Through Him and for His name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. Romans 1:5
Paul was called to bring the message of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. He wrote the letter we know as Romans three years before he would actually go to Rome. From Corinth, Paul was traveling to Jerusalem with benevolent funds for persecuted Jewish Christians. His personal safety was uncertain and he wanted the true, untainted Gospel to reach the faithful of Rome.
Christians were being viciously persecuted by unbelievers, but compounding this injustice was the insistence of converted Jews that non Jewish believers adopt the orthodox traditions of circumcision and dietary restrictions. Paul preaches salvation by faith, and Holiness by obedience only.
Opinions are the reflex of our knowledge and environment. It is impossible to exist without the perspective at the end of our own noses. The early church dealt constantly with these issues too. Paul was relentless in his mission to bring unity to all believers through a faith that accepts mercy and grace and in love, returns it to one another other.
Have a Lovely Monday,
Gretchen