INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF ROMANS

THE BOOK OF ROMANS

Paul had not yet been to Rome. He wrote the Letter from Corinth, Greece. A woman from Corinth named Phoebe hand delivered it to the Church in Rome. 

Why did Paul write this Letter? (Besides the obvious reason of the prompting of the Holy Spirit; we might better ask what were the reasons that the Holy Spirit inspired the Letter?) Some have thought Paul wanted to establish a base of operations there in Rome, to then go west to Spain and Britain. (Romans 15:24,28) Some have thought that he sought to establish his ministry in that Metropolis. Some have thought that he wrote the Letter as a means to memorialize (preserve) the Gospel of Christ. Surely an element of each these is plausible.  

The historical motivation for Paul to write the Letter becomes reasonably clear as we consider the historical setting as backdrop and as we consider the text of the entire Book. He was writing to an Assembly or Synagogue that had once been entirely Jewish and followers of the Mosaic Law. It had become an Assembly of both orthodox Jews and Christian Jews (probably as a result of converts who had traveled back to Rome from Jerusalem, having been there during the Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 33AD. (Acts 2:10) That Synagogue in Rome, over the next 10 or 15 years, became a mix of orthodox Jews, Messianics (Jews believing in Christ) and Gentile Believers in the Jewish Christ. 

Later, there came a great disturbance among some of the 40,000 Jews who were then living in Rome (supposed by most scholars to be a disturbance/falling out between orthodox Jews and believing Jews concerning Christ) which led to Emperor Claudius’ banishment of Jews out of Rome. This included Priscilla and Aquila, whom Paul met, who were then living in Corinth, and with whom he then dwelt and worked with in making tents. “After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth;  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded, all Jews to depart from Rome) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.” [Acts 18:1-3] And so as a result, the entire Church at Rome then became solely Gentile. 

When Nero, in 54AD, became Emperor of Rome, he invited the Jews to return for economic reasons and when these Jews came back they were not readily accepted back in fellowship. For the Gentile Christ followers had determined that the Jews had been banished from their midst in the first place by reason of God’s judgment and rejection of them for their Nation’s part in Crucifying Jesus Christ. So it was then that “Replacement Theology” gained its first foothold. 

Now it can be seen that Paul, in about 57AD, sets forth the Truths within the Letter, addressing it…“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God and called to be saints” (in the Greek, the word ‘saints’ means: set apart; consecrated). There being a large group of predominantly Gentile Christians who had no direct apostolic foundation (no apostle having visited, and Paul only being known to them by reputation), it was to be Paul’s longest Letter written. His (and the Holy Spirit’s) main purpose on the surface being an explanation for the state and position of the unbelieving Jews compared to the Gentile Believers’ state and position (replacement theology), along with the destiny of the Nation of Israel according to Scripture (chapter 11 of Romans brings out a lot about this).  And on the basis of the first eight chapters, the correcting of doctrinal misunderstandings between Messianic (Jewish Believers) and Gentile Believers. 

The Letter was written about 57AD, which was before the great persecution of Christians by Nero in 64AD. Paul had been in ministry for about 20 years. He had set up all the Eastern Mediterranean Churches.  He’s now in Corinth, Greece by the sea, stuck there for about 3 months because of weather, waiting to return to Jerusalem to distribute monies he had received from the Churches for a gift unto the Jewish Believers there. He will later travel to Rome, but under arrest, and arrive there in 60 or 61AD.

The basis or foundation of the Book is set forth in the first 4 verses. It begins much as the Book of Hebrews in that Jesus, the Son of God, is first introduced as the sole overall purpose for discourse. With the word Jesus or the Lord mentioned over 100 times throughout the Letter, only the one word “God” exceeds it in frequency. In the greeting, one may clearly see the purposeful wording in quoting Scripture which unites the Gentile and Jewish Believer in Jesus the Christ. 

Paul begins in the first chapter of his Letter tactfully addressing mankind’s sinful condition, which speaks indirectly to Rome’s licentious state. Then he summarizes the state and nature of ungodly men who willingly resist the knowledge of God, Who then gives them up to darkness and their unbridled appetites or desires that manifest, among other ways, in sexual misconduct. 

Among the Gentile Romans, homosexuality seemed to be a part of their culture; with no stigma for the dominant (non-passive) participant in the act. As many as 14 out of 15 of Rome’s first Emperors were homosexual, say some historians, but certainly at least some of the first 15 Emperors are said to be at least bi-sexual. Paul tacitly addresses the situation in Rome that Believers there faced; and sheds the light of God’s Word on it. Furthermore, the indictment in the first chapter serves to warn of the backsliding Gentile Believer’s propensity to sin, which is license (licentiousness). And this he does as a backdrop to contrast the backsliding Jewish Believer’s propensity to sin, which is hypocritical legalism. This is brought out in Chapter 2. 

Paul’s purpose to write this letter was not specifically to share the “Gospel” with its two components of Grace (the gift of eternal life and the prize of the “Kingdom of heavens”). For many of the components of the Gospel are not mentioned or spoken of specifically. For example, nothing is said specifically about the all important Second Coming of Christ, or the First Resurrection, or the Bride ruling, etc.  The truths set forth in this Letter are not to document what the “Gospel” per se was or is, but to clearly state certain key elements of the Gospel, peculiar to their Day (which also have direct application today). To say Paul’s intent was to write a Letter to simply declare the “Gospel” message would skew the overall Message to be gleaned. Today’s “Gospel of Grace” Message so greatly deflects the vital Message of God’s Salvation Plan, and so as generally presented today, it was not the thrust or intent of Paul’s very long letter to the Church of Rome. The letter itself was a tacit “argument”… (with an imagined someone; “THEREFORE thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art…” And the 11 times he argues, “God forbid” throughout the Letter is in answer to statements or questions he himself poses) about the state within the Church due to ignorance of the general principles of God’s plan of Salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. 

All of this historical analysis set aside for a moment, the intent of the Holy Spirit goes much deeper than just the historical need of unity in the Church of Rome, or the future surety of Israel’s restoration, or Paul’s personal God-guided thoughts. In that the Truths set forth in the Book of Romans gives the Christian the clearest outline of God’s Salvation Plan for man from the inside out; from a lost unregenerate bound for God’s eternal Wrath, to the glory of firstborn sonship. In that the gift of righteousness in Christ received is the means by which the Holy Spirit establishes His foothold inside of a now redeemed person. It is the divine eternal nature of God that causes the rebirth of the spirit within him. It is then through this imparted divine nature that the further work of the spirit/Spirit can be accomplished in us, which is “…to be conformed to the image of his son…” which we do by yielding our spirit to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. This is the point of the Book of Romans; Christlikeness. And it is set forth for both the Jewish and Gentile believer in Christ.

In the first two chapters, Paul uses the term. “to the Jew first, and also the Greek (Gentile)” three times to set the tone and course of the Letter. (Romans 1:16;2:9-10) Paul wants to make it clear to the Church at Rome that he is under obligation to God for both Jew and Gentile to deflect any sense of favoritism.  At Paul’s heart was the Message to the Ephesians…that of the ‘one new man’…and the calling to the kingdom of heavens. 

The Book of Romans can be divided up into two parts. Chapters 1-8 are about our vertical relationship with God. Chapters 9-16 are about our horizontal relationships with man. 

FIRST PART OF BOOK (CHAPTERS 1-8)

His Letter or Message in the first part (the first 8 Chapters) is intended to set forth the Truth that all “saved” (note that in the Greek, ‘saved’ has three tenses; past tense: I have been saved, present tense: I am being saved, and future tense: I will be saved) men, being Jew or Gentile, are now set on the very same ground before God in Christ.

Paul begins to articulate this in the first 3 Chapters:

Chapter 1: the blatant and overt sin of the Gentile (idolatry, sexual immorality)

Chapter 2: the hidden and covert sin of the Jew (hypocritical self-righteousness)

Chapter 3: Paul includes himself when he declares therefore we all; both Jew and Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, are on the initial same ground; unrighteous sinners against God’s Righteousness (that simply means He is always RIGHT) and He shows no partiality. God declares His Righteousness to both Jews and Gentiles, in that ALL are under the Wrath of God as un-righteous sinners. As it is written, “…there is none righteous, no, not one.”  The Righteousness of God leaves no latitude for sin; He does not arbitrarily forgive even the slightest of sins of any man who has not been declared justified, how could He? But yet He has extended forbearance in mercy towards sinners, and that for a specified time only, afterwards He declares He will judge every man according to his deeds. 

Chapter 3b to 5: JUSTIFICATION 

Paul begins to give the solution to being free from God’s Righteous Wrath; Redemption. (It is more than forgiveness; it is debt paid.) Redemption for both Jew and Gentile is the gift of the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ. It is * imputed righteousness unto justification for forgiveness of sin. A just God no longer forbearing to take action against you for your sin, but completely forgiving unrighteous behavior and allowing for the further work represented in Faith “IN” Christ. That brings a further work of God’s righteousness in our living service, that is to say beyond being merely Justified in His death. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”  Why? That we might have eternal life and escape from Hell? NO! “THAT WE MIGHT BE MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM”. The Cross has two victims: Christ and the Believer. “Whosoever will come after me (in living faith), let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Christians have been taught (and happily do) to pile their sins upon Christ on the Cross, but have not known or understood that God intends to pile His righteousness upon them. His desired will for them is to impart (pile on) a righteousness that goes beyond that which was imputed to them at justification. More on that later. 

Chapter 4: Abraham is set forth as father of both believing Jew and Gentile. 

We were united in sin through our father Adam. The broken Garden Law brought the Curse of sin and death. Then Law given by Moses greatly enlarged sin’s sphere of influence. So it is, we are discovered to be under the Curse of both. Both Jew and Gentile stand first in need of Justification from the Curse of the Law. Abraham stands as God’s example of Justification from the Curse of the Law through faith, in that both the Jew or Gentile are justified from their sins and the Curse of the Law by faith in Jesus, not works. And that the “Gospel” is not centered around Christ’s death so much as around His Resurrection. (Romans 4:24-25 with 5:10) Meaningfully, up to here, Paul has been speaking exclusively about faith. Having now reached the “in Jesus Christ state”, now hope and love are interwoven in the text starting in Romans 4b & 5 and then love becomes the essential ingredient; as spiritual maturity comes into view to the end of the Epistle. 

Chapters 6-8: SANCTIFICATION AND GLORIFICATION

If the Salvation Plan of God for Man was a three-legged stool, with JUSTIFICATION being the first leg, the other two legs to the three legged stool would be SANCTIFICATION and GLORIFICATION. Once a man is justified, the argument develops naturally unto the necessity of “Sanctification” as opposed to mere “Justification”. Sanctification IS NOT IMPUTED AS IS JUSTIFICATION WITH THE GIFT OF GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST….. BUT IMPARTED by the ongoing work of the spirit/Spirit. Warnings and exhortations are given to mind the things of the spirit/Spirit, with the promise of “GLORIFICATION” in the First Resurrection being held out to them. GLORIFICATION IS NOT IMPUTED, NOR IS IT IMPARTED, BUT IT IS THE ENDOWED INHERITANCE IN REWARD of faithful service while alive on the earth. (We are imputed righteousness in Justification, we are imparted righteousness for the ongoing work of sanctification, and glorification will be endowed upon those who have been faithful in their walk. Using the three-legged stool example, to attain unto the fullness of inheritance of glorification by merely having been imputed Christ’s righteousness, is about as impossible as it is to sit on a one-legged stool.) A person who has made Christ Lord, not just believed He is Lord, does what Christ/the Word says and is conformed into His image. Endowment of glorification is a product of sanctification.

Chapters 6 & 7: challenges the Roman Believers’ tendencies to continue sinning after having been justified, with clear doctrine of sure consequence either in license or legalism within the Law. 

Chapter 8: deals with both license and legalism in “the enlightening” work of the spirit/Spirit. The eighth Chapter answers to Leviticus 16…in that they are the pinnacles or culmination points of their Testaments. (Romans 8 being the highest peak of New Testament and Leviticus 16 being the highest peak of Old Testament. More on that when we get to that chapter.)

These 8 chapters are doctrine to put man, Jew or Gentile, into and continuing on in right relationship with God. Both are on the same ground in Christ; saved sinners called to be Saints. Their need for working out their personal future Salvation (glorification) in fear and trembling, and that from the inside out, is what is being emphasized.  (Philippians 2:12… “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Sanctification is working out your own salvation, and it is you carrying your cross. Your Justification was achieved by His cross. Peter refers to the result of walking in sanctification in 1st Peter 1:9… “Receiving the end of your faith— the salvation of your souls.” He is saying the goal of our faith is the glorification of our souls.)

SECOND PART OF BOOK (CHAPTERS 9-16)

Chapters 9-11: PAUL FINALLY GETS TO THE HEART APPEAL PART OF HIS LETTER… (the Spirit having the ‘one new man’ in view). 

Paul declares God will “Never!” abandon the Jews’ Call (answering to any replacement theology idea).

It also deals with Israel’s present condition of:

1) the rejection of Jesus, their Messiah

2) a past, present and future remnant God has retained Himself 

3) a future restoration in a new covenant 

And he deals with how that should then affect church relationships. Most teachers avoid these 3 chapters on the future of Israel and the Church and teach on the chapters on both sides, in that they have not seen the connection in the preceding chapters, and are either unclear about the Kingdom of Christ coming, or blinded by one form or another of replacement theology. 

PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF DOCTRINAL UNDERSTANDING

Chapters 12-16: deal with doctrinal issues basically limited to shedding the light of the Gospel on those that would cause tension between Jewish Believers and Gentile Believers.

Chapter 12: relationships within the Church, and those without the Church.

Chapter 13: relationship with the “State” or earthly government…(paying their taxes and praying for the leaders of that Nation).

Chapters 14 & 15a: relationship between strong and weak followers (kosher, observance of days) Jewish Apostles and their effect on the World.

Chapter 16: greetings …  “greet one another with a holy kiss”

Groups within Christendom have used specific chapters to build whole doctrines, such as the Calvinists with chapter 9, the Evangelicals with chapter 10, and Messianics with Romans 11. Let us pray that we take the whole Book as our text unto understanding in the knowledge of God and not just verses or even chapters by themselves. That would leave us incomplete and spiritually immature.