I think it is great to study the book of Romans just after leaving Acts. Much of Acts is devoted to what Paul did—whereas in Romans we get to see how Paul thinks. Paul wrote the letter in about A.D. 57, which coincides with one of his visits to Corinth (Acts 20). Paul was looking ahead to the next phase of his ministry. He’d spent a lot of time spreading the gospel into the nations around his home town of Tarsus, but he dreamed of taking it to the next level, moving his HQ from Antioch to Rome, and going out from there to Spain and perhaps points beyond. But Paul needs to introduce himself to the believers in Rome, folks who may have first heard the gospel in Jerusalem at the Day of Pentecost, years earlier.
So Paul writes them a letter of introduction, but what an introduction it was. Romans is perhaps the greatest treatise on the theology of the gospel that we know of. Paul was an extremely intelligent and articulate man, raised in two cultures (Greek and Jewish).
Though Paul had not been to Rome, he was familiar with the church there through Priscilla and Acquila, who were Jewish Christian tent makers that had been expelled from Rome and who gave Paul a job and were instrumental in helping him in the ministry.
The church in Rome was likely not organized, it consisted mainly of Jewish converts, and Gentiles who had either come to Christ in Rome or who had migrated there, having come to know Jesus through Paul’s ministry elsewhere. However, it was a very influential church, as we’ll see today.
Paul’s reasons then for writing Romans including, introducing himself to them, and asking for their support of his ministry, and also to introduce his theology, to counteract some of the awful stuff being said about him. In that defense we have one of the most theologically richest books in all of Scripture.
Romans breaks basically into two pieces. Chapters 1-11 are the understanding of the gospel (including our guilt, justification by faith, sanctification of the believer, and the problem of the Jews and unbelief), then the second piece is chapters 12 – 16 the application of the gospel. In Romans Paul talks about. By the way, Romans was Paul’s 5th letter, after both Thessalonian epistles, Galatians, and 1 Corinthians.
1
Paul could have introduced himself in many ways to the Christians in Rome. He could have called himself Saulos Paulos (first and last names), a Roman Citizen. He could have told them he was a Pharisee and well educated man. He could have even boasted of his mission, given by Jesus, which resulted in many thousands coming to Christ and churches established in city after city. But to them he is simply Paul, the servant. For a Roman citizen to call himself a servant was unthinkable. A servant (bondservant) was subject to the whim and will of his master. Paul does not identify himself as a leader but a servant. No matter how long we know the Lord, no matter how much we have accomplished for him, and no matter position of leadership he has placed us in, we are really on the same plane as every other disciple of the King of Kings—we serve at the pleasure of the master.
Second, Paul identifies himself as “called to be an apostle.” Paul had a special mission. This was his assignment as a servant. Jesus called him to that assignment on the road to Damascus in Acts 9. Paul’s assignment – “set apart for the gospel.” Specifically, Galatians 1:16 tells us, Paul was to take the gospel to the Gentiles.
What is your assignment? Do you know? Do you care?
2
So now we move to talking about just what this “gospel” is. There are three very important aspects here that we need to touch upon.
It’s a promise (not just a prophecy, which could be an advance notice of something happening). God made the promise and he is committed to it.
It came through official sources
Those sources wrote down what God said for us.
Why is this important? The Bible is not just a bunch of made up sayings and stories. The Scriptures are purely God’s message to us. It is what God wants us to know. It doesn’t answer every question but it answers the most important one—how do we get back into fellowship with God.
3 – 4
The Scriptures have a focus—that focus is God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Many Jews didn’t get the fact that everything in the Old Testament (what the readers of Romans would have understood as the Scriptures) leads to Jesus, the Messiah. What Paul wants us to understand from the get go is the dual nature of Jesus—that he is fully man, a human descended from David through both his mother and step father, and that He is fully God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit, then declared as God’s Son at His baptism in the Spirit of holiness:
Matthew 3:17 This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
He then provided proof of his divine nature when He came back from the dead, resurrected, not resuscitated. He was restored fully to his glory and power that he had prior to coming to earth. Jesus is Lord.
5 – 6
Paul received grace and forgiveness, then a calling, a job to do. And what was that job? “To bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations.” We could mistake this “obedience” as “if you follow the rules you’ll get to heaven.” This is not it at all. God saves us out of his mercy, not out of obligation. God was able to cancel out the debt of sin through Jesus, and then could offer us a relationship that happens when we put our trust and reliance on Jesus.
Think about it like stepping off of a dock into a boat. If you trust that the boat will hold you, you transfer your trust from the dock to the boat. If you try to stay with one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat you’ll end up in the water. As your mind gains faith in the boat, your body obeys and takes action based on that faith to move both legs off the dock and onto the boat.
So as we are convinced in God’s mercy, expressed only through Jesus Christ, as the means of real life, then we transfer our trust from the world and ourselves onto Jesus and we obey this trust.
Who does this refer to? “all who are called.” The Lord desires that all have that obedience of faith and that none perish. God calls us, then we call on Him (Romans 10:13). We won’t get into the whole predestination thing here; suffice it to say that God is in the salvation business and anyone who comes through Jesus will receive that salvation.
7
So finally he gets to the actual greeting of the letter—but how much more meaning it has now. Grace and peace are not just nice words like “Dear Romans: “ Grace is God’s unmerited favor on you which is the only way we can have peace with God.
Next, Paul gives them a little more about his purpose in coming to them:
8 – 15
The Roman church had made an impression, and so Paul is eager to fellowship with them, to learn from them, and to give them from the wisdom he received from God. I like that. We all have something to give each other. Even the greatest teacher is a student in the things of God. How wonderful it is when we “reap a harvest” among the brethren. Paul says “my job (obligation) is to bring the gospel to Jews and non-Jews, to those who do not yet know the real God (foolish) and to those who know Him and need encouragement.”
Conclusions
Why study such a theological book as Romans? It is vital to know what we believe. What we believe feeds what we do. We do act on what we believe so having correct information is vital.
1. It is great knowing someone is looking out for your spiritual well being
Paul really wanted the Roman Christians to do well and grow in their understanding of what has been given to them. Do you have someone like that in your life, someone who encourages you and that you can encourage? If not, you might consider it. It might be very informal, you just go around encouraging others to be strong in their faith – or it could be formal, a bond between brothers or sisters.
2. It’s great knowing that we didn’t just make all this up
With all the books out there, all the religions, all the philosophies—many of which are well written and, frankly, make a lot of sense on a human scale—it’s nice to know that we didn’t invent Christianity. God first made contact with us, God made promises to us, God sent prophets and His Word to us, and finally God sent His Son to us.
3. It’s great knowing your place in it all
Paul considered himself just a servant with a job. It was an important job, yes—and so is yours. Whether or not you have the “big” picture (and Paul often didn’t) you fit into his ministry too—spreading the gospel of God to the nations. Everything you do as you obey God, then, is part of that job.
