Introduction to Romans

Romans 1: 1-17

Good morning!  Today we are starting a new series delving into the book of Romans.  It is going to take us several months to travel the length of the entire book, but it is a rich store of truth that we should not rush through.

Perhaps you’ve already read the flyer for this series.  In it, several stories are shared about how the book of Romans in some way dramatically impacted well-known servants of God including Augustine, Martin Luther, and John Wesley.  The powerful words of Romans have inspired and drawn believers to deeper understanding of the immutable foundation of our faith in Jesus Christ.  It is our hope and prayer that this series will strengthen your faith as well.

This book (actually a really long letter, Paul’s longest in fact) was written by the apostle Paul in the time frame of 53-58 AD during his third missionary journey.  It was composed toward the end of that journey at the time of his return to Jerusalem with the gifts for the impoverished believers.  This is evident because of several things he shares at the end of the letter in chapter 15 (15:25-27).  He is most likely writing from Corinth or the nearby town of Cenchrae because of the people who are mentioned in the greetings found in chapter 16.

He’s obviously writing to Romans, particularly the church of Rome.  Later in the letter, we get the impression that this church is composed of a mix of Jewish and Gentile believers with the Gentiles in the majority.  (1:13)

The theme of the letter is hinted at by those famous Christians whose lives were so impacted.  The impact was that Augustine and Luther and Wesley trusted Jesus as their Savior.  The theme of Romans is the gospel … God’s plan of salvation and righteousness for all who come to trust in Him.

In the coming weeks, we will delve into the full content of this letter.  Just briefly though, we’ll see a survey of the spiritual condition of humankind:  Jews and Gentiles alike are sinners and need salvation.  There is tremendously good news though, salvation has been provided by God through Jesus Christ through His redemptive work on the cross.  Although God’s provision is a free gift, it must be received, taken, and “opened.”  How do we receive God’s gift of salvation?  That is only possible by faith.  This is how God has always dealt with humankind.

Salvation though is just the beginning of the Christian experience.  The letter goes on to show how believers are freed from sin, law, and death.  The letter incorporates explanation of how Israel, the Jewish people, have a place in God’s sovereign redemptive plan.  Then, it concludes with an appeal to the readers to work out their faith in practical ways both in the church among themselves and in the world.  Overall, it is a deep exploration into the gospel and a broad description of the implications of the gospel both in the present and the future.

So, let’s take a moment and pray together over this series and today’s introduction before we get into the first verses of chapter 1:

Lord God, thank You so much for the Bible, Your written word to us.  Thank You for this letter which Paul wrote to the Romans that includes good news for us all.  We pray that You would use this series to equip the saints to understand their salvation, worship You, and find ways to share Your good news with those around them.  All these things we ask in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Today’s passage has three distinct parts.  First is the salutation, then an explanation of why Paul is writing, and then a brief touch on the theme which will be portrayed through the entire letter.

It’s interesting to contrast the style of Paul’s salutation at the beginning of the letter with other ancient manuscripts.  It turns out that there are a couple of examples in Acts that we can refer to as well.

In Acts 15:23-29, we have the letter written from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to the Gentile believers regarding whether or not they needed to observe the Mosaic Law (they didn’t need to).  This letter begins:

The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.  –Acts 15:23

Then over in Acts 23:26-30, the centurion in Jerusalem writes to the governor of Judea:

Claudius Lysias, To His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings.  –Acts 23:26

All of Paul’s letters begin with this structure, but it is significantly expanded compared to the more common abbreviated format.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus … To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  –Romans 1:1, 7

I share that in part just to let you know that’s how they wrote letters back in that time period from all over the Mediterranean.  First you said who the letter was from, then who it was for, and then a greeting.  It’s just one of those cultural “because that’s how it was” things.

The second reason I shared that was to give us a bit of perspective because Paul so often expanded this salutary part of the letter.  We’ll see a full six verses of good news before we get to the “To:” part of the salutation.  So, let’s get started.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— Romans 1:1

When we first meet Paul back in Acts chapter 7, he has the name Saul.  The event is the stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:58), who was one of the leaders in the early church.  Saul was born in Tarsus and trained under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) as a Pharisee.  In fact in Philippians chapter 3, Paul said he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, zealous to persecute the church and legalistic in every way (3:4-14).  After that in Acts 9 (9:1-19), Jesus appears to Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus.  Paul is immediately converted and at once begins preaching there in the city of Damascus.  Paul becomes a missionary and travels across the eastern Mediterranean sharing the gospel and starting churches.

At the time of writing this letter to the Romans, it is right around 20 years since Paul came to put his faith in Jesus Christ and to follow Him wholeheartedly. 

In his salutation, Paul calls himself a servant first and an apostle second.  This word servant can mean a slave who cannot leave or else a servant who willingly chooses to serve.  In the Old Testament, several leaders were called servant of God.  There it meant one who has a high status in the Lord’s kingly administration, a trusted envoy, a confidential representative. Moses was called the servant of God (Exodus 14:31) as were Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Jonah, Isaiah, Daniel.  Of course, the prophetic passage of Isaiah 42:1-9, speaks of the suffering servant who would be “a covenant for the people and a light to Gentiles.”  Jesus was a servant, too.  When we serve God, we are in good company.

An apostle is simply one specially commissioned by Christ.  For Paul, that happened on the road to Damascus.

The third description applied to Paul is “set apart.”  Earlier before he came to know Jesus, Paul had been a Pharisee.  The root of the word Pharisee is to be separated or set apart.  Many Pharisees were lost and hardened people, in essence, they were separated from God.  Now Paul is set apart for God and for His gospel.

The word gospel is derived from old English godspel or good news which is literally what the Greek word means. (Evangelium in the Greek = good news)

The word “God” occurs 139 times in the NIV translation of Romans, something like an average of once every 50 words.  This is more frequent than any other New Testament book.  In comparison, other words we associate with Romans appear far less often: law (72), Christ (65), sin (48), Lord (43), and faith (40).  Romans deals with many different themes but as much as a book can be it is a book about God.  Let’s move on into verse 2:

… the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.  –Romans 1:2-4

The gospel, this good news, was promised throughout the Old Testament.  We touched on it briefly a couple of weeks ago where Jesus pointed this out after His resurrection.  You can find that in Luke 24:44.

We have here a brief introduction into what the gospel is.  It is no less than the center of Christianity.  This center, this foundation is no teaching or a moral system.  It is a Person.  It is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is both fully God and fully man.  He is descended from David which was a prophecy about Him.  Likewise, He knew in advance that He would die and rise again.  Through His resurrection, Jesus has demonstrated, proven, that He is God.

Through Him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name's sake.  And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  –Romans 1:5-6

Paul is not the only apostle, of course.  There are many who are working diligently to call both Jew and Gentile to the obedience that comes from faith.  This work continues today all around the world.  Those who received Paul’s letter, including the Roman believers as well as us today, are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  This call and belonging to Jesus is life changing, life altering.  There is an obedience which comes from this faith.  We want to live differently.  We want to give up doing the foolish and futile things we once did (or may be tempted to do now from time to time).

To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be His holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  –Romans 1:7

Obviously, there was already a church in Rome.  Why else would Paul be writing?

How did that church come to be?  Well, we don’t really know.  In Acts 2:10, at the time of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, we see that there were visitors from Rome present (among 15 regions represented).  It can be deduced that there were some among those Romans who put their faith in Jesus and then returned to Rome.  However, there is no detailed story either Biblical or in other historical accounts.

It appears that Paul knew some of them at the time of his writing because he mentions their names in greeting at the end of the letter.  And of course, people were often going to Rome or moving there as it was such a large and significant place as the capital of the empire bearing its name.

These Roman believers are holy people.  The words “to be” are not in Greek.  They’re added to make the sentence flow in English.  They aren’t just being called holy in some trite or false way.  They aren’t called holy because of something they did to make themselves holy or appear to be holy.  They have God’s calling on them as holy people as do people who trust Jesus today.

But what if we don’t feel holy?  Well, if we have done something wrong, if we have sinned, we should confess our sin.  I John 1:9 tell us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  What if after that, we still don’t feel holy?  It is helpful to understand that all Christians are set apart to God.  This can be called positional sanctification or positional holiness.  God has taken each believer and moved them positionally from being under judgment and rejecting Him to accepted and part of His family. 

At the same time, each believer is growing in maturity.  We are experientially being made increasingly holy by the Holy Spirit.  This can be called progressive sanctification.  This is always going on as long as we are in this world.

If you can remember back to the beginning of the message when we were comparing the differences in the way Paul begins his letters compared to the standard, we see that “grace and peace” has taken the place of “greetings.”  Even this change is significant.  Grace indicates unmerited favor from God.  We didn’t do anything to earn God’s goodness toward us.  Peace indicates our reconciliation with God.  We have peace with God.  Peace also includes the serenity and harmony that flow from being right with God.  Both grace and peace are gifts from God.  They are not mere well-wishing. 

We can take nearly every phrase here and break it down.  It’s easy to see how it can take months or even years to study through a text like Romans.  We can even pause at the last three words in this verse, “Lord Jesus Christ.”  Acts 2:36 explains that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ.  Jesus is God’s chosen One, His anointed, the Messiah, Christ (Luke 2:11).  By the life He lived, the death He died, and His resurrection, Jesus is also Lord above all, all power and authority belong to Him.  (Matthew 28:18)

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.  –Romans 1:8

Paul routinely begins his letters by giving thanks.  I think there is an interesting dynamic here that not only do we ask for things in Jesus’ Name, we also give thanks through Jesus or because of Jesus.  It may also be understood that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit living inside each believer, enables us to express thanks or be thankful.

The faith of the Roman believers was being reported all over the world wherever the gospel is preached, and it still is even to this day!

God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.  –Romans 1:9-10

Paul is striving to affirm his faithful prayer to the believers in Rome when he says, “God is my witness.”  This can be a good reminder for us to be in prayer for our church and the churches in our sphere(s) of relationships.  This is my paraphrase of something Charles Spurgeon said.  “Our churches would prosper better if we remembered them more in prayer.”  Paul’s example is constant prayer.  Think of all the churches Paul was connected to in one way or another.  He was really devoted to prayer for those churches when he was in constant prayer for the church at Rome.

“The gospel of His Son” does not mean something new or different.  There is only one gospel … it is the good news about Jesus. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

At the beginning of these verses, Paul speaks of the “God whom I serve.”  That word for serve in the Greek latreuo can be (and is sometimes) also translated to worship.  Robert Mounce, a Biblical commentator, pointed out that “To worship is to serve,” and “To serve is to worship.”  We can also pause and reflect that genuine worship takes place often in acts of service and possibly more so than by attending a worship service.  We are called to gather together and worship God (Hebrews 10:25), so we should not abandon that, but I think it is helpful to think that there are a lot of ways that we can and do worship God.

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.  I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.  –Romans 1:11-13

Paul’s thought to experience mutual encouragement captures humility toward those in Rome.  He’s not putting himself forward that the great Paul would come to dispense the word from on high.  Instead, he is confident that he would be ministered to by them, and that he too would minister to them as well.

We can see Paul’s affection for the Roman believers in his desire to have visited sooner.  This is a good example to us for desiring to know and to have relationship with other believers.  Think upon this when you are traveling whether or not you can have a chance to connect with other believers on your way so that you can be mutually encouraged.

He is likely looking forward to two harvests.  He is hopeful and expecting to see new followers of Jesus.  And, he is hopeful and expecting spiritual growth among the believers in the church.

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.  That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.  –Romans 1:14-15

When I first read these two verses, I’m envisioning Rome like Washington, DC.  And, my thought was if you want to preach to the wise and the foolish there is probably no better place to be than the capital, especially for finding foolishness.

But seriously, there is going to be a cross-section of the entire empire there.  We live in a rural area of a rural state.  Granted, we have a university in our town which affords us opportunity to interact with a number of people from all over the world.  We have industry in the area which brings people here from all over.  If I remember correctly, Spurgeon recounted that he far preferred country living to the city.  And yet, he said there was no better place to find lost people than in London, the largest city in England.  So, he spent his life preaching there.

Greeks and non-Greeks means those who are highbrow (or Greek-speaking or cultured) and uncivilized (people who didn’t speak Greek).  Wise and foolish could be translated as educated and uneducated, white collar and blue collar.  No matter which way you describe people, we all need Jesus.  Apart from Him, there is no one righteous, not even one.

Paul says, “I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.”  This is a good glimpse of his boldness. William Newell, a pastor and Bible expositor expressed it this way, “Talk of your brave men, your great men, O world!  Where in all history can you find one like Paul?  Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, marched with the protection of their armies to enforce their will upon men.  Paul was eager to march with Christ alone to the center of this world’s greatness entrenched under Satan with the word of the cross, which he himself says is to the Jews, an offence; and to Gentiles, foolishness.” (I Corinthians 1:23)

The end of that quote is a reference to I Corinthians 1:23 where Paul wrote that the cross was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.  In spite of that, Paul was never hindered in proclaiming the message of the cross.  In fact, he looked forward to it.  As to where can you find one like Paul, there are many brave men and women who have boldly declared the message of the cross and sacrificed all they had to do it.  We should think like Elisha and desire to take up their mantel.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  –Romans 1:16

Verses 16 and 17 of chapter one are often described as forming the thesis statement of this letter to the Romans.  As we will see in the coming weeks, Romans is by far the most systematic of Paul’s letters.  His other letters often feel somewhat ad hoc or written in response to a particular circumstance or need.  There is a strong emphasis on doctrine through this particular letter.  It deals with sin, salvation, grace, faith, righteousness, justification, sanctification, redemption, death, and resurrection to name a few.  Romans also incorporates numerous Old Testament quotations, of which we find the first one at the end of verse 17.

The message, the good news itself, is the power of God.  Let that sink in.  The gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ – has inherent power. We do not give it power by clever words or arguments.  When we present it simply and effectively, the power of the gospel is unhindered and can do its work.  I think it was D.L. Moody who said that the preacher has an easy job.  He said the gospel has power like a lion.  All a preacher has to do is open the cage and get out of the way.  And, I know I’ve told this story before.  Charles Spurgeon was once testing the acoustics in a large building.  Rather than say something boring like, “Testing, one, two, one, two,” he said in a powerful voice, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  It so happened that there was a man working up in the ceiling and he trusted Jesus Christ as His Savior just from that simple testimony.  We should never underestimate the power of the gospel.

Salvation is first in time and privilege among the Jews (John 4:22), and Jesus was Jewish, as well.  These privileges were not extended because of their merit or because of God’s partiality.  When I say partiality, I mean that God doesn’t like the Jewish people more than other people.  God loves everyone.  It was God’s plan to bring salvation through the Jewish people, and that part of the redemption story started all the way back with the faith of Abraham.

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed--a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” –Romans 1:17

Isaiah 45:22-24 says, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.  By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.  They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’  All who have raged against Him will come to Him and be put to shame.”

Everyone will agree at the end of all things that God is right.  Only in the Lord is deliverance.  There is no other way.  Now is the day of salvation, now is the time to accept the offer of salvation in Jesus.  There will come a time where there will no longer be an opportunity to accept God’s gift.  It will only be possible to say, “I didn’t want to know.  I didn’t accept what God had accomplished.”  As Psalm 98:2 says, “The LORD has made His salvation known and revealed His righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”

Righteousness is the state of being in the right with God.  That righteousness is not accomplished by anything we do to earn it.  It comes by acceptance, by receiving it.  William Barclay explained that when God justifies, it doesn’t mean that God finds reasons to prove the individual was righteous, nor does it mean that He makes the sinner good at that point.  When God justifies it means God treats the sinner as if they had not been a sinner at all.

The righteous shall not live by works or by doing good things to stay in favor with God.  The righteous shall live by faith, which is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4.  We also have the example of faith in Abraham which is found in Genesis 15:6, Abraham “believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.”

What is faith?  Even in Scripture, we find different meanings for this one word.  In Jude 1:3, it means the body of truth that believers hold to.  At other times, it means loyalty or faithfulness.  It can mean intellectual acceptance.  It can mean conviction or assurance.

Faith as described here is trust in God’s mercy or grace alone.  We rely on God’s grace and not our own effort or merit for salvation.  There are two complimentary aspects to this faith, one positive and one negative.  On the one hand, there is trust in God’s unlimited goodness.  On the other hand, there must also be an awareness of our lack of righteousness even to the point of despair of being able to achieve righteousness on our own.  We can’t do it ourselves.  Repentance is baked into this understanding of faith.  It’s like Mark 1:15 when Jesus first began his preaching ministry.  He said, “The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news!”

That righteousness is by faith first to last … from start to finish.

We all place faith in things every day.  When we ride in a car, we put our faith in the other drivers that they will stay on their side of the road.  And, we drive very fast, very close to each other with a high level of confidence.

Sometimes we place our faith in the wrong things with disastrous consequences.

Recently, I heard of a tragic earthquake that happened in 1692.  The tragedy was drastically magnified because the people had placed their faith in a known flawed plan.  The place was Port Royal, Jamaica.  At the time, it was the second largest city in the western hemisphere with some 6,000 inhabitants.  The area had grown dramatically due to some dubious trading.  To begin with, the town had been built on a sand bar.  As the city continued to grow, they expanded the city by filling in the adjacent water with you guessed it, more sand.  On this packed sand, homes and businesses were built.  Because of the wealth, some of these buildings had even been built of stone.  Massive, heavy edifices.

On a calm morning in June, 1692, an estimated 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck the area.  A third of the area of the city was liquefied and simply dropped into the sea taking buildings and people alike.  This story is the epitome of the foolish builder at the end of Matthew 7.  Rather than a house falling with a great crash, a great portion of the city including the governor’s mansion crashed into the sea.

Let us place our faith in something that can never perish, spoil or fade.  Let us place our faith in someone who cannot disappoint.  Let us place our faith in the One who has already won.  Jesus, the righteous, the victorious.