The book of Romans

Paul, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, wrote the book of Romans. Some claim that Paul composed this book during a time when Roman society was divided along a number of different lines (Thompson, page 3-10). The book was written as a letter to the Romans, addressing a number of topics that the author felt the people had taken up on a bad note. Rome was thought to be a pure culture that closely followed Christ's teachings, in contrast to modern society, which is rife with moral degradation. Due to their conduct, the morals of the people in Rome gradually deteriorated. This essay looks at the teachings of the book of Romans in relation to the natural world, human identity, human relationship, and culture. 

Natural World

The current world is full of constant sins such as sex depravity, corruption, and murder that are committed on a daily basis. In Roman chapter 1:18-32, there was a lot of unimaginable sin that was committed in the Roman culture. In the current society, we are faced with issues such as false worship of different creations especially homosexuality (Grudem, page 4-13). In Romans 3:10, Paul talks of pagans who worship different gods and went ahead to create a place where they could worship them. Paul raised the same issues and he took issue with the church at Rome in a bid to address these issues and return the people of Rome to their righteous ways. We are taught to relook at our actions and return to the Lord in faith. This will ensure that we are righteous in our ways so that we are saved which will save humanity from being doomed.

Human Identity

Through his teachings in the book of Romans, Paul makes clear the true identity of human in the saved and unsaved forms. He also talks about the Jews and the Gentiles whom he makes a lot of reference to in the course of his teachings (Thompson, page 4-14). In the book of Romans, Paul alludes to the fact that the Gentiles did not have any form of law while their Jewish counterparts had.  Even though there are such differences in the current and past societies, through a common identity all humans are condemned. It does not matter whether they have laws to follow or not and the Jews, according to Paul’s teaching, are more condemned since they had a law to guide them. 

 Paul, through the book of Roman, teaches that all humans are doomed due to their actions, evil deeds and thoughts. In Romans 4:15, Paul further asserts that having knowledge about law brought punishments. This made the Jews be held to higher standards compared to the Gentiles who did not have a law. In the current world, people might assume that sin does not exist even though in reality it does. God must, therefore, disassociate himself from the sins of man even though He still loves man as he is. The current world with its assumptions reflects that of Rome during Paul’s time and people must be conscious about what is expected of them. Laws are there to guide us and we must adhere to these laws strictly to ensure that we are not doomed.

Human Relationship

In Romans 2:29, we are reminded that God is for us all even though the current humanity and that of the Roman society did not endeavor to know Him. The relationship that exists between human beings is very vital as it enables us to interact with one another on a daily basis (Grudem, page 5-15). It could be an interaction between family members or between strangers but we should all endeavor to improve our relationships.  This should be done on the basis of faith in Christ as he has always been the real architect of all human experiences. Romans teach that human relationships were perverted and unless human beings develop a desire to know God, they will never be repentant for their sins. Romans 7:1-4 further teach that those who are unsaved are doomed and that they must come to Christ in faith. Paul. The book also looks at relationships in relation to God’s creation of marriage and advises against the worship of relationships such as homosexuality. 

Culture

Culture has always played a vital role when it comes to God’s plan. Many cultures in the current world have pluralized God. In Rome, Caesar decided to declare himself a god claiming that he was a savior to all those who belonged to his kingdom (Thompson,page 6-14).  In Romans 5:12-14, Paul alludes that the human culture has always shown some enmity to God since the culture has always been ungodly. The culture at Rome was considered ungodly and Paul encouraged them by telling the church that there existed a way to righteousness. This he claimed could only be achieved through having a strong faith in Jesus Christ.  Everyone is required to have a strong faith in Jesus Christ so that our actions and cultural beliefs are geared towards righteousness making our culture not be at enmity with God.

In conclusion, therefore, Romans chapter 1 to chapter 8 touches on so many things that affect human beings in the current society. When compared with the issue he tried to address in the Roman society, the current world has similar problems and even more sophisticated ones. Through faith in Jesus Christ and strict adherence to guiding laws, many things can be changed towards righteousness. This will ensure that our society and cultural practices are not in conflict with the expectations of God. There is a lot of decay in morality that can be corrected when we relook at how we relate with one another in accordance with the teachings in the book of Romans.

Works Cited

Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction To Biblical Doctrine. Harper Collins, 2009.

Thompson, Michael B. Clothed With Christ: The Example And Teaching Of Jesus In Romans 12.1--15.13. Wipf And Stock Publishers, 2011.