Romans: The Heart of the Gospel

While Paul’s letters from prison address specific issues in the life of several young Christian communities, Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome differs in purpose and scope. Paul has never been to Rome, but like everyone in his day, he understands the broad scope of its power and influence. Since he wants the Christians in Rome to support his journey to Spain, Paul presents his mature understanding of the Gospel, which is the good news for the world about God’s activity amid Creation through Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah. Paul has no idea what they have heard about him from his detractors in the synagogue and churches across the Greco-Roman world, so he persuades them in a thoroughgoing apology for the integrity of his proclamation and representation of God. Listening carefully to Paul’s witness to his experience of God in Christ and the immediate implications of God’s action for God and God’s people will confirm, challenge, and hopefully strengthen the way we continue to live out our trust in God at Crestview.

Our guide for our study of Romans will be David Garland’s 2021 commentary on Romans in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. Garland was a long-time professor of New Testament at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary as well as interim president of Baylor University. Click here to learn more about this resource.

The following schedule is approximate and will likely shift during the summer and fall as needed to accommodate unforeseen future shifts in the life of the Crestview community. While not all of our adult education classes follow this curriculum, most do and will stay as close to the schedule as suits the pace of each class.

Note: When I published this schedule I did not yet have access to the print edition of the Garland commentary. The eBook pagination was not reliable relative to the print, so I did not publish page numbers below.