Romans

Verses 8-17

8 Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

-Paul was thankful for the good reputation of the church in Rome. Because of its location, this church had a special visibility and opportunity to glorify Jesus throughout the Empire.

-Think of a wagon wheel with the great city of Rome as the hub.

- These Christians had to be strong. “The Christians of Rome were unpopular – reputed to be ‘enemies of the human race’ and credited with such vices as incest and cannibalism. Then, they became the victims of the imperial malevolence – and it is this persecution of Christians under Nero that traditionally forms the setting for Paul’s martyrdom.” (Bruce)

-Incest because they called each other brother and sister.

-Cannibalism because of the lords supper.

-Nero was a brutal Emperor the persecution of Christians in Rome was still light at the time of Paul’s writing, but would intensify after the great fire of Rome around AD 64

-Roman candle

9 God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.

- God Knows is perhaps Paul’s acknowledgment of how easy it is to say you will pray for someone, and then fail to do it. He wanted them to know that he really prayed.

-Some things don’t need to be on social media. You need a church family

-Spurgeon once said, “No wonder that they prospered so well when Paul always made mention of them in his prayers. Some churches would prosper better if some of you remembered them more in prayer.”

-Here soon i want to present to the church some opportunities for corporate prayer.

11 For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. 12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

-How many of you realize we can impart to each other spiritual gifts?

-Something happens when we pray for one another “When we get together”

Hebrews 10:25 “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

-When we encourage each other in the faith, we also are encouraged!

 14 For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world,* to the educated and uneducated alike. 15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

“ the civilized world and the rest of the world,* to the educated and uneducated alike.” Paul meant that the gospel of Jesus Christ is universal and intended for every single person, regardless of their intellectual abilities, cultural background, or social status.

-No Barriers to Grace: Just as high social standing or extensive education does not make a person "more worthy" of God's grace, lacking formal education does not disqualify anyone from receiving it. The gospel is equally accessible and necessary to all.

-Paul’s Mars Hill sermon. Acts 17

-“14For I have a great sense of obligation”. Paul recognized he had something of a debt to Rome. The Roman Empire brought world peace and order; they brought a common culture and an excellent transportation system to the world. Paul used all these in spreading the Gospel; so he can best repay this debt by giving Rome the good news of Jesus Christ.

-- A Boundless Debt: Paul felt an overwhelming personal debt or "obligation" to share this message with humanity. Having been called by Christ, he believed his mission was to ensure that the good news reached the high-class Greco-Roman philosophers as well as the unrefined "barbarians".

- “15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.” This is boldness talking. Paul is willing to wade into the center of pagan idolatry to preach the Gospel!

- in the mystery of God’s irony – when Paul did eventually get to Rome, he came as a shipwrecked prisoner.

-Paul would get to Rome but he would come as an ambassador in chains. sent at the expense of Rome.

-I think we should remember that we may pray for something but God chooses the outcome that best fits his will for our lives.

-Gods timing is perfect!

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.

-”For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.” This reveals Paul’s heart. In a sophisticated city like Rome, some might be embarrassed by a gospel centered on a crucified Jewish Savior and embraced by the lowest classes of people who also embrace Christ (Rome was a very classist society) – but Paul is not ashamed.

-We have to ask ourselves as the church if we are willing to embrace the ones that society rejects today?

-” It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes” This is why Paul is not ashamed of a gospel centered on a crucified Savior. He knows that the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ – has inherent power. We do not give it power, we only stop hindering the power of the gospel when we present it effectively.

-Paul has witnessed its power! So have I.… AND I WAN’T TO SEE MORE!!

-”The Jew first and also the Gentile.” This statement is not meant to be exclusive, but inclusive. it also indicates an undeniable priority.

-This priority isn’t random. Jews possessed significant advantages, beginning with being “entrusted with the oracles of God,” (Rom 3:1–2) and they held the covenants, the law, the promises, and the patriarchs—with Christ himself coming from their lineage.

-This statement only indicates the widening and inclusiveness of the phrase “God’s people”.

-Even though the majority of Jews reject Christ, this priority still stands. and there is still a plan for the Jews

-(Romans 11) 25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness.27And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”

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.”*

-This “simple” scripture is widely considered the thesis statement for Paul's theology in the New Testament. And its important that we spend some time here understanding what he is saying in this “simple” Passage.

-It is essential to understand exactly how God “Makes us right in his sight”. This verse speaks of imparted righteousness. It does not speak of the holy righteousness of God that condemns the guilty sinner, but of the God-kind of righteousness that is given to the sinner who puts their trust in Jesus Christ.

- Righteousness: William Barclay explains the meaning of this ancient Greek word dikaioo, which means I justify, and is the root of dikaioun (righteousness): “All verbs in Greek which end in oo… always mean to treat, or account or reckon a person as something. If God justifies a sinner, it does not mean that he finds reasons to prove that he was right – far from it. It does not even mean, at this point, that he makes the sinner a good man. It means that God treats the sinner as if he had not been a sinner at all.”

-Genesis 15:6 “And Abraham believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

-When we believe in Jesus, and the work of the cross it is counted to us as righteousness. That is why we are called believers! when Christ said, “it is finished” the work of righteousness for the believer was done.

-”From start to finish by faith”:  It seems is a reminder to the believer that justifying faith is only the beginning of the Christian’s life.

-Not in works. Not on obeying rules, from start to finish by faith

-The same faith that we first believed on Jesus is the same faith we will need to finish the race!

-“It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This statement stands as one of Scripture’s most consequential statements about the relationship between trust in God and spiritual survival. This text from Habakkuk 2:4 proves foundational to Paul’s theology, appearing twice in his most theologically dense arguments—in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11

-Habakkuk contrasts the proud person whose soul is not upright with the righteous one who lives by faithfulness.

- Habakkuk defines faithfulness as characteristic reliance upon God—the righteous person consistently trusts him, unlike the proud who disregard him.

-And let me tell you we need the Holy Spirit to walk by faith. We need him to even understand what it means.

-Every Christian will spend some time understanding this.

-It’s trusting in God’s faithfulness that we have life.