Romans. Introduction Various Passages. As we examine the book let us consider Dr. McGee s recommendations for its study:

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1 R Romans Introduction Various Passages ome, where Ben Hur won his chariot race. No, that s fiction, isn t it? Rome, where Peter founded the Church and became the first Bishop. Actually, that s fiction as well. Rome is where believers were persecuted, killed and sometimes even used as torches in the gardens of the palace. Rome is where its perverted emperors co-opted the Church, making it the official Church and turning it from the truths found in scripture. But, more importantly, Rome is where believers gathered from all over the world, creating a church that was cared for by Paul. As a result he wrote to this church what is arguably the most important epistle in the New Testament. As we examine the book let us consider Dr. McGee s recommendations for its study: Let me urge you to do something that will pay you amazing dividends: read the Book of Romans, and read it regularly. This epistle requires all the mental make-up we have, and in addition, it must be bathed in prayer and supplication so that the Holy Spirit can teach us. Yet every Christian should make an effort to know Romans, for this book will ground the believer in the faith. 1 I Introduction II Author III Place & Date of Writing IV Literary Form V Theme VI Conclusion VII Outline This morning we are going to start an extended study in the book of Romans. Accordingly, we are going to handle things a little differently. I am going to spend a bit more time introducing the study. Additionally, I am also going to take the time to talk about Paul in greater detail than I would normally spend on presenting the author of a book. After all, Paul was the author of much of the New Testament. We will touch on his life, his journeys and his writings. I Introduction: One of the more interesting issues when one discusses the Book of Romans is the question of the founding of the church at Rome. First, let s note that there is no absolute information on how this church was founded. For some the city is seen as the 1 McGee, J. Vernon, Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee, Vol. 4, Matthew - Romans, Thomas Nelson Inc.,

2 center of Christianity, but is there any support for this view? Where did the Roman church come from and why was Paul writing to it? What follows was excerpted from The Zondervan Pictorial Dictionary of the Bible. The traditional Roman Catholic position is that the church was first founded by the Apostle Peter, its first Bishop. Frequently based upon the tradition of an early visit (A.D. 42) and either twenty or twentyfive years of continued ministry. There is no scriptural evidence for direct Petrine origin. It is well argued that Paul would not have interfered with a church begun by Peter because of his stated position of not actively ministering in another s field of labor (Rom 15:20). 2 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else s foundation. At the time of the Roman epistle, Paul declares his intention of ministering at Rome (1:10-13; 15:22ff.), a desire which evidently was well known (Acts 19:21). Furthermore, if there had been the slightest possibility of Peter s being connected with the Roman church, Paul would have either greeted his fellow apostle by name or referred to his esteemed ministry, neither of which he does a curious oversight in light of the fact that he makes a special point of mentioning Andronicus and Junias as being men of note among the apostles, and they were in Christ before me (Rom 16:7). 3 I pray that now at last by God s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so 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. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. A more probable explanation of the origin of the church in Rome is to be found in the Christian converts who carried the Gospel to the capital of the empire. While not entirely free from problems, the more probable origin of the organized church in Rome was the number of converts and contacts of Paul made with those who were exiled from Rome during the reign of Claudius, A.D. 49 (Acts 18:2, 3). 4 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Dr. McGee takes a stronger position. He actually holds the view that Paul founded the church. I am going to make a rather unusual statement here: Paul is the one who founded the church in Rome, and he founded it, as it were, by long distance and used the remote control of an apostle to write and guide its course. 5 2 Tenney, Merrill C., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1980, p Ibid 4 Ibid 5 McGee, J. Vernon, p ) 2 (

3 I believe the view of Paul s involvement, not necessarily his founding of the church, is the one that is most consistent with what scripture tells us about him. It appears no apostle directly founded the church at Rome. Instead, believers came there from all over the known world and gathered together in that famous city. Whether they were disciples of Paul or not, it is clear he became the teacher for those in Rome, and so Peter was not involved with the church at Rome, in spite of what some would have us believe. As we study the book, I will want to give some attention to its Jewish context and support for the distinctions between the Church and Israel. As we look at this aspect, we will note that Paul tells of God s continued support for Israel and the promise of her final restoration. II Author: Unlike some of the other books of scripture, there has never been any serious argument about the authorship of Romans. It was written by Paul. And as I already noted, we will take a bit of time talking about Paul, his life, his journeys and his writings. III Place & Date of Writing: The general consensus places the writing between 57 and 58 A.D., therefore, let me quote Halley s Handbook. Winter of A.D Paul was in Corinth, at the close of his Third Missionary Journey, on the eve of his departure to Jerusalem with the offering of money for the poor saints (15:22-27). A woman named Phoebe, of Cenchreae, a suburb of Corinth, was sailing for Rome (16:1, 2). Paul availed himself of the opportunity to send this letter by her. There was no postal service in the Roman Empire except for official business. Public Postal Service as we know it is of modern origin. In the ancient world, personal letters had to be carried by friends or chance travelers. 6 IV Literary Form: Of the four types of writing found in the NT (Gospel, Acts, Epistle, Apocalypse) the epistle is by far the most common. The word itself is a transliteration of the Greek epistole, meaning a communication, usually of a written nature. Romans bears this label in 16:22. Paul uses the word fairly often in reference to his correspondence with churches (e.g., 1Cor 5:9; Col 4:16; 1Thess 5:27). There is also a reference to his writings in 2 Peter 3:16. 7 I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people (1 Corinthians 5:9). After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea (Colossians 4:16). I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers (1 Thessalonians 5:27). He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). 6 Halley, Henry H., Halley s Bible Handbook, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1965, p Harrison, Everett F., The Expositor s Bible Commentary, Romans, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, ) 3 (

4 V Theme: Baxter speaks to the theme as follows: Paul plunges into an elucidative discussion as to how the Gospel saves the sinner. In fact he epitomizes his whole subject beforehand in the formal proposition with which he begins (verses 16, 17): I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith. This is the seed-plot of the whole treatise. Here are gathered up in advance all the great ideas which are to be expanded in the ensuing chapters: THE GOSPEL POWER OF GOD SALVA- TION EVERYONE BELIEVETH RIGHTEOUSNESS. 8 VI Outline: This a simple outline taken from Unger s Handbook. 1-8 Doctrinal 1:1-17 Introduction 1:18-3:20 The sin of man 3:21-5:21 Justification of the sinner 6:1-8:39 Sanctification of the believer 9-11 Dispensational (the case of Israel) 9:1-33 God s past purpose for Israel 10:1-21 God s present purpose for Israel 11:1-36 God s future purpose for Israel Practical (duties and privileges of the believer) 12:1-13:14 The Christian s service 14:1-15:3 Christian service and questionable things 15:4-13 Christian service and God s worldwide glory 15:14-16:27 Christian service and fellowship 9 VII Conclusion: There is one question that probably should be acknowledged and that is the make-up of the recipients of the letter. The three positions are: Gentile Christians, Jewish Christians and a mix of both. There are scholars on all sides of this position. Harrison strongly believes the group was made up of Gentile believers. Stanford Mills essentially holds a similar view, although he sees the group as including a sprinkling of Jewish believers. This would seem to be the most textually consistent approach to the letter. This is the position held by Witmer. Were these believers in Rome Jews or Gentiles in ethnic background? The answer is both. Aquila, for example, was a Jew (Acts 18:2), as were Andronicus, Junias, and Herodion, all three identified as Paul s relatives (Rom. 16:7, 11). According to Josephus and others a large Jewish colony lived in Rome (cf. Acts 28:17-28). But Rome was a Gentile city, the capital of a Gentile empire in which all the Jews, believing and unbelieving, formed a small minority. In addition, though Paul never failed to witness and to minister to Jews, his calling from God was to be the apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13; cf. 15:16). So it is reasonable to conclude that his readers were mostly Gentile in background. This conclusion is supported by evidence in the letter. Paul addressed Jews directly (2:17), and he included Jewish Christians with himself when he spoke of Abraham, our forefather (4:1, 12). On the other hand Paul directly said, I am talking to you Gentiles (11:13). Several additional passages indicate that Gentile Christians made up a segment of his readers (11:17-31; 15:14-16). In fact the implication from 1:5, 13 is that Paul considered the Christian community in Rome predominantly Gentile Baxter, J. Sidlow, Explore The Book, Vol. 6, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1960, p Larson, Gary N., reviser, The New Unger s Bible Handbook, Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1966, p Witmer, John A., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Volume 2, Romans, Victor Books, Wheaton, IL., 1986, p ) 4 (

5 Let me close this introductory session with the words of Max Lucado: At the moment I don t feel too smart. I just got off the wrong plane that took me to the wrong city and left me at the wrong airport. I went east instead of west and ended up in Houston instead of Denver. It didn t look like the wrong plane, but it was. I walked through the wrong gate, dozed off on the wrong flight, and ended up in the wrong place. Paul says we ve all done the same thing. Not with airplanes and airports, but with our lives and God. He tells the Roman readers, There is no one who always does what is right, not even one (3:10). All have sinned and are not good enough for God s glory (3:23). We are all on the wrong plane, he says, All of us. Gentile and Jew. Every person has taken the wrong turn. And we need help. In this profound Epistle, Paul explores all the wrong options and takes us to the only correct one. The wrong solutions are pleasure and pride (chapters 1 and 2), the correct solution is Christ Jesus (3:21-26). According to Paul, we are saved by grace (underserved, unearned favor), through faith (complete trust) in Jesus and his work. The letter concludes with practical instruction for a growing church, including thoughts on spiritual gifts (12:3-8); genuine love (12:9-21); good citizenship (13:1-14). The final chapters provide brilliant instructions for dealing with everything from church division to difficult brethren. Romans is a life-changing letter for people who are willing to admit they are sinners. For those who admit they are on the wrong plane, the letter provides the correct itinerary. Read it and take note. That flight home is one you don t want to miss Lucado, Max, Life Lessons, Book of Romans, Word Publishing, Waco, TX, 1996, p. 9. ) 5 (