Just Paul

This third volume, in a series of verse-by-verse comments and explanations on a collection of New Testament letters, is an interpretation of Paul's letter to the first century called-out, covenant community of Christ in Rome, which is arguably his greatest contribution to Christianity. It is based upon an original, expanded translation of the Greek texts and gives some explanations of the reasons for, and the implications of, these new renderings. Included with the author's comments are citations from a variety of scholars who present a variety of views from their own ways of reading this letter from Paul. So this work is a partial anthology of interpretations of Romans, but is primarily a new reading of the text by the author, which has also been informed by Douglas A. Campbell's critique of "justification theory" in his The Deliverance of God, and thus it is presented as another voice in the ongoing debate over the "new perspectives" of Paul. For modern readers of Romans, how we understand his topics of "justification, salvation, atonement, judgment, wrath/personal-emotion, participation in Christ and new covenant inclusion" impact how we live our lives, how we treat and regard others, and how we present to the world God's message of goodness, ease and well-being in Christ that has come to us via His Spirit. This work is based upon: THE NEW TESTAMENT, God's Message of Goodness, Ease and Well-being Which Brings God's Gifts of His Spirit, His Life, His Grace, His Power, His Fairness, His Peace and His Love - a translation by the author. The conclusions reflect this expanded translation, and take into consideration the semantic range of many Greek words. Additional potential lexical meanings are parenthetically inserted into the text of the translation, along with variant manuscript readings. The author has given much attention to the significance of the Greek verb tenses and to the functions of the noun cases, rendering the different ways that each of them could be translated within its context. Each verse is presented in bold face with alternate renderings parenthetically given in light face. In short, this work is intended to shed new light based upon a correct understanding of the Greek texts within the perspective of the local life situations and their larger, first century contexts. Equally important, the intent is to serve as a catalyst for critical thinking regarding the impact of this letter upon our lives today. Sample passages of the NT translation and of other volumes in this series of commentaries, can be found at the Jonathan Mitchell New Testament website.