Category Archives: Romans

The theme of the Apostle Paul’s inspired letter to the followers of Christ at Rome is that, “…the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16 NIV) However, this raises a question. Why do we need to be saved? And, from what do we need to be saved?

In verses 18 through 32 of chapter 1, Paul answers these questions. He writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.”

There are many people who claim that God does not exist. Others claim that God is unknowable. Still others will say that God has no claim on our lives and, therefore, it doesn’t matter what we do. Paul points out that people who say such things are without excuse. Why? Because God has made Himself, and his standards, known to us. All we have to do is to look at nature to understand God’s eternal power and divine nature. As King David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2 NIV)

If the truth about God is plain to see, then why do people deny Him? Why do they choose godlessness and wickedness? Paul writes that turning away from God follows a pattern. The first stage in this process is to suppress the truth. What this means is that people don’t know the truth about God because they do not want to know. There is plenty of evidence to convince us of the truth provided our minds are open to it. But it is often easier to suppress and deny the truth than to accept the consequences of acknowledging it. Jesus said, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20 NIV) This is one reason why many claim that the Bible has been changed and is full of errors. If they acknowledged the truth about the Bible, it would expose their own wickedness.

Another stage in the process of turning away from God is to deny Him the glory He deserves. This means that we do not acknowledge God’s greatness, we do not love Him as we ought, nor do we put His interests ahead of our own.

Another stage in the process is to not give God thanks. By giving thanks we acknowledge that the blessings we have come from God. Not giving thanks is to deny the source of our blessings; we make the claim that what we have is the result of our own efforts.

But turning away from God comes with a cost. If we suppress the truth, will not glorify God or give Him thanks, we can no longer reason as we should. Our thinking becomes empty and worthless. We lose the understanding we once had. It is as though we are groping in the dark. Though we may have all sorts of knowledge and consider ourselves wise, we become fools.

In addition to the three stages of turning away from God, Paul also mentions three sets of actions and consequences of turning away from Him. The first set of actions is to exchange God’s glory for images of man, birds and beasts. There is something within man which desires to worship. If we reject God, we will fill that void with something else. The consequence of worshiping something else besides God is that God “gives us over”. This means that God no longer shields us from evil but allows us to follow the path we have chosen. One result is that we fall into sexual impurity.

The second set of actions and consequences Paul mentions is similar to the first. It is to exchange truth of God for a lie. Later in the book Paul writes that God is true (Romans 3:4). When we reject God, we reject truth. Therefore, it is inevitable that we will embrace a lie. Since we are designed to worship, we end up worshiping something which God has created rather than the Creator, Himself. Once again, the consequence of our decision is that God “gives us over” to shameful lusts. These lusts result in homosexuality and other unnatural sexual perversions.

The third action Paul mentions is to decide not retain the knowledge of God. The consequence of this decision is that God “gives us over” to depravity. If we turn away from good, correct and wholesome thinking, there is no alternative except wrong and corrupt ways of thinking. This results in the evil Paul mentions – envy, murder, deceit, pride, gossip, slander, boasting, disobedience, and the like. In addition, we not only excuse what we do, we approve the same actions in others, even though we know God has condemned these things.

When we think about God’s power, we usually call to mind things like His ability to speak the universe into existence. Or perhaps we call to mind God’s ability to raise the dead and to judge all mankind. But there are other aspects of God’s power which have a direct bearing on our lives. The Apostle Paul refers to some of these in his inspired letter to the followers of Christ at Rome.

He writes, “ to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers, requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established; that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek. For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.””

In his greeting, Paul says that God loves the people to whom he is writing. The fact that God not only has power but also loves should give us hope. Because God loves us, He will only use His power in ways which benefits us. One way in which He demonstrates this is that He calls us to be saints. The word which Paul uses, means “set apart”. In the context it means “set apart for God” or “set apart from sin.” Obviously, this is something which is beyond our strength and ability. We are sinners. Yet, God not only calls us to be holy, He also gives us the ability to become holy.

Paul prays that the people to whom he is writing will receive grace and peace. We normally think of grace as something which fills the gap between our inadequacy and God’s perfection. This is true, but grace is also a form of God’s power. In another place Paul writes, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” (Titus 2:11-12 NIV) What we are unable to do through our own strength, God enables us to do through His grace.

Peace is another manifestation of God’s power. Paul writes, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7 NIV)

Paul goes on to give thanks for the followers of Christ at Rome. The reason for Paul’s thanks is that their faith was being reported all over the world. It is remarkable that their faith was so strong. They did not have the New Testament and probably had never had the benefit of receiving teaching directly from an Apostle. They may not have had the blessing of information that other followers of Christ enjoyed, but they believed what they did know so strongly that their faith became an example. Are we known for our faith? Do people give thanks for it?

Paul also prayed that he would soon be able to visit the church at Rome. What was the purpose for his coming? He writes that he wanted to give the followers of Christ there a gift. We do not know what this gift was. It is possible he was referring to one to one of the special gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in foreign languages, or miraculous healing, which the Apostles were able to distribute by laying their hands on people. It is also possible that Paul was referring to the teaching he wished to give the people as a gift. The important thing is that the reason Paul wanted to give them a gift was to make them strong. All too often church leaders want to draw attention to themselves. Paul’s purpose was to benefit others.

Paul not only wanted to help and encourage the followers of Christ at Rome, he wanted to receive encouragement from them. Even though Paul was an Apostle and had received teaching directly from Christ, he realized that he could still learn from others. This is one of the marks of a great leader. In spite of Paul’s prominence and position, he was willing to listen to others and learn from their faith. He could benefit from them no matter who they were. He goes so far as to say that he is in debt to not only both Greeks and non-Greeks, but also to the foolish as well as the wise! For someone from a Jewish background, as Paul was, this shows amazing humility. In the context, Paul may be expressing that he is obligated to preach the gospel to everyone regardless of their background. However, it is also possible that he is acknowledging that everyone who is in Christ has something to contribute to everyone else. He says as much in chapter 12.

Another reason Paul wished to come to Rome was to preach the gospel there. Before now he had been prevented from coming. But now he wanted to tell the non-Jewish people of Rome about Jesus just as he had in many other places.

This gospel is the most vital message in all of human history. Why is it so important? Paul writes that it is the power of God for salvation. If we ignore the gospel, we cut ourselves off from God’s power. Without that power we cannot be saved.

A second reason the message is important is that it reveals God’s righteousness. It is only through the gospel that we understand what true righteousness is – the standard God expects us to meet – and it is through the gospel we are given the means to attain that righteousness.

A third reason the message is important is that it gives us an alternative to pleasing God through our own efforts. We cannot save ourselves, but placing our faith in Christ will save us.

We pay attention to what someone tells us only if we believe that he knows what he is talking about. To put it another way, we don’t listen to people whom we believe are ignorant about the subject under discussion. For example, if someone who has no experience in building tries to tell us how we should construct our house, we will pay little attention to his advice.

Even if someone is knowledgeable, we usually won’t listen unless the subject is important to us. For example, someone might know everything about trains, but if we have no interest in trains, we will soon try to change the subject.

In the same way, when someone tries to teach us, or to give us instructions, we want to know his qualifications or his right to do so. With this in mind, why should we pay attention to Paul’s letter to the Romans? In the first 6 verses of chapter 1, he tells us the subject of his letter and his right to say the things he does. “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God, which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of
faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake; among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;”

Who is Paul and what gives him the right to pen this letter? He calls himself a servant of Christ Jesus. The word he uses for servant is often translated, “slave”. What he is saying is that he is not writing on his own authority. On the contrary, Christ is his Master and he writes with the approval of and at the direction of Christ. Though the words of the letter are Paul’s, in reality the message is from Christ.

Paul is also an Apostle. The word apostle means “one who is sent”. Therefore, as an Apostle, Paul is Christ’s representative. He is acting on behalf of Christ, or we can say, that Christ is working through Paul. In another place Paul writes that he is Christ’s ambassador (2 Corinthians 5:20). However, this is not a role which Paul gave to himself. He writes that Christ called him to this position. The implication is clear: If we reject Paul or what he says, in reality we are rejecting Christ who sent him; we are rejecting Christ’s message.

But Paul is writing to the church in Rome. Why should we be interested in his letter? Though Paul writes specifically to the followers of Christ at Rome, his opening words make it plain that his subject is important to all Christians. If we claim to follow Christ, then anything which helps us learn more about Him should be of vital interest to us. In this passage we learn two important things about Jesus Christ.

One thing we learn about is Jesus’ human nature. We tend to have such a high and exalted view of Jesus that we sometimes forget that He shared our humanity. However, as the writer of the book of Hebrews reminds us, Jesus is able to sympathize with us because He has already faced the same kinds of trouble and temptation we do. The difference is that Jesus never sinned – therefore, He is able to help us in our weakness.

While this is certainly true, Paul points out a different aspect of Jesus’ humanity: Through His human lineage, He is a descendant of king David. Many of the people to whom this letter is addressed were from a Jewish heritage. This is a reminder to them that all the hopes and aspirations of the Jewish nation find their fulfillment in Jesus.

The other thing we learn from what Paul writes is that Jesus not only shares our human nature, He is also the Son of God. “Son” is a word which describes relationship. Just as a human son shares some of the characteristics of his father, so Jesus shares God’s nature. How can we know this? Paul writes that the Holy Spirit revealed or declared Jesus’ Sonship through His resurrection from the dead. By His resurrection, Jesus conclusively demonstrated that He shares the attributes of God.

What does this mean for us today? Whether we view Jesus from the perspective of His human ancestry or His divine nature, we arrive at the same conclusion: Jesus Christ is our Lord. Are we truly submitted to Him, or are we still living according to our own will?

Paul writes that the reason Jesus called him to be an Apostle was for the gospel. We saw in the previous program that the term “gospel” refers to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And, as Paul points out, the gospel is a fulfillment of promises which God made in the Holy Scriptures through the prophets. But how can the death, burial and resurrection of Christ be good news? Paul’s answer is that, for him personally, it is through Jesus that he received the grace, that is the gift, of apostleship. However, in a more general sense, in verse 16 Paul writes that it is through the gospel – that is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ – that everyone, whether Jew or non-Jew, receives salvation. If it were not for the gospel, no one could be reconciled to God. It was to proclaim this message to all people that Paul was called to be an Apostle.

What should be our response to the gospel? Paul writes that it is “obedience that comes from faith.” If we really believe the gospel, that is if we really believe that Jesus is God’s Son and that He died for our sins, was buried and rose again; if we really believe that Jesus is Lord, then we will not only give Him lip service but will obey Him. If we do not obey, then we cannot really call ourselves His followers.

What is the result of obeying the gospel? Paul writes that we belong to Christ. Just as Christ called Paul to be an Apostle, Christ calls us through the gospel to belong to Him. When we respond in obedience, Christ includes us in His household. Have we responded to the call?

Most of the books in the New Testament are inspired letters written to a person or church to address a specific situation or problem. A question would arise about a particular issue and the church would ask an Apostle to clarify the matter. For example, the church at Corinth had some questions regarding marriage, food sacrificed to idols, the appropriate way to worship and spiritual gifts. The Apostle Paul addressed all these questions in his inspired letters to the church.

In other cases, an Apostle learned of a problem in a particular church and wrote to correct it or to give more teaching on the subject. For example, the followers of Christ at Thessalonica had a severe misunderstanding about Christ’s return and the resurrection. Some of them were also setting a poor example and giving a bad name to the followers of Christ by not working. Paul corrected these problems in his letters to the church.

Similarly, James wrote a letter which is full of practical instructions about how the followers of Christ should live their lives. In it he talks about such things as overcoming temptation, favoritism and controlling our tongues.

In one of his letters, the Apostle Peter wrote about how the followers of Christ should respond to suffering and persecution.

In addition to practical instructions about how the followers of Christ should live, the inspired writers of the New Testament also provide a great deal of teaching. They instruct us in what we should believe. For example, in the letter to the Ephesians, we learn about the church, it’s purpose and function, and the need for unity. In the book of Hebrews we learn about the supremacy of Christ. Christ is greater than Moses and the angels. Jesus’ priesthood is greater than that of the priesthood which the Law of Moses established. The New Covenant which Christ’s sacrifice made possible is superior to the covenant God made with the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai.

The most systematic explanation we have of the process of salvation is in the letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the followers of Christ at Rome. In it he explains why mankind is alienated from God, what God has done to restore mankind’s relationship to Him, the basis upon which our relationship is restored, the process by which we are reconciled to God again, and what the practical results of being reconciled to God are.

Paul explains that all this takes place through the gospel. He writes, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16 NIV)

What is this gospel Paul writes about? In another place he defines it as: “…Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV) These are the central facts of Christianity. It is only because of what Christ did that our sins can be forgiven and we can be reconciled to God.

However, this raises an important question. The people at Rome to whom Paul writes were already followers of Christ. Since they were already followers of Christ, they had already heard the gospel. If they had not heard they could not have become Christians. Not only that, as we shall see in chapter 16, several of the recipients of the letter were acquaintances of Paul, some were his relatives and some had been co-workers with him. Why, then, would Paul need to write to them about the gospel?

There are several answers to this question. One answer relates to how the church in Rome came into being. Acts chapter 2 tells us that people from at least 15 different places were present in Jerusalem on the first day of Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection. On that day the Apostle Peter preached to the crowd, demonstrating that Jesus was the Savior the Jewish people had been looking for over the centuries. Through Peter’s words 3,000 men believed and became followers of Christ. Among them were visitors from Rome. Undoubtedly, these men met together as a church upon their return to Rome. During the approximately 25 years since, as far as we know, no Apostle had visited Rome. The result was that most, if not all, the teaching the church had received since its founding was second-hand. No doubt Paul’s letter answered many questions and filled in gaps in their knowledge.

At the time Paul wrote the letter to Rome, he was planning to go to Jerusalem. We know from chapter 15 that Paul was apprehensive about this journey. There was even a possibility that he would be martyred. In view of this it was appropriate for Paul to write down the core of his teaching. His letter to the Romans would serve as a lasting legacy for all who would come to believe in Christ after Paul’s death.

Yet another reason for Paul to write about the gospel was that he hoped to make Rome a base for evangelism for areas to the west. He hoped that Rome would become an important center from which the gospel spread to other places just as Antioch and Ephesus already were. In the letter he writes of his desire to take the gospel to Spain. In order for this to happen, it was important for the church in Rome to, itself, be solidly grounded in the gospel.

There was still another reason for Paul to write to the Romans about the gospel. Like the church at Antioch, some of the followers of Christ in the church at Rome came from Jewish backgrounds while others did not. This resulted in a certain amount of tension between the two groups. Some of it was cultural. Both Jews and non-Jews had certain practices which shocked or irritated the other. However, some of the tension had a deeper cause. For centuries the Jewish people had been part of God’s plan of redemption. How did the inclusion of non-Jewish people in the church affect the Jews’ role as God’s chosen people? Paul addresses the issues which lie between Jew and non-Jew in his letter.