Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! We've been reading the Bible clear through this year. We are finishing the New Testament, so read along with me. But first, let us pray:
Father,
When the fullness of time had come, you sent your Word in the One who said, “Whoever sees me, sees the Father.” No revelation can surpass this until Jesus comes again. By your gift, the Church continues to receive unfathomable riches from the inheritance handed on from the Apostles and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit.
Let the Spirit who inspired the writing of today's pages "guide me in the truth and teach me" to follow Jesus ever more closely, until he calls me to follow him to the Kingdom where he lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Today's chapters are Romans 7-9.
Another day, another set of texts packed with Pauline intensity (and quotable quotes)! You'll notice right away that Paul has not yet finished explaining what he means about the relationship of believers with the Law of Moses (which is what he is referring to in shorthand by "the Law" or by reference to specific observances like circumcision or dietary rules). This was a serious issue for the first-generation of Christians, and Paul, with his rabbinical training and upbringing as a Pharisee, was just the person to navigate it.
Another thing that Paul sensed the need to make clear to the Romans, but which is exceedingly muddled for us English speakers, is that our salvation in Jesus Christ does not, while we live, relieve us of the tensions that come from living in a fallen world. This is the reality that Paul often will refer to in one word as "flesh." When Paul speaks of flesh, especially when he speaks of it as "opposed to the Spirit," he is not talking about the human body. (He has a different Greek word for the body.) "Flesh," in Paul, is fallen human nature; it can be very "spiritual." Think of how un-fleshed pride can be--and yet for Paul, pride is very much a manifestation of fallen human nature. God on social media if you want to see a modern example of what Paul means by "works of the flesh." I don't mean the vulgar stuff: I mean the sniping, the suspicions, the manipulation, the rash judgment: all "works of the flesh," all opposed to the Spirit.
In Chapter 7 Paul speaks as Everyman, expressing the anguish of living with the contradictions of "the flesh" acting out within one's very being. And yet, this anguish itself launches Paul into one of the Bible's most memorable and inspiring passages about hope! (All of Chapter 8 is basically a message of hope.)
Chapter 9 tells us that Paul is still thinking of his fellow Jews in all of this. It is a mystery to him that his preaching has largely been ineffective among his own "kinsmen." But he sees that it is a mystery of Providence, and that God will remain faithful to the covenants, as always.
Start reading here.
N.T. Wright's Paul: A Biography is the book I would recommend to someone who wanted to read one (only one) book that combined the life and letters of St Paul. Written by a noted Scripture, this is a flowing narrative that is scripturally enlightening and historically sound. Wright gives the reader a way of following Paul through the Acts of the Apostles and the writing of his letters, making Paul the person that much more approachable, and the letters themselves more readable as a result of having a social and historical context. 
And now that we are beginning the longest of Paul's letters, you might also be interested in reading James Papandrea's historical novel, A Week in the Life of Rome. Papandrea is a Catholic theologian and Church historian, so this novel is not just a fun read: it is filled with historical context (and photos and archaeological sidebars) that can help you fill in the blanks when it comes to the culture and times of the Christian community of Rome. 
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