Introduction to Romans-Date and Place of Romans
Thursday May 3, 2007
Romans: Introduction to Romans-Date and Place of Romans
Lesson # 3
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:1.
This evening we will continue with the introduction to the book of Romans, which will be presented in five installments and will deal with the following subjects: (1) Authorship of Romans (2) Recipients of Romans (3) Date and Place of Origin of Romans (4) Occasion and Purpose of Romans (5) Thematic Overview of Romans.
On Tuesday evening we began the introduction by noting the Pauline authorship of the book of Romans.
Last evening we noted that the destination of this great epistle was the city of Rome and therefore, its recipients were Roman believers, both Jew and Gentile.
Romans 1:1-7, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 1:8, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.”
Romans 1:9-10, “For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.”
Romans 1:11-12, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.”
Romans 1:13, “I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.”
Romans 1:14, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.”
Romans 1:15, “So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”
This evening we will note the date and place of origin of the book of Romans.
First of all, we will determine the place of origin of the book of Romans through a comparison of Scripture with Scripture, which reveals that Paul wrote Romans from the city of Corinth.
The first passage we will note is Romans 15:13-29, which describes his situation at the time of writing and laid out his plans for the future, which helps us to determine the date and place of origin of the Roman epistle.
Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:14, “And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another.”
Romans 15:15-16, “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15:17, “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God.”
Romans 15:18-19, “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Romans 15:20, “And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man's foundation.”
Romans 15:21, “but as it is written, ‘THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’”
Romans 15:22-25, “For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain for I hope to see you in passing, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.”
Romans 15:26, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”
Romans 15:27, “Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.”
Romans 15:28, “Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.”
Romans 15:29, “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.”
Notice that Paul conveys to the Roman believers that he had completed his work in the eastern regions in verse 23 and in verse 19 he states “from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum.”
Also, in verse 20, he states that it had always been his ambition “to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” and in verse 24, he states that he planned to go west to Spain and visit the Christian community in Rome as he passed through.
He relates to the Roman church that he would enjoy their company and seek their help for his journey.
However, in verses 25 and 26, Paul tells them he had to fulfill the responsibility of taking the contribution from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the destitute Christian community in Jerusalem and then he would go to Spain.
This period that Paul is describing corresponds to the period near the close of his third missionary journey, which is recorded in Acts 18:23-21:14 and took place from 53-57 A.D.
Paul had four missionary journeys: (1) 1st Missionary Journey (Acts 13-14) (A.D. 46-48) (2) 2nd Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36-18:22) (A.D. 49-52) (3) 3rd Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23-21:14) (A.D. 53-57) (4) 4th Missionary Journey (Acts 27:1-28:16) (A.D. 59-62).
Paul's third missionary can be divided into three main parts: (1) Ephesus phase (Acts 19) (A.D. 53-55) (2) Macedonian and Corinth phase (Acts 20-21:14) (A.D. 56-58). (3) Journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:15-17) (A.D. 58).
During Paul’s third missionary journey, he wrote his main doctrinal letters: (1) 1 Corinthians (written from Ephesus in A.D. 55) (2) 2 Corinthians (written from Macedonia in A.D. 56) (3) Romans (written from Corinth in A.D. 57).
The time of Paul’s departure for his 3rd missionary journey is late summer 53 and the time of arrival in Jerusalem around Pentecost 57.
Paul had ministered in Ephesus for two to three years according to Acts 19:1-10.
From Ephesus, Paul went through Macedonia and Achaia according to a comparison of Acts 19:21 and 20:1.
He arrived in Greece “where he stayed three months” according to Acts 20:3.
It was at this time that Paul wrote Romans but where in Greece did he write the book?
During Paul’s time in Greece he stayed in Corinth or its port city of Cenchrea according to his statements in 1 Corinthians 16:1-8, which was written toward the end of his stay at Ephesus, less than a year before according to 1 Corinthians 16:8.
Notice that Paul tells the Corinthians that he might stay with them through the winter and it was during this stay in Corinth towards the end of his third missionary journey that Paul wrote the Roman epistle.
Further supporting Corinth as the place of origin for Paul’s Roman epistle are several statements he makes in Romans 16.
For example, in Romans 16:23, Paul passes along the greetings of a man named Gaius, his host who appears to be the same individual Paul baptized in Corinth according to 1 Corinthian 1:14.
Romans 16:23, “Gaius, host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer greets you, and Quartus, the brother.”
1 Corinthians 1:14, “I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius.”
Erastus mentioned in Romans 16:23 who is identified by Paul as the “city treasurer” indicates that he is the same individual mentioned in a Corinthian inscription as “procurator of public buildings,” which is further confirmed by Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 4:20 that “Erastus stayed in Corinth.”
Also, in Romans 16:1, Paul commended Phoebe to the church at Rome and he identifies her as “a servant of the church in Cenchrea.”
Romans 16:1-2, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.”
Therefore, we can see from a comparison of passages that Paul wrote to the believers in Rome while residing in Corinth at the end of his third missionary journey.
The book of Romans was written in approximately 56 or 57 A.D.
Robert H. Mounce commenting on the date of the Roman epistle, writes, “We know that it falls between the time when Gallio was proconsul at Corinth (Acts 18:12, 14, 17) and the replacement of Felix by Festus as procurator in Palestine (24:27). The first date is established by an inscription at Delphi that shows that Gallio became proconsul in A.D. 51 or 52. Since senatorial proconsuls held office for one or two years and because we do not know whether the inscription was made early or late in his term of office, the best we can judge is that he served sometime during the period of A.D. 50-54. Since a period of some four years separates the two visits to Corinth (18:1-18; 20:3), Romans apparently was written between A.D. 54 and 58. Numismatic (pertaining to coins) evidence indicates that Felix became procurator of Judea in A.D. 59, at which time Paul was in custody in Caesarea (23:33-27:2). Allowing time for the journey from Corinth to Jerusalem and the subsequent activity prior to his appearance before Festus, a date somewhere around A.D. 56 would be most likely for the composition of Romans.” (The New American Commentary, volume 27, Romans, pages 25-26; Broadman and Holman Publishers)
C.E.B. Cranfield commenting on the date of Romans writes “either the last few days of A.D. 55 and the first few weeks of A.D. 56 or with the last few days of A.D. 56 and the first few weeks of A.D. 57.” (Romans: A Shorter Commentary, page xi. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan)
The chart below lists the places and dates of Paul’s epistles.
Book Place Date
Galatians Antioch of Syria 40-49 after Paul’s 1st Missionary journey
1 Thessalonians Corinth 50-54 in Paul’s 2nd Missionary journey
1 Thessalonians Corinth 50-54 in Paul’s 2nd Missionary journey
1 Corinthians Ephesus 56, in Paul’s 3rd Missionary journey
2 Corinthians Macedonia 56, in Paul’s 3rd Missionary journey
Romans Corinth 57, in Paul’s 3rd Missionary journey
Ephesians Rome 60, Paul’s 1st Roman imprisonment
Philippians Rome 62, Paul’s 1st Roman imprisonment
Colossians Rome 62, Paul’s 1st Roman imprisonment
Philemon Rome 62, Paul’s 1st Roman imprisonment
1 Timothy Macedonia 63-66
Titus Macedonia 63-66
2 Timothy Rome 67, Paul’s 2nd Roman imprisonment
Hebrews Rome 68-69, Paul’s 2nd Roman imprisonment