We will be reading in three different books this week. First we will complete our reading of Paul's letter to the Romans, then we will read Paul's first letter to the Corinthians and on Sunday we will begin Paul's second letter to the Corinthians (which I will write about next week).

First a few closing remarks on Romans: We cannot overstate the importance of this letter. It is responsible for changing the course of life for people like St. Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley, each of whom had an encounter with Paul's words that awakened within his heart a new understanding of the grace and love and mercy of God.

Of his experience of reading Romans, Martin Luther wrote: "All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light."

And John Wesley described his experience this way: "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a Society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

Our reading of this letter is likely to leave us changed as well. The two letters to the Corinthians are actually part of a longer correspondence between the Corinthians and Paul. In fact, I Corinthians is Paul's response to a letter from the church in Corinth asking questions about Christian conduct in the midst of conflict and dissension. The bulk of the letter is a sorting out of the issues with a strong emphasis on Christian unity and what it means to be the body of Christ. For a little context, check out Acts 18:1-11; it sets the stage for what we read this week.

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Paul wrote 13 of the 21 letters in the New Testament. After working through Romans and then reading the letters that follow, you will gradually become more and more familiar with his voice and his style and his message. If you can, find a way to listen to the letters rather than read them. They were intended to be read aloud and there is something to gain by listening. If you have a smartphone, check out YouVersion, a Bible app that is free and includes audio.