MAMBO MUHIMU KUTOKA KITABU CHA WARUMI

Utangulizi:

Warumi 1: 1 inatambua mwandishi wa kitabu cha Warumi kama mtume Paulo. Warumi 16:22 inaonyesha kwamba Paulo alitumia mtu mmoja jina Tertio kunakili maneno yake. kitabu cha Warumi huenda kiliandikwa 56-58 BK.

 Kama nyaraka zote za Paulo kwa makanisa, kusudi lake la kuandika lilikuwa kutangaza utukufu wa Bwana Yesu Kristo kwa kufundisha kanuni za mafundisho na kuadilisha na kuwatia moyo waumini ambao wangepokea barua yake. Wale ambao Paulo alijali sana ni wale ambao barua hii iliandikiwa-wale walio katika Roma ambao  "walipendwa na Mungu na walioitwa kuwa watakatifu" (Warumi 1: 7).

 Kwa sababu yeye mwenyewe alikuwa ni raia wa Roma, alikuwa na mapenzi ya kipekee kwa wale waliokuwa katika mkutano wa waumini katika Roma. Tangu hadi hapa hakuwa ametembelea kanisa katika Rumi, barua hii pia ilitumika kama utangulizi wake kwao.

Madhumuni makuu ya kuandika waraka huu kwa Warumi ilikua:-

v       Maombi na Shukrani

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Waraka wa Mtume Paulo unabeba ujumbe maalumu kwa ndugu wote waliokua katika roma. Warumi 1:8 kwanza kabisa, Namshukuru Mungu wangu kwa Njia ya Yesu Kristo kwa ajili yenu nyote,kwa sababu Imani Yenu inatangazwa duniani kote. Kwa maana Munguninaemtumikia kwa Moyo Wangu wote katika kuhubiri Injili ya Mwanae, ni shahidi wangu njisi ninavyowakumbuka.  Ujumbe wa Mtume Paulo unasisitiza Zaidi katika Maombi na shukrani kwa watu wote na kwa ajili ya Imani Ya Yesu kristo Alieshaidi mwaminifu katika utendaji kazi wa Injili na Imani Ulimwenguni Mwote.

Ghadhabu Ya Mungu Kwa Wanadamu

Ghadhabu ya Mungu Imedhirishwa kutoka Mbinguni dhidi ya Uasi wote na uovu wa wanadamu ambao huipinga kweli kwa uovu wao, kwa maana yote yanayoweza kujulikana kumhusu Mungu ni Dhahiri kwao, kwa sababu Mungu aliweka wazi kwao. Mtume Paulo anaeleza wazi wazi  kuhusu Hukumu ya Mungu kwa Wanadamu na anaendelea kueleza kwa kina Zaidi kuhusu Umilele na asili yake ya Uungu, Umeonekana Kwa Macho waziwazi ili wanadmu asiwe na udhuru. Warumi 1:21”Kwa Maana ingawa walimjua Mungu,hawakumtukuza yeye kama Ndiye Mungu wala hawakumshukuru,bali  bali fikra zao zimekuwa batili na mioyo yao ya Ujinga ikatiwa giza” ingawa wakjidai  kuwa wenye hekima wakawa wajinga.

Hukumu Ya Mungu.

Katika hukumu ya  Mungu Mtume Paulo anandelea kueleza  ya kua  hatauna udhuru wo wote wewe mtu uwaye yote,,utoaye hukumu kwa mwingine ,kwa maana katika jambo lo lote unalowahukumu wengine unajihukumu wewe mwenyewe kwa sababu wewe unayehukumu unafanya mambo hayo. basi tunajua hukumu ya Mungu dhidi ya wale wafanyao mambo kama hayo ni ya kweli.

Uaminifu wa Mungu.

Kuna faida kubwa kwa kila namna,kwanza kabisa, Wayahudi wamekabidhiwa lile neon halisi la Mungu. Ingekuwaje kama wengine hawakuwa na Imani  je? Kutokuamini kwao kungebatilisha Uaminifu wa Mungu? La hasha! Mungu na onekane mwenye haki na kila mwanadamu kuwa Mwongo, kama ilivyoandikwa katika warumi 3:4  “Ili uweze kujulikana kuwa na haki katika Maneno yako, nawe ukashinde katika hukumu”

Ikiwa uovu wetu unathibitisha haki ya Mungu waziwazi,tuseme nini basi? Je Mungu Kuileta ghadhabu yake juu yetu nikwamba yeye si mwenye haki?

Paulo alikuwa na msisimko juu ya kuwa na uwezo wa kuhudumu mwishowe katika kanisa hili, na kila mtu alikuwa anafahamu vizuri ukweli huo(Warumi 1: 8-15). Barua kwa Waroma iliandikwa kutoka Korintho tu kabla ya safari ya Paulo kwenda Yerusalemu kutoa sadaka zilizokuwa zimetolewa kwa ajili ya maskini huko. Alikuwa na lengo la kwenda Roma na kisha kwenye Hispania (Warumi 15:24), lakini mipango yake ilikatizwa wakati alikamatwa katika Yerusalemu. Hatimaye angeweza kwenda Roma kama mfungwa. Fibi, ambaye alikuwa mshirika wa kanisa la Kenkrea karibu na Korintho (Warumi 16: 1), huenda ndiye alipeleka barua Roma.

kitabu cha Warumi kimsingi ni kazi ya mafundisho na kinaweza kugawanywa katika sehemu nne: haki inayohitajika, 1: 18-3: 20; haki inayotolewa, 3: 21-8: 39; haki inayoonyeshwa, 9: 1-11: 36; haki inayotekelezwa, 12: 1-15: 13. Dhamira kuu ya barua hii ni dhahiri bila shaka-haki. Kwa kuongozwa na Roho Mtakatifu, Paulo kwanza analaani watu wote kwa dhambi zao. Anaonyesha matakwa yake ya kuhubiri ukweli wa Neno la Mungu kwa wale walio katika Roma. Ilikuwa tumaini lake kuwa na uhakika walikuwa wanakaa kwenye njia ya haki. Yeye kwa nguvu anasema kuwa haiionei haya Injili (Warumi 1:16), kwa sababu ni nguvu ambayo kila mtu anaokolewa kwayo.

kitabu cha Warumi kinatueleza kumhusu Mungu, yeye ni nani na amefanya nini. Kinatuambia kuhusu Yesu Kristo, nini kifo chake kilitimiza. Kinatuambia kuhusu sisi wenyewe, nini tulikuwa bila Kristo na sisi ni nani baada ya kuamini katika Kristo. Paulo anasema kwamba Mungu hakudai watu warekebishwe maisha yao kabla ya kuja kwa Kristo. Wakati tulipokuwa bado wenye dhambi, Kristo alikufa msalabani kwa ajili ya dhambi zetu.

Paulo anatumia watu kadhaa wa Agano la Kale na matukio kama mifano ya ukweli wa utukufu katika kitabu cha Warumi. Ibrahimu aliamini na haki ilihesabiwa kwake kwa imani yake, na si kwa matendo yake (Warumi 4: 1-5). Katika Warumi 4: 6-9, Paulo anarejelea kwa Daudi ambaye alirudia ukweli huo: "Heri waliosamehewa makosa yao, na waliositiriwa dhambi zao. Heri mtu yule ambaye Bwana hamhesabii dhambi. "Paulo anatumia Adamu kuelezea Warumi mafundisho ya dhambi tulizorithi na anatumia hadithi ya Sarai na Isaka, mwana wa ahadi, ili kuonyesha kanuni za Wakristo kuwa wana wa ahadi ya neema kuu ya Mungu kupitia kwa Kristo. Katika sura 9-11, Paulo anakumbuka historia ya taifa la Israeli na kutangaza kwamba Mungu hatimaye hajakataa kabisa Israeli (Warumi 11: 11-12), lakini amewaruhusu kuwa na "mashaka" tu mpaka idadi kamili ya watu wa mataifa mengine wapate wokovu.

 kitabu cha Warumi kinaweka wazi kwamba hakuna kitu tunaweza kufanya ili kujiokoa wenyewe. Kila tendo "zuri" tumewahi fanya ni kama tambara chafu mbele ya Mungu. Hivyo ndivyo tulivyo wafu katika makosa na dhambi zetu ambapo kwamba ni tu neema na huruma ya Mungu inaweza kutuokoa. Mungu alionyesha neema hiyo na huruma kwa kumtuma Mwana wake, Yesu Kristo, ili afe msalabani kwa ajili yetu. Tunapogeuza maisha yetu kwa Kristo, hatudhibitiwa tena na asili yetu ya dhambi, ila tunadhibitiwa na Roho. Ikiwa tutakiri kwamba Yesu ni Bwana, na kuamini kwamba Yeye alifufuliwa kutoka kwa wafu, tumeokoka, na kuzaliwa upya. Tunahitaji kuishi maisha yetu yaliyotolewa kwa Mungu kama sadaka iliyo hai kwake. Ibada ya Mungu ambaye alituokoa inapaswa kuwa hitaji letu la juu. Labda utendaji bora wa Warumi unaweza ukawa kutekeleza Warumi 1:16 na kutoiionea haya Injili. Badala yake, hebu wote tuwe waaminifu katika kuitangaza.

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Do Everything Without Grumbling

“Do all things without grumbling” (Philippians 2:14). It’s remarkably easy to breeze by this command without really hearing those two intrusive words: all things.

Do all things without grumbling? Yes, all things: Wake up with a sore throat, receive criticism, pay a parking ticket, shovel spring snow, host houseguests, discipline your children, change a flat tire, answer emails, and do everything else without one murmuring word. “This is a hard saying,” we might be tempted to say. “Who can listen to it?” (John 6:60).

Many of us wake up set to “grumble,” and move through our days murmuring at a great variety of objects that get in our way. We may dress it up in nicer words: “venting,” “being honest,” “getting something off my chest,” or even “sharing a prayer request.” But God knows what we’re doing — and if we really think about it, we often do too. Grumbling is the hum of the fallen human heart, and often a hallmark of Christians’ indwelling sin.

And that makes non-grumblers a peculiar people in this world. As Paul goes on to tell us, those who “do all things without grumbling” burn like great suns in a world of darkness (Philippians 2:14–15).

The Voice of Discontentment

Paul’s use of the word grumbling (and his reference to Deuteronomy 32:5 in the next verse) takes us back to the desert between Egypt and Canaan, where we meet that group of experienced grumblers. What do their forty years in the wilderness teach us about grumbling?

They teach us that grumbling is discontentment made audible — the heart’s contempt escaped through the mouth. It is the sound we make when we have “a strong craving” for something we do not have, and we begin to grow restless (Numbers 11:4; Psalm 106:14).

The object of our craving need not be evil; often it isn’t. The Israelites, for example, reached for pleasures quite harmless in themselves: food and water (Exodus 15:24; 16:2–3; 17:3), a safe passage to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:2–4), comfort (Numbers 16:41). But their desires for these good things somehow turned bad: they wanted them sooner than God chose to give them; they wanted them more than God himself.

So too with us. We want a relaxing evening at home, but we get a call from a friend who needs help moving. We want a job that feels meaningful, but we get stuck among spreadsheets. Or, more significantly, we want the future we planned for, but we get one we never wanted.

“Unfair,” says some voice within us. “That’s not right,” says another. Desires become expectations; expectations become rights. And instead of bringing our disappointment to God, and allowing his words to steady us, we let unmet desire fester into discontentment. We grumble.

Murmuring Against Our Good

Grumbling is more than the voice of discontentment, however. It is also the voice of unbelief. We grumble when our faith in God’s good purposes falters. Unwilling to trust that God is crafting this disappointment for our good, we have eyes only for the painful now.

When the Israelites finished burying the last of the wilderness generation, Moses revealed God’s purpose in all their desert trials: “[God] led you through the great and terrifying wilderness . . . that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end” (Deuteronomy 8:15–16). What a tragic commentary on those graves in the desert. On every tombstone in that wilderness were carved the words, “We grumbled against our own good.”

God had already told them as much after their first episode of grumbling. He presented them with a choice: They could either “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God” (Exodus 15:26), or they could follow the raging mob within themselves. Well, we know the story. They followed the mob.

Our own grumbling, likewise, relies on an interpretation of God, ourselves, and this world that is utterly out of step with reality. (Of course, it feels like reality; the serpent’s voice always does.) We grumble because we have diligently listened to a voice other than the Lord our God’s, and have begun to repeat the words. Instead of crying out to God, “Help me trust you are good!” we mutter and spill and vent — the equivalent of saying, “God, your ways are not good.”

Let Go of Grumbling

Like all temptations common to man, the temptation to grumble always comes with “the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). But how? How can we confront our own tendencies to murmur and, amazingly, begin to “do all things without grumbling” (Philippians 2:14)?

1. Repent of wayward desires.

When you do recognize some grumbling words, stop and ask yourself,

What am I wanting right now more than I want God’s will?
What craving has become more important than God’s commandments?
What desire has grown sweeter than knowing Christ Jesus my Lord?

Grumbling does not spout forth from us because of a problem out there, but because of a problem in here. No outward circumstance compels us to grumble. The same apostle who said, “Do all things without grumbling,” was wearing chains for the gospel as he wrote. Yet Philippians is drenched in gratitude, not grumbling (Philippians 1:3; 4:14). More than that, at the center of Paul’s letter is a Savior who humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, without one murmur (Philippians 2:5–8).

God has given us everything we need to let go of grumbling — even in prison, even on the road to our own execution. In addition to recognizing our grumbling, then, we need to repent of those wayward desires that would keep us from saying with Paul, “It is my eager expectation and hope that . . . Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death,” whether by comfort or disappointment, whether by hope fulfilled or hope deferred (Philippians 1:20).

2. Remember God’s word of life.

Because our grumbling relies on a false interpretation of reality, we need God to reinterpret our circumstances for us. Therefore, as Paul tells us, we put away grumbling by “holding fast to the word of life” (Philippians 2:16).

Hold fast implies effort and attention. Grumbling will rarely flee if we merely wave around vague thoughts of God’s goodness. We need to take specific words from God and, with ruthless intensity, hold on to them tighter than we hold on to our words of discontentment.

What words from God should we hold fast to in these moments? Any that confront our inner clamor of voices with the truth of God’s abundant goodness (Psalm 31:19), our benefits in Christ (Psalm 103:1–5), the brightness of our future (1 Peter 1:3–9), God’s sovereignty over trials (James 1:2–4), and the pleasures of obedience (Psalm 19:10–11), for example.

Or, to stick near the context of Paul’s command, consider holding on to this gem of a promise: “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Glorious riches for every need are ours in Christ. Hold fast to that word.

3. Respond to God in faith.

Finally, take these words and turn them back to the God who is our very present help (Psalm 46:1). In other words, replace grumbling with its righteous opposite: prayer. Every decision to grumble is a decision not to pray, not to pour out our hearts before God, not to draw near to his powerful throne of grace. Likewise, every decision to pray is a decision not to grumble.

Of course, even in prayer the fight continues. Our minds will often wander back to whatever person or circumstance has agitated us. But keep bringing your mind back around. Keep wrangling your focus back to the God who made you, knows you, loves you, bought you, and will bring your holiness to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).

Grumbling cannot abide in the presence of this Jesus. Over time, it must make way for gratitude. It must bow the knee to faith. It must give way to praise.

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