Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f]
A! = As it Sounds, plain literal reading but with expansive thoughts.
Romans 8: the first thing that leaps out to me in relistening to this is "a Benediction" / Blessing and that comes to me from my Chairsmatic movement days. This theme very much comes in context from listening to the passage and doing so in the context of the previous one cited. And I love this because it also is what I do not just a Jewish thing, but an ancient Jewish practice going back to the ancient Patriarchs no less, before the Kingdom of Israel!
(Unlike the previous setup in the OP, my style reaction I think fits being inspired by "The Charismatic Voice" analysis of popular music done through the ear of an opera singer trained in music theory etc. I suppose I may need to edit the OP if this becomes common place)
9) This points to Paul in his very bones so to speak talking about feeling the weight of divine inspiration that bolsters and compels him because he knows he is heading into controversial territory, especially when it comes Judaism, it assumptions and expectations and those that will fight him when it comes to the Revelation of the Gospel. (As an author, side note in parallel while doing this study, I by way of Providence began reading Tovia Singers work, "Let's Get Biblical" which is the antithesis of this a Biblical polemic and Apologetic from an Orthodox Jew against Christianity).
10) A! Letters are good but being there in real life for extended indepth and personal conversations are so much better.
11) Back to Blessing Sentiments, have felt the same at times and I believe this is a definite thing as far as the laying on of hands goes.
12) A! Coals in a fire is a good analogy for this phenomenon, Christians are better together that kind of fellowship mutually supports and reinforces each other.
13) A! but a sad personal disclosure. This reminds me of the Joehari window where it is important to let people in on your thoughts and experiences unless they begin to assume the worst! At this point, I will just refer to the term gentile being derrived from the term "Nations" in the original Hebrew, the Greek term being "ethnos" where we get the word "ethnic" from. Essentially the Hebrews were the one tiny people group that God plucked out of the other ones to be his unique representatives, kind of like the Apostles of the New Covenant, but on a wider national level.
14) A! Paul is setting up what we would call today "Catholicity" aka Universality. Unlike the other Apostles in Christendom where one went to a particular place like saint Mark went to the Egyptians etc. Paul's ministry is more wide spread than that of saint James in Jerusalem etc. it is meant to have a wider impact, and this incidentally is also for the reason of all his study in Judaism.
15) A! This is a continuation fo the the former vs. point. This little detail blows me away, because I got the Universal vibes from the earlier vs. but for the last millennium Rome and Catholicism go to together aka Roman Catholic, but this vs. put that together in the obvious way that Rome "was the center of the world" as far as the people of the New Testament are concerned, so it interesting that metaphorical and literal go together, due to not just the Roman empire but also Charlemagne too etc.
16) Reading Tovia Singer while reflecting on the book of Acts and this book really makes me aware of the stigma of being a believer. Tovia talks about how Jewish Christians "are seen as traitors by Jews". And all this reminds me of the famous Raca passage in the New Testament for scorning someone as being worthless, derived from spitting in contempt like how Christ was abused and reviled on Good Friday prior to be being killed,
17) We get a right standing with God by trusting God for our salvation and a right standing with Him, this has been true a crossed all of time from Adam to the people of today in spite of the past specific covenants and dispensations, simple trust and reliance on God is at the root of it all across time.
