Pilgrim Soldier

I’ve been working my way through Paul’s letter to the Romans over the last week in preparation for our corps’ Commitment Sunday this weekend. Now Romans is one of my favourite books in the Bible but something I’ve never noticed before is the sheer build up that is part of the whole book. Throughout the first 11 chapters Paul builds and builds showing how great God is and what He has done for those of us who choose to follow Him.

Paul seems to reach a climax to this discourse in his Doxology in Romans 11:33-36!

And then there is almost a long pause before he quietly says seems to say, “Therefore, what are you going to do in response?”

It’s a masterful piece of writing and when read like you would any other book, this is far more evident than the way we usually read the Bible, by chapter and verse!

Another thing I noticed is just how effective Paul is at putting some substance on the teaching of Jesus, not that His teaching really needed substance. Something I’ve been trying to encourage in the short time I’ve been here is the idea of being “Salt and Light” outside the church walls, because I believe this is where this is supposed to be done. Paul’s teaching in Romans 12 seems to take Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount and put substance onto the concept.

Maybe this is old hat to some, but for me this role that I am in is giving me new insights into the depth of scripture all the time, and I simply cannot get enough of it!