Romans 1

Intro

Intro to Romans

Author:

Paul

Theme:

The righteous shall live by faith

God’s righteousness is the main theme of the book of Romans and our main focus for this study.

It is God’s righteousness that judges and punishes sin while simultaneously provides mercy and grace for the sinner.

This is all accomplished through the cross of Christ

Explain

PRAY

Romans 1:1–7 ESV

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a deeply theological passage.

In fact there are 6 very important statements that Paul makes in the first 7 verses of Romans 1.

Keep in mind this is just the introduction to Paul’s letter.

Also keep in mind that the Roman believers have not met Paul, they have heard of Paul but they have never met him personally.

Paul’s apostolic authority

The authority that Paul has to speak on behalf of God and the authority that we recognize when Paul’s letters were added as well as the other disciples letters to the OT and created our modern day bible.

We recognized that God was speaking and divinely inspiring these men to add to the cannon of scripture.

We understand that these are not just human words but the direct inspiration of God Himself

This is how we understand that the Bible, even though it was written by men is the 100% truth and the divine word of God.

Fulfillment of OT scripture in the Gospel

Meaning that the prophecies that were about Christ in the OT are fulfilled by Him in the new testament

The gospel is solely focused on and centers around the person of Jesus

There is a requirement for obedience of faith

The Gospel is for both the Jew and the Gentile

The trinity is deserving of all the glory

We will see these 6 statements made by Paul in these verses tonight.

They are important because they create a foundation for which the rest of Romans will sit on.

Remember Romans is all about God’s righteousness and how we respond as believers

Romans 1:1 ESV

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

A servant of Christ Jesus

Paul is stating he is first and foremost a servant of Jesus

Called to be an apostle

Paul then states His apostolic authority

This is important because Paul is stating here that He holds the same authority as the 12 disciples who walked with Jesus .

This apostolic authority is what qualified these men to speak and write the words of God that would have the same authority as the OT.

This is different than what I am doing.

I am simply teaching and explaining what was written.

I will never stand up here on stage and say something that would add to the Bible but that is exactly what Paul and the apostles were doing as they were proclaiming the gospel and writing to the 1st century church.

They could do this because like the writers of the OT they were divinely inspired by God

So Paul says he’s a servant, and apostle, and that he was set apart for the gospel

In other words he was set apart to explain the good news to others

Romans 1:2–3 ESV

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh

This gospel that he is talking about

The good news of Jesus

Was promised long before in the OT through the prophets

Most scholars agree that the lowest number of prophecies about Jesus in the OT are 100.

Meaning that within the 39 books of the OT there are at least 100 confirmed prophecies about Jesus Christ.

Some scholars believe the number could go as high as 400 but most everyone agrees that there are at least 100 prophecies that talk about Jesus.

So Paul is stating that the OT scripture that prophesied about the coming Messiah has been fulfilled through Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection

This is important for us as believers because if Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies that were written about Him then He would not be the Messiah.

If I told you I was the son of God (I’m not) but if I told you that, you could easily go to the OT and find many examples of how I am not the Son of God.

In fact one of those examples Paul lays out here in the verse 3

Descended from David.

This was a major prophecy about the Messiah.

He would be from the line of David the King of Israel and that He would reign eternally as King

1 Kings 2:45 ESV

But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.”

This passage of scripture is accomplished only one way.

If the King is from the line of David

And if either the line of David rules for all eternity

or if there is a singular ruler from the line of David that rules eternally.

We know that the line of David ruling Israel ended when they were conquered by the Babylonians so the only other explanation is that there would be one ruler that came from the line of David that would rule God’s people eternally.

Matt. 1:1-16 is the geneology of Jesus from Abraham to David and from David to Jesus

In fact Matt. 1:17 sums it up for us

Matthew 1:17 ESV

So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

This is important because the Messiah or the savior had to be from the line of David which Jesus clearly is.

But then Paul goes one step further.

Romans 1:4 ESV

and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,