Book of Romans Study
Introduction & Romans 1:1-2
Tonight we will begin an expository study of the Epistle to the Romans, which was written under the anointing of the Holy Spirit by Paul, the Apostle. This letter to the Romans has often been called “the Constitution of Christianity”, or the “Christian Manifesto”.
Karl Marx is attributed with authoring the “Communist Manifesto”, which laid out the Communist purposes and program. It analyses and explains the class struggle of human society both historically and in present times, and proclaims the problems of capitalism, and a prediction of communism's potential future.
Marx said, "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles". His manifesto gives his ideas for how the capitalist society of his time would eventually be replaced by socialism, and then eventually communism, and that communism would rule the world under a New World Order.
Another man, Adolf Hitler, wrote his own “manifesto” and titled it “Mein Kampf”, which means, “My Struggle”. In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the main thesis of "the Jewish peril", which he saw as a Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. In his story, Hitler describes the process by which he became increasingly anti-semitic and militaristic, especially during his early years in Vienna. It was in those years that the Mayor of Vienna, Mr. Lueger, taught Hilter what it meant to persecute Jews and how to do so. He also was greatly influenced by the German Nationalist party, which blamed Jews for all of Germany’s problems.
Hitler soon proclaimed his hatred of what he believed to be the world's twin evils: Communism and Judaism. He then decided that Germany needed to obtain new territory to help establish the rightful destiny of the German people.
Germany needed “Lebensraum” which means “living space”. Hitler’s manifesto stated that Germany, and the Aryan Race would rule the world and Germany would have a Third Reich making them the rulers of the world for 1000 years and that Germany, with he as its Fuhrer, or “leader”, would establish a New World Order.
This Christian Manifesto is Paul’s way of establishing the fact that there is only one Kingdom, and one Ruler who is destined to ultimately rule the world and the world to come forever.
That Ruler is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God and Savior of the World. In Romans Paul describes the cause of all sin, the overcoming of Satan and the powers of darkness, and the ultimate power of Grace and Faith over it all, and the establishment of Righteousness through Christ alone. There are no good men, no good governments; for all is sin and ultimately meant to be destroyed by the appearance of Christ and His Kingdom, and that will absolutely be a New World Order.
Just as we can see happening in our nation today, when people don’t know their own constitutional rights, or forget what it says and ignore its provisions and promises, then we are destined to become enslaved once again. Freedom only comes through knowledge and the defense of those rights that are established.\
In the Christian constitution, when we don’t know what the Word of God teaches, or we lose sight of God’s promises, or we allow the truth of the word to be compromised and lost through the misinterpretation or misapplication of what the word says, then we are destined to become enslaved by either the Law or sin once again. It’s imperative that we understand and uphold our constitution as a nation, but even more so, our rights and privileges as Born Again people of God’s holy nation.
This book, written by the Apostle Paul to the Christians at Rome, contains the most complete explanations of the roots of Christianity as well as examples of Christian doctrine that are as timely today as they were nearly 2000 years ago when this letter was written. As such, it is therefore imperative that we understand what Paul teaches concerning the Christian faith. We have heard a lot about the Roman Road to salvation, and many of you have used Paul’s words to lead people to Christ.
But what about the rest of the Book of Romans? How much have we studied it? How much do we understand it? How much assurance of your salvation can be had by knowing what the Book of Romans teaches?
I cannot say that the Book of Romans stands alone as the single most important book of the New Testament, for there is much to be learned from all of the Word of God. But what I do believe is that if we could only grasp the fullness of what Paul preaches in Romans, how much greater and more victorious of a Christian life we could have.
The epistle, meaning letter, to the Romans was written around AD 56 to 58 while Paul was in the city of Corinth on his 3rd missionary journey. Paul stayed in Corinth for 3 months before leaving to go to Jerusalem to bring the offerings that he had collected from the churches he had visited to the Saints at Jerusalem who were under persecution from their own religious leaders
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Paul’s desire was to make a 4th missionary journey after leaving Jerusalem. He had been all over Asia Minor, the Southern Mediterranean region, throughout the Middle East, and had established churches, or encouraged and taught church leaders everywhere he went. He never pastored a church, for that was not his calling. He was called to do the work of an Apostle. He was an evangelist, always preaching repentance for sin and acceptance of Christ, but he took it a little further than most evangelists. Most evangelists blow into town, preach a few revival messages, get people saved, then blow out of town, leaving the task of making disciples to the church leaders that were left behind.
The Bible tells us that there is a 5-fold ministry to the church. Sometimes a Child of God may fill more than one of those positions at one time, but most of the time, we are called into the ministry to fulfill one position in particular.
Being an evangelist is hard work, and you have to live by faith, trusting God to meet your needs because you’re never in one place long enough to hold a job or own a home. True evangelists, who are called to be evangelists, must depend upon God and the offerings that he provides for their living. We need more evangelists, but sadly, many today who say they are evangelists, are not called to be evangelists. A lot of people like the idea of being on the road, traveling from church to church, preaching a few services and getting the offerings, but they care little about what happens in a church once they leave.
I’ve seen evangelists come into a church, preach a few sermons which bring division and confusion in the congregation, and then leave town to find another victim while the pastor who is left behind has to struggle to do damage control and keep the church from falling apart.
A true, God called, and God anointed evangelist will spend time in prayer, seeking the word that God has for the church he is going to, and will not have a divisive message, but a message of encouragement, of salvation and something that will unite the church even more and bring the congregation into a closer walk with Jesus. Of course, the congregation must be prepared and ready for revival. It’s not always the evangelist’s fault that revival doesn’t come.
Good, anointed evangelists are hard to find in our day. I don’t let many speak here because most are only looking for someone to hear them speak and give them an offering. If that’s their only reason from coming, then we don’t need them.
Paul did the work of an Apostle, which includes the work of an evangelist, but goes much farther. He preached revival, salvation and coming to Jesus, but he also stayed around to train the church and to establish a church leadership and church government. When Paul left town, his goal was to have a fully functioning and well-trained congregation that would withstand the persecution of the world and be a force for the spreading of the gospel in their region. The work of an Apostle is always involving establishing churches and training leaders.
Paul wrote this letter to the Christians at Rome to give him some assistance in making a trip to Rome, to the western extremes of the civilized world. He also hoped to establish some contacts for when he arrived there.
According to tradition, the Christians at Rome were in churches that had been established by converts of Peter’s ministry on the Day of Pentecost. When the Holy Ghost fell that day, there were people from all over the Roman Empire and surrounding nations. From that single sermon, preached by Peter after the Holy Ghost fell, many of those standing around became Believers and then went back to their homes and began preaching the gospel themselves.
The far reaching consequences of that one sermon, preached with the power and authority of the anointing of the Holy Ghost is far more than we might have thought. I wonder just how many churches were established, and how many souls were saved, because of that one Holy Ghost filled sermon? After the Holy Ghost fell, the gospel spread like wildfire across the Roman Empire, reaching all way to Rome itself.
Some of those who heard Peter and were saved eventually migrated to Rome because Rome was the capital city of the empire and the very center of everything that went on in business and government. The Romans were known for building the “Super highways” of their day. They built wonderful roads, many of which are still in use today, or there are sections that can be seen all over the area of the Mediterranean. They built roads to enhance their ability to travel for trade and for the transporting and moving of their Roman Legion anywhere in the empire. The old saying that “All Roads Lead to Rome”, was very literal.
Among those who had heard Peter preach were some Greeks. Nearly anywhere you went in the Roman Empire, you could communicate easily because Greek was the common language of the people and the culture. Latin was spoken too, but it was mostly used in government and politics.
The church that had been established at Rome was very small and had little real organization to it and it was mostly all Gentiles. There were small pockets of Believers all over the city that met in homes but never really came together as one congregation. I guess you could say that they started their church as cell groups before establishing a church at all.
That’s why Paul addresses the letter to the “Saints” in Rome, rather than to the “church” which is at Rome, because it wasn’t an established church yet. That’s one of the reasons Paul needed to go. He wanted to establish a church.
There were three main objectives that Paul had in mind when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans:
1) He wanted to teach them the fundamental doctrine of salvation in order to help them withstand the work of the Judaizers who would soon try to force them to live by the law instead of faith in Christ.
2) He wanted to explain the terrible unbelief of Israel and to show them how God was justified in his dealings with Israel and why the Jews were under such constant bondage even though they were God’s chosen nation.
3) He wanted to give the Christians in Rome some very practical ways to serve God and be obedient and profitable servants of Christ in the culture and day in which they lived.
Romans 1:1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
The very first thing that Paul wanted the Romans to know is that his calling and position as an Apostle of Jesus Christ was not the result of man’s doing. God had appointed Paul and anointed Paul to do a work. It was not a result of Paul’s education or background; in fact God called Paul in spite of his past. Paul’s persecution of the church and his affiliation with the Sanhedrin Council and the High Priest of Israel before his conversion on the Road to Damascus had no bearing on God’s call.
He made no claims of greatness, and in fact had learned to humble himself, becoming all things to all people so that he might have a greater impact in their lives and win souls to Jesus. Paul did not walk into a city with a proud, haughty spirit and an entourage of preachers saying how great he was. No, the greatest Apostle the church has ever had lived as a simple man, earning his own way as was needed by making tents, living with whoever would open their homes to him, and never asked anyone for anything. If the churches supported him, it was of their own free will, not by his begging for help. Paul had the attitude of coming to give all that he had, all that he was, all that God would help him to become, for the sake of the gospel and asked nothing in return. He lived by the rule that God had already given so much more than he deserved and anything else he received was a great blessing, not a reward!
Notice the heart of Paul concerning his ministry for Christ found in Philippians 4:12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
That certainly flies in the face of the Prosperity Doctrine of our day! According to those who preach prosperity, Paul wasn’t even saved. And, as far as I can see, neither was Jesus because he said that he had no home, no place to lay his head, not even as much as a fox, or a rabbit.
The man that we refer to as the great Apostle Paul, never considered himself as someone great. He gave all the glory to Jesus, never to himself. He didn’t want to make a name for himself or say, “Look at what I have done”, for he knew that without Jesus, he was nothing, and that anything that he was able to accomplish for the Lord was all by the grace of God alone.
Too many people today want to make a name for themselves, so that the church world, and the people in the world will look at them and say how great they are. In my opinion, they are more like CEO’s of corporations, seeking advancement and praises of men, rather than Pastors and preachers trying to be true “Servants of Jesus Christ”. Let God be glorified. Let us become less and Jesus to become more!
Paul was a servant of the Lord, a servant of the church, a servant to all men and not a Lord over the church; a leader to be recognized, served and praised. Because Paul humbled himself and became the servant of all, God exalted him, giving him a position and an authority that is unmatched in the church even to this very day.
Let us never seek the praises of men. Let us seek the will of God and to become the greatest servants of Jesus that we can become. Let us be ever reminded that it is never by the power, ability and knowledge of men that the true Kingdom of God is built! The gospel is preached, souls are won and the church is built only by the anointing, and the power of the Holy Ghost working in us! Without Him, we are nothing; but with Jesus in us, we are all that we can be! Jesus in us is the hope of all men! Let us lift Him up that all men may be drawn to the Cross of Christ!
Paul also says that he was separated unto the gospel of God. Serving God always requires a separation, but the greater the service we are to Christ and his church, the greater our separation from the things of this world must become.
The more I get involved in the church, teaching, preaching, studying, praying, etc., the less time I have for the other things in life that so many other people seem to enjoy. But don’t feel sorry for me because serving the Lord and being completely involved in the work of the ministry is the greatest joy and most satisfying work that anyone could have. And the times that I do get to take part in the other things in life are even greater because I know that I’m walking in the perfect will of God for my own life.
That’s not a condemning statement for anyone who isn’t as involved in the work of the ministry. The fact is that we all are called to do a work for the Lord, but perhaps the work you have been called to do requires less of a separation from the activities of the world around you. Maybe you can attend the sports events, or take part in a lot of social things and that’s great.
The only point I want to make is that if you’re called, anointed, set apart and chosen to be immersed in the work of the Lord, get ready for a greater separation because that’s what it’s going to take to be an obedient servant answering the call on your life.
Paul was a separated, called and anointed servant of God who had a specific job to do, and he kept his vision set upon completing the work that God had called him to do. He learned to “Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing”. He never allowed the things of the world to cause him to deviate from the path that God had set before him. He set his eyes on the prize of the high calling in God that he had and he never looked back; keeping the spiritual blinders on so that all he could see; and all he ever wanted, was to reach that finished line where he could say, “I’ve fought a good fight. I’ve kept the faith. And now there awaits for me a Crown of Victory”. Paul was a man who was fully separated unto the Lord for the work of the ministry.
I am persuaded that if we are to accomplish anything truly worthwhile for God; if we are to be truly successful in the eyes of God, then we must be fully separated unto the Lord. We must be obedient and profitable servants if we are to obtain the prize at the end of the race, and that means we must finish the race, never allowing anything to draw us off course.
Before we move on to another verse, let us take note that Paul says that the gospel he preached was the “gospel of God”. What is significant about that phrase?
Let us never forget that the entire plan of God for the salvation of man originated with God and not with man. Paul’s life was in God! His future belonged to God! His past was in God’s hands, and he lived each day as though the day was a special gift from God!
It is God that gives the light of the gospel. It’s God who sent his own Son to make the way of salvation. It is God who gives us life, hope, peace and joy. It’s is God’s plan and God’s way. We had nothing to do with it except to be so very grateful and thankful that we are called and chosen to be included in it. It’s all about God, period.
Romans 1:2 (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures)
This is a parenthetical statement in Paul’s opening remarks which is place here to let the Roman Christians know that all that is happening in the preaching and spread of the gospel, as well as all that happened to Jesus himself, is all in direct fulfillment of God’s plan that was laid down throughout the Old Testament by all of the prophets of God.
One of the reasons this statement is here is because among the Christians in Rome there were converted Jews. There is no doubt that these Jews were among the first to be persecuted by the Judaizers. They would be hammered with the ideas of living by the Law, and would become targets of those who thought that law and grace must both be observed.
Paul gave this statement to let them know that it was okay to get away from the Law of Moses and observing all of the laws of the Jews. They only had to serve Christ, and could have freedom to live by grace and not obey every law that others tried to force them to do. This was a statement that Grace was greater than the Law, because Christ had fulfilled the Law and it was no longer in effect over those who were walking in Grace through faith in Jesus.
There will be a lot of discussions in the Book of Romans concerning the relationship of Law and Grace. This is only the tip of the iceberg of things to come as Paul continues to explain the full impact of Grace in the Christian Constitution.
