Biblical Worldview Argumentative

Introduction
In Paul’s epistle to the Romans he gives us the foundation of Christian life in regards to how we should not only see the world, but also how we should act in a world that rejects the gospel of Christ. In Romans 1-8 Paul teaches us how we are not able to come to a saving grace through our works, but that it must come from Christ alone, and not only to the Jews, but to the Gentiles also. Paul tells us however, that this will not be easy, but we that we need to remember who is ultimately in control of everything around us. The Natural World

Paul makes it clear that the world was created by God and that we are without excuse if we choose to deny that. Romans 1: 22,23 tells us that men were turning their backs on God and worshipping the things that He had created instead of worshipping the Creator of those things. Verse 23 says that “they changed the glory of an incorruptible God”. Certainly having heard of the story of the children of Israel turning their backs on God and creating a golden calf to worship in the wilderness the Jews should have known what the consequences of this type of idolatry would bring (Exodus 22). Because of their defiance towards God he ultimately gave them over to the sinful lusts of their hearts to do what pleased themselves regardless if it was pleasing to God or not. Even today we are living with consequences of turning our backs on Him. Human Identity

Our identity is who we are. Much of our identity comes from our family, our friends, or where we may have been raised. As Christians our identity comes from Christ and we should continually strive to identify with Him. Unfortunately our original identity comes from Adam, and through his sin we have become sinful in nature from the beginning of our lives. Romans 5:19 says “For just as through the disobedience of one man many were set down as sinners, even, so, through the obedience of the One many shall be set down as righteous.” Thanks to the obedience of the One (Jesus) and the shedding of His blood we are able to break free from our old identity and look forward to a new one. What we could not do for ourselves Jesus went to the cross to do for us. Human Relationships

Our relationships with other people give a strong sense of what our relationship with God is like. How we interact with people on a daily basis and the relationships that we build goes a long way in showing just how we feel about them. In Romans 1:10 we see that Paul wanted desperately to come to Rome to teach, to interact, to fellowship, and build relationships with the Christians that were there. Just as God wants a personal relationship with His creation we all feel a deep need for relationships with each other. It was not meant for man to go through life on his own without being able to interact with each other. We see the genuine love that Paul displayed toward the people and churches throughout his epistles and it should make us want to have an even stronger relationship with our Creator. Culture

We’ve heard it said before that we are products of our environment or culture. The culture of Rome in biblical times was much like the culture of a large city today. They had not only accepted the wicked lifestyles that were being practiced, but they were also approving the practice of such things (Rom 1:32). We can see a lot of the same things going on in our time and our world that was going on in Rome when Paul wrote this epistle. We are quickly heading down a path towards the same destruction that so many civilizations before us have gone. If Christians start to give up the fight and stand by while the rest of this culture thumbs its nose at God then it won’t be long until he takes His hand of protection away from us and we will quickly head toward our own destruction. A culture without God is a culture without hope. Conclusion

The relevance of Paul’s epistle should not be lost on us today. The problems that he was warning against almost 2000 years ago are still problems that we face today. We must remember that the world we live in along with our identity, the relationships that we have with others, and the culture that we live in all affect the way we live our lives. It would be easy to feel overwhelmed when looking at all the problems that are going on around us. For Christians, we need to remember the hope that Paul gives us in Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Bibliography

(King James Version). Retrieved from http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Rom&c=1&p=0&rl=0&ss=0&t=KJV Date accessed May 5, 2014