Author: Administrador

Celebrating The Reformation Many churches will celebrate the Reformation this week. Though Christians differ on some points of doctrine, most agree this is a great opportunity to lift up the biblical themes of God’s grace and the liberating power of faith. A reading from Luther and a description of why he is important for the … Continue reading “Romans 3:19-28 Commentary by Mark Tranvik”

Paul has just spent two chapters making sure that all the Gentiles among his hearers and all the Jews alike will recognize themselves to be pretty much out of wiggle room. Gentiles, he argues, might not have had the law to guide them, but they had revelation from God in the natural world, and they … Continue reading “Romans 3:19-28 Commentary by Mary Hinkle Shore”

This is one of the more theologically loaded passages in the New Testament. Many Christians, and Lutherans especially, derive from this passage a foundational element of belief: justification comes through faith in Christ apart from the law. Luther called this passage “the chief point, and the very central place of the epistle, and of the … Continue reading “Romans 3:19-28 Commentary by Kyle Fever”

This passage — and much of Romans for that matter — reveals an ethnic conflict within the Christian community in Rome (cf. Romans 14:1-15:6). How should non-Jewish believers (i.e., the ethnoi, in Greek) relate to the religious traditions of Israel? Can they become linked to the “one body in Christ” (cf. 12:5), if they do … Continue reading “Romans 3:19-28 Commentary by Emerson Powery”

Krister Stendahl, a teacher and mentor, worked to “undo” the introspective Lutheran-Augustinian reading of Paul and to read the letters of Paul in their historical context of the first century — Stendahl put Paul back “Among Jews and Gentiles.” When preaching on Romans 3:19-28 on Reformation Sunday, it might be tempting to let the liturgical-historical … Continue reading “Romans 3:19-28 Commentary by Cynthia Briggs Kittredge”

What does the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplish? What does it mean? These seem rather vital questions for a religion that employs a cross as its primary symbol. But their answers are hardly simple, as evidenced by the different vantage points that the New Testament writings take when they consider them. Sometimes, as … Continue reading “Romans 1:16-17; 3:22b-28 [29-31] Commentary by Matt Skinner”

In this last Sunday of Advent, we circle back to the beginning of Romans, revisiting the themes that resound throughout the letter and culminate in Romans 15:4-13 (Advent 2). It is difficult to preach on a text that introduces so many weighty matters in such a short span: God’s good news concerning God’s son; the … Continue reading “Romans 1:1-7 Commentary by Susan Eastman”

This is a surprising choice for the Fourth Sunday in Advent. Juxtaposed to the readings from Matthew and Isaiah, one may be tempted to simply ignore it and focus on the prophecy of a birth (Isaiah) and its fulfillment (Matthew). This would, however, also focus the attention of the gathered community on what they already … Continue reading “Romans 1:1-7 Commentary by Dirk G. Lange”

The opening of the letter to the Romans contains, in seven tightly packed verses, a summary of the themes that will be discussed in the rest of the letter. It describes who Paul is and how he gets his authority. It presents the content of the gospel and its implications for Paul’s addressees, and it … Continue reading “Romans 1:1-7 Commentary by Valerie Nicolet-Anderson”

This episode in the Book of Acts stands as a sequel to the account of John the Baptist’s ministry, including the baptism of Jesus, that is narrated in the Gospel for the Day (Mark 1:4-11). Appearing in the two-volume work of Luke-Acts, it’s more precise antecedent is the account in Luke 3:1-20. The sequence of … Continue reading “Acts 19:1-7 Commentary by Arland J. Hultgren”