Margarita S. Resuelo
GE 10 – BB
📄[Reflection]: Paul’s Letter to the Romans Chapter 1-3 (NIV)
🔗link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%201-3&version=NIV

Romans Chapters 1-3, authored by the Apostle Paul, speaks of various pivotal truths and significant teachings that lay the groundwork of our faith in and service to God. It accents the reality of our humanity, the shackles of our concupiscence, and our call for righteousness in our belief. Littered with many significant theological and ethical themes, these initial chapters impart great insights that would lead us to follow His Divine teachings further and to follow in His call to redemption.

Romans Chapter 1: Our Denial of God
“It is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”

The existence and love of God is universal knowledge. Whether in the beauty of nature’s creation or in the faces of our community members, His presence is evident and is experienced every waking moment. Yet, why is it that we, despite such extensive encounters, turn away and even deny God? Paul, in this chapter, emphasizes our human tendency to reject God in search of our own self-fulfillment in mere temporary, created things. This leads us to moral degradation and we begin to get attached to mortal pleasures and lose sight of the truth about God. This chapter calls us to reexamine our lives through and with the eyes of faith and that we must align ourselves to the goodness of God and His will.

Romans Chapter 2: Judgement and Righteousness
“For at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things”

At the end of this life, both Jews and Gentiles will be judged in their faith, works, and deeds by God. This cautions us to realize how faith alone, is not enough and how it is also through our actions – our becoming an image of Christ and “living out our faith” – that we will be saved. Who is to say that because we show a front of following the law of God that we are above all else, that we have the right to pass judgment? Or if we hold a religious affiliation we will be secured salvation? This chapter highlights the importance of genuine repentance and whole-person transformation as it warns us against our hypocrisy; that we must first acknowledge our own shortcomings and try to reconcile our inner convictions to our portrayals of faith. It encourages us to be consistent and cautious in all our doings and thoughts.

Romans Chapter 3: Universal Need for Salvation
“There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

In this chapter, Paul establishes our common yearning for salvation, that we, from all walks and facets of life, are under the mercy and grace of God’s redemption. “There is no one righteous, not even one,” means that we all have sinned, both in mind and in body, and thus this makes us no different from any other. These lines call us both to humility as we acknowledge our sin-stricken ways and find comfort in our universal fallenness, and to whole-hearted liberation from sin as we begin a new journey of deepened faith in Christ who redeems us. We must place our trust not in our own righteousness, but in the encompassing grace of God.

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The lessons found in these chapters are a testimony to the beauty and depth of the Letters of Paul and thus, cement their importance and significance in understanding our faith, participating in tangible displays of our convictions, and wholeheartedly loving our God and His people.