Study Desk

There were some fields around that same area. They were owned by a man named Publius, the most important Roman official on the island. He welcomed us into his home and was very good to us. We stayed in his house for three days.

Publius' father was very sick. He had a fever and dysentery, but Paul went to him and prayed for him. He laid his hands on the man and healed him.

Paul and the Jews chose a day for a meeting. On that day many more of these Jews met with Paul at his house. He spoke to them all day long, explaining God's kingdom to them. He used the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets to persuade them to believe in Jesus.

"I want you Jews to know that God has sent his salvation to the non-Jewish people. They will listen!"

Paul stayed two full years in his own rented house. He welcomed all the people who came and visited him.

Greetings from Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus. God chose me to be an apostle and gave me the work of telling his Good News.

God promised long ago through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures to give this Good News to his people.

This letter is to all of you in Rome. God loves you, and he has chosen you to be his holy people. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every time I pray, I always remember you. God knows this is true. He is the one I serve with all my heart by telling people the Good News about his Son. I pray that I will be allowed to come to you. It will happen if God wants it.

God shows his anger from heaven against all the evil and wrong things that people do. Their evil lives hide the truth they have.

There are things about God that people cannot see—his eternal power and all that makes him God. But since the beginning of the world, those things have been easy for people to understand. They are made clear in what God has made. So people have no excuse for the evil they do.

God judges all who do such things, and we know his judgment is right.

And since you do the same things as those people you judge, surely you understand that God will punish you too. How could you think you would be able to escape his judgment?

God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don't understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.

But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater. You will be punished on the day when God will show his anger. On that day everyone will see how right God is to judge people.

But others are selfish and refuse to follow truth. They follow evil. God will show his anger and punish them.

You are so proud that you have God's law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law.

Yes, the Jews have many benefits. The most important one is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings.

Someone might say, "When I lie, it really gives God glory, because my lie makes his truth easier to see. So why am I judged a sinner?"

They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ.