Romans: The Gospel for Today's World

Greetings all…

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.

WHY THIS BOOK? It relates us to God, to one another, and to our culture.

The book of Romans. In many ways it is a very difficult book. It is the foundational expression of the doctrines of the Christian faith. Stewart Brisco says, “To this kind of society the ancient Epistle speaks in trenchant terms. Man is exposed as the shameful sinner his actions clearly demonstrate him to be. God is revealed as at once just, merciful, and gracious. The possibility of salvation from the consequences of sin and emancipation from the pernicious dynamic of sin is clearly set forth. The principles of salvation are stated unequivocally in terms of graced faith. Human history is declared to be the arena in which. the cosmic plan of the Sovereign God is moving relentlessly to its eternal conclusion. And the clarion call to commitment to the God of our salvation in terms of sacrificial yielding of ourselves to Him in glad gratitude for unmerited grace is shown to be more than a pious concept. It is in fact a call to a dynamic lifestyle. The committed Christian is given clear instruction concerning his consecrated behavior in the home, the church, the political arena, and the marketplace. The Epistle ranges effortlessly from awe inspiring expositions of the majesty of God to deeply intimate statements concerning His compassion for sinners.

The Communicator’s Commentary, Romans. pg. 13

What some historical scholars & theologians have said of the book of Romans.

Augustine: But put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 13:13- .. He believed and obeyed, and the great mind was [berated for the glory of God and the good of mankind. ,

Centuries later Martin Luther As he delivered a series of lectures on the epistle, he grasped for the first time in his life what he called “the righteousness by through grace and sheer mercy God justified us through faith and an explanation of his experience bears repeating. “Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise.”

John Wesley, In this frame of mind he t one evening, most reluctantly, to a meeting where Luther’s preface to the epistle to the Romans was being read, and during the reading his “heart was strangely warmed.” He recorded in -Journal, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and assurance was given to me that He had taken way my sins even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” With this message he embarked on forty years of ministry.

John Calvin said, “When anyone gains a knowledge of this Epistle he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture.”

Know Christ’s identity:

Romans (Romans 1:1–7) 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

ensures that readers conceptualize Jesus in a particular way. Paul builds a mental image of Jesus while at the same time delaying His introduction.It is as if he is placing items onto the table of the discourse to make it easier to unpack each one when the time comes

Greetings, I am Paul

we have noted the slave & apostle elements. Yet he give more of who he is. all that you have in your life is a part of what God uses in your life. All of Paul’s experiences, the good & bad are what shaped him to be the apostle that he was. He had position, he had loss, he had awareness of outcasts and have-it-all.

Romans: Nothing but Grace (Lesson 2: Hi, I’m Paul)

Paul is writing a letter to the Christians in Rome—people he has never visited. Does he introduce himself by explaining that he studied under Gamaliel, a leading scholar of his time? That he was instrumental in planting many churches throughout the Roman Empire? That he was known and respected by the leaders of the church in Jerusalem? No—instead, he portrays himself as a “slave” (δοῦλος; doulos) and apostle of Christ, and as someone set apart by God for the ministry of the gospel.This passage also introduces the main message of Romans: “the gospel of God

Romans: An Introduction and Commentary (A. Salutation (1:1–7)) FF. BRUCE.

Paul is completely at his Master’s disposal. His summons to be an apostle, a special commissioner of Christ, came directly, he claims, from ‘Jesus Christ and God the Father’ (Gal. 1:1), who laid on him the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel in the Gentile world on the occasion when he revealed his Son to him on the Damascus road (Gal. 1:16). Set apart for the gospel of God, that is, for the ministry of the gospel, long before his conversion; cf. Galatians 1:15, where he says that he was divinely set apart for this purpose before his birth.

All the rich and diversified gifts of Paul’s heritage (Jewish, Greek and Roman), together with his upbringing, were foreordained by God with a view to his apostolic service. One might argue that he should have realized who Christ was during the Lord’s earthly life & ministry. It is possible that Paul was blinded by his zeal for the Jewish Tradition or his Position, thus the “blindness on the Damascus road, and the subsequent falling off of the “scales from my eyes.” From this The Lord says, of Paul as ‘a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles …’ (Acts 9:15).

Know your identity: Set apart for the gospel.

In the same way that he reveled in his own sense of calling he recognized that they were also called. He, like them, had been “called of Jesus Christ” (v. 6), and while he was specifically called to be an apostle they were “called to be saints” (v. 7). They shared a common calling, acknowledged a common Lord, and knew something of the privilege of being set apart for a special task, as in Paul’s case, or simply set apart to be special people in their case—for such is the meaning of “called to be saints.”

As all of the experiences of Paul’s life were a part of his preparedness for his service to Christ, so is of each of us. All of your hurts, failures, education, experiences are redeemed for the cause and now owned by the Lord. “you have been bought with a price”.

According to the Spirit of holiness. There is an obvious antithesis/contrasting between ‘according to the flesh’ and ‘according to the Spirit’. But when Paul states the second member of this antithesis, he makes its meaning plain by adding the genitive ‘of holiness’. The Spirit of holiness is the regular Hebrew way of saying ‘the Holy Spirit’; Paul here reproduces the Hebrew idiom in Greek. It is one and the same Son of God who appears as the earthly Jesus and as the heavenly Christ; but his Davidic descent, a matter of glory ‘according to the flesh’, is now seen nevertheless to belong to the phase of his humiliation, and to be absorbed and transcended by the surpassing glory of his exaltation, by which he has inaugurated the age of the Spirit.

Being of David’s line and kingship was great, but it is small, a humiliation, in comparison to the glory of Christ as Son of God.

Bruce, F. F. 1985. Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 6. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Know your purpose & call: Paul knew his.

Paul uses all that he was for the purpose of his life. His life as a pharisee, born in a special family, raised in Rome…yet saying he was set apart at birth. Even in Galatians saying he was as “one abnormally born”.

Live your identity & call: Paul lived his. “who are loved by God and called to be saints”. Live the message of Jesus.

This is the focus of this book. The name of Jesus from one man’s life into a community that he had never had opportunity to visit. Yet in this letter Paul speaks of the power of Jesus, the one of the lineage of David and the Son of God. This too is our challenge and opportunity.

A reflection and closing song: I Speak Jesus