Beyond Personal Salvation

Beyond Personal Salvation is a verse-by-verse exposition of the second half of the book of Romans (Romans 9-16).

It follows on from The Righteousness Which Is By Faith which was an exposition of Romans 1-8.

The first half of Romans focuses on our personal, individual salvation and standing in Christ. The second half of Romans goes beyond this and looks at our concern for and relationship with other people in the mainly Gentile congregations that Paul ministered to.

Romans 9-16 takes us into the realm of practical Christianity that agonizes over the lost and which seeks to help and not hinder one's brother in the faith. It spends a lot of time dealing with issues that “stretch” people to go beyond their cultural comfort zones and includes issues about the salvation of Israel, relationships of Gentiles with Torah-observant Christian Jews (what we would call Messianic Jews today), handling governments and ruling authorities, and dealing with values conflicts.

Paul also covers some of the basic lifestyle teachings of Christianity, personal sanctification and holiness, love, spiritual gifts, and an explanation of the rationale behind his apostolic ministry to the Gentiles. Many of the issues covered in Romans chapters 9-16 are still controversial. Paul's teaching here is as relevant today as it was then and forms a concise explanation of what the well-lived Christian life looks like.

This 85 page book is suitable for use as a textbook in an undergraduate or diploma level bible course. It may also be used in churches, home groups and campus bible studies. Theologically the studies stick very close to the text and are from a mainstream charismatic renewal / Pentecostal perspective - though I think the majority of evangelicals should be quite comfortable with the theology. It is intended for intermediate level Christian discipleship and complex theological jargon is generally avoided.

If this is being used as a textbook the suggested assessment would be a 2000 word assignment or term paper around the topic: “How does Romans chapters 9-16 equip Paul's co-workers and disciples, in the network of Gentile churches, to deal with the urgent theological and practical issues of the day ?”

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John Edmiston is an Australian missionary who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Minda and their three cats. John is the Chairman and CEO of the Asian Internet Bible Institute – International and also teaches as adjunct faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary. He can be contacted by email at johned@aibi.ph or via his website at www.aibi.ph .To receive his weekly prayer points send a blank email to: jednews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com