The Destination of Romans
Romans 8:18-25
You might think it strange that I am looking for the destination of Romans in the eighth chapter of Romans. Usually when we talk about destination in the epistles, we are discussing to whom the letter was sent. From there we analyze the text for clues as to why this letter was written to them. So if we were looking at Romans in this way, we would find the destination in 1:7 where is mentions Rome. We might even note that there are some manuscripts which omit Rome which causes us to speculate another destination(s).
Whereas, study of this sort can be helpful. We are overlooking a far more important destination of the letter. Theologically speaking, where is Paul going? We know the importance of the Gospel to Paul, but what is this good news from God? This also becomes a matter of some debate as we try to find the center of Romans. Is the center of the gospel “justification by faith?” Being that this is the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, this theme is getting additional scrutiny. If we look at this from the view of Luther, a view that we all come from, then finding justification for our sins in the presence of God who is judge is very important. Making sure we get to heaven is important.
I hope you will not dismiss me from being a Reformed theologian by suggesting that even though justification by faith is existentially important to us and to God, it is not the end of the gospel but the beginning of it. A newborn child is certainly needs-centered and selfish. That comes with the territory. It isn’t wrong. So when we look at it from the perspective of the new birth, what use is anything else we can learn from the gospel if we aren’t on that good old gospel ship?
Instead, I intend to propose that it is this passage from Romans 8 which is the center of Romans. It is the proper destination of the gospel. Justification, sanctification, the Jewish-Gentile issues, spiritual gifts are then means to this end. These items are pre-destination. They are steps along the way. It is important when going on a journey to have the destination in mind. Although I have been known to take mystery trips with my wife in the car without any particular destination in mind, this is not the best approach to take with God’s Word. When we get good and lost, my wife will ask me where we are, My answer like the stereotypical male who does not want to admit that he is lost is: “We are here.” She relies to that: “Do you know where here is?” We will get confused in our study and perhaps get things wrong unless we have the destination in mind.
The other point we need to understand when using a map is where we are. In the case of the Gospel, what is the beginning? Many think that it begins with Jesus in the New Testament. But Jesus points out that it actually begins with the promises of God in the Old Testament. It starts with God who created a perfect universe from nothing. The earth was part of this universe. There was a fall in heaven caused by Lucifer in which a third of the angels rebelled against the authority of the Creator. There was also a fall on earth as Adam and Eve disobeyed the commandment of God. Paul goes here in the 5th chapter of Romans when he compares the disobedience of Adam with the obedience of Christ. Then in Genesis 3:15, we get a promise of restoration. Through the seed of a woman, a child would be born who would bruise the serpent’s head. This promise is further refined throughout the Old Testament and was fulfilled by the incarnation, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God.
So in one way, all that was necessary for our salvation was provided in the historical Jesus. This is indeed good news. But this is not the end of the story. The end of the good news is a restored creation. This is a full restoration to the perfect obedience and harmony at Creation. When we get to Romans 4, we will see that the final state of creation will actually be more glorious for us than it was in the Garden of Eden. This is where the gospel road is taking us. Parts of the gospel explain the necessity of being on that road, how to get on it, how to know we are on that road, and what we are to do while we are on it.
The gospel, in particular, is centered around the greatest of the Father’s creations, humankind. It addresses God’s plans for his people whom he has chosen for Himself. In the end, it reveals our being forever united in Christ in a harmonious universe under which there is no more curse. We have to keep this in mind. The Gospel includes us by God’s grace, but it is not just about us and our need. It is about this grand and glorious plan of God who instead of trashing His creation and starting over, chose to redeem all of creation.
This harmony is the result of the obedience of faith, a term which occurs both at the beginning of and in the concluding doxology at the end of Romans. What we have is the unveiling of God’s ultimate purpose for the universe, one He knew from the beginning and ordains its outcome as well. This journey of faith is at times mysterious to us, but not to God. But even though we have trouble seeing how we will get to the end of the gospel road, it is no mystery to God. God gives the gift of faith by His grace to illumine the way. We need to be assured that God will get us there, because we cannot get there ourselves.
Now that we know the telos or end of the gospel, we can look more in detail about the journey. We can see justification by faith as being the entry point for us on this road. We will learn that faith is the entry point for anyone going on this road, whether one is Jewish or Gentile. This is also the only way to get on the one road. We will learn that being on this road brings us a special status, a status we share with other believers. This involves previewing the end of the gospel in the way we treat one another. The harmony at the end of the gospel road between us and God and between each other needs to be worked out along the way as well. As Charles Wesley puts it: “anticipate your heaven below, and know that love is heaven.
If we look at things this way, then chapters 9 through 11 of Romans which some see as a digression is actually central to Paul’s understanding of the Gospel. There needs to be harmony between believers who come from different cultural backgrounds. Boasting has to be reduced to boasting in the Lord alone. This approach also is reflected in the believer’s approach to living in harmony if possible with those who are not Christians. It means being harmonious citizens to secular authority. It means the proper use of spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ. All of Romans can be explained once we have the end of the gospel in sight.
The study of this book should be one which broadens our perspective from ourselves as the center of the universe to God being the center of everything. The fact that God has included us in His plan should bring us to profound praise and adoration for Him. It should lead us to doxologies of praise. It certainly did for Paul. When you read Romans, look at how many times Paul interjects praise to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of these things, our mind gets out of the rut and looks upward to God and forward to the final restoration of all things. O the glory of it all!
