Romans 1:1-17

Introduction to Romans and how we will study it.

The Importance of the Book of Romans.

The impact of Romans as described by Bible Scholars.

Martin Luther’s praise for Romans: “This letter is truly the most important piece of the New Testament.”

John Calvin: “When anyone understands this Epistle, he has a passage opened to him to the understanding of the whole Scripture.”

Frederick Godet, 19th Century Swiss theologian called the Book of Romans “The cathedral of the Christian faith.”

The Book of Romans had a profound effect on important theologians of the Christian faith – Augustine; Martin Luther, John Wesley.

Why this Book is so important and influential. The Book of Romans is notable because it clearly and comprehensibly lays out the principle distinctive of the Christian Faith. Humanity is separated from God by the sin nature we inherited from Adam and Eve. Unlike every other religious system, which requires works of human righteousness to earn fellowship with God, Romans makes the case that the righteousness of man can never fulfill the righteous requirements of God. God Himself came to Earth to pay the penalty for our sin. Only by putting our faith in the grace of God by which He saved us can we attain the requisite righteousness to have fellowship with Him and eternal life. Romans makes the case that we are saved by God’s grace, through our faith in Him. When we place our faith in Him, His righteousness is imputed to us.

Authorship and circumstances of its writing – the story behind Romans – 1:1-15.

Paul is the author. Romans 1:1 identifies Paul as the author. However, he apparently used a scribe named Tertius to write down what Paul was dictating. Tertius identifies himself in Romans 16:22. Romans was written in the city of Corinth during Paul’s third missionary journey.

Circumstances of the letter. By the time Paul wrote this letter he had been preaching the gospel for 20 years. He was determined to get to Rome to preach the gospel in this most important city. Rome was the capital of the known world of that time. To influence the church in Rome would increase the chances of influencing churches throughout the known world. Unlike other churches to which Paul wrote, Paul had no hand in establishing this church, nor is there record of any other Apostle planting this church. It is likely that the church in Rome was established by people from Rome who were present on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church. Paul’s plan was to deliver the alms for the poor in Jerusalem that he had collected from the churches he visited on his third missionary journey, and then travel to Rome to preach to the churches there. His plans were changed by the Lord when he was arrested in Jerusalem, but God still got him to Rome as a prisoner. Paul was a Roman citizen and had a heart to both edify and encourage the believers in Rome.

The style of the Letter to the Romans. This letter is more formal than the other epistles Paul wrote. He was not known personally to people within the church. Because of the lack of apostolic influence on the formation of this church we can assume that Paul was determined to lay out true Christian doctrine and theology as clearly and comprehensively as possible. What resulted is a thorough explanation of the the true and only path to salvation through faith in the grace of God. Following a formula found in most of Paul’s letters, the first two thirds of the book lays out doctrine, and the last third lays out practical application.

The theme of Romans and how we will study the book.

Major theme: “The righteousness of God, humanity’s desperate need for it, and the only way to attain it – through faith in the grace of God as expressed through His Son Jesus Christ.”

Our approach to studying this most important epistle. Obviously in the time we will have together we cannot do an expository study through the entire book. Our objective will be to look into each major section of the book and concentrate on the passages within that section that develop the theme of the book. Here are the five major sections of Romans and the chapters/verses that contain them:

Session 2: Humanity’s universal sinfulness and the need for every person to obtain God’s righteousness – Romans 1:18-3:20.

Session 3: Christ’s righteousness imputed to all who believe – Romans 3:21-4:25.

Session 4: The blessings of Christ’s righteousness in the believer’s life – Romans 5-8.

Session 5: God’s plan to bring Israel into the righteousness of Christ without the works of the law – Romans 9-11.

Session 6: Practical teaching for living out the righteousness of Christ in the life of the believer.

The Theme set up in Romans 1:16-17.

(We will study these two verse in reverse order.)

Alive by Faith – v.17.

The centerpiece of this verse is “The just shall live by faith” which comes from Habakkuk 2:4.

Who are the just? The “just” in this context can only mean those who are right with God. In its most basic meaning, something is “just” when it conforms to a pre-determined standard or absolute. We say “justice has been served” when an action that falls outside of established law is put back into right relation with the law. The “just” one in relation to God is one who is perfectly right with God (“righteous”). To be right with God’s righteous standard on the basis of our own “moral goodness” is impossible. Paul had previously written to the Galatians on this point – Galatians 3:22-24: “But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Paul is telling us that the giving of the Law was purposeful to show us that we cannot of our own keep it, and cannot “justify” ourselves before God. So if any are to be considered “just” it cannot be of themselves. If there is anyone who can be called just, from where does their righteousness come?

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith… God’s righteousness demands justice for sin, and all men sin (Galatians 3:22). But God’s righteousness has been revealed in His providing a payment in full for all of the sins of mankind, and works to the justification for all who in faith believe that Jesus’ death on the cross has paid the penalty for their sin. Hebrews 10:11-14: “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Every sinner who puts their faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ manifests the righteousness of God. The just, that is, those who truly are reconciled to God and have the requisite righteousness to be in His presence, have been justified by the righteousness of Christ, which has been imputed to them – 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” This justification through faith is in contrast to man attempting to justify himself before God through his own works. In fact, every religious system apart from true Christianity places upon man the burden (a fool’s errand) to climb his way into heaven on the back of his own good works and moral living. Paul the Apostle, in preaching to the Jews at Antioch, made it clear that justification before God only comes through faith in Jesus Christ: “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man (Jesus) is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39.

What does it mean that the just shall “live” by faith? Apart from God the Bible tells us that we are dead in trespass and sin. Sure, we may be walking, talking, thinking, sensing beings, but spiritually we are dead, and when our bodies cease to live, we will be eternally separated from God – the second death. To live with a holy God in eternity requires the righteousness of Christ, which we can only receive through faith. **Read Ephesians 2:1-9 from my Bible. In conclusion, we are brought from death to life through faith. We have no cause to be boastful about our own righteousness. We are justified in life solely by the grace of God.

Why would Paul even suggest being ashamed of the Gospel – v.16?

Roman Perspective. The Roman world knew and respected two things above all else: power and knowledge. As a war machine, they were state of the art and had conquered the known world. They were the originators of the “shock and awe” strategy of meeting resistance with overwhelming force. They adopted much of the science and philosophy of the Greeks, and then took it all further. In the Gospel the typical Roman would not see great power or great knowledge. It originated from the Jews, not a prominent respected nation within the empire. The center of the gospel was the meekest of all men, an uneducated carpenter who commanded no army, fought no battles and went quietly to His execution. To suggest that the Gospel contained power, and that its value proposition (believe and receive) was simple enough for a child to understand would have been laughable to the point of being offensive. And those who had accepted the Gospel would appear as weak and naive. To share the Gospel with an unsaved Roman was to invite scorn, ridicule and maybe even persecution. **For all the same reasons, Christians of our day, including any of us, can find ourselves reluctant to share the gospel. It is sure to be met with scorn by the educated and powerful. But Paul provides us with reasons not to be ashamed of sharing the Gospel. Here they are:

Reason #1: It is the message of Christ. The Gospel is news, good news, because it is life. It is from God and it is the ONLY provision He has made for our sin. There simply is no other way. We cannot dream up another Gospel to tell people that they might like better (although many try!). As Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” It can be daunting to propose an idea when there are others that might work better. But when it comes to life or death, ONLY the Gospel of Jesus Christ can grant new life. No shame in sharing that!

Reason #2: It is the power of God unto salvation. The Romans’ love for power was not matched by their understanding of it. They knew the power of chariots and horses and catapults and battering rams, but they did not understand the power of God’s Spirit working through God’s Word. Truth be told, sometimes even us Christians can be skeptical of the power of a simple presentation of the Gospel, especially when we are bringing it to people that we might consider sophisticated. But the power of the Gospel can do something no other power of man can do, and that is to grant eternal life to all who believe, all of whom are perishing before they believe. **Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 from my Bible. Some of the greatest evangelists you will find are not great orators, but they keep the main thing the main thing – JESUS!

Reason #3: “It is “for all who believe…” This statement means two things. First, we are not to be ashamed of it because it is intended for all – God is “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. But it also means that there is 100% certainty that many (most) will not believe – 2 Corinthians 2:14-16: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” **No matter what we do, the Gospel will be rejected by many, and this is no cause to doubt that it is still the power of God unto salvation for all who believe!