Last week I introduced some study s we will be doing over the summer months Studies in the Pauline Epistles. I began by looking at the man himself. Paul, the Jew from Tarsus, a Greek speaking city; a Roman citizen and we noted how providentially God had prepared this man perfectly for his assignment as an Apostle to the Gentiles. I want to begin looking at the letters he wrote. The letters as we have them in our Bibles aren t in the chronological order that he wrote them. If they were in Chronological order they would go 1 Thessalonians AD 50. {Approx Dates} 2 Thessalonians AD 50. 1 Corinthians AD 56. 2 Corinthians AD 56. Galatians AD 57-8. Romans AD 58. Colossians AD 61. Philemon AD 61. Don Barry 2012 Page 1
Ephesians AD 61. Philippians AD 61. Titus AD 64. 1Timothy AD 64. 2 Timothy AD66. I want to briefly look at the Book of Romans this morning. Trying to examine the Book of Romans in 30 minutes is nigh on ridiculous. It s my hope that I might just sow some seeds that you will pick up and follow through on your own. The Book of Romans is Paul s magnum Opus. It is the longest letter we have from the ancient world. I mentioned last week that letters were quite rare since they were extremely costly to produce and to deliver. The ones that have survived are usually quite short average is 87 words. Cicero s longest letter was 2,500 words and Seneca s longest was 4000 words. Don Barry 2012 Page 2
Paul s letters were long by comparison his average length was 1300 words. The Book of Romans was his longest at over 7000 words. It was written when Paul was ministering in Corinth and is dated approximately AD 58. Paul was a seasoned ministry by the time he wrote this letter. He had been a missionary for over two decades. This letter is unusual in at least one respect. Paul usually wrote to people or churches were he had established relationships. This epistle was written to a church he had neither founded nor visited. Perhaps as a result of this fact, Romans reads a little more formally than some of the other, more chattier, epistles. It reads a little more like a lecture than a letter. I mentioned last week that Paul s letters were of three kinds --- 1. Personal Letters. Don Barry 2012 Page 3
2. Occasional Letters. 3. General Letters. Some scholars think that Romans is a General Epistle. Some have suggested that Romans is Paul s permanent record of the Gospel he preached. He didn t know how much longer he would be able to minister so he sat down to record his last will and testament, in a theological sense. This then would be a general circular letter that would summarize his preaching. It is viewed by some as being a near compendium of Pauline theology. There are, however, some significant problems with this view. If it was intended to be a circular letter, a summary as some suggest, then why would it have been addressed to one particular church? Why not circulate it to many? Don Barry 2012 Page 4
Why would Paul address this compendium to a church he didn t even have relationship with? Why not send it to one of the churches he had founded and with whom he had strong relationship, or to Jerusalem or Antioch which were still key churches? A second significant objection to the idea that it is a General Letter which is intended to be a summary of his preaching is that it isn t a good summary at all. There are many aspects of Pauline theology that are totally absent or hardly referred to at all in the letter there s no eschatology {as in Thessalonians}, there s no mention of the Resurrection {as in Corinthians}, of the church as a body or of the Kingdom of God, which we know from other letters and from the Book of Acts were major Pauline themes. It seems more likely that Romans wasn t a General Letter but an Occasional one. Don Barry 2012 Page 5
It was occasioned by something that was happening in this church. Although Paul hadn t planted the church, and hadn t visited it, he did know many of the people who were in it. He names at least 26 of them in his final farewell in chapter 16. It s likely that Paul had been informed by one or some of these people of a situation that had developed and were asking his advice in much the same way as the Corinthians had done. Paul wrote Romans in response to this problem. What could this issue have been? Even the most casual reading of the Book of Romans betrays the fact that the church in Rome was a mixed community consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. It seems that some conflict had broken out between these two groups. Don Barry 2012 Page 6
It is likely that the church in Rome had been initially founded by Jewish believers who had been converted on the Day of Pentecost. {Acts 2:10} The church had grown and gentile believers had been saved and had joined it. Tensions began to arise between the two groups much the same way in had in the Jerusalem church in the early days. {Acts 6} The Roman Emperor at the time, a man by the name of Claudius, was angered by some disturbances that broke out among the Jews. Suetonius, the historian, said that they happened, at the instigation of Chrestus. It is thought by many historians that this was a reference to Christ, and referred to a disagreement that had arisen around some aspect concerning him. Trouble had broken out and Claudius, who was anti Jewish, used it as an excuse to expel all Jews from Rome. Acts 18 tells of a Jewish couple, Pricilla and Aquila, who teamed up with Paul after their expulsion from Rome. Don Barry 2012 Page 7
In the absence of the Jewish founders, the Roman church became almost exclusively Gentile. Gentiles now took over the key positions and provided leadership in the church. In AD 54 Claudius died and his successor, Nero, realizing that the Jews were good for the economy of the city, invited them back. The Jewish believers returned and found a Gentile church. Tensions were heightened as the recently returned Jewish believers sought to re-establish their previous influence in the church and Gentile believers resisted them. It seems as if the major sticking points weren t cultural as much as they were theological. The biggest sticking point was about the role Torah played in initial salvation and the ongoing life of new believers. The Jewish believers were deeply committed to Torah and were no doubt proud of their favoured status under it. Don Barry 2012 Page 8
The Gentile believers couldn t see the point of obedience to Torah and were proud of the freedom they enjoyed. Paul sees the need to humble both groups. Echoes of this conflict and controversy in both its theological and practical implications may be heard rumbling throughout Romans. Paul was actually in a unique position to be an agent of reconciliation since he had a foot in both camps. He was a patriotic Jew. He had been especially commandeered by Jesus to serve as an Apostle to the Gentiles. I suspect that Romans is an Occasional Letter in which Paul restates the Gospel and attempts to resolve the conflicts between Jews and Gentiles regarding salvation and the role of Torah in the life of believers so as to promote the unity of the church. If you read Romans through this grid a lot of its ideas and themes come into focus. Don Barry 2012 Page 9
Let me try and give you a breakdown of the main sections of the letter. There are many ways this could be done scholars have different ways of approaching the letter, depending on why they thought Paul was writing. These breakdowns of the book can go from very simple to quite complicated. The most simple I ve seen divided the letter into three sections each section characterized by one of the three great eternal qualities of 1 Corinthians 13. Chapters 1-4 are all about Faith. They look to the past and examine what God has done in Christ. Chapters 5-11 are about Hope. They look to the future at what God is going to do, not just with Gentiles but with Israel as well. Chapters 12-16 focus on love. Paul is concerned with believer s relationships with God, with one another and with outsiders and that these relationships should be characterized by love. Don Barry 2012 Page 10
This analysis is easy to remember but perhaps a bit simplistic. Let me give you another approach to the Book. I ll try and keep it simple, but not simplistic. There is an introductory section that consists of the first 17 verses of chapter one. {Paul followed the same format in every letter. His name. A greeting to the recipients. The subject matter. Finishing with more greetings and his signature.} The Epistle to the Romans has that same pattern. He introduces himself, the writer the servant {Verse 1.} He introduces his subject, the Saviour {Verses 2-5} He outlines the recipients, the saints {verses 6-7} Don Barry 2012 Page 11
There are some introductory comments and then it is suggested by many that verses 16-17 are the interpretative key for the whole epistle. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, {a reference to time, not importance} and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. There are four discernable sections in Paul s argument. Firstly Paul shows that we are all, Jew and Gentiles, are sinners who are under God s wrath. This section starts after the introductory comments and runs from 1:18 through to 3:20. He speaks of rank pagan sinners; moralist sinners and religious sinners. No one is exempt. There s no wriggle room here whatsoever. It is a dark, depressing read. As he draws this part of his argument to a close, he summarizes it -- Romans 3:10-12. Don Barry 2012 Page 12
There's nobody living right, not even one, nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God. They've all taken the wrong turn; they've all wandered down blind alleys. No one's living right; I can't find a single one. Verse 19 And it's clear enough, isn't it, that we're sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? We all, Jew and Gentile are equally done for when it comes to our standing before God. We are all equally condemned. The second discernable section in Paul s argument begins in 3:21 and runs through to the end of chapter 8{39} The emphasis of this section is that the Grace of God in Christ is available to all, Jew and Gentile alike. This is God s answer to man s condition. Don Barry 2012 Page 13
Paul has painted this stunningly bleak picture of mankind in sin. He starts this next section with one of the great adversatives {a word, phrase, or clause that expresses opposition or contrast, e.g. 'but' or 'although'} of the Bible. But now... It is one of Paul s favourite phrases. Born out of his experience on the Damascus Road, I suspect, Paul sees everything now in before and after, then and now, terms. But now separates all that has gone before from all that comes after. It occurs in a number of places in this Epistle and also in others. Ephesians 2:12-13 and that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you Don Barry 2012 Page 14
who were once afar off are made near by the blood of Christ. Romans 6:21-22. What fruit did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and having become slaves to God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 7:5-6 For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin worked in our members through the law to bring forth fruit to death. But now we having been set free from the Law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Don Barry 2012 Page 15
The darkness that Paul outlined in the first three chapters has been turned on its head, by this but now of God. Into the darkness the light of the Gospel has shone. The righteousness of God, is made available to all, Jew and Gentile, who will put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, God s divine substitute. Through the Cross and the work of Jesus on it, God is able to demonstrate both His justice and his mercy. It s the place where, as prophesied in Psalm 85:10, (MKJV) Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Let me read the opening of this second section of Paul s argument in the Message translation, Romans 3:21-24 But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us {Jews} and Don Barry 2012 Page 16
them {Gentiles} in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. In this section of his argument, Paul brilliantly proves in chapter 4, that Abraham, the founding father of the Israelites, was justified, not by works or by circumcision, or by keeping Torah, but by his faith. In consequence, Abraham is now the father of all who believe, {Verse 11, 16.} The divine impartiality is clearly evident. Paul s argument is that we are all in the same boat as far as sin is concerned and we are all in the same boat, as far as God s plan of restoration is concerned. There s no difference here between Jew and Gentile. It is not the keeping of Torah that saves us. Don Barry 2012 Page 17
It is the blood of Jesus that propitiates or placates God s wrath {3:25}, justifies us before God {3:24} and redeems us from our old enslaved lives {3:24} Paul shows in this section that we are now under a reign of grace; our future is guaranteed; we have certainty and security. In chapters 6 and 7 Paul deals with two particular problems the Jews and the Gentiles have in the Gospel. Chapter 6 he speaks to the Gentile believers who were always prone to licence. Licence occurs when Christians mistakenly believe that their standing with God and their freedom in Christ through grace, allows them to ignore Divine laws and do whatever they want. Jude 1:4 speaks of some in the early church who were, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Don Barry 2012 Page 18
Paul begins, by asking them a question that naturally occurs to people when they hear the true Gospel for the first time, Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? The true preaching of the Gospel by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being bought against it. Martin Lloyd Jones says, If my preaching and presentation of the Gospel does not expose it to this misunderstanding, then it is not the true Gospel. Some had mistakenly assumed that the answer was; yes, I can go on sinning, or that it didn t matter too much if you did. They had concluded, All things are lawful for me. {1 Corinthians 6:12} What is to be done when the recipients of the Gospel, upon realizing that they have been invited into God s home with full privileges, as it were, start wrecking the Don Barry 2012 Page 19
furniture, befouling the floors, and even tearing the building apart? {Orr and Walther} Pauls says, No, it does matter. He shows that Grace not only forgives sins, but delivers us from sinning. Grace not only justifies us, it sanctifies us. Grace gives us the power to say no to our old life. Titus 2:11-12. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; In chapter 7 Paul speaks to the Jewish believers who were prone to legalism. Legalism causes Christians to believe that by keeping the law they gain merit in God s sight they are somehow more acceptable; more favoured. The church today still walks a tenuous path between these two extremes. Don Barry 2012 Page 20
We have all seen churches, and many of us have been part of them, where we are encouraged to keep the law, believing that somehow if we did we would be more acceptable to God and would be more favoured by God. We didn t go to the movies. We didn t listen to worldly music. We didn t dance, wear jeans or have facial hair. Like the ancient Jews, we multiplied laws that made the keepers of them favoured insiders and those who didn t less spiritual outsiders. Many people who came out of these environments, if they didn t reject the faith altogether, went to the other extreme to prove they were free and weren t under the law. They drank to excess. They swore. They watched any movies they liked without any discernment Galatians 5:13 Don Barry 2012 Page 21
(MSG) It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. We have to find the middle path of liberty. This is what Paul deals with in Chapter 8. He speaks about the liberty that the Holy Spirit brings and how it is he that will steer us in between the extremes of licence and legalism. The Holy Spirit is mentioned 19 times in this chapter. He is the key to living in this New Life. He liberates us. He indwells us. He gives us life. He leads us into self control. He witnesses with our spirit that we are God s children. Don Barry 2012 Page 22
He intercedes for us. The third section of Paul s epistle could be entitled, The Plan of God and covers chapters 9-11. It continues the issue of Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles were tempted to think that since they ate the true children of Abraham, the new Israel of God, that there is no place for the Jews in God s purposes at all. Paul explains in these chapters that God hasn t finished with the Jewish people because they rejected Him. Israel s fall is neither total {there has always been a believing remnant} nor final {all Israel will be saved.} The fourth section of Paul s argument could be called, The Will of God, and it is occupies chapters 12-15:13. Paul speaks about the will of God especially as it relates to our relationships with God, with other believers and towards those who are outside the community. Don Barry 2012 Page 23
In this section he focuses on the practical issues that have been causing tensions between the Jewish and Gentile elements of the believing community especially food issues and the Sabbath. He encourages Christian liberty undergirded by love. We are free to feast or fast according to our desires and our conscience, but we should keep in mind other s and how our choices impact on them. Love is the guide. Paul then finishes up with an epilogue and a whole lot of farewells 5:14-16. I hope this might inspire you to read Romans on your summer break and give you some fresh insight into it as you do. Don Barry 2012 Page 24