ROMANS
6. A Thematic Overview of Romans
Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome while he was in Corinth (or perhaps the nearby seaport of Cenchrea) toward the end of his third missionary journey. We know from the opening paragraphs of his letter that he was very desirous of going to Rome and spending some time with the Christians there. He wrote that he longed to see them so that they might be “mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (1:12). He also was “eager to preach” the gospel to those who lived in the capital city (1:15). But Paul had another agenda in mind as well. Toward the close of the letter he wrote about his plan to visit them on his way to Spain (15:28). In addition to enjoying their company, he hoped they would assist him on his journey. As he looked forward to evangelizing Spain, he trusted that Rome would be for him in the west what Antioch had been in the east.
From previous experience Paul knew that his enemies were skilled in twisting his message. Galatians is proof of that. So important were his plans for taking the gospel to the far reaches of the western empire that he could not afford to have his message jeopardized in the very place that he intended to use as a base of operations. So he wrote a rather full and complete presentation of the message he had been preaching. The result is the Book of Romans—a magnificent presentation of the gospel, the good news that God has provided a righteousness based not on what we can do for ourselves but on what God has already done for us in sending his Son as a sacrifice for sin. Paul’s purpose was to set forth in a systematic fashion the doctrine of justification by faith and its implications for Christian living. The gospel had to be kept free from legalism; equally important was that it did not fall into the opposite error of antinomianism.
It is not our intention in this section to treat every topic touched on by the apostle. Nor is it our plan to provide the reader with a condensed biblical theology of Romans. The topics to be discussed have been selected on the basis of the emphasis Paul gave to each as he wrote to the church in Rome. The sequence has been determined by the order in which the apostle himself treated each subject as he wrote about how people are set right with God and what that implies about a whole series of issues related to faith and conduct. Each of the topics plays an important role in Paul’s overall understanding of God’s redemptive self-revelation. Each is discussed primarily in terms of the context in which it is first found.13 For textual matters related to the various themes and an understanding of their historical contexts, the reader will want to consult the commentary itself at the appropriate places.
CHAPTER 1
GOSPEL (Noun and Verb: to preach)
A. Noun.
euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον, 2098) originally denoted a reward for good tidings; later, the idea of reward dropped, and the word stood for “the good news” itself. The Eng. word “gospel,” i.e. “good message,” is the equivalent of euangelion (Eng., “evangel”). In the NT it denotes the “good tidings” of the kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ, to be received by faith, on the basis of His expiatory death, His burial, resurrection, and ascension, e.g., Acts 15:7; 20:24; 1 Pet. 4:17. Apart from those references and those in the gospels of Matthew and Mark, and Rev. 14:6, the noun is confined to Paul’s epistles. The apostle uses it of two associated yet distinct things, (a) of the basic facts of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, e.g., 1 Cor. 15:1–3; (b) of the interpretation of these facts, e.g., Rom. 2:16; Gal. 1:7, 11; 2:2; in (a) the “gospel” is viewed historically, in (b) doctrinally, with reference to the interpretation of the facts, as is sometimes indicated by the context.
B. Verbs.
1. euangelizo (εὐαγγελίζω, 2097), “to bring or announce glad tidings” (Eng., “evangelize”), is used (a) in the active voice in Rev. 10:7 (“declared”) and 14:6 (“to proclaim,” RV, KJV, “to preach”); (b) in the passive voice, of matters to be proclaimed as “glad tidings,” Luke 16:16; Gal. 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:25; of persons to whom the proclamation is made, Matt. 11:5; Luke 7:22; Heb. 4:2, 6; 1 Pet. 4:6; (c) in the middle voice, especially of the message of salvation, with a personal object, either of the person preached, e.g., Acts 5:42; 11:20; Gal. 1:16, or, with a preposition, of the persons evangelized, e.g., Acts 13:32, “declare glad tidings”; Rom. 1:15; Gal. 1:8; with an impersonal object, e.g., “the word,” Acts 8:4; “good tidings,” 8:12; “the word of the Lord,” 15:35; “the gospel,” 1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Cor. 11:7; “the faith,” Gal. 1:23; “peace,” Eph. 2:17; “the unsearchable riches of Christ, 3:8. See PREACH, SHEW, TIDINGS.
2. proeuangelizomai (προευαγγελίζομαι, 4283), “to announce glad tidings beforehand,” is used in Gal. 3:8.¶