Romans 1
The book of Romans has fascinated multitudes of people around the world for thousands of years. Now we, too, have the opportunity to study this wonderful work in a little more depth than many of us may have done in the past. As with our study of John, there are so many profound insights we miss when we merely scan the Word without taking the time to contemplate what we have just read.
I encourage you to spend time meditating on the Word. If you want to study each edition in one sitting, that is wonderful, but it is designed to keep you going for a whole week of reading. This way, you can glean all that God would reveal to you through His Word. As you meditate on His Word, you will see things that I may miss. This is the nature of God’s Word. It is so vast that all could not be covered in a lifetime of study.
For those who really want to study God’s Word with their whole being, I also suggest that you get hold of some good commentaries to refer to in addition to this study. While I read Commentaries regularly in conjunction with my own personal Bible study, I don’t tend to use them in these studies, as the purpose here is merely to share my thoughts and observations on the Word of God.
Commentaries will give you a different perspective, resulting in a deeper knowledge of God through His Word. My prayer for you all is that you will grow in the knowledge and understanding of the Word of God, so that you will become strong in your relationship with God. So often, truth becomes clouded, as people teach falsehood under the guise of God’s Word. We need to be so firmly grounded on the foundation of Scripture that we will never be led astray by such false doctrine. We need to become strong, like the tree referred to in Psalm 1, so that when the storms of this life rage against us, we will be able to stand firm. This will not happen unless our foundation is true. So relax, sit back and join me on a journey of discovery, through the writing of the great Apostle to the Gentiles,
Paul.
Romans 1
The book of Romans was written by Paul to the church in Rome. It is believed that he wrote this letter while on his third Missionary journey (somewhere around 57AD). The fact that the Roman Church was thriving at this time refutes a commonly held belief that it was founded by Peter, for Peter did not go to Rome until later. The most probable explanation is that some of the 3000 Jews converted on the day of Pentecost came from Rome and established a church when they returned.
It is likely, then, that the initial Roman church was made up of Jewish followers of Jesus. As the Apostles began witnessing to the Gentiles, it would seem logical that Gentiles also joined the church in Rome. When the Emperor ordered all Jews to leave Rome, the Gentiles carried on in their place. By the time the Jews were once again allowed to live in Rome, the church would probably have consisted of both Jews and Gentiles, causing some fragmentation in beliefs and doctrine. Many scholars believe that the Roman church was split into several different ‘home churches’, due to these differences. This reasoning certainly seems logical, as Paul spends much time in Romans outlining correct doctrine.
As Paul was not the founder of the Roman church, we see a slightly different style of writing. Rather than writing as a father to his children, who already has the respect and obedience of the people, he writes as one exhorting his peers. Due to the lack of communication at the time, people did not always know exactly what a teacher stood for, so Paul spends several chapters outlining the doctrine of Jesus that he teaches. This is why many people call Romans, “The Gospel of Paul”. It is thought that Paul wrote for several reasons:
- To outline his teaching to the church of Rome, so they would be encouraged and edified.
- He was in the process of collecting gifts from the Gentile churches to give to the Jewish churches, in order to bind them together in love and deal with some of the hard feelings that had developed between the two. He would obviously have wanted the Roman church to be part of this.
- He was going out to Spain, and would probably have wanted some more support for this extended missionary journey.
- He wanted to meet them, as he had already met several of their members through the time the Jews had been thrown out of Rome, and he wanted to encourage them and be encouraged by them.
The reason he had not already been to Rome was that his calling was to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the unsaved. As there was a thriving church in Rome, he went instead to other cities who had not received the message of Jesus.
Now that we have a little ‘snapshot’ of the context within which Paul writes, let’s take a look at the content of the letter.
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God–
Throughout the many letters written by Paul, we find out that he is a well-educated man, gifted with an excellent mind. Because so many of his letters are in the New Testament, we get a unique glimpse at his particular writing style. You will note that he always commences his letters with an affirmation of who he is in Christ. In many of these letters, he refers to himself as an apostle of Jesus. According to his own words, Jesus told him that he was to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, just as “The Twelve” were to be Apostles to the Jews.
This was a valid, and necessary, declaration for him to make, for several reasons. The 1st Century society obviously lacked the communications abilities we have today, and this meant that the majority of people and churches lived in relative isolation from those in other towns, cities and countries. Many people would roam from church to church and say that they had been sent by the apostles, or some other source of authority. This way, their words would be believed, and in some cases, they would profit from the believers who took them at their word.
Many doctrines and teachings, differing from the message Jesus preached, were thrown around. Because of this, many people were led astray. (This is why so much of the New Testament deals with issues such as correct doctrine and teaching). In such a volatile situation, an author had to justify his credentials to say what he said. Additionally, many forged letters were passed around, claiming to be from Paul, or the other Apostles and church leaders, leading more people astray.
Such personal writing traits as those found in Paul’s letters would make it easier for the listeners to identify whether the letter was indeed from Paul. (As an aside, the book of Hebrews is an excellent example. Some people believe that Paul wrote it, but others believe that it is so different from Paul’s usual writing style and format that it could not possibly have been written by Paul.
The majority of scholars believe that Hebrews was written by either Paul or Apollos.)
2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures
3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here, we find another ‘quirk’ of Paul’s writing. He follows the declaration about himself with a declaration about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Again, he is qualifying himself, and the source of his teaching. Due to the false teachings that were rampant, people held different views about who Jesus was, and what he did. Keep in mind, Paul had not started the Roman church, nor had he visited them before, so he was showing them from the outset, what he believed and taught.
Here, he qualifies both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus. Some (such as the Gnostics) denied the physical presence of Jesus, instead separating the physical and spiritual realms and deciding that they could not co-exist, while others taught that Jesus was a man who had ‘become’ a god through some form of human effort. Within a handful of sentences, Paul makes his position undeniably clear on both the humanity, and the divinity, of Jesus.
5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
6 And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Now, Paul joins the Roman church together with himself, by affirming that they are all called by Jesus Christ to spread the Gospel to the Gentile nations. In other words, he says, “Through God’s grace, we are all on the same team. We are trying to win the Gentiles to Jesus.”
In the traditional Greek style of letter writing (which was the common style of the day), a writer would begin a letter with a short greeting, followed by statements of praise and affirmation of the Greek gods. It is interesting that Paul follows this same style of writing, instead affirming the True God. As with his debate with the Greek philosophers in Athens, he was an expert in using the things of this world to turn people to Jesus. In Athens, he used the Greek altar marked “To an Unknown god…” to reveal to them the True God.
We could do well to consider this method of evangelism today. Rather than “passing judgement from on high” when dealing with people, we would do much better showing love and acceptance initially, and dealing with issues of right and wrong from a position of trust and friendship. Please realise that I am not suggesting that we change our beliefs or morals in any way. I am merely stating that sometimes we are so quick to judge, when we are called to reach. If you love a person first, then you will be in a much better position to bring correction to their life.
7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.
9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you
10 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.
In these opening statements, Paul reaffirms the church in Rome, encouraging them and declaring that their faith and goodness is known throughout the world. He again draws them together by declaring that he constantly prays for them, as a brother.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong–
12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
This is an interesting sentence, in that it almost seems that Paul stops mid-stream and slightly corrects himself. He starts by saying, as he would to any of his own churches, that he wants to come and minister to them. Suddenly he stops, and reiterates that he wants to encourage them AND be encouraged by them too. This makes sense, as he had not been to the Roman church before, and had yet to gain their trust and respect, so he continues to talk to them and consider them as equals.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, 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.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish.
Some scholars think that some people in the Roman church were a little ‘put out’ because Paul had never visited them. He had gone all over the Roman world, as far as Asia and Europe, yet had never come to them. I imagine that this may have been an issue, as Paul reassures them that he had indeed wanted to come in the past, but had been prevented from doing so. I read this to say something like, “I have wanted to visit for a long time, but circumstances have prevented me from coming.
I don’t want you to think that I don’t care about you, or don’t want to come to you. As soon as I can get there, I will.”
15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
16
17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Here, Paul puts the racial issue into perspective. He declares that salvation did come from the Jews, so they should be given consideration as the ‘firstborn’, so to speak. Yet, the salvation referred to is solely through faith, not Law.
The nature of the Jew/Gentile arguments centred around the issue of the Jews claiming that Gentiles had to obey the law of Moses to be saved, and the Gentiles countering by saying that the Jews were no different to them, and Jesus was the same to all people. Paul says that the Jews DO have a special relationship with God by virtue of His covenant with Abraham, yet the Law is not the means by which people are saved. In this, both the Jews and the Gentiles were partly right, but not entirely.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
Paul now continues with a brief history lesson, which will continue for some chapters. In it, he shows how man has fallen from the truth of God since the foundation of the world. He starts by telling of the current state of mankind, full of sin and evil. There is no excuse for such sin, as God has made it clear through His creation. This is true today too. Many theories, such as Evolution, thrive with scant evidence, because they give people the opportunity to escape the fact that we are all sinners. Paul declares here, once for all, that God has made Himself evident to one who searches.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
Many people have used the above passage to launch a vicious attack on homosexuals throughout history. They claim that all homosexuals are depraved beings for whom God has reserved special punishment, and that homosexuality itself is a result of personal sin causing God to hand a person over to unnatural lusts.
While the bible is very clear in it’s condemnation of sin, including the sin of Homosexuality, this passage needs to be considered in its correct context. Here, Paul is talking about history. In the Old testament, many pagan ‘gods’ were worshipped. People went from worship of the Creator to worship of created things – idols of wood and clay, worship of the sun, moon and stars. Almost every form of idol worship centred around procreation, and as such, ritual prostitution was rampant. Homosexual prostitution went under the guise of ‘worship’, and orgies and sexual immorality of all forms were accepted when they were done ‘to their gods’. As we know from the Old testament, some pagan religions even practiced human sacrifice, as children were offered up in fire to placate these ‘beings’.
This is the behaviour referred to by Paul in this passage.
It is important for us to realise this, as it lays the foundation for what Paul will say in the following chapters. Here, he is describes the fall of man, from righteousness to sin; showing that none are righteous, none are justified. This way, when he begins to deal with salvation by grace, each reader is aware that no other way of redemption is available, due to the sinful nature we each display.
When reading passages such as the one above, it is possible to view them one of two ways. We can look at the exact nature of the sin outlined in the passage, and then judge all people who sin in those ways, or we can see the corrupt nature of ourselves and focus on our own problems, leaving other people to the grace of God. It is important for us to look at passages such as the one above in the latter way, as the moment we became law breakers, we were prevented by our own sinfulness from judging anyone else for their sin. Let us never forget Jesus’ opinion on the matter, when he was asked whether the woman caught in adultery should be stoned. He replied, “He who is without sin may cast the first stone.”
Let us see things in their context, and let us remember that, according to Romans 1, all have fallen away from God. We can all relate in some way to something referred to in this chapter, even if it is only greed or envy (see verse 29), so this means that Romans 1 talks to us all. The good news is that Paul’s lesson does not end there. In fact, the news gets better and better, culminating in Romans 8, which is one of the most chapters in the bible. But we will just have to wait a few weeks to get there (unless you decide to read ahead in your own time…)
In the meantime, God bless you all.
Dave
