Romans Articles in Bible Study Magazine

In the latest issue of Bible Study Magazine there are some articles on Romans by Preston Sprinkle, Nijay Gupta, John Barry, and even Michael Bird!

Here’s an excerpt from my article on “Paul the Pastoral Mediator”:

The challenges that faced the church in Rome would be staggering for any leader to deal with—deep ethnic and legal battles that were threatening to split the community. Paul addressed these issues in a letter—to a church he had never visited. Paul had been through vitriolic debates before in Antioch, Galatia and Corinth, and he didn’t want the Roman churches to experience the same conflict. He needed to show them that, despite their different convictions, they could still accept one another and serve God together. Paul identifies the “weak” and “strong” in this conflict. While it’s easy to assume that the weak were exclusively Jewish Christians and the “strong” were exclusively Gentiles, Paul (a Jewish Christian) numbers himself among the strong (Rom 14:14). Also, some Gentile converts to Judaism may have had conservative views on Law observance. But however the lines were drawn, they were drawn. Those who were weak in the congregation were easily offended by those who were strong. The strong looked down on the weak. Ultimately, Paul wanted those who disagreed to mutually affirm each other. God is glorified when we accept each other as Christ accepts us—despite our differences.