad that in 49 CE Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome.
This decree is called the Edict of Claudius.
All Christians were expelled too because there was no formal distinction yet
between Jews and Christians. In 54, Emperor Nero rescinded this edict
and all Jews and Christians were allowed to return.
Paul is writing to the church in Rome in 58 CE
because there is still tension between Jews and Christians.
Paul wants the Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians to get along.
So he writes this long letter explaining why the Jews should be respected
and why the Gentile Christians should be respected.
He addresses the deep reasons for the conflict
between Jews and Christians.
Structure of the letter to the Romans
Part I: chapters 1-4 Salutation, thanksgiving, address to Jewish Christians
and the Judicial Model of Salvation
Part II: chapters 5-11 address to Gentile Christians and the Participation
Model of Salvation
Part III: chapters 12-15 Exhortations
Part IV: chapter 16 Greetings sent to Paul’s fellow workers
Part I: chapters 1-4
1.1,7 Salutations from Paul to those in Rome “called to be saints.”
1.2 God promised a messiah
1.3 who would be descended from David according to the flesh
1.4 who would be called Son of God according to the spirit because of his resurrection
Chapters 1-4 are primarily addressed to the Jewish Christians in Rome
The purpose of these chapters is to
1. show that Jesus is the expected Jewish messiah
2. and to explain that God hardened the heart of the Jews
SO THAT the message of salvation could go out to the Gentiles,
like God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that the miracles of the Exodus
could display God’s power. All who witnessed the miracles of the Exodus
or the death of Jesus would remember.
By the Jews rejecting Jesus,
they opened the door to the Gentiles accepting Jesus.
The Judicial Model of Salvation
In religious sacrificial systems in older religions, a price must be paid to cover sins,
like a judge demanding payment for a crime.
This is called atonement or expiation.
One takes action to pay for wrongdoings
(such as pay a fine, sacrifice an animal or sacrifice a virgin to appease the gods)
or one can do something good to make up for a misdeed.
Using the Judicial model, Paul presents Jesus’s death as payment for our sins.
This model is found in 3.25 and then again in 8.32.
Paul says that God put forth Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood.
Part II: Address to Gentile Christians and the Participation Model
In this section, Paul presents the Participation Model of Salvation.
1. In this model, salvation depends on faith in Christ,
our faith in God and Christ, pulls us into a unity with Christ.
He says in chapter 7, salvation is about faith, not works (7.32)
“Works” is about following the 613 laws in the Hebrew bible.
However, Paul is in favor of following the 10 commandments.
His point is that following the laws won’t get you into heaven.
2. We participate in the death of Christ through baptism.
Paul makes an analogy, that when Christians undergo baptism
(going under water) it is like Christ dying and being buried in a tomb.
Paul says we are united with Christ in death.
“For if we have been united with him in a death like his,
we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (6.5).
3. Participation requires becoming like Jesus in our behavior (imitation)
Life in Christ is a new life for the individual (6.4)
“If you walk according to the spirit, the spirit of God will dwell in you” (8.4,9).
“For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God” (Romans 8.14)
So Jesus is not the one and only son of God for Paul.
Paul says the old self was crucified with Jesus
so that the sinful body might be destroyed
and we might no longer be enslaved to sin (6.6).
As Christians, Paul says, we are dead to sin (or should be)
and are alive to God in Christ Jesus (6.11).
Paul states, that you can either be a slave to sin which leads to shame and death,
or follow a path of righteousness that leads to sanctification (holiness)
and eternal life (6.16-22).
Christians partake of the righteousness of Christ.
Christians partake of the grace of Christ.
Through Jesus comes grace.
Graciousness overflows to those who unite with Christ (5.21).
Those who are called are being conformed to the image of the Son (8.29)
to become sons of God.
4. Another means of participation is “bearing fruit for God.”
In Romans 7.4 it states, “You have died to the law through the body of Christ
(because as he explained in Galatians, the law is no longer valid because
it was through the law that Christ was executed),
so that you may belong to him who has been raised from the dead,
in order that we may bear fruit for God.”
(Paul described the fruits of the spirit in 1 Corinthians 12).
But, he states, that the law is good and holy (Romans 7.12)
and functions as a teacher (as he said in Galatians) teaching us right and wrong.
5. Further participation includes suffering with Christ
so that we may be glorified with Christ (Romans 8.17).
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
The Greeks have a saying, “from suffering comes learning.”
Paul has stressed the importance of suffering in his letters.
In Romans 5.3f he explains the good of suffering:
“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”
So suffering produces character.
When you go through hard times, you are growing spiritually.
6. Further participation includes the whole creation.
Paul says that the whole creation is in process, moving from decay to glory
(Romans 8.21).
“In everything, God works for good with those who love him.” (8.28)
This means that in good times and bad times,
all works together for our eventual happiness.
Remember, suffering builds character and spiritual growth.
As Jesus is now at the right hand of God (not “seated” at the right hand of God)
he intercedes for us (8.34).
“For neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8.39).
In chapters 9-11 Paul expresses deep sadness, “unceasing anguish” in his heart
for his kinsmen, the Jews, because salvation has gone out from them
to the Gentiles. He looks at the history of Jews and sees all the work
that God has done among his people. He says,
to them belongs “the sonship of God (Israel is God’s son), the glory,
the covenant, the law, the worship, and the promises,
the patriarchs and of their race according to the flesh is the Christ” (9.4-5).
According to textual analysis for 9.5
the verse has different variants in the early manuscripts:
Some manuscripts have, “to them (the Jews) belong the patriarchs, and from
them, according to the flesh, comes the messiah, who is over all, God blessed
forever, Amen.”
Other manuscripts have, “to them (the Jews) belong the patriarchs, and from
them, according to the flesh, comes the messiah. May he who is God over all be
blessed forever, Amen.”
Since Paul never equates Jesus with God in his other writings,
the second variant here would be keeping with his own theology.
Here are some of the verses which show a distinction between God and Jesus for Paul:
1 Thes 1.10, 1 Cor 15.24, 2 Cor 1.3, Philippians 2.9
Continuing with Paul’s address to the Gentiles in this letter,
it is because of the Jews,
because of God working through history with the Jews,
that salvation has come to the Gentiles.
So the Gentiles should not boast or be conceited
but should appreciate where Christ has come from (11.25).
Christ has come from Israel and the Jews (11.20).
God has been kind to you Gentiles, says Paul,
so you should be kind to the Jews (11.25).
The Jews are beloved by God (11.28).
All of Israel will be saved (11.26)
but for now their hearts have been hardened so that
salvation may be offered to the Gentiles.
Part III: Chapters 12 – 15 Exhortations
In this section Paul presents instructions, saying to
present your bodies as a holy, living sacrifice (12.1).
Use the gifts (talents) that God has given you
whether it is gifts of prophecy, service, teaching,
being merciful, cheerful, or the ability to give monetary gifts.
Love one another and do not be arrogant.
Do not be overcome by evil
but overcome evil with good.
Do not be conformed to this world
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.
Exhortations continue in chapters 13 and 14
Paul states, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (13.1).
Paul has never said anything like this in his previous letters.
In fact, he tells slaves that if they can get their freedom, then they should do so
in 1 Corinthians 14.7.
The reason Paul says to obey the governing authorities in Romans
is because Christians and Jews had been banished from Rome
for causing conflict years before.
So this verse
needs to be taken in its social historical context.
The full verse of Romans 13.1
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God.”
That governmental authority is from God is the opposite view expressed
in the gospel of Matthew 4.8-9. When Satan is bribing Jesus in the desert,
he offers him “all the kingdoms of the world.” He couldn’t do this, if he didn’t
have authority over them. So either Satan is a liar in these passages, or
Matthew and Paul have a different opinion regarding who is in control of
government. A quick glance back through history shows that there are good
rulers and bad rulers (President Washington, President Lincoln, Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Putin.)
Further exhortations:
Follow the 10 commandments and love your neighbor (13.9).
Paul gets this straight from the Old Testament.
Love is the fulfillment of the Law (13.10).
“Don’t get into arguments” (14.1)
He elaborates on this.
For example, if someone wants to be a vegetarian, let them (14.3).
“Who are you to judge?” he asks (14.4).
Some celebrate holidays, other do not (14.5).
Don’t judge. We will all face the judgment seat of God (14.10).
So with this, he is giving advice to help them get along.
Chapter 15
Paul says to pray for him,
that he may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea.
But, as it turned out, he would be arrested in Jerusalem
and would never make it to the church in Rome.
Part IV: Greetings Paul sends to his fellow workers
I commend to you our sister Phoebe (the courier of the letter), a deaconess of
the church of Cenchreae, that you may receive her in the Lord as befits the saints
(16.1).
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus who risked their
necks for my life…greet also the church in their house.”
“Greet Adronicus and Junias (called Julia in some manuscripts) my compatriots who
were fellow prisoners with me. They are prominent among the apostles” (16.7).
Here Paul refers to the woman Junia/Julia as an apostle.
There are many other men and women he sends greetings to.
Women co-workers of Paul in this chapter include Phoebe, Prisca, Mary,
Narcissus, Julia, Persis, Tryphena, and Tryphosa.
Paul’s scribe Tertius pens this letter by Paul to the Romans (16.22).
Lecture by Prof. J. Corey, Ph.D., Victor Valley College