PAUL COMES UP WITH GREAT ONE-LINERS for the letter he wrote to Christians in Rome.
Here are some I enjoyed over the past few weeks, as I paraphrased my way through the letter for the Casual English Bible.
- You can see God if you look. “They know the truth about God. He made himself pretty doggone conspicuous. His invisible, divine power has been on display since Creation” (Romans 1:19).
- Bad judgment. “They were so stupid that they traded in the glorious, immortal God so they could buy into idols handcrafted to look like mortal humans, birds, four-footed critters, and creepy crawlers” (1:23).
- Why visiting relatives stay at the Holiday Inn. “Their throat is a toxic pit. Their tongues fling lies. Their lips are pockets of snake venom” (3:13).
- Sin: RIP. “Sin is dead to us. How can it be a part of our life anymore?” (6:2).
- We can tell sin where to go. “Don’t let sin tell you how to live your life. Your body doesn’t have to do what sin tells it to do” (6:12).
- Conned. “Sin tricked me to death” (7:11).
- It’s not my fault. “If I’m doing what I don’t what to do, it’s not me doing it. Sin’s inside me, and it’s running the joints” (7:20).
- I didn’t want to do it. “I don’t do the good stuff that I want to do. I do the rotten, good-for-nothing stuff I don’t want to do” (7:19).
- My imaginary boss. “Whenever I want to do something good, sin reminds me who’s the boss” (7:21).
- Bad connection. “A mind hardwired to selfishness can’t connect to God. It won’t submit to God’s protocol. So there’s no way it can connect to God” (8:7).
- A note for the selfish souls. “If you live a selfish life, it will be the death of you” (8:13).
- The words that matter. “Say out loud that Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. If you can do that, you’re going to be saved” (10:9).
- A note for the snooty. “Let’s say those of you who aren’t Jews were grafted on like a wild olive shoot, to take the place of those broken branches. Now, you’re enjoying the nourishment that comes from the root. Don’t get snooty about it. You’re just another branch sucking juice from the root” (11:17-18).
- Hug it. “Love what is good and hug it tight” (12:9).
- Bad guys lose. “Don’t let the bad guys win. Beat them with goodness” (12:21).
I’m working on creating the maps for Romans now. I hope to post Romans online (with these one-liners) in another week or so.
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