The Purpose of the book of Romans

Introduction

Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,”

Romans 1:7 “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.”

Isn’t it so hard to get along with Christians sometimes? They are so cantankerous, weird, annoying. Thoughts like these highlight a struggle that is real in churches. People can’t seem to get along with one another. Some issue or some quirk keeps them from being able to function as a whole. I think over all churches across America many are hampered by a lack of unity among the believers. We are looking for unity around the wrong things. We expect to get along with the young mothers because they have children, but if I don’t have kids what could we possibly have in common. The older people and the younger people can’t fathom spending time with one another because kids these days are just so immature or the older people don’t understand me. It just doesn’t seem like anyone in this church has the same hobbies as I do (Boy can I relate there; pretty much one of my only hobbies is reading theology and Christian books; not a whole lot of people eager to join me in that) Churches today are fractured underneath and maybe it hasn’t made its way to the surface yet, but divides are brewing under the surface. It is this situation that Paul finds himself addressing in Romans.

Paul is writing to a certain people in a certain context to deal with certain issues. Romans was written by Paul to the believers in the church of Rome. This letter was not written to every Christian everywhere, he had a specific audience in mind. We don’t know how the church of Rome got started. There is no record of any of the apostles starting the church though they did visit later. Most likely, the church of Rome began from Jews saved at Pentecost Acts 2:5 “And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” Acts 2:8–11 “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.”

Why is Paul writing the book of Romans?

There are a couple different positions that bible teachers and expositors have taken over the years. Here are the four most common:

Personal- raise support for his trip to Spain and explain the gospel Romans 15:24 “Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.”

Theological- This was the position of many of the reformers and it makes sense. The book of Romans was important for their rediscovery of the doctrine of justification by faith. There was a strong emphasis on the theology of the book of Romans. FF Bruce described it as a sustained and coherent statement of the gospel. Under this view it is merely like a doctrinal statement that I had to write before becoming a missionary or like the church has on our website. You have to ask “why would Paul send his doctrinal statement to the church?” Even in writing a doctrinal statement I am going to have a reason for giving it to someone else. When I wrote mine, it was so I could be evaluated for my missions agencies acceptance and for my ordination.

Pastoral- As a pastoral letter, Paul would be writing to encourage or rebuke the church. If this is his purpose then he is writing to heal the conflict in the Roman congregation. Pastors are not only concerned with making sure you believe right, but that we learn how to feel, think and act right. We shepherd souls not merely minds.

Pastoral and theological- I am going to argue this morning that the purpose of the book of Romans is both Pastoral and Theological. Paul’s goal in writing the book of Romans is to heal the conflict in the Roman church by helping them to see their place in salvation history. I argue for this because there has to be a unifying theme behind the book of Romans. What ties it all together?

Today, I want to show you this is the purpose of the book and draw it to a conclusion that we can apply to our lives in the church now. There are two main themes in the book of Romans that are beautifully woven together to give us the purpose of the book of Romans.

Theme One: All mankind needs the gospel

Romans is most known for its explanation of the gospel. Often when people explain the gospel they use what is called the Romans road. (I think limiting yourself to the Romans road is unfortunate because each person is individual and has needs of being shown the truth in a way that helps them come to Jesus, but it is a good place to start. Often those who use it leave out repentance though it is in Romans.)

Paul begins the entire book with the repeated theme of the gospel in Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,” Romans 1:9 “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;”

From there Paul explains the gospel by developing the idea that

1. We are all sinners:

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

2. That the wages of sin is death

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

3. That you can not earn your salvation by good deed

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

4. Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone

Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

Romans 5:8–9 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Romans 4:25 “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

5. Chapter 5 details the benefits of salvation

But if you keep reading the book of Romans, it seems like the gospel ceases here. Maybe Romans is just a random book after all. But there is another theme in the book that will help us tie it all together.

Theme Two: Jews and Gentiles are equal in the body of Christ

If you aren’t paying attention, you might miss this point scattered throughout the book. Paul is not merely dealing with the theology of salvation, he is trying to deal with a rift in the church of Rome. Remember in the introduction how the church of Rome was most likely started? The early church of Rome was primarily Jews returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem after Pentecost. Rome followed the same pattern as the church did overall. The gospel went to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles. Around AD 41-53 many of the Jews had been expelled from Rome because of fears of sedition. This event changed the makeup of the church of Rome. By this point the church had become primarily Gentile Romans 1:13 “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.” And a lot of people had questions about the roles of Jews and Gentiles in the church. How does the law effect the church and how do the differing cultural groups get along? What is the role of Israel in God’s plan of salvation?

Evidence that this plays into the overall purpose of the book of Romans is found all over the book.

Consider the repeated phrase to the Jew first and also to the Greeks Romans 1:16 “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.” Romans 2:10 “But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:”

The commonality of sin Romans 2:12 “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” The word all takes on more meaning when you understand the context of this verse. The Jew and the Gentile are all sinners. The religious and the irreligious are all sinners.

Paul’s constantly addressing the role of the Jews Romans 3:1 “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?” Romans 11:1 “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.”

Chapters 9-11 deal with God’s election of the people of Israel and their final restoration

chapters 12-13 deal with the way we interact with one another

Chapters 14-15 deal with the weaker and the stronger brother, but remember what it was they were fighting over: the eating of certain foods and the celebration of holy days. Doesn’t it sound like Paul might be addressing a Gentile/ Jewish debate there.

The theme while not necessarily obvious when you first look at the book is the tie that binds the whole book together. We find hints of it in its first pages, while at other times it becomes forefront and clear.

Purpose of the book: Jews and Gentiles can find unity around the gospel

I believe there is a reason the book of Romans has the clearest explanation of the gospel and yet still deals with healing the rift between Jewish and Gentile believers in the church. The primary purpose of the book of Romans is that Jews and Gentiles can find unity around the gospel.

There are a lot of things that divide us in churches. For these people, the divide was theological. What is the role of Israel in all of this? Should we treat them like God is done with them or does He have a greater purpose for them?

Most likely you had a group of Judaizer Christians who believed it was necessary to keep the law as a Christian and a group of law-free Gentiles in the Church. As we have seen in Romans 14-15, this seems to be one of the big arguments in the church. In a way Paul had a foot in both camps. He was a Jew who at times kept the law for the peace of the church and evangelism; but he also was the apostle to the Gentiles who preached that we are not under the law. So Paul was especially equipped to deal with this issue in the church.

Paul develops the idea that all of us are guilty before God: Jew and Gentile. Remember this book was written to believers so why so much emphasis on the gospel. There is a humility that comes with realizing that I am no better than anyone else in this room. I am just as much a sinner saved by grace as the next guy. My righteousness before God has nothing to do with the good things I do; it is only on the basis of grace.

Paul also stresses the equal role of Jewish and Gentile believers as the people of God. God is not done with the Jews; so there is no reason for the Gentiles to become proud and reject the Jewish believers. Vice Versus, the Jews should not despise the Gentiles because they were grafted into the people of God because of their faith and God’s sovereign choice to offer salvation to the Gentiles. The single most important theme of this book is their equality in Christ through the gospel.

Application: For us we are often divided by issues like:

Ethnicity and culture- America has become polarized around identity politics and black and white issues. But the gospel should allow Christians of all ethnicities and cultures to find unity. Western churches are different than European churches and African churches and Latin American churches and Asian churches; but believers should be able to find unity around the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Interests divide us- We can slip into clicks where we only hang around people we have common interests with. The church is a body and we all need one another. That means we need to break out of our clicks and reach out to others that we may have nothing else in common with. I should never hear but we don’t have anything in common. We all have the greatest thing in common: Jesus Christ.

Generational differences- Young people often doesn’t hang out with the older people and vice versus. But we are part of the same body and we need each other. Older people, you need the younger people. Younger people you need the wisdom of the older people. But even you have something in common: the gospel of Jesus Christ. When was the last time you went out to eat with someone from a different age bracket as you.

Minor doctrinal differences- there is so much to disagree on in the bible and it can be easy to make minor things into major things. There has to be a limit to what we will divide and separate over or we will never have fellowship with anyone.

Social status- The rich and the poor. Churches often coalesce around social classes. Some and filled with the wealthy, others with the poorer classes. While the majority attract the middle class. Do differences in wealth, style of living affect your relationships with people in the church?

Conclusion

I want to challenge you this morning with the unity that we all have in the gospel. This isn’t just theological. It isn’t, “Hey, we all believe the same things so I guess I have to like you.” But it is practical. Paul ended the book with a bunch of practical applications of this truth to their relationships.

We are told to serve each other using our spiritual gifts in Romans 12.

We are told to be kindly affectioned one to another

We are told to honor one another

We are told to rejoice together and weep together

We are told to be of the same mind

We are told to live peaceably with one another

We are told to submit to authorities

We are told to receive one another

We are told to put up with the weaknesses of each other

We are told to mark those who would separate us from one another by introducing false doctrine

These are all very practical applications of the truth that Paul develops in the bulk of the book. What can you do today to celebrate that unity that we in this church have around the gospel?

Is there someone here that you haven’t been able to get along with or you just have nothing in common with them? How can you reach out to them and build that relationship that whether you like it or not you do have. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s like having a brother who drives you crazy, you can’t stand them. But there is one thing you can’t change, they are your brother. And Christ is calling us to a higher ideal with than just getting along with those we have common interests with. The gospel of Jesus Christ should be enough common interest at Harvest Hills Baptist Church for us to live as a family.