Van,
This reminds me of a little "Bible Study Group" a young couple who joined our church a few years back had soon afterwards started in their home.
They no longer attend our church, but the rest of us learned an important thing from them during the short time they were there.
One mark of false teachers is they concern themselves more with stirring controversy than anything else.
Here we find them focused on stirring controversy over the meaning of a particular word.
It’s an old trick, but “trick” it is the right word for it…….
The controversy discussed here is based on falsehood.
The truth is It does not matter one bit whether anyone agrees with the questionable ideas being presented here.
It is really very simple.
Your understanding of the passage being discussed is more biblically sound than any of these others, but they seek to change your mind.
Another old trick, the purpose of which is to gain a foothold to convince you they "understand" the bible better than your preacher does.
So, you do not need, and clearly do nor want, their help in “understanding” Romans, or any of the epistles, whether those of Paul, James, Peter, John.
They are professing to “help you understand” while ganging up on you like a WWR tag team. All they lack to complete the picture are hoods, capes, and folding metal chairs to slap you around with.
The fact is, it does not matter if one understands Romans, or not.
It does not even matter if one has ever even heard of the epistles, whether those of Paul, or any of the others.
The fact is, the epistles Paul wrote were not scripture in Paul’s time, these were letters he wrote to other missionaries, and Paul himself would not have considered them as anything other than that.
They most certainly describe what Paul taught, so can serve as a good source for the Gospel message, but they were letters, and much of their original purpose was specific to the churches they were addressed to.
One needs to be careful with Paul in the first place, and very watchful when someone comes along telling you what you learned in church is wrong, and starts trying to "prove it to you" using verses plucked out of Paul.
Witness how well they twist Paul into what they want you to believe.
Paul is filled with truths that a student of theology should be interested in, but the four Gospel accounts were written specifically to record the Gospel message as it was taught by the LORD, and if you could only have one book from the bible, any of the four Gospel accounts puts all you really need to “know” or “understand” right in front of you.
The Gospel -- > It was taught by Paul, taught by Matthew taught by Mark, taught by Luke, taught by John, taught by James, taught by Peter, taught by all of the first 11 apostles, and it was taught by the multitude that followed them.
The Gospel -- > First taught by our Lord and Savior.
The Apostles were but messengers.
The same thing they are today.
Jesus is the WORD.
Pick any one of those Apostles in the bible, and you will have the Gospel taught by Jesus.
God preserves his word.
Those that try to lead folks away from it serve the adversary.
