The Good News is Great News

(Chapter 1) 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, three years after the 16-year-old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome.

Focal Point of Romans 1:15-17

English Standard Version (Chapter 1)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

I’m doing my best to get to you…and greet my friends. cf. 16:1-16.

In 15:22, Paul attributes the long delay to the pressures of his evangelistic work in the northeastern Mediterranean area.

Seeking to encourage them, Paul told the Christians in Rome how grateful he was for them because their faith in Christ had become so widely known (1:8). Apparently they were quite open in confessing their faith and made no attempt to hide it. For Paul, Christian faith was never simply a private matter but something to be confessed openly and proclaimed publicly for all the world to hear.

Mohrlang, Roger, Gerald L. Borchert. 2007. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol 14: Romans and Galatians. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Paul Delights in the Gospel-even if he

Paul was not the one who shared the Gospel to Rome!

People of Romans

though Paul has not yet visited this city church, he knows many people within the church of Rome as well as having an awareness of where the church is meeting. The list of 28 names. Within the list are some women church leaders, prominent women of society. 17 Men, 10 Women

The graphic above might have made something stand out to you. Despite the fact that Paul greets almost twice as many men as women, he uses leadership terminology to describe more women than men.In fact, there is no leadership term used by Paul in this chapter which is not applied to a woman (but some terms are not applied to men).

So even at a simple glance, it’s clear that the Roman church had a strong presence of women in a variety of ministry positions. Although this church was not established by Paul, the strong involvement of women in Christian ministry here is consistent with what we see in Paul’s ministry.

How would he have known these people?

Ch. 16:1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant/minister of the church at Cenchreae..

A seaport of Corinth on the eastern side of the isthmus (see CORINTH). Here according to Acts 18:18, St. Paul had his hair shorn before sailing for Syria, since he had a vow.

Pheobe Travels to the chruch in Rome

Orr, James, John L. Nuelsen, Edgar Y. Mullins, and Morris O. Evans, eds. 1915. “Cenchreae.” In The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, 1–5:587. Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company.

With this awareness, we get a context of Paul’s heart for the church in Rome. Using the maps in the back of your Bible, you can see the great distance that the servants, friends and leaders of the early church traveled.

The Gospel: This is the great theme of this letter. This is often lost as we focus on the subtopics of the letter. The GOSPEL, is the power of the this “good news” that the apostle will emphasize and illuminate as he address grave topics and deep doctrines.

Is the gospel the major topic of our life’s letter?

We as Paul , have many friends in our culture, but is our letter focusing on the Gospel? Clarity is in v. 15-17, with the key term being “not ashamed of”. A more positive phrasing may be, “I am ultra confident in the Good News of My Saviour and My Life.”

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ, or “I am ultra confident-never been disappointed in the Good News of My Saviour and My Life.”

from this core topic and expression Paul will address the various subtopics that we gravitate to, but often leave behind his heart & motivation for the topics. The same word is used in 5:5, translated “disappoint”. Here is a stronger version of the term, to make a point of the opposite. I am not, have not, will not be ever disappointed…because of the Gospel. (this would include his faith and life experiences for the sake of the Gospel,).

Connecting with this core topic is going to be the emphasis on FAITH. THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.

Nijya Gupta argues that Paul’s faith language resonates with a Jewish understanding of covenant involving goodwill, trust, and expectation. Paul’s understanding of faith involves the transformation of one’s perception of God and the world through Christ, relational dependence on Christ, as well as active loyalty to Christ. (Paul and the Language of Faith).