Introduction to Romans-Occasion and Paul's Objectives in Writing to Roman Believers
Tuesday May 8, 2007
Romans: Introduction to Romans-Occasion and Objectives for Writing to Roman Believers
Lesson # 4
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 16:1.
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.
Last Tuesday evening we began the introduction by noting the Pauline authorship of the book of Romans.
Last Wednesday evening we noted that Paul wrote this great epistle to believers in the city of Rome.
Last Thursday evening we studied that the book of Romans was written in 57 A.D. in the city of Corinth towards the end of Paul’s third missionary journey.
This evening we will study the “occasion” and the “purposes” for Paul writing to believers in the city of Rome.
The specific “occasion” for Paul’s writing this letter to believers in the city of Rome was Phoebe’s projected trip to Rome according to Romans 16:1-2.
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.”
The apostle Paul had several objectives in writing this epistle to believers in the city of Rome.
The most obvious reason for writing to the believers in Rome was to announce his plans to visit them after his return to Jerusalem and to prepare them for his arrival according to Romans 15:24-29, which can be compared with Acts 19:21.
Acts 19:21, “Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, ‘After I have been there, I must also see Rome.’”
Paul wanted to inform the Christian community in Rome of his plans and to have them anticipate and pray for their fulfillment according to Romans 15:30-32.
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.”
Romans 15:30-32, “Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company.”
Also, another objective for writing to the believers in Rome was to solicit their material and financial support for his journey to Spain according to Romans 15:24.
He evidently hoped that Rome would become a base of operations and support for his pioneer missionary work in Spain and the western portions of the empire that he had not yet evangelized.
His full exposition of the gospel in this letter would have provided a solid foundation for their participation in this mission.
In Romans 15:23, Paul conveys to the Roman believers that he had completed his work in the eastern regions and then in Romans 15:19 he states “from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum.”
Also, in Romans 15:20, he states that it had always been his ambition “to preach the gospel where Christ was not known” and in Romans 15:24, he states that he planned to go west to Spain and visit the Christian community in Rome as he passed through.
In Romans 15:25-26, Paul tells the Roman believers that he had to fulfill the responsibility of taking the contribution from the churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the poor in Jerusalem and then he would go to Spain.
The believers in Rome had long been on Paul’s heart and prayer list for along time according to Romans 1:9-10 and he had long desired to visit them but had not done so according to Romans 1:11-15 and 15:22-32.
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.”
Romans 1:12 also reveals another objective that Paul had for writing to the Christian community in Rome, which was to minister to them and to be ministered to by them.
Another purpose Paul had for writing to believers in the city of Rome was to present a complete and detailed statement of the gospel message he was proclaiming throughout the Roman Empire as we read in Romans 1:15.
Paul wanted to give a detailed statement regarding his gospel message that he communicated throughout the Roman Empire in anticipation of his opponents, the Judaizers, who had misrepresented his message and vilified his character wherever he went (See Acts 15:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:10; Galatians 4:17).
Therefore, it was important for Paul to lay down in writing for the church in Rome the message that he proclaimed everywhere.
The Judaizers were composed of both regenerate and unregenerate Jews who taught strict adherence to the 613 mandates found in the Mosaic Law as well as the oral traditions of the Rabbis, which are now, documented in the Mishna and the Talmud as well.
Many of the Judaizers were believers since Acts 6:7, 15:5 and 21:20 state that many of the priests and Pharisees who were teachers of the Mosaic Law believed in Jesus Christ for salvation but after salvation they still adhered to the Mosaic Law rather than the mystery doctrine for the church age that Paul was teaching.
The Judaizers followed Paul throughout his missionary journey’s seeking to discredit and destroy his ministry (Acts 13:45; 17:5).
Paul denounces the teaching of the Judaizers in the book of Galatians since they taught a “different gospel” according to Galatians 1:6 and “distorted the gospel of Christ” (Gal. 1:7).
The Judaizers taught that one had to observe and practice the Mosaic Law in order to get saved whereas Paul taught that salvation by grace through faith in Christ and not through the works of the Mosaic Law (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16).
Galatians 2:16, “Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
In Philippians 3:1-3 Paul issues a warning to the Philippians to beware of the Judaizers and their legalistic teaching, in which they taught that man must be circumcised in order to be saved.
Philippians 3:2, “Beware of those dogs, beware of those evil workers, beware of the mutilation.”
The Galatians, who were Gentiles, fell victim to the teaching of the Judaizers regarding circumcision and that one must keep the Law in order to be saved and thus justified before God (See Galatians 3 and 5).
Therefore, Paul wrote to the believers in Rome because the believers there needed a systematic statement of the gospel as Paul communicated it, which would serve to protect them from the false teaching of the Judaizers.
Another objective for writing this epistle was to establish his position on the relationship between the Gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians and deal with any possible tension between the two (See Romans 14-15).
Evidently, Paul’s statements in Romans 14-15 reveal that Jewish Christians were being rejected by the larger Gentile group in the church because the former felt constrained to observe the various dietary laws and sacred days in the Mosaic Law.
In relation to establishing his position on the relationship between the Gentile Christians and the Jewish Christian community, Paul emphasized that the gospel must go to “the Jew first and then to the Gentile” in Romans 1:16, which can be compared with Romans 2:9-10.
He stressed the advantages of being a Jew in Romans 3:1-2 and 9:4-5.
On the other hand, Paul emphasized that God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews in Romans 3:29-30.
He taught in this epistle that both Jew and Gentiles are guilty before a holy God in Romans 3:1-10 and are all saved by the same means, namely, faith in Jesus Christ (See Romans 3:21-31).
In Romans 9-11, Paul also taught the Roman believers in this epistle that God has temporarily suspended His program with Israel in order to incorporate the Gentiles into His program of salvation.
Romans 11:25, “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation -- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”