Letters of Paul to the Early Church

A Contemporary Translation

Mounce

• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532634130
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

What you are about to read comes from the heart of the Apostle Paul, that great missionary theologian of the first century AD. It is remarkable that our understanding of the Christian faith rests primarily on thirteen letters written by a convert from rabbinic Judaism. No other set of ancient manuscripts has made such a dramatic impact on civilization over the past two millennia. Written to various churches in what we now call Asia Minor, they reveal the unique way in which God allowed the truth of the cross and the open grave to take root in a hostile environment. Paul wrote in simple Greek and this new and vibrant translation stresses what the apostle intended to communicate rather than the specific words he used to accomplish the goal. Readable and free from ambiguity, it presents the ancient letters in a new and powerful way. You the reader will become, as it were, one of the original recipients, so prepare to listen to the once zealous adherent of Judaism who, by a dramatic encounter with the Christ he was persecuting, became the major figure in the westward expansion of Christianity.This title was released in 2016 for a short time under the working title Dear Friends, This is Paul.

Paul’s Letter to the Church in Rome

This is Paul the apostle writing to fellow believers in the city of Rome. You’ll remember me as that Jewish zealot who, on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, was struck blind by the risen Christ. Of all people, God chose me to announce the Good News of his coming reign. Years ago this was predicted by Jewish prophets in their sacred manuscripts and is now being fulfilled through the work of God’s son, Jesus Christ. The Son existed from eternity as God but became man by being born into the human race as a descendant of King David. That he was in fact the Son of God was clearly established some thirty years later when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he emerged triumphant from the tomb. God has given us the privilege of proclaiming this message everywhere. When people hear it and believe, they bring honor to his name.

You believers there in Rome are part of that select group, loved by God and called to live a holy life. I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, will bless you just now with a fresh experience of grace and peace.

Before anything else, I want to tell you how thankful I am to God for all of you. I don’t know whether or not you know it, but your faith in Christ is talked about everywhere. With God as my witness—and I serve him with my whole heart telling people what he’s done for them through his Son, Jesus Christ—I tell you how unceasingly I mention you in my prayers. I’ve asked him so many times if I could go to Rome and spend time with you. I trust that is what he has in mind for us.

I want very much to see you that I might be of spiritual help. I have some things to share that will strengthen you spiritually. Of course that works both ways: you will strengthen my faith as well. It’s a win-win situation. I’ve planned so often to be with you, but every time something seems to happen and I have to adjust. I’ve always wanted to preach the gospel there in Rome, just like I have elsewhere. I want to watch as God works in the hearts of people and it doesn’t matter whether they are Greeks or barbarians.

I have a strong sense of obligation for people of every sort, for the civilized as well as the savage. It doesn’t matter whether they are highly educated or live on the street. So, I am anxious to come to Rome and preach the gospel there.

I want you to know that the gospel has never been an embarrassment to me. It has never failed to do what it claims. And that’s because it is power, the very power of God that brings salvation to everyone who will believe. At first the gospel was proclaimed to the Jews, but now it goes out to Gentiles as well. It explains what God has already done for us so that we can be made righteous in his sight. From start to finish it’s a matter of faith. As scripture says, “It is the person who is right with God through faith that will live.”

In contrast to the righteousness of God is the wickedness of man, against which God is now revealing his wrath. From heaven he directs his anger against the sinfulness of wicked people who by their wickedness are trying to silence the truth. It’s not that they don’t know the truth about God, because God has made that perfectly clear. People have always known that the created world requires a Creator—they can see the work of his hands. But beyond that, when they reflect on what he has created they become aware of his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature. So people are without excuse for not acknowledging him.

God’s revelation of himself in nature should have brought them to their knees in worship and thankfulness for who he is. But that didn’t happen. Instead they decided to complicate the issue by getting involved in meaningless speculation, and in the process their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. They ceased to worship the glorious God who will never die and turned to inanimate objects made to look like man, or like birds, animals, or crawling things.

Therefore God stepped back and allowed these rebels to do whatever shameful thing their sinful heart might desire. So they performed vile and despicable things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie and decided to worship and serve what God had created rather than the Creator himself, who alone is worthy of eternal praise! Amen!

That is why God gave them up to their own disgraceful desires. Women exchanged normal sexual relationships with a man for sex with one another. Men, as well, gave up natural sexual relations with women and burned in their desire for each other. They carried out shameful acts with other men and brought upon themselves the penalty for such deviance.

What’s more, since they refused to acknowledge God, he let them do whatever their corrupt minds suggested, doing things that ought not be done. So now their lives are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, treachery, and gossip. They slander, hate God, are insolent, arrogant, and boastful. They dream up new ways to sin. They are disobedient to their parents and devoid of common sense. They don’t keep their promises, they withhold love from others, and they show no mercy. They know the righteous decree of God, that people who live this way deserve to die; yet they don’t stop what they are doing. Even worse, they encourage others to adopt the same sinful lifestyle.

Chapter 2

A word of caution is in order. Be careful about passing judgment on people like this since you yourself are guilty of the same things. The judgment you pass on them applies to you as well and that leaves you without excuse. We know that God’s judgment against people who act that way is absolutely fair and just. So on what basis do you who do the same things, imagine that God will punish other people for those sins but let you go scot-free? By such an attitude are you not showing contempt for the incredible kindness of God, for his tolerance and patience? Can’t you see that God’s kindness is intended to bring you to repentance?

But because your heart is so stubborn and refuses to repent, you are storing up wrath for yourself. A day of wrath is coming when God’s righteous judgment will be unveiled. He will repay each person according to what they have done. God will give eternal life to those who have patiently gone about doing good out of a desire to receive glory, honor, and immortality. But he will pour out his wrath and fury on those who have lived only for themselves, those for whom evil rather than truth has been their guide for life. For every human being who continues to do what is evil, there will be tribulation and distress—for the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles. By way of contrast, there will be glory and honor and peace for all who continue to do what is good—for the Jews first, but also for the Gentiles. God judges everyone by the same standard.

The Gentiles, who live apart from the law, will be destroyed for their sin, but not because they failed to keep the law. The Jews are under the law, so when they fail to keep it they will be judged by it. If they obey it they will be declared righteous before God, but not if they simply hear it. It is the doing that is crucial. In fact, when the Gentiles, who are not under Jewish law, do by instinct what that aw requires they reveal a guiding principle within themselves. Their conduct shows that what the law requires is written in their hearts for their own conscience continually accuses or defends what they are doing. The day is coming when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of every person, as my gospel declares

Now for you who call yourselves Jews, I have a question. You rely upon the law and boast about your relationship to God; you are certain about God’s will and can distinguish what is best because you are instructed by the law; you are absolutely sure that you’ve been chosen as a guide for the blind, a beacon for those still in darkness, an instructor for the ignorant and a teacher for the uninformed because in the Law you possess complete knowledge and truth—so here’s my question: Since you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who tell other people that adultery is wrong, do you commit adultery? You who say that idols are detestable, do you use anything taken from a pagan temple? You are so proud to have the law but you dishonor God by breaking it. Scripture aptly says, “It is because of you Jews that the Gentiles blaspheme the name of God.”

Circumcision has value only if you live in obedience to God’s law. But if you don’t obey the law, that ceremonial act has no value at all. And is it not reasonable that should uncircumcised Gentiles fulfill the righteous demands of the law, if they not be considered “circumcised”? And beyond that, will not the uncircumcised Gentile who fulfills the demands of the law be more acceptable than you who are circumcised and have the written code but don’t obey it?

It comes down to this: a person is not a real Jew because he has Jewish parents or has been physically circumcised. No, to be a real Jew calls for an inward transformation, for a circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, not simply outward obedience to rules. A real Jew has the approval of God, not necessarily that of others.

Chapter 3

So is there any advantage in being a Jew? Is there any value in being circumcised? The answer is Yes, in many ways! First of all, it was to the Jewish people that God entrusted his sacred message.

One could ask, “But what if some Jews were unfaithful? Does their lack of faith mean that God will no longer be faithful? Absolutely not! God will be proven true even though everyone else turns out to be a liar. As scripture says of him, “You will be proven right in what you say, and win your case in court.”

One might argue that if our unrighteousness helps people see how righteous God really is—and I’m arguing from a human point of view—wouldn’t it be unfair for God to punish us? Not at all! If God were not absolutely fair he wouldn’t be able to judge the world, and we know he will. Again, one might argue that if our dishonesty brings God more glory by showing how truthful he is, on what basis could God condemn us as sinners? Why not say—and some slanderously claim to have heard us say—”Let’s go ahead and sin so that good will come from it”? People who come up with things like that deserve the condemnation that’s coming their way!

Well then, what should we conclude? Are we Jews any better off than the Gentiles? Certainly not, for we have already shown that both Jew and Gentile are under the control of sin. As scripture says, “No one is righteous, not even one. No one is wise; no one seeks God. They have all turned away and become worthless. No one does anything good, not even one. Their talk has the foul stench of an open grave. Their tongues are used to deceive. Deadly venom is hidden beneath their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed innocent blood. Destruction and misery follow wherever they go. They haven’t the faintest idea where to find peace. These people have no reverence for God.”

We know that the law applies to those who live under it, and therefore, the Jew is left without excuse. In this way the entire world, Jew as well as Gentile, stands guilty before God. No one can gain a right standing with God by doing what the law requires because the role of the law is to help us see how sinful we are; it doesn’t applaud our attempts to obey.

But now God has revealed how we can be made right in his sight. It has nothing to do with keeping the law although Moses and the ancient prophets alluded to it. God’s way of making us right in his sight is for us to accept by faith what Jesus Christ has already done for us, and this is for all who believe. There’s no difference between Jew and Gentile because everyone has sinned and in so doing has fallen short of God’s glorious ideal. Now all who believe may enter the presence of God because he has graciously set us free from the penalty of our sins through Christ Jesus whom he offered on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for all. This sacrifice demonstrates God’s righteousness both in the past when he let sins go unpunished and also in the present. It shows that he himself is just and also the one who justifies all who have put their faith in Jesus.

So, is there anything in all of this that we can boast about? Not a thing. How can you say that? The answer is that rewards are appropriate when something of merit has been done and we’ve done nothing but accept a free gift. That’s the nature of faith. We hold that people are made right with God by faith, not by obeying what the law demands. Since God is one, he has but one way of making people right with himself and that is by faith. It doesn’t matter if we are Jew or Gentile. It’s of no consequence whether or not we have been circumcised. So does it follow that faith has made the law irrelevant? By no means! It is by faith that we are enabled to fulfill the intent of the law.

Chapter 4

What then shall we say about our forefather Abraham when it comes this issue? If he earned a right standing with God by his good works he would have something to boast about—but not before God. What does scripture say? “Abraham believed God and that is why God considered him righteous.”

Wages paid to those who work are not considered a gift but something they have earned. But for those who don’t work, but trust the God who pronounces the guilty innocent, it is their faith that is reckoned as righteousness. David made the same point when he spoke of the blessedness of those whom God had declared righteous apart from any works they may have done: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are blotted out. Blessed are those whose sins the Lord will not hold against them.”

Is this blessing for the circumcised only or is it also for the uncircumcised? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was considered righteous because he believed what God said. And when was that? Was it before or after he was circumcised? That’s right, it was before Abraham was circumcised that God declared him righteous. His circumc...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia
• Paul’s First Letter to the Church in Thessalonica
• Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Thessalonica
• Paul’s First Letter to the Church in Corinth
• Paul’s Second Letter to the Church in Corinth
• Paul’s Letter to the Church in Rome
• Paul’s Letter to the Church in Philippi
• Paul’s Letter to Philemon
• Paul’s Letter to the Church in Colossae
• Paul’s Letter to the Church in Ephesus
• Paul’s Letter to Titus
• Paul’s First Letter to Timothy
• Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy