How to interpret the Bible

1. Romans 1-8 Lecture 1
Reasonable Interpretation, Romans 1:1-15

2. Test The Fruit Of The Interpretation!
(Matthew 7:15-20) Beware of false prophets who
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ravening wolves. (16) You shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or
figs from thistles? (17) Even so every good tree
brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth
evil fruit. (18) A good tree cannot bring forth evil
fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
(19) Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is
cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Therefore by
their fruits you shall know them.

3. Evil Fruit Indicate Wrong Interpretation
 Idolatry, Superstition, Occultic Interpretations, Kabbalah
 Obsessive or Compulsive Thinking and Behavior
 Loss of Contact with Reality
 Spiritual Deadness, Dryness, Futility, Meaningless
Religion
 Fear, Guilt, Legalism, Mental and Psychological Abuse,
 Rudeness: Disregard of The Full Personhood of Others
 Greed, Exploitation, Financial Scams
 Hatred, Enmity, Strife, Wars, Social Conflict
 Lawlessness, Immorality, Sensuality,
 Authoritarianism, Abuse of Spiritual Authority,
Harshness,
 Cruelty, Slavery, Racism, Violence, Spouse Abuse
 Cults, Militias, Lord’s Resistance Army, Genocide

4. Intellectual Pride vs Love
 (1 Corinthians 8:1-3) (1) But concerning the
sacrifices to idols, we know that we all have
knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.
(2) And if any man thinks that he knows anything, he
knows nothing yet as he ought to know. (3) But if
any one loves God, he has been known of him.

5. Good Fruit From Good Interpretation
 (Galatians 5:22-23) But the fruit of the Spirit is:
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness,
faith, (23) meekness, self-control; against such
things there is no law.
 Creates loving churches and fellowships
 Builds tolerant, patient, and kind families
 Joyous, happy people who live freely in God’s grace
 Faith-filled missions outreaches
 Meekness - ability to tolerate differences in unity
 Goodness – it “feels good and is good”
 They are self-controlled, not immoral, getting thinsg
together, mastering life under Christ in the Spirit.

6. The Wisdom of God
 (James 3:17,18) But the wisdom that is from above
is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be
entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace by those who make
peace.

7. Wise Biblical Interpretation Is…
 Pure: without darkness, superstition, impurity, no foul language
 Peaceable: brings wholeness, life, peace, healing, grace to the
hearers
 Gentle: kind to the hearers, the poor, the broken, to sinners
 Easy To Be Entreated: not stubborn, fractious or contentious
 Full of Mercy: ministering salvation not condemnation
 Good Fruits: produces fine Christians and many good deeds
 Without Partiality: no in-crowd, favoritism, or exclusivity
 Without Hypocrisy: produces transparent Christians
 Fruit of Righteousness: good Christian living in the truth
 Sown In Peace: not in anger, contention, division etc
 Those Who Make Peace: brings unity, harmony, reconciliation,
justice

8. Liberty
 (2 Corinthians 3:6) who also has made us able
ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the
spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive.
 (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) (17) And the Lord is that Spirit;
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (18)
But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having
beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being
changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Lord Spirit.
 (Romans 8:14-15) For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. (15) For you have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have
received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba,
Father!

9. Interpretation by the Spirit Is..
 Full of liberty
 Not full of fear
 Not full of legalism / slavery/ the Law
 Has God’s DNA – the Spirit of Sonship /adoption
 Transforms us from glory to glory
 Causes us to be led by the Spirit
 Not “by the letter” – not book-centered but Spirit
centered, it is the anointing that teaches us (1 John
2:20,27) the Spirit who imparts truth to us (1 Corinthians
2:9-16) and who leads us into all truth (John 16:13). It is
not scholarship that leads us into all truth or a church
traditionthat leads us into all truth but the Spirit that leads
us into all truth

10. Other Tests
 Accords With Reality: God’s Creation and God’s Word are
from the same Author! So the Bible, properly interpreted will
not say “the earth is flat” etc.
 Sound Reasoning: Not irrational, foolish, bogus, or flaky
 Christo-Centric: Does not deny central truths about Jesus
such as the Incarnation, Cross, Resurrection etc. and leads us
always back to Christ as the center of Scripture
 Builds Faith: Creates boldness, faith, hope, energy, vitality,
zeal, holiness, anointing, spiritual get-up and go! Does not
create paranoia, dread, fear, despair, guilt, hopelessness,
spiritual paralysis, fatalism, secrecy or hypocrisy.
 Does Not Quench the Spirit: God never interprets the Word
in such a way that He restricts His activity or kills off His
Church!

11. Introduction To Romans
 Written by the apostle Paul using koine Greek
 Around 55-57 A.D on his third missionary journey
 Written in Corinth in the house of Gaius, using
Tertius as his amanuensis (scribe), Phoebe was a
deacon at Corinth and Erastus was a city official
there and they are also mentioned in Romans
 Written to a mixture of Jews and Gentiles
 In legal language (Rome was a city of laws)
 Very rational and logical and systematic in approach
 Outlines Paul’s understanding of salvation,
justification and the Spirit-filled life

12. Tensions Being Addressed
 Jews vs. Gentiles: both are heirs of salvation
 Circumcision is of the heart not the flesh
 Faith makes us sons of Abraham
 Salvation by faith vs. salvation by works / religion
 The nature of grace vs. grace as lawlessness
 What the Cross did for the believer
 The struggle with sin in the members
 The Spirit-filled life and the love of God
 The fate of Israel and the Jews
 Christian holiness and living by love not law
 Eating food sacrificed to idols, matters of food and drink

13. Rom 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called
[to be] an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
 Bondservant (doulos) abject slave, one in bondage,
inescapably constrained to this status
 Jesus = Savior Christ = Messiah, anointed One
 Called (kletos) – God’s divine initiative and appointing
 Apostle: 5 kinds of apostles –
 The 12 – founders of the faith;
 Paul etc: founders of the churches
 Titus etc: itinerant followers of the founders
 Andronicus etc – city-wide apostles, over large areas
 False apostles
 Separated: set apart To the gospel: the full teaching
about Jesus

14. Rom 1:2 which He promised before through His
prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
 The gospel is about the promised Messiah and
promised Holy Spirit
 The promise comes through the prophets
 The prophets are recorded in Scripture
 Scripture is holy = sacred words
 Scripture and prophecy is fulfilled in Christ

15. Rom 1:3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,
 Son: Jesus Christ as son of God, unique and only
begotten Son, Trinity, image of the Father, heir of all
things
 Lord – kurios, one we owe absolute allegiance to,
God
 Seed of David: Messianic line
 According to the flesh: was of course pre-existent;
Christ’s intervention in history was as part of the
Davidic dynasty but Christ was David’s Lord!
 Physical birth vs. Spiritual birth

16. Rom 1:4 [and] declared [to be] the Son of God with power
according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from
the dead.
 Declared to be the Son of God: resurrection leads to
enthronement and co-regency with God
 With power: en dunamei – explosive power, energy
 Spirit of holiness; God’s unique, holy, loving all-wise Spirit
who moves with great power
 Resurrection: literally “out from among the dead ones”
 The resurrection legitimates the Cross and Jesus’ claims
about Himself as God’s Son.

17. Rom 1:5 Through Him we have received grace and
apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for
His name,
 Through Him: Jesus the mediator, the one who
pours out blessings
 Grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
 Apostleship: the full office of apostle is a divine
blessing and gift conferred by God and not by man.
 Obedience to the faith: We are instructed to obey
that which we believe.
 Nations: ethnicities
 His Name: the glory and authority and honor of God

18. Rom 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus
Christ;
 Among whom: among the nations/ gentiles
 You also are called: both Jew, Gentiles, Barbarian
etc
 All Christians have a divine calling on their lives
 Of Jesus Christ: we belong to Him, we are hosen by
Him to be His brothers and sisters for eternity

19. Rom 1:7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called [to
be] saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.
 This verse deals with the various levels of our identity
 Roman citizen: highest earthly identity at that time
 Beloved of God: higher still, the Creator’s choice!
 Called to be saints: holiness is our identity and our
destiny
 Grace to you: kindness to you, no condemnation,
covenant
 Peace: wholeness, the Jewish greeting, Shalom
 God our Father: originator of life and Creation, authority
 Lord Jesus Christ: co-regent, the one we serve

20. Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you
all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
 Thanks: Paul’s attitude of gratitude, not a fault-finder
 Faith – trust in God and His Word
 Spoken of: people were astonished that
sophisticated Romans would become Christians and
“follow a carpenter from Galilee”
 Whole world: known world, also the second-heaven
spiritual kosmos

21. Rom 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my
spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make
mention of you always in my prayers,
 Witness: The God who sees in secret testifies..
 Serve” latreuo – serves as a priest serves a deity
 With my spirit – in prayer, supplication, human spirit, the
deepest and eternal part of one’s being.
 Gospel: good news about Jesus
 Constant prayer of a true missionary / apostle, praying
about the matters of the Kingdom of God
 Prayer: deomai – insistent prayer, beseech

22. Rom 1:10 making request if, by some means, now at last I
may find a way in the will of God to come to you.
 Making request, if by some means at last: a deep
longing pent-up for quite some years.
 In the will of God: without jumping ahead of God in this
 Will : desire, thing pleasing, a very broad word

23. Rom 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift, so that you may be established--
 See you / impart: some ministry requires personal
impartation at close quarters, laying on of hands etc
 Spiritual gift: over 30 are mentioned in the NT –
tongues, healing, leadership, prophecy, discernment
of spirits etc.
 Established – strengthened, made stable, have the
gaps in their service filled up.

24. Rom 1:12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with
you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
 Mutual faith: Paul is vulnerable to his hearers, is not
lording it over them
 Together with you; in Christian community and
felowship
 Encouraged: built up as a body

25. Rom 1:13 Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren,
that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until
now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as
among the other Gentiles.
 Often planned; man proposes God disposes, Paul
was a planner but God could over-rule
 Hindered: Firstly by the intensity of work in the far
regions that had not heard (Rom 15;22) also Satan
is the Hinderer of the work of the gospel (2 Thess
2:18)
 Fruit: harvest of good things, esp. spiritual things,
godly results, more than just production….
 Other Gentiles – indicate the Romans were mainly
Gentiles

26. Rom 1:14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians,
both to wise and to unwise.
 Debtor: “obliged to” their lost-ness obliged Paul to
preach to them driven by the urgency of the issues
of salvation.
 Greek / wise – educated, philosophical
 Barbarians – unwisee, unlearned, ignorant clumsy
speech
 In missionary terms to both the sophisticated who
are without Christ (e.g. Japanese, Koreans) and the
unsophisticated (tribal people sin the Amazon)
 A universal gospel

27. Rom 1:15 So, as much as is in me, [I am] ready to preach
the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
 So much as is in me: to the extent I am able, with
the knowledge I have etc. the gospel was “in” Paul
as was the desire to preach and the ability to preach,
his ministry was deeply internalized and central to
who Paul was.
 Ready to preach / proclaim: not just pulpit preaching
but all kinds of communication of the gospel
 You who are in Rome: at the center of the Empire,
Paul’s movement from the edges to the center. The
gospel now finds its way to the heart of that society.

28. Contact
 John Edmiston
 310-783-1510 (Office)
 digitalopportunities@gmail.com
 Facebook.com/johnedmiston
 Course website: globalchristians.org/romans2/
 Will have website up later this week.