Preface.
It is hard to raise children in an audio-visual age, where adults have less and less control over what enters their children’s mind. Bombarded by internet, videos, tv, even school lessons.
It is equally hard to teach God’s people. So many want entertainment, the big screen, slick visuals, crisp audios. In many churches good preaching means looking at a video of a preacher in some other building. Less and less personal. The music is electronic and loud. And God’s people seem to want it that way.
The best medicine, or best diet, for any church anywhere is a clear and careful and deep verse by verse exposition of the revelation that was given to the apostles. Those who build on any other foundation are endangering, sickening, the people of God. We don’t get our views from someone else’s theology books, current religious trends, TV preachers. We must simply open the book and see what the text says. Many will find this method hopelessly boring and irrelevant. But may God’s men ignore the goats and keep feeding the sheep.
That’s what I intend to do in this study, to supplement what already happens in God’s pulpits.
I am going to take the scenic view of the letter to Rome. I will use the letter in fact as a starting point to many Biblical teachings, using words and verses that are topics of teachings that can be found elsewhere in Scripture. We won’t just study Romans, but anything Romans suggests.
The format will be very basic. One verse at a time, as they were delivered over a 17-month period in 2018 and 2019. The recordings can be found –
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at this publishing – at www.sermonaudio.com/aservant70. The sermon series “Romans” will take you to over 130 Audios that cover the entire book of Romans. The present volume is the transcript record of the first seven chapters or 59 recordings. Each recording is 15 to 20 minutes.
Stephen’s legacy.
“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Do not hold this sin against them.”
This is the prayer of Stephen, the Spirit-filled deacon who gave his life for Jesus. This is recorded in Acts 7:60, and the prayer came from the heart and the Holy Spirit. The prayer was heard in Heaven and experienced on earth.
It was experienced by the man in charge of this stoning, one named Saul. Saul truly was forgiven of the awful sin of slaughtering a believer in Jesus. Stephen’s prayer was answered.
Now move ahead in time more than 20 years, and we are in a home in Corinth, where Paul is staying during one of his missionary trips. He will be in this city for a year and a half, which for him was an unusually long time and in an unusually wicked city. But the Lord has many in that city who are about to be converted. Still he finds time to reach out from Corinth by letter, to a church and city where he has never been, but where he somehow knows he will visit one day, Rome.
Why the letter to the Romans?
It is the winter of 57 A. D. Paul is about to depart to Jerusalem with an offering for the poor saints there (Romans 15:22-27). A woman who works in that Corinthian church, named Phoebe, is on her way to Rome, so he sends this letter by her (Romans 16:1-2).
All of this takes place before God tells him He will indeed be going to Rome, confirming that vague notion in His head (Acts 23:11) that he would be going.
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So that’s why Rome, and the why of the book of Romans. Why, in the natural, anyway. God had a lot of reasons for this letter. But Paul had never been to Rome. They in that place knew of him and he knew of them. He writes to let them know he is on the way. That he wants to meet them.
He wants to edify believers (Romans 1:11), to preach the Gospel (Romans 1:15), the good news that he received because of that prayer of Stephen, to receive encouragement from them (Romans 1:12, 15:32), even to receive support for his planned trip to Spain (Romans 15:28).
He will arrive in Rome three years after this epistle, but as a prisoner. Our own plans look like this sometimes…
He writes Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon while in a Roman jail, believing that release is coming. The Book of Acts ends upbeat, with Paul seeing visitors in his long period of house arrest.
He is indeed released, most believe, but then imprisoned again, and he writes second Timothy from Rome, knowing no release is in the offing this time. 2 Timothy 4:6-8:
“I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith…” The positive confession people of our day would have cringed to hear this come out of his mouth [remember Peter trying to detract Jesus], and even blamed his death on those negative words.
There is a difference between negativism and realism. Paul had a revelation from God. And what is negative about leaving this planet to be with the Lord of glory?
Remember we are not promised, in this New testament age, a particular number of years. Long life is not necessarily a prize for us. Eternal life is what we strive for.
This final moment was five years after he first arrived in Rome.
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On this night in Corinth in 57, he knows none of this. He simply wants to communicate a clear description of the message of Jesus to these folks in Rome, because they are going to need it. Oh that the church of Rome had stayed grounded in Paul’s words!
Questions dealt with in Romans.
Now, this letter, like so many of his letters, is not written to correct doctrine or life-style, for the church, though young, was sound in what it knew (though it did not know much), but with some dangerous tendencies. All churches can swerve to right or left if not given godly counsel. We need someone to teach us more and more from the Scriptures.
Anyway, here are some of the issues of this letter:
What is the nature of the Gospel of Christ? Of Grace? Of forgiveness? Is the Mosaic law final and authoritative?
How does God justify the guilty through grace, before they have had a chance to perform good works to prove their worthiness?
Should Gentiles become Jewish before they become Christian? How is this life lived out in practical ways?
These things are still relevant to us. Consider: Not just how mankind is justified before God, but how will you be justified before God? It’s an eternal topic that needs examining. Why do you get to go to Heaven, and so many others do not? Now that you are in Christ, what is your life supposed to look like?
The church in Rome and the church today.
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Let me say a little about the church in Rome. See Acts 2:10, the Pentecost passage. “…Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya… visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes…”
There were believers from Rome on that special day we call, and the Jews called, Pentecost. The Spirit fell on them, converted them. They had just enough fire and knowledge to be the nucleus of a group of believers in the city of Rome.
That initial fire is never enough for a lifetime. Letters from apostles are needed for them and for us, to know the rest of the mind of the Lord. Too many today trust an experience to carry them all the way home.
Experience is essential. That’s how it all begins. But that is not what we are to seek afterwards. As newborn babies, we are to desire the pure milk of the word, says Peter. Too many ignore down-to-earth apostolic teachings, and with itching ears, looking for more and more experiences, they flock around people who promise the same! An experience a day is not necessarily on the road to Heaven.
Rather, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Rather, “Your Word is a light to my path.” We are to stay constantly in the teachings God has given us.
Forty different men over a 1600-year period, wrote words that were little by little gathered by the Holy Spirit into one volume, so that the people of God would have all the Light they could possibly use to be the Light that God wants to use.
The evolution of the church of Rome into today’s Romanism.
But regarding the evolution of the church in Rome. Rome was the political center of the world. The church, at first, was a despised, persecuted part of that empire. But the church grew in numbers and then in influence, political influence. In the centuries that passed, the Roman church government began to look like the Roman Empire’s government in its practices, its offices, its methods. In fact, a hybrid church was being formed that was part spiritual and true, part political and false. It is with
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us still. [And it can happen to any congregation that is not satisfied with God’s ways and wants the ways of the world to be introduced].
We who live in a free land must be careful not to be depending on government for our answers, not to be mixing with political government in the churches. We are a separated people. God is our President and King and Emperor. And our provider.
We honor rulers. Pay our taxes. But we do not copy them or depend on them. Let Rome serve as a horrible example, to be avoided, of government interference and dependence.
The growing church of Rome, being in the capital city, came to believe that it had the right to rule the rest of the church, even though Biblically Jerusalem was the center of everything now and in the future, as in the New Jerusalem.
Over the first decades there were actually five major centers of Christianity, but the Roman pontiffs began to claim more and more authority over the church until much of that church just believed God had spoken Rome into leadership, or they were forced into allegiance by political concerns. They bowed to Rome’s authority. The church of Jesus somehow became known as the Roman Catholic Church.
Nowhere had God predicted a Roman center for God’s people. No human capital was in the mind of Jesus when He told the woman at the well that “neither here nor in Jerusalem” will men worship, but rather the Spirit of God will be the center of the worship of Jesus.
But Rome never got that. And it was that Romanism, still a political monstrosity that some have equated with the mystery known as Babylon. Some reformers and Puritans connected Rome to antichrist. And all who came out of her knew, this is not the simple faith that Jesus started.
We always must emphasize that we are not talking about individual Catholics, but a system out of which God eventually calls His people.
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The true church is headquartered in Heaven. Its members are in many of the groups called churches all over the world. The boundaries of that church are unknown. But the work of calling out and saving and equipping those who have been chosen of God to salvation has gone on in spite of all that ignorance on our part, and will continue until He comes and takes away His people one day, and sets them up to rule and reign with Him.
Even in the worst days of Romanism, God had a people.
Thank you, John MacArthur
John MacArthur’s 1991 two-volume commentary on Romans will be alluded to often in this work. I recommend you order that book from Amazon (or wherever) for a fuller more scholarly approach to this study. I will quote him now and then, but know that his volumes were near my desk every step of the way.
I have taken the liberty of copying his entire outline of the book of Romans here:
Greetings, Intro, & Theme, 1:1-17.
Condemnation. The need of God’s Righteousness (1:18-3:20) Justification. The Provision of God’s Righteousness. (3:21-5:21) Sanctification. Demonstration of God’s Righteousness. (6:1-8:39) (The present volume will take us through chapter 7 only.) Restoration. Israel and God’s Righteousness. (9:1-11:36) Application. The Behavior of God’s Righteousness. (12:1-15:13) Conclusion, Greetings, and Benediction. (15:14-16:27)
The basic message of the letter : God’s Righteousness vs Man’s righteousness., but the letter answers a lot of questions on the way to finalizing this discussion. I borrow this listing also from Macarthur:
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What is the good news of God? Is Jesus really God?
What is God like?
How can God send people to Hell?
Why do men reject God and His Son Jesus Christ? Why are there false religions and idols?
What is man’s biggest sin?
Why are there sex perversions, hatred, crime, dishonesty, and all the other evils in the world, and why are they so pervasive and rampant?
What is the standard by which God condemns people?
How can a person who has never heard the Gospel be held spiritually responsible?
Do Jews have a greater responsibility to believe than Gentiles? Who is a true Jew?
Is there any spiritual advantage to being Jewish? How good is man in himself?
How evil is man in himself?
Can any person keep God’s laws perfectly? How can a person know he is a sinner?
How can a sinner be forgiven and justified by God? How is a Christian related to Abraham?
What is the importance of Christ’s death?
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What is the importance of His resurrection?
What is the importance of His present life in Heaven? For whom did Christ die?
Where can men find real peace and hope? How are all men related spiritually to Adam?
How are believers related spiritually to Jesus Christ? What is grace and what does it do?
How are God’s grace and God’s law related?
How does a person die spiritually and become reborn? What is the Christian’s relation to sin?
How important is obedience in the Christian life? Why is living a faithful Christian life such a struggle? How many natures does a Christian have?
What does the Holy Spirit do for a believer?
How intimate is a Christian’s relationship to God? Why is there suffering?
Will the world ever be different? What are election and predestination? How can Christians pray properly?
How secure is a believer’s salvation? What is God’s present plan for Israel?
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What is His future plan for Israel?
Why and for what have the gentiles been chosen by God? What is the Christian’s responsibility to Jews and to Israel? What is true spiritual commitment?
What is the Christian’s relationship to the world in general, to the unsaved, to other Christians, and to human government?
What is genuine love, and how does it work?
How do Christians deal with issues that are neither right or wrong in themselves?
What is true freedom?
How important is unity in the church?
Other resources
My other go-to helps for this study were Berry’s Interlinear KJV, The Precise Parallel New Testament, The 1985 edition of Unger’s Bible Dictionary, various Bible translations, the major ones being The English Standard Version, the New King James Version, and the King James Version. There were occasional trips online to Wikipedia, and the Bible Hub. Of course, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible was in constant use too.
In other words, I have done nothing more than any serious Bible student could do, and I encourage my readers to tackle this and other portions of the Bible in like manner.
Romans
Through the years, people have had much praise for this letter to the Romans:
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An unbeliever sat one day crying about how wicked his life had been. A scroll of Romans was nearby and he read chapter 13, which says in part, “… put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” Later the man wrote, “No further would I read, nor did I need… all the gloom of doubt vanished away.” That was Augustine.
1000 years later, Martin Luther praised Romans: “It is the chief part of the New Testament and the perfect gospel . . . the absolute epitome of the gospel.” More than that! A verse from Romans, 5:1, changed Luther forever. What power in the Word! But wait, there’s more. That verse, because it changed Luther, changed the Roman Catholic system to which Luther was connected. [counter-reformation]
More than that! It changed the course of world history. Wars have been fought between those claiming to be Christians on the Catholic and the Protestant side. The religious map was reorganized. One could argue that our free nation, whose founding fathers sought refuge from the persecutions of Rome, this very nation built its constitution on the basis of Luther’s discovery and reformation.
So Romans is worth a look. A serious look. And like all the Bible, no matter how many times you have examined it, it will still yield to you precious insights if you are patient enough to dig deeper and deeper!
Luther’s successor Philip Melancthon called Romans, “The compendium [summary, abstract] of Christian doctrine.”
John Wesley would read Luther’s preface to the book of Romans and feel his heart “strangely warmed”. He had assurance that God had taken away his sins, “and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
John Calvin said of the Book of Romans, “When anyone understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture.”
Samuel Coleridge, English poet and literary critic said Paul’s letter to the Romans is “The most profound work in existence.”
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G. Campbell Morgan said Romans was “the most pessimistic page of literature upon which your eyes ever rested” and at the same time, “the most optimistic poem to which your ears ever listened.”
We could add Tyndale and Bunyan and Barnhouse and many more. But the point is made.
