By Diane Barstow
Romans is the 7th written book of the NT, about 57-58 AD, from Corinth. Up to this point Paul had written letters to the Gentile churches he had founded all over the Roman Empire, but had not been able to visit Rome. That would come later under very difficult circumstances. Remember in Acts 9:15, (regarding Ananias’ concern over Saul’s former persecution/current salvation) “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name among the Gentiles, and kings, and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.’”
Now Paul, likely having vision loss, didn’t sit down and write this letter himself. Instead he used an amanuensis (one employed to take dictation or copy text) named Tertius (see 16:22 for his own greeting) as a scribe to write down the words he was saying. “We must not think of Paul sitting quietly at his desk, carefully polishing each sentence as he wrote. We must think of him striding up and down in some little room, pouring out a torrent of words, while his secretary raced to get them down.” (Barclay) I want you to imagine Paul pacing back and forth, thought-streaming, with poor Tertius trying to keep up! “Sometimes Paul is hard to understand, because his sentences begin and never finish, his grammar breaks down and the sentences become involved. Paul’s letters are not careful, academic products written in the seclusion of a scholar’s study; they are living, vital torrents, words poured forth straight from his heart to the heart of the friends for whom he wrote them.”
Following the crucifixion of Jesus, and His resurrection fierce persecution arose and sent Jewish Christians, as well as witnesses of the fall of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, out into the Empire. Claudius (AD 41-54) expelled the Jews from Rome and that’s how many believers were forced to go elsewhere. Paul met Aquila & Priscilla in Corinth where they had landed after leaving Italy, and because they were also tentmakers, he stayed with them, and this is how he knew the names of so many believers in Rome (see his greetings in chapter 16). Stick with me here, there is a point! When the Jews and Jewish Christians had to leave Rome, whom did that leave within the church? Gentiles. Now 5 years later the Jews are allowed to return to Rome and find the church having a very different flavor than when they left it! The Gentile believers didn’t have the same knowledge of God that the Jews had, and this created some disunity!
Paul didn’t have to write this epistle because there was some major doctrinal issue which he needed to correct. In fact, the only thing he knew for certain is that he had never taught them anything and that the church was experiencing disunity - and that required step-by-step, doctrine-by-doctrine instruction - and this book is the result!
We might ask what doctrine is contained in this letter. But a better question might be - what doctrine isn’t included? If all the NT altogether is considered an engagement ring, then Romans is that beautifully faceted diamond!
Paul’s initial greeting of this letter reveals his heart toward the church, and carries on throughout the letter - Jews and Gentiles in Christ are equal - equally sinners and equally saved! Paul’s letters to the churches he founded were sometimes corrective in nature, he felt fatherly toward the believers and made sure they had correct doctrine. You can usually tell what the issue was in the church by the instructions in the letter. The church at Rome was different, he didn't found it, so he didn’t know what they were taught or what they believed. He knew their reputation as having faith that was being proclaimed throughout the whole world, and that there was some disunity between Jewish and Gentile believers! So since he hadn’t yet been able to instruct them in person, he decided to write a letter providing correct doctrine that they might be missing. And what a blessing that has been to Christians and Christianity ever since!
As a prelude to the richly theological and practical content of chapter 8, I will summarize the previous 7 chapters - with 2 goals. 1st to whet your appetite so you’ll read and study chapters 1-7 for yourselves - ideally before next week’s study. And secondly to deepen your understanding of these foundational doctrines, and equip yourself to pay your knowledge forward to unbelievers and scripturally illiterate or immature believers. Being that the 1st chapter is Paul’s introduction, I’ll spend a little more time there, then very briefly summarize the next 6 chapters!
Chapter 1 mainly contains a greeting and his bona-fides! He establishes himself as 1/ the author of the letter, 2/ the bond-servant of Christ, and 3/ an apostle (one sent out). He expresses his calling and theirs! Then he identifies the receivers of the letter as 1/ called by Christ, 2/ beloved of God, and 3/ saints!
He goes on to let them know he’s been praying diligently for them, and longs to see them so they can mutually encourage each other’s faith! His attitude of humility really touched my heart and reminded me again to pursue fellowship with new believers so we can encourage each other! Remember Jesus said in Matthew 25, that the Gentile rulers lord it over their subjects, but you (the disciples) should be the servant of all, the last, just as He came not to be served, but to serve! Paul is modeling this exact attitude as he expresses his desire to preach the gospel to them. Gospel just means good news - he’s not saying that they need salvation, but the whole counsel of God! Because he didn’t know what they did or did not know - he wrote everything he knew to tell them!
By the way, Paul does make it to Rome, as chronicled by Luke the beloved physician in Acts 28, and is able to meet with the brethren and leading men of the Jews.
So keep in mind as you are reading this book for yourself, (and I suggest you do) that his instruction intends to fill-in any gaps in their knowledge and repair any disunity. The Bible project’s videos on Romans are an excellent resource, they can be found on YouTube.
Also as you read for yourself note these terms that appear frequently - LAW appears 50 times, it’s defined as: regulations, specifically of Moses and also of the gospel, and figuratively of a proven principle. BOLO for the word ALL, in the case of Romans, it is used 51 times. All can be used as an adverb (describes a verb) {such as all over the city} or a determiner {every individual of anything of the given uncountable class w/no exceptions} - means each, every, any, everyone, everything, and can be used collectively as in some of many types {such as all the singing was awesome, yet unique}, or as a noun - the renaming of something {such as she gave her all}. Lastly - look for the term THEREFORE (used 19 times, + twice in quotes from the OT) and remember that it provides application regarding the previous information and its there-for-a reason!
I stole these chapter summaries from Chuck Smith and JB Lightfoot in the BlueLetterBible’s written commentaries section, because they are simple?
Chapters 1-4 reveals God’s righteousness
Chapter 1/God’s attitude toward sin
Salutation, personal exp
Verse 17 begins the doctrinal section of the letter and goes all the way through to the end of chapter 11.
Topics include:
What is the gospel? The state of the Gentile world.
Chapter 2/God’s judgment Topics include:
The state of the Jewish people The universal condemnation of disbelief - both of the Jews who knew better and the Gentiles who were slaves of sin and idolatry.
Chapter 3\No man is righteous by the Law Topics include:
What is the meaning of the Covenant of circumcision?
To meet this universal failure (sin) - a universal remedy is found. Humanity is equally sinful and can be equally saved!
Chapter 4/Abraham was righteous by faith Topics include:
What is the meaning of the Abrahamic covenant for both the Jews and Gentiles?
Chapters 5-8 reveals a new humanity, the promised descendants of Abraham in Genesis 12, and 15.
Chapter 5/The effect of Adam’s sin Topics include:
The results of the position of imputed righteousness by faith. 1/ peace before God, 2/ confident boasting, 3/ patience under affliction, and 4/ we are reconciled to God through Christ’s death, and made alive by His resurrection.
The terms life and death are defined.
Chapter 6/We are dead to sin Topics include:
What is to be the influence of all this (previous truths) on our conduct? Shall we sin so grace may abound? We’re under grace, sin shall no longer be our master.
If we are under grace and not under the law (sin), shall we commit sin?
Chapter 7/The struggle or the Spirit with the flesh Topics include:
You are not under the Law. Our obligation to the law ended when we died, just as a wife’s obligation to her husband ended when he died. A contract ends at the death of one of the parties - that’s where the word mortgage comes from! A correct understanding of the purpose of the law - to reveal sin!
I will leave off here because Nicole will be covering chapter 7:25-8:4
Again, I encourage you to read the first 7 chapters of this book and you’ll be ready to jump headlong into chapter 8!
Chapters 9-11 Fulfills God’s promise to Israel
Chapters 12-16 unifies the world church