Introduction
Martin Luther, in his preface to Paul's Epistle to the Romans states, "This Epistle is the chief book of the New Testament, the purest gospel". James Packer says of the book, it "sets out in systemic relation all the great themes of the Bible - sin, law, judgement, faith, works, grace, justification, sanctification, election, the plan of salvation, the work of Christ, the place of Jew and Gentile in the purpose of God, the philosophy of Church and world history, the meaning and message of the Old Testament, the duties of Christian citizenship, the principles of personal piety and ethics."
The letter to the Romans establishes the core doctrine of the Reformation, justification by grace through faith. It was the book central to leading John Wesley to a full understanding of justification, when in 1738 he heard read Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. It therefore fired, not only the Reformation, but the Evangelical revival.
Author and readers
The writer of the letter is Paul the apostle and his authorship has hardly ever been disputed. The recipients of the letter is the church in Rome. This church was probably founded by Jewish believers. We know that there was trouble in the Roman synagogues over a "Chrestus", obviously driven by disputes over the messiahship of Jesus. It is likely that these disturbances prompted the authorities to expel the Jews (along with the Christians - originally regarded as a sect of the Jews) from Rome in AD 49. Within ten years the church was again flourishing in Rome ("a huge multitude", Tacitus), so much so that Nero in AD 64 was able to blame the Christians for his own incompetence. As was the case of the early church, the congregation would initially be made up of converted Jews, but over time became increasingly Gentile.
Date
Paul probably composed his letter to the Roman church in 57 or 58AD, in Corinth after his three year stay in Ephesus, and sent it to the church in Rome in preparation for his visit there before traveling to Spain. He was just about to take his collection of funds to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, Acts 20.
Purpose
Paul's purpose in writing was that "I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong - that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith", 1:11,12. In particular, his intent was to remind the believers in Rome again of the substance of the gospel so that they "might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit", 15:15,16.
Although this purpose is often understood in evangelistic terms, as an exposition of the gospel of grace through faith for nominal law-bound Christians who see salvation as a reward for obedience, it is more likely an exposition of the Christian "walk". Romans explains how to live a life honoring to Christ, how to become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. That is, it concerns sanctification, the state of holiness, which, in the renewing power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, we seek to realize in our daily life. Paul sets out to explain that a believer is justified, is right with God, is holy, by faith, and that this state of holiness, which we possess "in Christ", is realized in our day-to-day by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, and not by obedience to the law.
Interpretation
The interpretation of the book of Romans is presently in a state of flux due to the work of new perspective commentators. Reformed commentators handle Romans as a treatise on how an individual is justified (declared/made right = acquitted = saved) in the sight of God, whereas new perspective commentators argue that the epistle is a treatise on how both Jew and Gentile, in Christ, stand equally as members of the new covenant. This debate is far from settled.
The notes on this site take a slightly different tack by assuming that the issue which lay behind the letter is the conflict between the "weak" and the "strong", cf. chapter 14. This issue is the focus of the book of Galatians and the substance of the Jerusalem conference recorded in Acts 15. Jewish Christians and their Gentile disciples (called "the weak" in Romans, elsewhere, members of "the circumcision party", "judaizers") wanted to affirm the keeping of the Law of Moses (the moral law through to it's minutia - what to eat etc., especially circumcision) as the proper means of progressing in the Christian life, ie. to maintain right-standing before God and/or to advance that standing (progress holiness, sanctification). This heresy is known as nomism, as opposed to legalism (the idea that salvation is gained by obedience to the law). Against this stance Paul wanted to affirm that righteousness (right-standing in the sight of God) was a gift of grace appropriated through faith and could not be either maintained, or improved, by works of the law. In fact, for a believer to submit themselves again to the law, as a means to progress their Christian life, serves only to trigger the curse of the law and thus the condemnation of God.
Therefore in Romans, Paul sets out to depreciate the role of the Law against those who would claim that it is an essential instrument for progress in the Christian life. For Paul, the Law's primary purpose is to expose our state of sin and thus our need to rest in faith on the grace of God. Only in a secondary sense does the Law serve as a guide to the Christian life, and this in the power of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, a law within. This radical approach to the business of right-standing (righteousness) before God is not only central to Jesus' teachings, but is evident in the Old Testament, particularly in the life of Abraham. In the sermon on the mount Jesus completes the Law in its perfection, driving home the truth that "none are righteous, no not one" such that in the end it is the person who hungers and thirsts for righteousness who is filled, not the person who claims to do it.
Interpreting Paul's letter to the Romans (as well as Galatians) as a treatise against nomism in the Christian church is not widely accepted and so the reader will need to carefully consider the issue for themselves. If this is the thrust of Romans, given the propensity of the church to assess holiness on the basis of ones submission to the "little extra", rather than just "faith alone", then Romans takes on even greater importance in the business of living for Christ.
Outline
1. Introduction. 1:1-15
2. The Theme of the Letter. 1:16-17.
3. Universal sin and the impartial nature of God's judgment on sin. 1:18-3:20.
4. God's righteousness in Christ. 3:21-4:25.
5. The blessings that flow from right-standing before God. 5:1-8:39.
6. The place of Israel in God's purposes. 9:1-11:39.
7. Christian living. 12:1-13:14.
8. Christian liberty. 14:1-15:13.
9. Personal Matters and Doxology. 15:14-16:25.
The Gospel, 1:16-8:39. A summary
Paul, having stated his thesis in 1:16-17, that the covenant faithfulness of God is appropriated through faith, proceeds in 1:18-2:11 to establish the universality of sin, reminding self-righteous Jewish believers ("the weak", 15:1) that they too are infected by the stain of sin, 2:1-5, the consequence of which is divine condemnation, 2:6-11. Then, in 2:12-29, Paul examines the place of the law in the righteous judgment of God, making the point that those Jewish believers who have retained their standing under the law, even though circumcised, actually break the law and thus face the curse of the law and the "wrath and fury" of God's condemnation. In 3:1-8 Paul answers two objections to his rather negative view of the standing of Jewish believers under the law, namely, that he devalues the covenant/law and that he promotes libertarianism. Then, in 3:9-20, Paul drives home his conclusion, namely that the human condition of universal sin and its consequence is not avoided by submission to the law, for the law only serves to make sin more sinful. In 3:21-30 Paul draws a conclusion from his argument so far. When it comes to the covenant faithfulness of God, whether in judgment or vindication, there is no "distinction" between a person under the law, or a person outside the law. All have sinned and stand condemned, and all who believe are justified, and this because they rest, not on their own faithfulness, but the faithfulness of Christ - his "sacrifice of atonement." So, for believing Jews, like Paul, there is no ground for "boasting" about their faithfulness under the law, for a person is judged in the right with God ("justified") by faith and not by obedience. From 3:31 to 4:25, Paul explains, with reference to the life of Abraham, how his gospel of right-standing in the sight of God by faith does not "nullify" the law, rather, it "fulfills" the law; faith "fulfills / completes" the justification to which the law of Moses pointed. Then in 5:1-11 Paul draws together the consequence of his argument so far, namely, a believer's "reconciliation with God."
Having dealt with the business of justification, of right-standing before God, Paul, in 5:12-8:39 examines the business of living right before God, of possessing the fullness of life which belongs to those who are in Christ. In 5:12-21 Paul explains how Christ's saving death has brought eternal life to all humanity by overcoming the curse of Adam's sin and then in 6:1-23 he explains how "newness of life", right-living before God, apart from the law, is expressed in the life of a believer as a natural consequence of their right-standing before God. In 7:1-25, Paul examines the place of the law in the Christian life. First, in v1-6, he explains that a Christian is no longer "under the law", is "discharged from the law", has "died to the law." Then in v7-12 he "deals with a possible misunderstanding by repudiating the suggestion that the law is sin, asserting that, far from being sin, it is that which makes him recognize sin", Cranfield. In v13-25 he goes on to answer the question, "did that which is good (the law) become death to me?" That is, is the law responsible for our death? The answer is, sin is responsible for our death; the law serves only to highlight our sinful state. Paul then illustrates this condition in v14ff.
In chapter 8 Paul now explains that the justified believer, apart from the law, is being shaped into the perfection of Christ through the indwelling compelling of the Spirit. Paul begins, in v1-4, by restating the truth that in Christ Jesus, through his death on our behalf, we are free from the condemnation of sin and free from the oppression of the law and thus are free to live for God. Therefore, v5-11, the believer is faced with two alternatives in the Christian life, a natural alternative and a spiritual alternative. We may strive to fulfill the law and find ourselves controlled by sin, or we may rest in faith on the renewal of the Spirit and find ourselves beginning to live out the righteousness we posses in Christ. In v12-17 Paul explains what it means to be led by the Spirit in the Christian life. Paul then moves in v18-30 to compare the present existence of believers with the future glory that awaits us. There is difficulty in the present, but this cannot be compared with the coming glory, v18. The whole of God's creation groans as it awaits that glorious day when the sons of God begin their rule with Christ, v19-22. Along with creation, believers groan, yearning for that day of glory, v23-25. Even the Spirit groans as he empathizes with us in our struggle, v26-27. Yet, in the face of all our difficulties, God is working through the Spirit for our good in all situations, v28-30.
Finally, in v31-39, Paul summarizes his exposition of the gospel detailed in the first 8 chapters of Romans - "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Christ has triumphed over evil, salvation is sure, all of which is undergirded by God's love.
![[Pumpkin Cottage]](images/cottage1s.gif){kind=small}