Romans

Introduction

Paul's letter to the Romans is an exposition of the gospel set against law-bound believers (mainly Jewish believers - judaizers, members of the circumcision party, "the weak") who regard submission to the law (primarily the law of Moses) as the means of moving forward in their Christian life for the appropriation of God's promised blessings. For Paul, this heresy (nomism / pietism) not only undermines the substance of the gospel, but actually undermines a believer's standing before God. As far as Paul is concerned, a believer, having been set right with God on the basis of Christ's faithfulness, fully appropriates the fullness of new life in Christ (the gift of the Holy Spirit, etc.), and this apart from law obedience.

Introduction, 1:1-15

i] Introductory statement and greetings, 1:1-7

ii] Thanksgiving and personal explanation, 1:8-15

The proposition, 1:16-17

The righteous reign of God, out of faith, apart from the law, facilitates the fullness of new life in Christ, 1:16-17

Arguments in support of the proposition, 1:18-11:36

1. The impartial nature of God's righteous condemnation of universal sin, 1:18-3:20

i] All humanity stands under the judgment of God due to universal human sin, 1:18-23

ii] The human condition of universal human sin has been condemned by God to even greater sin, 1:24-32

iii] God's righteous judgment upon sin is complete and impartial, such that even the morally superior stand condemned, 2:1-11

iv] The possession of the law does not protect a person from the impartial judgment of God, 2:12-16

v] The law is powerless to shape the qualities in a person that would make them worthy of God's praise, 2:17-29

vi] The law is not devalued, nor is sin promoted, by setting aside the law as a means of appropriating God's favor, 3:1-8

vii] Given the human condition of universal sin, the law is unable to purify, it only condemns, 3:9-20

2. The impartial nature of God's righteous vindication of the just in Christ, 3:21-4:25

i] The righteous reign of God, irrespective of a person's standing under the law of Moses, justifies a person on the basis of the faithful sacrifice of Christ appropriated through faith., 3:21-31

ii] The example of Abraham:

    a) Righteous by faith alone, 4:1-12

    b) God's promised blessings flow to the righteous by faith and this apart from law obedience, 4:13-25

3. The consequential blessings that flow to the righteous in Christ, 5:1-8:39

i] Peace with God, 5:1-5

ii] Reconciliation, 5:6-11

iii] Life eternal, 5:12-21

iv] Raised to new life, 6:1-14

v] Freedom from the slavery of sin, 6:15-23

vi] Freedom from the law, 7:1-6

    a) The moral status of the law, 7:7-12

    b) The effects of the law, 7:13-25

vii] New life in the Spirit, 8:1-17

viii] The hope of future glory, 8:18-30

ix] Bound by God's love, 8:31-39

4. God's true Israel consists of the children of promise, not the children of law, 9:1-11:36

i] Introduction: The tragic riddle of Israel's unbelief, 9:1-5

ii] Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 9:6-29

    a) The children of promise are the children of God, 9:6-13

    b) The true Israel consists of the a remnant according to grace, 9:14-29

iii] Israel's condemnation is its own doing, 9:30-10:21:

    a) Israel's unbelief stems from nomism, 9:30-10:4

    b) It is only those who trust in the Lord who will not be put to shame, 10:4-13

    c) A gospel proclaimed, but rejected by Israel, 10:14-21

iv] The final shape of God's true Israel, 11:1-32:

    a) God has not cast off Israel, 11:1-10

    b) The ingrafted Gentile branches, 11:11-24

    c) God's inclusive people, 11:25-32

v] Conclusion: The majesty of God displayed in global salvation, 11:33-36

Exhortations 12:1-15:13

i] Present your life as a living sacrifice in mutual ministry, 12:1-8

ii] Let love be genuine, 12:9-21

iii] Be subject to government authorities, 13:1-7

iv] Let love be practical, 13:8-10

v] Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 13:11-14

vi] Be accepting of the "weak" brother, 14:1-12

vii] Pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding, 14:13-23

viii] Live in harmony with one another, 15:1-13

Personal Matters and Doxology, 15:14-16:27

i] Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, 15:14-22

ii] Paul's plan to visit Rome, 15:23-33

iii] Commendation and Greetings, 16:1-16

iv] A personal warning and team greetings, 16:17-24

v] Doxology, 16:25-27

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.

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. When Paul wrote his letter to the Romans he was just about to take his collection of funds to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, cf. Acts 20.

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 most often understood in evangelistic terms as an exposition of the gospel of grace against those who see salvation as a reward for obedience, these notes proceed on the basis that Romans is an exposition of the gospel as it relates to the Christian "walk". Romans explains how to realize new life in Christ, that is, Paul is not explaining how a person becomes a Christian, but how they go on as a Christian, how they go forward in the Christian life. Paul sets out to explain that a believer, who is set right with God (justified), possesses in Christ a state of holiness whereby they appropriate the fullness of God's promised new-life / new-creation blessings, and this apart from obedience to the law.

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 right = acquitted / forgiven = 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. "The weak" are most likely Jewish orientated Christians who have adopted the nomism of the "circumcision party", the "judaizers", believers who may well have identified themselves as members of the Nazarene sect of Jesus the messiah. "The weak" wanted to affirm the keeping of the Law of Moses (the moral law through to it's minutia - what to eat etc., identified by the sign of circumcision) as the proper means of appropriating the fullness of new life in Christ (the promised Abrahamic blessings - the gift of the Holy Spirit, etc.). These "weak" law-bound believers obviously accepted that they were justified (set right before God / judged covenant compliant) by faith, in the sense of forgiven, but that the business of moving forward in the Christian life for the appropriation of the promised Abrahamic blessings required a strict application of the law of Moses. This heresy is commonly called nomism, as opposed to legalism (the idea that salvation is gained by obedience to the law). Against this stance Paul wanted to affirm that a person who is set right before God (justified), on the basis of Christ's faithful obedience on the cross, fully appropriates, as a natural consequence, God's promised blessing of new life in Christ ("life"), and this apart from obedience to the law. A believer who submits themselves again to the law, as a means of restraining sin and progressing holiness (sanctify) for the maintenance of right-standing before God (covenant compliance) and thus the appropriation of God's promised blessings (the promised blessings of the Abrahamic covenant / life / new life in Christ / the gift of the holy Spirit, etc.), serves only to trigger the curse of the law and thus the condemnation of God.

On most occasions, when Paul uses the term "the law", he is referring to the law of Moses, the Torah. Sometimes a more general sense of God's law, however revealed, is intended.

Paul sets out to depreciate the role of the law against those who would claim that it is an essential instrument to further 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 promise/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 approach to the law is not only central to Jesus' teachings, but is also evident in the Old Testament. 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.

Nomism (nomistic / pietistic Christianity), the heresy promoted by the members of the circumcision party (the judaizers), is the belief that, although a person is justified (set right before God, judged covenant compliant) on the basis of Christ's faithfulness ("faith of Christ") appropriated through faith, law-obedience ("works of the law" - obedience to the law of Moses) is essential to restrain sin and shape holiness (sanctify) for a believer to move forward in the Christian life and so appropriate the fullness of new life in Christ (the promised Abrahamic blessings - the gift of the Spirit, etc.).

God's righteous rule, his setting everything right, is made manifest/realized in the gospel. A person who is set right with God (justified) on the basis of faith (Christ's faith/faithfulness [his atoning sacrifice] and the faith-response of the believer) is fully gifted with the promised blessings of God (the fullness of new life in Christ) and this apart from law-obedience. cf. 1:16-17.

Following a general introduction, Paul states his thesis. The gospel proclaims the righteous reign of God, ie., his setting all things right. The person who is in the right with God is the person who rests in faith on the faithfulness of Christ. Such a person will "live", live in the sense of eternally possess the fullness of God's promised blessings [and this apart from law obedience].

Paul then goes on to develop this thesis through to 11:36. First, in 1:18-2:11, he establishes the universality of sin and the impartial nature of God's righteous condemnation of sin, reminding self-righteous nomistic believers ("the weak", 15:1, law-bound believers, most being of Jewish stock) 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 nomistic believers who think that their adherence to the law of Moses restrains sin and shapes holiness for divine approval, 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 treatment of 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 is not alleviated by submission to the law, for the law only serves to make sin more sinful.

In 3:21-31 Paul now establishes his central proposition. When it comes to the righteous reign of God, whether in condemnation or vindication, there is no "distinction" between a person under the law, or a person outside the law. All have sinned and stand condemned, but all who rest on the faithfulness of Christ, his "sacrifice of atonement", are justified, ie. are set right before God. So, for believing Jews, like Paul, there is no ground for "boasting" about their faithfulness under the law, for a person is wholly right with God, yesterday, today and tomorrow, on the basis of faith (Christ's faithfulness and our faith in his faithfulness) and not by obedience. In chapter 5 Paul supports this argument from scripture by examining the life of Abraham, a man who exemplifies the righteousness that is out of faith.

Having explained the workings of justification "out of" faith, Paul, in 5:1-8:39 examines the natural consequences that flow to those who are set right before God, namely, the fullness of new life in Christ that properly belongs to a believer apart from works of the law.

In 5:1-11 Paul first outlines the new relationship that a believer has with God - "peace" and "reconciliation". Then in 5:12-21 he 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. Then in chapter 8 Paul explains how the justified believer, apart from the law, is being shaped into the perfection of Christ through the indwelling compelling of the Spirit.

Paul's final argument in support of his thesis is developed in chapters 9-11. In these chapters Paul establishes that although God has had a special relationship with national/ethnic Israel, its people and institutions do not align with the elect people of God. True Israel, spiritual Israel, is made up of the children of promise, believers, both Jews and Gentiles. Paul's argument is advanced in a clearly defined literary unit with an introduction , 9:1-5, a propositional statement defining the issue at hand, 9:6, a three-staged developed argument, 9:7-11:32, and a conclusion, 11:33-36. In these three chapters Paul establishes that a remnant according to grace realizes the true Israel, 9:6-29, that national Israel's present condition of unbelief is due to its own pursuit of law-righteousness, 9:30-10:21, and that national/ethnic Israel's present state of unbelief does not annul God's promises, 11:1-32.

Having completed his theological argument, Paul then turns to the business of Christian living, of Jewish and Gentile believers living together within God's new community, 12:1-15:13. An overarching concern in this section is the community's witness to the world through the life of its members. First, in chapter 12, Paul deals with personal ethics and then in chapter 13 he goes on to deal with wider social issues, and finally, in 14:1-15:13, he broaches the touchy issue of how Jewish and Gentile believers are to relate within the Christian fellowship.

A person's Christian life progresses by the same means with which it began, namely, by God's sovereign grace operative in Christ, through the instrument of faith, apart from law obedience.

Text: "the righteous out of faith will live", Habakkuk 2:4.

faith = justification = life = works. The Pauline synthesis.

As opposed to:

faith = justification + works = life. Nomism / Paul's opponents;

faith + works = justification = life. Legalism / Luther's opponents;

faith - works = justification = life. NP, ie. the New Perspective synthesis.

"faith" = reliance on the grace of God operative in the faithfulness of Christ;

"justification" = judged righteous, right, covenant compliant before God / set in the right before God (NP, a divine declaration of covenant membership);

"works" = submission to the law of Moses / God's law in general (NP, Jewish badges of covenant membership, eg. Sabbath law, circumcision), which law serves the following ends:

    i] to expose sin and so reinforce a reliance on divine grace;

    ii] to guide the life of a child of God.

"life" = the promised Abrahamic blessings / the fullness of new life in Christ.

The righteousness of God - God's righteous reign - his setting all things right; "the saving activity of God", Talbert.

Righteousness - right-standing before God; "uprightness", Fitzmyer; "covenant compliance", Dumbrell.

Justification - being set right with God; a recognition of covenant inclusion/acceptance; "counted as righteous", Barrett.

Faith - Often used of a person's reliance on the faithfulness of Christ (his act of atonement on our behalf), ie. "belief"; often inclusive of Christ's faithfulness, of the faithfulness of Christ and our belief in his faithfulness; sometimes referring particularly to Christ's faith/faithfulness, see "faith of Christ".

Works of the law - strict observance of the law of Moses.

Salvation - "Being in a right relationship with God", Dumbrell.

Grace - God's covenant mercy.

Achtemeier, Interpretation. Barrett, Blacks, 2nd ed. Barnett, FOB. Best, CBC. Black, NCB. Bruce, Tyndale, 2nd. ed. Byrne, Sacra Pagina. Calvin, Eerdmans, 1959 (1539). Cranfield, ICC. Davies, Faith & Obedience, 1:1-4:25, JNTS ss39. Dodd, Moffatt, 1932. Dumbrell, NCC, 2005. Dunn, Word. Fitzmyer, Anchor. Forman, Layman's, 1962. Godet, T & T Clark. 1888. Hanton, Phillips. Hendriksen, Banner of Truth. Hunter, Torch. Jewett, Hermeneia, 2007. Kasemann, Eerdmans. Leenhardt, Lutterworth, 1961, trans. (liberal). Lenski, Wartburg Press, 1945. Moo, NICNT, 1996. Morris, Pillar. Mounce, NAC. Murray, Eerdmans, 1960. Nygren, Fortress, 1949. O'Neill, Penguin. Osborne, IVP, 2004. Pallis, Oxford University Press, 1920. Parry, CGTSC, 1912. Porter, Readings. Sandy and Headlam, ICC. 1902. Schriener, BECNT. Stott, BST. Stuhlmacher, Westminster. Talbert, Smyth & Helways Commentaries. Taylor, Epworth 1955. Thompson, Clothed with Christ, 12:1-15:3, JNTS ss59. Ziesler, TPI.

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