Romans In Different Versions Essay, Research Paper

Romans is a very important addition to the Bible. This

is written by Paul to the Roman church. Much of Romans is

showing the righteousness of God in different ways. ?Romans

road? passages are a great description of how to lead

someone to christ (His saving righteousness). Falling into

this importance is Romans 3:21-26. This is the basis of

God?s righteousness in the Death of Jesus (Schreiner p.25).

Refering to the different versions of this text, there

is not much of a variation. Several words and phrases are

changed but the same meaning is kept. The two versions of

the text which will be shown as examples are the New

International Version (NIV) and the New American Standard

(NAS). Others versions were used but these two were the

best examples that I found. Verse 24 has ?gift? in the NAS

version, but ?freely? is used in the NIV. Also found is in

verse 25 is the differing between what God was trying to

demonstrate. The NAS says: ?…this was to demonstrate His

righteousness…?, but the NIV says: ?He did this to

demonstrate His justice…?. The last variation between

these versions is in the final verse (31). The NAS says:

?…we establish the Law.?, but the NIV says: ?…we uphold

the Law.? These differences are somewhat small, however

they could alter the meaning slightly. Finding the meaning

is the reason we compare different versions.

The basic structure of Romans is fairly simple. It is

called letter-essay style by some, though there is no proof

that it was read to any group of people. It is the gospel

of God?s righteousness. Sections of Romans are even

dedicated to showing the basiscs of christianity like the

?Romans road?. This basic knowledge allows for a good

foundation as a christian.

Some historical contex must be discussed before the

text can be taken apart. Paul wrote to the Romans from

Corinth during his three month stay. Paul was on a

missionary trip passing through the east and was on his way

to Rome. It was one of two letters; One to Rome and the

other to Ephesus. They must have already had churches

started in Rome because ?We can safely assume that the

church was not planted by an apostle?(Schreiner pg.11). The

Church was most probably started by Jewish Christians. Thus

leading into the text.

The literary context is thought to be easily

identified. The target text is part of a letter which is

written in the same genre as the rest of Paul?s letters.

?The style of Romans fits with Paul?s other letters that are

accepted as authentic…?(Schreiner pg.2). The text also

fits in very easily with the rest of the scripture around

it. It starts off the section about the saving

righteousness of God which continues from there

(3:21-4:25).

The theological context is very broad since Biblical

principles are built from the target text. There are many

texts which involve salvation in the Scripture. Some of the

obvious texts are John 3:16, Ephesians 1:4-8, some other

parts of the ?Romans road?, and the list goes on. This is

due to the fact that there are many different parts of texts

which also add to the Salvation texts but are not directly

related. Salvation is the most important concept in

theology. It is the key concept which opens up the rest of

the scriptures.

Just as important as context, content must be carefuly

looked at in this target text. A basic outline and list of

terms defined of this passage follows:

?The Great Turning Point-?But Now??(D.M. Loyd-Jones pg.23)

1)Intro to salvation

a)how

b)who is it available to

2)God prepaired this

3)faith comes in

a)not by works

b)not by keeping the Law

4)Jews and Gentiles fit into the plan

5)We must establish the Law

A list of terms:

righteousness – the following of God?s rules

faith – trusting something unable to be seen

redemption – turning something into another

all – everyone, including Gentiles

demonstrate – to show, give a guideline

principle – something generally followed by a specific

group, pre-planned rule

uphold – to keep, stay with a pre planned idea

Paul wrote this passage so that the Roman church would

learn two important things. The first is the salvation

plan. The other is that the Jewish were not the only ones

able to be saved. Gentiles are allowed also. God shows his

mercy and caring for his people through this text. The

people, the church of Rome, needed to hear the salvation

message. Some things can be infered by the topics choosen

to be written about. Mabye the church was having a problem

with Jew/Gentile relationships. Also, following the Law may

have been stressed instead of heart matters. That was the

main content in the passage.

The life issues, being salvation, legalism, and Gentile

acceptance,in this text were very important. These can be

applied in my life in several ways. One is actually using

the text directly in my life. This could be not just

following Laws set out for me,but find the reasons behind

them. Make these ritualistic acts a heart matter. The

other way I can apply this scripture to my life is put it in

my witnessing. I can use what I learned to help lead others

to christ. I can also be a more effective witness. That is

exactly why I need to study and find out the real meaning of

scripture.

I did not use all of these sources

directly, but I would like to acknowledge the books,

references, and other resouces that I did read. Also more

were used in research but were not enough to reconize.

Schreiner,Thomas R. ?Romans? (Michigan;Baker Books,1998).

pages 1-27, 178-199

D.M. Lloyd-Jones. ?Romans: Chapters 3:20-4:25?

(Michigan;Zondervan Publishing House,1970). pgs.23-38

Mills,Sanford C. ?A Hebrew Christian looks at Romans?

(Michigan;Dunham Publishing Company,1969). pages 76-108

Other resources:

Strong?s Concordance

young?s Analytical Concordance

Harper?s Bible Dictionary

NIV Application Commentary