A Study Through Romans

Well after not posting on my very neglected Blog for over a year, I think it's probably high time I at least put a little effort once again in attempting to write something worth while.

This evening, the Covenanting heads of households of Coram Deo Fellowship met in our family's basement to begin a mens Bible Study that will eventually cover the rich and profound texts of Romans.  Unfortunately, due to the business of life not all could be present, but for those of us who were able to attend we enjoyed a very blessed time of studying the very foremost part of Romans.

First off we covered the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of Romans.  We discussed the Author, Paul, and how he wrote the inspired book of Romans through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as an Apostle of Christ.  We also covered the affect that the book has had throughout the past and how it has transformed the lives of many important Theologians and Scholars as well as laymen.  We discussed the date and the era that Romans was written so that we could put in perspective what troubles the church may have been going through when Paul was writing this Epistle.

After this brief introduction, we preceded to start reading Romans verse by verse and to discuss what these verses mean in the context of what we had discussed earlier and also how it fits in and brings together the rest of Scripture.

We enjoyed a lot of great conversation, but most notably we discussed the meaning of the word Servant in verse one of chapter one.

 ¹Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

Romans 1:1 ESV

My Father pointed out that some versions use the words "bond servant" in place of servant.  We then began to search the Scriptures in order to find out exactly what a bond servant was, which we found in the reading of the law in the Old Testament. 

¹"Now these are the rules that you shall set before them. ² When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. ³If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. ⁴If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out alone. ⁵But if the slave plainly says, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,' ⁶then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

Exodus 21:1-6 ESV

We see through the context of the Old Testament law, that a bond servant is one that chooses to serve his master for the rest of his/her earthly life.  It then follows that Paul, after being chosen by God as a member of His elect, has chosen to be a bond servant to God forever.  Serving Him by guarding Christ's church and teaching and preaching the word of God to His elect.

In light of this we also talked about how the terms "servant" or "slave" can be so offensive to people in the Postmodern era, especially in America where we so proudly flaunt our "freedom."  But we also realize that the slavery or servant hood of the Old Testament times (at least in the land of Israel) was more of an employer/employee relationship.  Obviously there are vast differences, but it is a much better picture than that of a beaten, abused and overly used human who is forced to labor at the commands of a demanding and violent master.  Obviously, God would not condone humans to be treated that way. 

This is just a very simple overview of what was discussed this evening, I am very much looking forward to our future studies and drinking deeply from the beautifully layed out and inspired book of Romans.

In Christ,

Andrew