Day: June 10, 2026

“Where Romans Lands” Summer Intensive with N.T. Wright was organized by Admirato.org.

Why did Paul compose this letter to the Romans?

Paul hoped to travel to Rome. He wanted to introduce himself and wanted their help on his way to Spain. In other words, perhaps Paul wrote Romans because he wanted to go to Spain. Perhaps God let Paul dream of going to Spain so he would write Romans.

What does it mean that the Christian existence is an embodied one?

“Soul” is not a non-physical reality according to the Hebrew mind. It is really about the “whole self.” Human beings are not embodied souls. We have God’s breath within us! His breath animates us and helps us become a source of life and worship and love. Of course, our bodies decay and we die. The resurrection ensures we will be embodied again in the new heaven and earth even after we die.

For some, “presenting your body as a living sacrifice” means kneeling, raising hands, and so on. Others get into moving around without remembering the reasons for the moving. You can also slip into “looking at me God!”

When I kneel down I am humble, and I cannot escape.

“What you do with your body affects all of who you are”

– C.S. Lewis

How do we respond to culture?

We do not totally reject culture nor totally embrace it.

Learn from those who understand trends in our culture.

Why does Paul want us to renew our mind and how do we do that?

Learning how to think as well as what to think are both important. Paul believed that our thoughts affect how we view the world and God and others and lead to our actions.

The devil does his best work not by giving us ideas but by keeping them out.

How should we view spiritual gifts?

Paul seems to list different gifts each time because there are so many gifts! We may exhibit several of these spiritual gifts. Our gifts may change throughout our lives as well.

“God loves you and has a terrible plan for your wife.” 🙂

With all of his giftedness, Paul never seemed to get set in his ways. He rebuked but he also wrote about the love of God so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13.

What should we consider about the way the world views Paul as an angry religious leader?

Speaking of Paul, George Bernard Shaw said:

“He does nothing that Jesus would have done, and says nothing that Jesus would have said.”
– George Bernard Shaw

All of life in the ancient world was lived in public. Paul’s communities loved him!

How do we handle the curses that Paul seems to express with his admonition to bless and not curse?

Paul is not cursing people in Galatians or Romans 11. He is warning them about a devastating endpoint. He is also warning them that this is not the way of people who follow Jesus.

How do we honor veterans without giving into the military industrial complex view of the world?

Honoring veterans does not require glorifying war. Granted that the world is hostile and evil, it makes sense for a government to have a military to protect against attacks. Too often, we can tip over into vengeance and offensive military action. It is comparatively easy to make war. It is much harder to make peace. We can lament when war may be necessary and celebrate peacemaking.

Why do you use “Judeans” rather than “Jews”?

Following some of the work of the historian Tom Holland, Professor Wright wants to get us past what we might think of when we heard the word “Jewish.” This also helps us connect to the way the ancient people saw their identity as where they were coming from. The New Testament is about the people who lived in Judea.

How do we respond to the corruption of leaders when God allows this?

When God gives us responsibility for anything, we have the capacity to ruin those very same things. When that happens, there are dark results. The answer is not that God made a mistake and humans should not be given responsibility. Tyranny does not mean Romans 13 is wrong. We need to remember Jesus before Pontius Pilate!

What does loving our neighbor look like in everyday life?

See the Sermon on the Mount. The parable of the Good Samaritan is a worked out example of overflowing generous love. Look for ways to honor others as a way to honor God.

What is biblical eschatology?

It’s about the present age and the coming age to come.
Hebrew eschatology is that God is going to create a new age.
Christian eschatology is that this new age has begun!

Too often people think eschatology is about the end of the world, death, judgment, and the ultimate destiny of humanity and the cosmos.

How do we navigate the “already/not yet” as pastors?

Patience. Be with others in their suffering. Mourn with those who mourn. Don’t try to fix them by the end of the day.

Why does Paul side with the “weak” even though he is one of those who is “strong” in Romans 14?

Paul genuinely wants to protect those who are still on their way towards maturity. He does not want to lose anyone over cultural differences. The strong should always be the ones willing to sacrifice on behalf of the weak.

Now some people are eager to stumble over almost anything! Helping them move forward is important too, but they need some encouragement as well.

What are some of the challenges for the Western Church to live out being the small working model of new creation?

Unity is easy without holiness and holiness is easy without holiness. Both are critical!
Even as so many call themselves Christians, we still have so far to go to living out the calling of the Church.

As we de-Platonize the way people read the Bible, this will help us a great deal!

Perhaps God is preparing His Church for new things which could very well include peace making at a new level not yet seen before.

How do we respond when people claim their nation is a Christian nation?

Use Sermon on the Mount as a checklist to determine if we are living up to this idea.

What guidance do you have for women currently in churches without freedom to serve in these ways?

There are many women listed as leaders in Romans 16 so it seems clear that women are invited to lead in the church.
We are all called to patience in different spheres. At the same time, there are more and more local churches who are empowering towards women.

Why does Paul feel such apprehension about collecting money?

Perhaps Paul was hoping this collection for the Jerusalem church could be another way to bring the Gentiles and Judean Christians together in unity. Paul knows the Pharisaical thinking. He knows what that kind of thinking could do to the churches.

Does 1 Clement 5:6 indicate that Paul made it to Spain?

Perhaps Clement thought Paul did make it to Spain, but we really don’t have any other evidence that he did make it.

How can we know more about New Creation?

Signposts of the new creation can be found in Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 15, Revelation 21-22 along with the Old Testament passages like Isaiah 11, 65, and 66.

In fact, Isaiah 40–66 : Wright frequently references the second half of Isaiah, viewing it as the “fifth gospel” of the Old Testament. He uses these chapters as the primary Old Testament bedrock for the New Testament’s central prayer and promise: that God’s kingdom will come “on earth as in heaven”.

What is the message of the letter to the Romans?

Being united for the sake of the mission.

“Where Romans Lands” Summer Intensive with N.T. Wright was organized by Admirato.org.

Romans 16 is a bit of a mystery as manuscript p46 does not have all of it included. There are other manuscripts that don’t include Romans 15-16. Finally other manuscripts have parts of Romans 15 and Romans 16 switched. This should not bother us. Our Bibles are not less reliable. Most ancient manuscripts have just a very few copies hundreds or even thousands of years later than its original. The Bible is incredibly reliable!

One theory may be that the scribes decided that Romans 16 was no longer relevant as no one knew the people mentioned by the time they were making copies a few decades later.

Romans 16 is the longest list of greetings in Paul’s letters. Colossians has a list of people with Paul when he was writing. It makes sense though as he is trying to make as many connections as possible before he arrives in Rome.

Commending Phoebe, greeting friends

16 Let me introduce you to our sister Phoebe. She is a deacon in the church at Cenchreae. ² I want you to welcome her in the Lord, as is proper for one of God’s people. Please give her whatever practical assistance she may need from you. She has been a benefactor to many people, myself included.

³ Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Messiah Jesus. ⁴ They put their lives on the line for me. It isn’t only me, but all the Gentile churches, that owe them a debt of gratitude. ⁵ Greet the church in their house as well.

Greet my dear Epainetus; he was the first fruits of the Messiah’s harvest in Asia. ⁶ Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. ⁷ Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and fellow prisoners, who are well known among the apostles, and who were in the Messiah before I was. ⁸ Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. ⁹ Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in the Messiah, and my dear Stachys. ¹⁰ Greet Apelles, who has proved his worth in the Messiah. Greet the people from the Aristobulus household.

¹¹ Greet my relative Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the household of Narcissus. ¹² Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet dear Persis, who has done a great deal of work in the Lord. ¹³ Greet Rufus, one of the Lord’s chosen, and also his mother—my mother too, in effect! ¹⁴ Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the family with them.

¹⁵ Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, Olympas too, and all God’s people who are with them. ¹⁶ Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the Messiah’s churches send you greetings.

Warnings and greetings

¹⁷ I urge you, my dear family, to watch out for those who cause divisions and problems, contrary to the teaching you learned. Avoid them. ¹⁸ People like that are serving their own appetites instead of our Lord the Messiah. They deceive the hearts of simple-minded people with their smooth and flattering speech. ¹⁹ Your obedience, you see, is well known to all, and so I am rejoicing over you. But I want you to be wise when it comes to good, and innocent when it comes to evil. ²⁰ The God of peace will quickly crush the satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

²¹ Timothy, my fellow worker, sends you greetings, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my relatives. ²² I, Tertius, the scribe for this letter, greet you in the Lord. ²³ Gaius, who is host to me and the whole church, sends you greetings. Erastus the city treasurer sends you greetings, as does another brother, Quartus.

Final blessing

²⁵ Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel, the proclamation of Jesus the Messiah, in accordance with the unveiling of the mystery kept hidden for long ages ²⁶ but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings, according to the command of the eternal God, for the obedience of faith among all the nations— ²⁷ to the only wise God, through Jesus the Messiah, to whom be glory to the coming ages! Amen.

Some have a trouble with the idea of Paul sending his letter with a traveling independent business woman named Phoebe. However, in Paul’s world women were actively involved and leading. It’s probable that Phoebe was the one to read the letter from Paul to the church in Rome and would have been the one to answer any questions that emerged from the group. Phoebe was around when Paul was writing the letter. More than likely, Phoebe was the first to expound on the letter to the Romans. We don’t know her business, but we know she was a deacon in her church and she was a benefactor. Paul wants Phoebe to have the respect she deserves so he introduces her to the Romans church.

The Roman world was all about honor and distinction mapped onto social status. Paul does not fall into that trap. The church of Jesus is counter cultural. Many of these names represented slaves and women who had no social status in the Roman world. By mentioning so many people who had done so much for the Kingdom, Paul is doing the equivalent of the emperor putting a medal on the chest of a warrior. We need many unsung heroes who serve faithfully without any acclaim to keep the Kingdom going!

Priscila and Aquila were Paul’s fellow workers and coincidentally they would be reunited in Rome after being together in Ephesus.

“Junia was well known among the apostles” is not a problem at all for Paul. Mary Magdalene was the first to proclaim Jesus was alive! In Jesus’ Kingdom there were no distinctions between men and women, slave and free, etc..

If Mark’s Gospel was written to the Church in Rome, the mention of Rufus may very well be a clue of how the Roman church was started as Rufus could have been the son of Simon of Cyrene, the one who helped Jesus carry the cross to Golgotha.

“Agape” = the overflowing generous love of God.
Paul uses the word “dear” over and over. The word “dear” is from the word “agapetos” which literally means “beloved” or “ones that I love.”

We see there may be 5 house churches in Rome as 5 households are mentioned in Romans 16.

One of those hosts was the house of Narcissus. Was the Narcissus mentioned the same man who had been a counselor to the emperor? “Tiberius Claudius Narcissus was one of the most powerful freedmen and chief secretaries in the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD). He essentially ran the imperial administration, amassing immense wealth and political influence, but was executed shortly after Claudius’s death” (from Wikipedia)

Paul does not want labels! He wants love! He wants the church to be a family!

The name that comes up over and over again in Romans 16 is the name “Jesus.”
The Messiah is who brings them all together and is working in them and through them!
Romans 12 is being lived out hence Romans 16. In spite of the broken people and problems they cause, in these people, Paul can see Jesus.

Paul is not overly optimistic. He is living in the real world. That’s why he includes warnings such as “watch out for those who cause divisions and problems.” He also echoes Romans 12 when he writes once again: “I want you to be wise when it comes to good, and innocent when it comes to evil.” This may also be an echo of Jesus when he said to “be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove.” This is supported by the fact in the next phrase he writes: “The God of peace will quickly crush the satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” This is also an echo of the “snake crusher” mentioned in Genesis 3:15.

“Tertius” the scribe breaks through the fourth wall to say hello as well.

We also discover that Gaius is hosting Paul and hosts a church in his home.

Erastus may be the same man whose name is etched on rock in Corinth as the city treasurer and the same accountant that Paul mentions in Acts 19:22.

More than likely, all of Romans 16 was part of the original manuscript. Once you get to the heart of one letter written by Paul, we can easily get to the heart of all of his letters. Romans 16:25-27 is remarkably similar to Romans 1:1-5. It all fits together beautifully!

Paul was communicating the God would give them strength! He was teaching them how to wait on the Lord and how to gaze on His beauty and experience His love.

Romans 16:25-27 can be summarized as “to God be the glory,” but the God referenced is Jesus, the Lord and Messiah!

Paul’s Gospel is not just about something that happens to me (justification by faith)!
Justification by faith is beautiful and important, but it’s not the entire story!
Paul’s Gospel is the revelation of God in the Messiah redeeming all of mankind and bringing heaven to earth!
Paul is looking from creation to consummation!

We don’t know what the future holds, but we do know Who holds the future!

“Where Romans Lands” Summer Intensive with N.T. Wright was organized by Admirato.org.

We should expect that the outworking of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension would be the same for His Church. There will be suffering, death, new life, and eventually a fully realized new creation.

Paul seems to have learned the truth behind the old Yiddish phrase: “If you want to make God laugh tell him your plans.”
A related corollary is: “If you want to make God said, tell Him you don’t have any plans.”
We need to dream adn imagine and seek to create a better future – even if we do not know all that lies ahead of us.

Paul was right about the resistance in Jerusalem but he overestimated what may be able to come to pass as we suspect he never made it to Spain.

Romans 15:14-33

Coming to Rome at last

¹⁴ When I think of you, my dear family, I myself am thoroughly convinced that you are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and well able to give one another instruction. ¹⁵ But I have written to you very boldly at some points, calling things to your mind through the grace which God has given me ¹⁶ to enable me to be a minister of Messiah Jesus for the nations, working in the priestly service of God’s good news, so that the offering of the nations may be acceptable, sanctified in the holy spirit.

¹⁷ This is the glad confidence I have in Messiah Jesus, and in God’s own presence. ¹⁸ Far be it from me, you see, to speak about anything except what the Messiah has accomplished through me for the obedience of the nations, in word and deed, ¹⁹ in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s spirit. I have completed the announcement of the Messiah’s good news from Jerusalem round as far as Illyricum. ²⁰ My driving ambition has been to announce the good news in places where the Messiah has not been named, so that I can avoid building on anyone else’s foundation. ²¹ Instead, as the Bible says,

People who hadn’t been told about him will see; people who hadn’t heard will understand.

²² That’s why I have faced so many obstacles to stop me coming to you. ²³ But now, finding myself with no more room in these regions, I have a great longing to come to you now at last after so many years, ²⁴ and so to make my way to Spain. You see, I’m hoping to see you as I pass through, and to be sent on my way there by you, once I have been refreshed by you for a while.

Aid for Jerusalem

²⁵ Now, though, I am going to Jerusalem to render service to God’s people there. ²⁶ Macedonia and Achaea, you see, have happily decided to enter into partnership with the poor believers in Jerusalem. ²⁷ They were eager to do this, and indeed they owe them a debt. If the nations have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, it is right and proper that they should minister to their earthly needs. ²⁸ So when I have completed this, and tied up all the loose ends, I will come via you to Spain. ²⁹ And I know that when I come to you I shall come with the full blessing of the Messiah.

³⁰ I urge you, my dear family, through our Lord Jesus the Messiah and through the love of the spirit: fight the battle for me in your prayers to God on my behalf, ³¹ so that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judaea, and so that my service for Jerusalem may be welcomed gladly by God’s people. ³² If this happens, I will come to you in joy, through the will of God, and be refreshed by being with you. ³³ May the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Paul sees the Church filled with “God’s goodness and knowledge” because of what He’s seen God at work already!
This doesn’t mean that there won’t be more need for a renewed filling from time to time.
A Christian professor was once asked: “Are you filled with the Spirit?”
His response: “Yes, but I leak.”

God has given Paul grace to serve and announce to the entire world that the Jewish Messiah is now Lord of all peoples and nations!

All God’s people are called together to be God’s royal priesthood – “the priestly service of God’s good news.”

The offerings we make are not to appease an angry God like in the pagan world. In this case, “the offering of the nations” is actually the Gentiles themselves. The same language is used in Romans 12:1-2 where we are to offer our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” We should not be shy about using Temple language and sacrificial language when referring to our worship of the Lord.

In Romans 15:17-20, Paul celebrates God’s goodness to work through him rather than this being an arrogant brag. He is celebrating God’s cascading grace!
In 1 Samuel 7, we see the phrase: here I raise my “Ebenezer” which refers to a rock or pillar that reminds us of when God helped us in the past so we can trust Him now and into the future.
“I have completed the announcement of the Messiah’s good news from Jerusalem round as far as Illyricum. ” Paul had not communicated the message of Jesus to all people in those regions, but there was now a church in these nations. The seeds have been planted and there would be fruit in the years to come!

But what about North Africa or further East?
Perhaps Paul knew of other apostles who had traveled in those directions.
Paul knew his calling and lived it out. He was focused on the Gentiles of the Roman Empire and planted churches in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe!
It’s a beautiful thing to know your calling and focus on that rather than being distracted by other options.

Paul had never been to Rome before, so who planted the church in Rome?
Many think it was Peter (see Acts 12:17 – “then he left for another place”).
It could have been anyone though! The message of Jesus was spreading organically and supernaturally.

Paul is coming as an evangelist and wanting to share in spiritual blessings. There was room for Paul to advance the Gospel, but he is being respectful of those who are already serving there. Paul does have ambitious plans. He wants to go to Rome and then eventually on to Spain. He isn’t planning to stay in Rome and usurp anyone’s authority.

So why did Paul want to go to Spain?
The most natural landing spot if he had made it would have been the city of Tarraco where there was a giant temple to Augustus under construction. (That temple is now underneath the cathedral).
Some think Paul wanted to advance the Kingdom in order to hasten Jesus’ return.
More likely, Paul wanted to go to pronounce Jesus as Lord and King wherever people were proclaiming “Caesar is Lord.” He wanted Jesus-shaped communities to show up the Caesar-shaped communities.

Paul thought of himself as a missionary sent from Antioch. In fact, he tended to land back in Antioch before going out again even as he might stop in Jerusalem on his travels. At this point in his ministry, Paul was not planning on going East any longer (See his farewell to the Ephesians in Acts 20). Paul wanted to see Rome as his new sending church to go even further West.

Paul has been collecting funds from the Gentile churches in order to help the impoverished church in Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were suffering from a famine.
Paul is rather coy in his fundraising attempts. (He spent 2 Corinthians 8-9 trying to raise funds without ever mentioning the word “money.”) Remember Peter had asked Paul to remember the poor which he assured Peter he planned to do so (See Galatians 2:10).
The way Paul wants the Roman church to work through the conflict in Romans 14-15 seems to lead naturally to the idea that “If the nations have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, it is right and proper that they should minister to their earthly needs.“

We discover in Acts that the very people Paul prayed and cried over in Romans 9:1-5 persecuted Paul back in Jerusalem. Paul had to remember his own advice given in Ephesians 6 – “our real battle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of darkness.” In Acts 22, Paul tells the story of the people of Israel leading up to his mission to communicate about the Messiah to the Gentiles. Rather than welcoming his story, the Judeans once again turned against him.

We do know that Paul made it to Rome from the book of Acts where he meets with the Judean leaders and proclaims the Messiah and His Kingdom to them. He got to worship the God of peace right under the nose of the Roman military.

God’s purposes will always be a surprise in the moment but in retrospect we can see more clearly why things went as they did.