11/17 Reading (1 Chronicles 1-3; Romans 6)

For Chronicles: Chronicles is a retelling with significant variations of the books of Genesis through Kings. It is likely that its author had some access to many external sources not found in our canonical Bibles, but the main feature of Chronicles is the remarkable way in which its author deals with sources, rewriting them to fit a particular notion of historical probability, namely, what really could have happened based on notions of how the world worked. (NRSV Study Bible, p. 315)

Introduction to 1 Chronicles: The NRSV indicates that “Chronicles has three major sections: the genealogies (1 Chr 1-9), the history of the United Monarchy (1 Chr 10-2 Chr 9), and the history of the Judahite monarchy (2 Chr 10-36). The introductions in both study bibles I’m using indicate that these two books were written after the exile and the text reflects that time period. Pretty much the two Chronicles books are just a summary of everything that I’ve read in the OT up to this point.

1 Chronicles 1: Not much to say here. This chapter focuses on the family line of Israel.

1 Chronicles 2: Not much to say here either. This chapter focuses on the family line of Judah.

1 Chronicles 3: And as with the first two chapters, this chapter focuses on the family line of David.

Romans 6: I understand that Paul’s intentions were not to tell people to keep sinning, but I can see how they would believe that up to this point. Thankfully, he directly addresses that right at the beginning of this section, telling us that he isn’t encouraging us to sin. Paul then gets into a discussion about how Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection washed away our sins and will lead to eternal life as long as we follow him. Paul argues that we shouldn’t let sin rule our bodies. He ends this part of chapter 6 with this statement: “Sin will have no power over you, because you aren’t under Law but under grace” (CEB Study Bible; Rom 6.14).