Romans: When was it written?

The year that Paul wrote Romans has many different points of view.  I have seen dates from AD 52 to AD 57 and there are probably more.

One thing that seems to be consistent is that was written in the Acts 20 to Acts 21 time frame while he was in Corinth.

To me it really doesn't matter when it was written and I don't think it should be something we should get hung up on.  We will leave that argument up to professors.

The important thing to me about Romans is that it is chalked full of doctrine for us today.  Chapters 1-3 are all about sin and how we got there.  It also teaches us about the grace of God and how He planned the whole thing before the world began. Romans 16:25

Ok, tomorrow we start on Chapter 1.  Enough of this into stuff.  See you tomorrow.

Book of Romans Verse by Verse

Let's go though the letter to the believers at Rome.  I want to go though this from a regular Bible believers way of studying.  By regular I mean "not someone with seminary training".  I can't say most of the 10 dollar words they are taught much less spell them.

I use the KJV and is what I will be using.  I do believe the KJV is God's perfectly preserved Word and we must trust what it says to whom it says it.  We will be studying by rightly dividing the Word of truth as per 2 Timothy 2:15.

In this study we will investigate many different ways that people interpret the scripture and why.  I will give the pros and cons of these interpretations as I see them, but I would encourage you to comment and give the things that you see. This study will not turn into an angry argument between us. I am not here to persuade you to believe like I do but to study the scripture and come to your conclusions.  Acts 17:11 tell you to study the scripture daily and verify what you are being taught.

For tomorrows study let's figure out who the letter was written to and who wrote it.

Galatians
Verse by Verse

Galatians 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

At first glance it doesn’t look like there is much to this verse other than an introduction to another of Paul’s 13 books. Here are some of the questions that can be answered.

1. Did Paul get his apostleship from Peter or any of the other apostles?
NO. Not of men, neither by man.

2. Where did he get his apostleship?
By Jesus Christ, and God the Father.

3. Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead?
God the Father

A lot of people tell me that they think that Paul and Peter preached the same message. This verse (Gal 1:1) by itself doesn’t tell us that they didn’t preach the same thing. They didn't preach the same message, but this verse doesn't prove that. Notice it is talking about Paul’s apostleship. This does raise some questions for me.

If Peter and Paul were preaching the same message, why didn’t Peter or one of the other apostle’s come to Paul and recruit him?

The answer is they were not preaching the same message. Jesus Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus to give him a different message. (More on this later)

Was there room for another apostle in the Kingdom message? `

No, in Jesus Christ earthly ministry He had set up 12 apostles to rule over 12 tribes in the kingdom. Judas betrayed Him so God replaced Judas with another apostle in Acts 1 to get it back to 12. Not only did God not need another apostle for the kingdom gospel, there was no more room for another apostle. Some preachers try to explain this away by saying “man” picked Mathias, and God stepped in and chose who He wanted. Acts 1:24 says that the Lord chose the replacement.

Stay tuned for Galatians 1:2 coming soon. Please post your comments or questions. I will add them to this. Thanks Jack