A Reformed Baptist Perspective on Public Theology: The Pauline Epistles, Part II – Romans 9-11

theroadofgrace and William F. Leonhart III

You can read earlier posts in this series by clicking on the links below:

•An Introduction

•Augustine’s Two Cities

•Two Kingdoms in Luther

•The Reformed Confessions (Part I)

•The Reformed Confessions (Part II)

•The Reformed Confessions (Part III)

•Sphere Sovereignty in Kuyper

•Redemption and Creation in Kuyper

•John the Baptist

•The Prophet Amos

•The Incarnate Lord (Part I)

•The Incarnate Lord (Part II)

•The Incarnate Lord (Part III)

•Introduction to the Book of Acts

•The Ministry of Peter and John in Acts

•The Ministry of Paul in Acts, Part I

•The Ministry of Paul in Acts, Part II

•The Pauline Epistles, Part I – Romans 1-8

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As we mentioned in our last article, Paul’s desire to preach the gospel to the church at Rome was the impetus for the letter he wrote to the Romans. Scholars have even proposed that Paul’s mention of this desire in Romans 1:15-17 functions as the thesis statement of the letter:

“So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith,’” (Romans 1:15-17; NASB).

In the last article, we considered two themes that arise out of this thesis statement: the gospel preached to the church and the gospel as the power of God unto salvation. These two major themes help us to understand why Paul spends the first eight chapters of Romans explaining the gospel of Jesus Christ. Being that these verses set the framework for all that follows, we are in our present study using them as the lens through which we examine the rest of the book of Romans. In this article, we will focus on principles found in this thesis statement that help us to understand why Paul teaches what he teaches in chapters 9-11.

 

 

 

Read the entire article here.