Status Updates From The Cradle, the Cross, and ...

Book Study/Pacing with the Bible
Text commentary study with Derek

This book is so long.

"After Jewish Christians evacuated Rome, the leadership...fell entirely to Gentile believers. Gentile congregations developed largely without Jewish influence & thus without sensitivity to Jewish scruples. Some Jews likely began to return to Rome during the final years of Claudius's reign...They returned to find that the very churches they formerly dominated were now controlled...by Gentile Christians" (601).

"...the Roman churches were dominated by Gentiles during the five years or so preceding the letter. However, a sudden influx of Jewish believers into the Christian community caused such conflict to erupt that it threatened the unity of God's people in Rome. The historical circumstances suggest that the church was of mixed composition, predominantly Gentile but with a growing number of Jewish believers" (600).

"The great treasure of the message about Jesus...was housed in a suffering apostle, a vessel made of clay...By using so weak a vessel...God put his great power on display. Although the gospel ministry constantly exposed the apostle to the threat of death, he pressed on, assured that God would resurrect his body & that his sufferings were only the prelude to an 'absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory'" (573).

"Paul urges the Corinthians to cultivate...love, which is more important than the exercise of any spiritual gift...more important than the gifts of human or heavenly speech, miracle-working faith, liberal generosity, or even the faithfulness that motivated a person to embrace martyrdom. Paul's prose soared into poetry as he beautifully described this patient, kind, humble, forgiving, & virtuous love" (568).

"He recognized that the glorification of human leaders indicated that the Corinthians did not understand the nature of divine grace and that they had a flawed view of the nature of human leadership. God's grace uses unlikely people for great purposes to display his power and wisdom. This promotes God's glory and diminishes human pride" (557).