Bible Challenge 01/29 - 02/04

Greetings All!

This week we finish up our journey through Acts and move entirely through Paul's letter to the church at Rome. Most scholars believe that this book was written in Corinth at the end of Paul's second missionary journey there, somewhere around 55-56AD. The book of Romans is Paul's greatest theological legacy to the church. The longest by far of his letters, it's intent is to explain that salvation is offered through the Gospel (or good news) of Jesus Christ. Since Paul has not been to Rome at this point, he outlines the good news of Jesus thoroughly so that Paul's teaching will not be confused with other false teachers.

The Main sections of Paul’s argument are as follows:

· God’s wrath revealed against the unrighteous (1:18-3:20)

· God credits righteousness to all (3:21-5:21)

· The gift of God’s righteousness results in righteous living (6:1-8:39)

· God's righteousness in the case of Israel (9:1-11:36)

· God's righteousness reflected in the righteous lives of believers (12:1-15:13)

· God's righteousness shared by Paul as minister to Gentiles (15:14-33)

Next up, we begin diving into Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth. I Corinthians was written from Ephesus (16:8), a city on the west coast of today's Turkey, about 180 miles by sea from Corinth. According to Acts of the Apostles, Paul founded the church in Corinth (Acts 18:1-17), then spent approximately three years in Ephesus. The letter was written during this time in Ephesus, which is usually dated as being in the range of 53 to 57 AD. Corinth was the meeting point of many nationalities because the main current of the trade between Asia and western Europe passed through its harbors. Paul's first visit lasted nearly two years and his converts were mainly Greeks. In the first epistle, he mainly concentrates on addressing some divisions in the church, some problems with immorality and teaching about marriage, Christian liberty, worship and resurrection.

Here is the schedule:

29, Sunday: Acts 24-27

30, Monday: Acts 28 - Romans 3

31, Tuesday: Romans 4-7

01, Wednesday: Romans 8-11

02, Thursday: Romans 12-15

03, Friday: Romans 16 - I Corinthians 3

04, Saturday: I Corinthians 4-7

May God add His richest blessings to the reading, the hearing and the living out of His holy word. Amen.