How else does Paul describe the difference between the carnal and the spiritual man in his other letters and does Luther’s understanding in Romans fit with these descriptions?
Discussion Example
The following examples are based on the book Reading Romans with Luther by R.J. Grunewald. Even though you may not be familiar with this book, you should be able to get a general idea of what is expected from each of our discussion board assignments based on these answers as they relate to the content of this book.
A. Module 1: Week 1
Thread: How to Look at the Bible
Learning Log
“Jesus turns our inward curve out toward our neighbors. When selfishness has made us worship only what pleases us. Jesus is at work in us making us forget ourselves. Jesus gives us new sight as we see our neighbors the way He sees our neighbors” (Grunewald, p. 124).
This quote is a reminder that our actions after salvation should be directed towards others rather than singularly towards ourselves. Since we are Christ’s ambassadors, we carry His message with both our words and our actions. If we are confused as to what that looks like, we only need to familiarize ourselves with the example of Christ.
Continue with 9 other quotes and interactions from the assigned reading
B. Module 3: Week 3
Thread: Questions About The Bible
Squares, Triangles, Circles, and Hearts
Squares:
1. Because of sin, our nature (human nature) is curved in upon itself. This is what is theologically known as original sin. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah understood this and wrote, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
2. The heart is so corrupted by sin that it will fear, love, and trust anything and anyone but God. Therefore, cultural ideas like “trust your heart” or “follow your heart” should no
3. “God always meets us when rock meets bottom. He promises to meet us in the place of despair” (Grunewald, p.101). Thus, it is in places of lowliness, weakness, and brokenness that we are must likely to find God. It is in these places that we will find the presence of God and not the absence of God.
4. Christians love their neighbor not out of obligation but out of a heart overflowing with the love of Jesus. This is the heart of a servant. This is also the heart of Jesus who demonstrated through his actions what being a servant looked like.
Triangles:
1. Sin is ultimately the worship of self and therefore a worship problem.
2. According to Luther, one reason that people leave the church is because sin is downplayed and good works are promoted, making people think they are already good enough or righteous enough for God’s acceptance.
3. “Christian growth is not primarily about sinning less. Christian growth is a war within us that is won by the Spirit through the Gospel…As you grow you will realize more and more how big the problem of sin is…Growth isn’t about needing the cross less, it’s about the cross doing its work daily. As we become acutely aware of what needs to be put to death our daily lives transform” (Grunewald, p. 96).
Circles:
1. How else does Paul describe the difference between the carnal and the spiritual man in his other letters and does Luther’s understanding in Romans fit with these descriptions?
2. How does Luther’s understanding of the gifts listed in Romans (Prophecy, Service, Teaching, Exhortation, Generosity, Leadership, and Mercy) fit with the other places Paul talks about gifts in his letters?
Hearts:
1. “Grace is the pronouncement of your relationship to the Father, and it has nothing to do with whether you are a well-behaved child of the Father” (Grunewald, p. 39).
C. Module 6: Week 6
Thread: How to Study the Genres of the Bible
3-2-1
3 concepts that improved, clarified, or adjusted my knowledge from this week’s reading.
There is a definite link between justification and sanctification. Grunewald expresses it this way, “Justification always effects our sanctification. In other words, the grace that saves us also changes us” (Grunewald, p. 105). This connection is rooted in Jesus Christ who is at work within us re-creating us to be people who love the people around us.
The gifts and opportunities God gives us are so that we can serve the people around us. They are not because “He” needs something. We are given them because “they” need something. Grunewald writes, “Our neighbors need our good works. Jesus doesn’t need our love and service by our neighbors do. Jesus doesn’t need our food in order to survive, but our neighbors might. Jesus doesn’t need us to protect Him and care for Him but our children do need care and protection” (Grunewald, p. 110). Thus, we are blessed to be a blessing. We have received good things so that we can share those good things with our neighbors.
The transformation in the believer is being orchestrated by Jesus and it turns our curved inward bend to an outward bend. In other words, we are being reshaped so that instead of an inward gaze at our own life we have an outward look to the needs of our neighbor. Grunewald notes, “Jesus turns our inward curves out toward our neighbors. When selfishness has made us worship only what pleases us, Jesus is at work in us making us forget ourselves. Jesus gives us new sight as we see our neighbors the way He sees our neighbors” (Grunewald, p. 124). One practical outgrowth of sanctification is that we begin to see the needs of others and the way in which God has gifted us to meet those needs.
2 ideas that are crucial from this week’s reading.
Concupiscence: This theological word is not something we hear used frequently today. However, its definition is one that describes the human condition. To that end, “Concupiscence is the desire and the lusting of the heart towards sin” (Grunewald, p. 25).
Luther’s interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:6: This is an understanding of this passage that I was not aware of nor had been previously exposed to. Luther sees the terms in this verse as more practical rather than religious. To that end, “‘between your eyes’ means all our thoughts must be directed by these words, and the phrases to write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates means that all our senses and particularly our tongue must be directed and applied according to these words” (Grunewald, p. 112).
1 way I can use what I have read.
Grunewald talks about hiding in chapter 1. More specifically, he talks about the way we have learned to hide things as it relates to social media. He writes, “We’ve become experts at hiding. We filter our lives and crop out the sadness so that everybody sees a version of us that has everything together…This is the unwritten law of social media: show the best version of your life and hide the mess” (Grunewald, p.12). With this in mind, I will focus on personal contentment rather than personal dissatisfaction as I consume information on social media. I will remind myself that what I am looking at is a highlight reel with all of the sadness cropped out.
D. Module 8: Week 8
Thread: Courageous Faith
$12 Summaries
Chapter 2: Human Condition (120 words)
Sin is the disease that has infected every human being. The proper theological term for this is “original sin.” The viciousness of original sin has altered our nature that it is “so deeply curved in upon itself” (Grunewald, p. 21). The implication of this for our human condition is that “sin is not simply something we choose to do or not do; sin is our nature. We aren’t sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners” (Grunewald, p.26). The answer to our human condition is found in the Gospel, or more correctly, the person of the Gospel. Rather than being plagued by a “me first” spirit, Jesus selflessly gives himself to rescue those under the curse of sin.
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