What Makes Romans So Powerful? – Wesley Hill

Last updated on: January 15, 2019 at 7:54 pm by Michael F. Bird

What Makes Romans So Powerful? – Wesley Hill 2019-01-15T19:54:51-04:00 Michael F. Bird

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Wes Hill has a great little piece on “What Makes Romans So Powerful” over at Covenant.

Here’s his conclusion

Perhaps our era is especially ripe for another liberating encounter with the gospel found in Romans. More than any time I can recall, our cultural moment is marked by a profound awareness of human wickedness. From the #MeToo revelations that showcase human exploitation and hubris, to the ever more dismaying reports on climate change that put human arrogance and acquisitiveness in stark relief, to the horrific failure of human compassion on graphic display in the emaciated bodies of Yemeni civilians, human goodness and moral uprightness seem to have received their final coffin nail. We know, maybe as we have never known before, that we are corrupt and guilty before the bar of justice, awaiting a richly deserved death sentence.

But Romans announces a gospel precisely for those in coffins — that is, all of us. God, according to Romans, is the one who “gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (4:17). God is the one who “has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all” (11:32). Through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has determined to rescue wayward human beings and their world, returning them and it to himself in radiant newness. It’s a gift we could never earn or, given an eternity, ever comprehend.

In that light, we can better understand the spluttering superlatives. Coleridge was right: Romans is the most profound work in existence.

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