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| ROMANS |
| Explanatory Footnotes - page 2 |
| middle of an argument to answer objections or questions that may be occurring to the reader. Some people have actually reached the conclusion that horrifies Paul in this passage. The Russian monk Rasputin, for example, concluded, "I'll sin more to earn more forgiveness." He lived a bizarre life of immorality. 8:28 Only Good Things? This famous verse is often misquoted or stretched to mean more than it says. It should be read along with the next two paragraphs. Paul doesn't promise that only good, or pleasurable, things will come to the Christian. What he does say is that even the difficult experiences described in verses 35-39 can be used in God's overall plan for good. And nothing can separate us from the love of God. 11:11 The Future of the Jews In chapters 9 and 10, Paul painfully admits that, on the whole, the Jews did not believe in Christ. Despite all the advantages of Old Testament history, they "stumbled over the 'stumbling stone' " (9:33). In chapter 11, Paul goes back over that history and asks whether it was futile. Will the Jews come to believe in Christ some day? Did their tragic experience produce any advantage for the rest of the world? This chapter clearly shows God's eternal love for his chosen people. Paul concludes with a poetic outburst, celebrating God's mysterious ways of working on earth. 13:1 Early Christians and the Empire For most of his ministry, Paul benefited from the legal protection of the Roman empire. The first generation of Christians received the same freedom of worship and legal protection as did the Jews. But soon emperors such as Nero vengefully turned on Christians, torturing and murdering thousands of them, probably including Paul himself. History shows that most of them followed Paul's |