Bible Study - The Book of Romans

ROMANS – Chapter 1

INTRO: Paul is Saul gentile or Greek name;

Last week, we started the process of looking at the book of Romans. Now we did not start reading the book, but started by talking about Paul, who is one of my favorite Apostles in the bible. We looked at several clips of movie series call “A.D. The bible Continues”, which is an offshoot of the Bible Series.

One of the main points I wanted to convey was that Paul was a person that tenaciously persecuted the Christian (or those who followed “The Way”). It wasn’t until he had his encounter with Jesus, that his life changed, and he became a follower of The Way.

This is important because through his tenacious persecution of Christian, the sins he committed was great. Paul himself claimed/credited himself to be chief of all sinners.

· 1 Timothy 1:15 (KJV) This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

· Chief meaning: a leader or ruler of a people or clan

Paul became a great example of Luke 7:47 on why he loved God so much. (It really starts at verse 40)

· Luke 7:47 (KJV) Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

Paul knew the wrong that he had done. The words of Jesus rang in his ears from Acts 9:4

· Acts 9:4 (KJV) And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

Now, the New Testament of the Bible can be broken up into 4 major categories or types of books.

· The Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

· History: The Book of Acts, which is the historic acts of the Apostles

· The Epistle: The letters written by the Apostles

· The book of prophecy: Revelation, which tells us about the things that must take place.

It is fitting that Paul with his newfound tenacity for the gospel, One of Paul’s letter, which is Romans, is the first epistle or letter in the group of letters in the Bible.

Just a little more about Paul. In Act 1:8 Jesus gave a couple commandments to his Apostles

· Acts 1:7–8 (KJV)7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

o This was said because the Apostle asked when he would restore the kingdom to Jerusalem.

· 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus is telling them that he is putting them on a mission. They are to spread the gospel everywhere. In the next few verses are interesting because we read how a couple of angels gets involved.

· Acts 1:9–11 (KJV) And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

The angels had to tell them to get going. But one notable mention is that the known Apostles at that time, did not go out to the uttermost part of the earth. Paul was one of the first known Apostles that went out to the gentiles.

If we pull out our Christmas gift from the Church “Know Your Bible”, we can get a couple of nuggets that would help us on our journey in the book of Romans.

· First, as we stated and already know, Romans was written by Apostle Paul.

· In the section of TEN WORDS OR LESS, which provides a nutshell glance at the book’s key themes, it reads, “Sinners are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ.

o Simply said, we are not saved by the law as many thought in those days, especially Paul.

o Also this is reinforced with the first chapter of Romans verses 16 and 17.

§ Romans 1:16–17 (KJV) 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

· Lastly, from this book, I would like to make mention of the quotable, which the book refers to as key verses from Romans. And those scriptures are:

o Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

o Romans 5:8 (KJV) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

o Romans 6:23 (KJV) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

o Romans 7:24–25 (KJV) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Last, point before we start reading Romans. The Book of Roman can be broken up into 4 parts:

· The Wrath of God: Chapter 1 - 3

· The Grace of God: Chapter 3 - 8

· The Plan of God: Chapter 8 – 11 For the Jew and gentiles

· The Will of God: Chapter 12 – 16 In the life of a believer

Let’s began reading. I thought about reading this book in the NLT version because it could sometimes be easier to read and understand when reading straight through. But as we try to get a deeper understanding of this Book, so I will use the KJV. Different interpretations, sometimes changes the meaning. And what I’m trying to do is get the Writer’s full intent.

Romans Chapter 1

PAUL, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, Romans 1:1 (KJV)

· There are several points, I would like to call out in this verse.

o Most ancient letter starts by putting the author name first. This is different from how we do it today. We (in our culture) sign our letter at the end. We start out by addressing our letter to the person we are writing to. We can find this method throughout the letter of Paul and other Apostles. Not all but most.

§ The reason I bring this point up is because you will hear some that would say Paul did not write the book of Romans.

· Why would they say that, in Roman 16:22 Tertius (Ter-te-us)

o Romans 16:22 (KJV) I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

o A servant of Jesus Christ

§ Servant meaning:

· a person who performs duties for others, especially a person employed in a house on domestic duties or as a personal attendant.

· a devoted and helpful follower or supporter

· a slave

§ Paul immediately reduces himself as a servant before acknowledging himself as an apostle.

· One thing my wife and I talk about are people that are hubris. These are people that our really prideful but try to play it off like they’re not.

o The third point I would like to make is when you see italicized words in the KJV it means that those words was add to the verse. This was done to distinguish the helping verbs and prepositions which were added to the original Hebrew and Greek texts to make them read better in English.

§ So this verse actual reads: “called an apostle”. He was literally call an apostle.

o Last point I will make regarding the word apostle. It is not capitalized. This was said that in the KJV that this was done on purpose to show that that he wasn’t one of the original 12 Apostles.

Romans 1:2 (KJV) (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

· Paul is just saying that this point in time was prophesied/ or anticipated back in the Old Testament.

o Jeremiah 31:34 31Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Romans 1:3 (KJV) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

· I believe we all understand the reference of the seed of David. God told David that from his descendant/from his lineage will come a king that would reign forever. So this was a promise to all Jews, that a king will come from the Jewish nation.

o 2 Samuel 7:1–29 (NLT) 1When King David was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies, 2the king summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!” 3Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the LORD is with you.” 4But that same night the LORD said to Nathan, 5“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD has declared: Are you the one to build a house for me to live in? 6I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. I have always moved from one place to another with a tent and a Tabernacle as my dwelling. 7Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s tribal leaders, the shepherds of my people Israel. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?” ’ 8“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. 9I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! 10And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, 11starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘Furthermore, the LORD declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! 12For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. 14I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. 5But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. 16Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’ ” 17So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the LORD had said in this vision. 18Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19And now, Sovereign LORD, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD? 20“What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign LORD. 21Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant. 22“How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 23What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. 24You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God. 25“And now, O LORD God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. 26And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever. 27“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ 28For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!”

· This scripture also brought me to think about the genealogy that is recorded in the bible. There are two extensive genealogies in the bible, one in Matthew and the other in Luke.

o One interesting note about these genealogies are that there are several differences within the genealogies.

Romans 1:4 (KJV) And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

· Not only in the fact that we himself claimed to be the Son of God, but through the power of the Holy Spirit he has proven it, even by being raised from the dead by God.

Romans 1:5 (KJV) By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

· Grace – Unmerited favorite – underserve blessings

· Apostle = Sent out one

· Apostleship - Apostleship is the gift that instills missionary zeal in those who will go where the gospel is foreign or formerly unheard.

o Paul is saying that we are given favor by God, and the privilege to carry this gospel with zeal to all nations.

§ I would add, and receiving rewards from God.

Romans 1:6 (KJV) Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:

· Paul points back to the Christians in Rome and says, you are also called to do the same thing.

Romans 1:7 (KJV) To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

· We can see another italicized word within this verse. So it would read “called saints”. To be kind of fits the old way of thinking where a person become a saint if they performed a miracle and are dead, then they could become a saint.

· I believe Catholic churches still pay to “saints”.

· We are saints.

Romans 1:8 (KJV) First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

· From this inference, I believe we could say that the church of Rome was doing some things right, and it caught the attention of Paul and many other people.

Romans 1:9 (KJV) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;

· I can imagine the Roman church reading this with their chest poking out. Paul, a well-known Apostle is acknowledging and praising them.

Romans 1:10 (KJV) Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

· Paul says, I’m asking God to help me with my travels so I could one-day come to you.

Romans 1:11 (KJV) For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established;

· to bestow favor on someone. To give someone a benefit out of favor and kindness.

o Not the gift of prophetic or healing

Romans 1:12 (KJV) That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

· Paul is saying, I coming not only to bless you, but to also be blessed or ministered by you. Again lifting up the church of Rome.

· This is an Apostle saying, I can’t wait to get to you, to reach blessing and comfort from you.

o The humbleness of Paul

Romans 1:13 (KJV) Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

· It seems that Paul wanted to let them know that is was is heart desire to be with them in Rome (Maybe because he was romans). I believe as Paul was stating that he knew he was call to minister to the gentiles, but there was a longing to minister in Rome.

· Paul will finally get a chance to minister in Rome, but I don’t think it was what he expected.

Romans 1:14 (KJV) I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.

· What does it mean to be a debtor?

o There are a couple of ways to be in debt.

§ First way - You can borrow money from someone and you owe that debt. You become a debtor

§ Second – Someone else owes a debt, they give you the money and ask if you could repay the debt for them. You are a third-party debtor. You become obligated to pay that debt off.

o Paul is saying he is indebted to preach the gospel.

§ We have a debt to preach the gospel

o Why did Paul us the term Greeks and Barbarians? It was the way people show each other back in those days. Paul was just try to say the he has an obligation to all men.

§ The Jewish people would say, Jews and Gentiles (those are the only two groups)

§ Greeks would say, Greeks and Barbarians, (those are the only two groups)

§ To the smart people (educated people) and to the dummy (the uneducated)

§ Today we would say, to the White people and Colors people.

Romans 1:15 (KJV) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

· Paul is saying, I’m ready to preach the gospel in Rome to whomever I can.

Romans 1:16 (KJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

· Paul within this verse tries to put things in the right prospective. The Jew first, as God has promised then to everyone else.

Romans 1:17 (KJV) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

· There is a lot in this verse to comment on.

· The righteousness of God is very important because we are unrighteous and we need God to give us or imputed righteous to us.

· There is an old Jewish tale about a soap maker who did not believe in God. One day as he was walking with a rabbi, he said, “There is something I cannot understand. We have had religion for thousands of years. But everywhere you look there is evil, corruption, dishonesty, injustice, pain, hunger, and violence. It appears that religion has not improved the world at all. So I ask you, what good is it?”

The rabbi did not answer for a time but continued walking with the soap maker. Eventually they approached a playground where children, covered in dust, were playing in the dirt.

“There is something I don’t understand,” the rabbi said. “Look at those children. We have had soap for thousands of years, and yet those children are filthy. What good is soap?”

The soap maker replied, “But rabbi, it isn’t fair to blame soap for these dirty children. Soap has to be used before it can accomplish its purpose.”

The rabbi smiled and said, “Exactly.”

· Faith is more than belief. It is complete trust in God accompanied by action. It is more than wishing.

It is more than merely sitting back, nodding our heads, and saying we agree. When we say “the just shall live by faith,” we mean we are guided and directed by our faith. We act in a manner that is consistent with our faith—not out of a sense of thoughtless obedience but out of a confident and sincere love for our God and for the priceless wisdom He has revealed to His children.

Now from this point the pleasantries or the introduction is ending and Paul began to speak about the wrath of God. As I stated earlier, Romans can be broken into 4 parts.

Up to this point Paul has shared only good news

Romans 1:18 (KJV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:19 (KJV) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

· Paul states, the God has revealed his wrath again all the ungodly men who knew the truth but did not walk in the truth because of their love of wickedness.

· They knew the truth, and they knew what was right and wrong because God put it in them to know.

Romans 1:20 (KJV) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

· THE COMPLEXITY ARGUMENT

o The complexity argument says that only a complex mind could have conceived and created a such a complex world. Since complex, living, beings cannot naturally come from simple, non-living, inanimate matter, then the world of animated beings must have been conceived and created by a being more complex than His creation (God).

What is reverse engineering? (Reverse engineering, sometimes called back engineering, is a process in which software, machines, aircraft, architectural structures and other products are deconstructed to extract design information from them.)

One of the great advantage of having the bible is it gives us the answers to make of the questions we natural ask as we seek God. And once we establish His word is true, sometime we can easily reverse engineer it.

· Although God is invisible to our eyes, He has made thing visible for us to know him.

Romans 1:21 (KJV) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

· Paul is saying that he’s not hearing their excuses, I didn’t know. When they send nature, when that seen the stars in the heavens, when they think about mankind. They knew there was a God.

· They thought it was better to practice idolatry of the things that God created

o They adored the creations/images over the Creator. Or the designs over the designer.

§ If the creation or design is impressive, how much more impressive is the Creator or Designer.

o Psalm 19:1 (KJV)1The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.

· So this tells us that, God continuously declare Himself day in and day out. His words, I’m here, I’m God speak in all creation.

Romans 1:22 (KJV) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

· Fool = to make foolish. Making or showing something or someone to be foolish or to be revealed as foolish.

o foolish, unintelligent. Having poor judgment.

· They clog their ears not to hear and close their eyes so they want see. Therefore, they became fools.

· This is like the kid the close his eye and ears and start shouting so they can’t hear you.

Romans 1:23 (KJV) And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

· Then Paul says, instead of worshipping the true God, they started worshipping idols of birds, beast, reptiles.

o Some because very creative and mixed the birds and beast together.

Romans 1:24 (KJV) Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

· Not only did they become fools. God left them, which now allow Satan and their own wicked hearts create all types of sin to practice.

· Lust = to desire, to yearn for

o Describes having affections for something; it can be used in positive and negative senses

· They wanted to meet the need of their lust, not caring if it dishonored themselves.

o I not going to talk about all the disgusting things people to because of lust. I seen many movies and series.

Romans 1:25 (KJV) Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Romans 1:26 (KJV) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

Romans 1:27 (KJV) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

· Men (ἄρρην)= Refers specifically to the male gender.

· Woman (θῆλυς (thēlys)) = female gender

· Recompence = an exchange based on what is deserved (good or bad)

· They are being given up to a state in which they can crave and delight in such detestable gratifications of unnatural lust. It is the final judgment on them for going astray from God.

· When we think of the wrath of God, we think of God doing something to us. But one of the wraths of God is to give us what we want. A judgement of God is give you want you want(Your will be done).

o You want a King Jews…

Romans 1:28 (KJV) And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

· I have known people that were in sin, and they wanted to get set free. They didn’t understand the desire or drive that was in them to do wrong, but they wanted help to stop.

· God said these groups of people will not have that desire to stop because he will turn them over to a reprobate mind.

o Reprobate mind = The definition of reprobate as an adjective is "morally depraved; unprincipled; bad." Therefore, a "reprobate mind" is the loss of logic and morality in a person's reasoning. A reprobate mind is given over to irrational pursuits of sin that are destructive to their soul and body and the people around them. Also means “cast away,” “reject,” “notwithstanding a test,” or “unfit.”

Romans 1:29 (KJV) Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Romans 1:30 (KJV) Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

Romans 1:31 (KJV) Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Romans 1:32 (KJV) Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

· Again Paul is not taking them off the hook, they know better and they know a person that does these things should be put to death.

· They are doing the thing themselves. And the kicker, they have pleasure in other that do it.

o Have you ever seen a bully pick on someone, and other stand around and encourage it. Cheering, provoking and laughing.

· Back in Paul days, they had lion dens. People would cheer as someone was put in the den to be eaten by a lion.

· I could bring this closer to home by saying, we see some of these same thing on Netflix and in the movie. Sexuality, murder, blaspheme and other ungodly things and we just clap and applaud these movies.