Overview of Because Paul s letter to the provides a compendium of the gospel he preaches, it simultaneously provides an unusually full statement of his theology. Paul has shaped his presentation of the gospel to meet the pastoral needs of the Roman church, and critical elements of his theology are missing or lightly treated (e.g., his understanding of the church, Christ s parousia, and the Lord s Supper), but nevertheless offers a rare moment in the study of his theology.15 Because reveals the gospel as Paul preached it in the synagogue, it provides the apostle s fullest extant explanation of the theological convictions that fueled his missionary efforts. Theology of the New Testament, Location 10637 In almost every way, Paul s letter to the is chief among these books. is the longest, the most quoted, and the first in order of Paul s letters. Many say that it provides the most systematic presentation of the gospel in the Bible. The Message of the New Testament, Location 2924 No matter how it was that Paul got into writing to the Roman church, he ended up giving us one of the grandest statements of the gospel that we have in Scripture. While is not a book that gives a complete systematic theology covering all the points of Christian doctrine (nor was it intended to be such), it surely focuses on the gospel as the righteousness of God that comes by faith. Once more we are following the path of the promise-plan of God, which had the gospel as one of its core doctrines ever since Genesis 12:3 (cf. Gal 3:8). The Promise-Plan of God, Location 6769 I. Introduction ( 1:1-15) a. Paul s Introduction and Desire to Visit 1:11 15 (ESV) 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. II. The Gospel and The Problem ( 1:16-32) a. The Gospel FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 1
1:16 17 (ESV) 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, The righteous shall live by faith. Paul begins his description of the gospel with a thesis statement that summarizes its three chief elements. First, the gospel is the revelation of the righteousness of God. Second, this righteousness is effective for everyone who believes. Third, the gospel stands in continuity with, not in contradiction to, the Jewish Scriptures. Theology of the New Testament, Location 10645 Paul s appeal for authority once again went to the Old Testament to Habakkuk 2:4, to be specific. The basis for all that Paul would write would be exactly what had been shown programmatically to exist in the ancient promise-plan of God: The righteous will live by faith. The Promise-Plan of God, Location 6782 b. The Problem 1:18 23 (ESV) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. III. Judgment, Faith, Justification, and Future Hope ( 2-8) The beginning of the Christian message about us and about God is that we have sinned and have separated ourselves from God. The first half of Paul s letter is therefore concerned with how we can be reconciled to God, or more to the point, how God can be reconciled to us. The Message of the New Testament, Location 2953 a. The universality of judgment 2:9 11 (ESV) 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 2
b. No special arrangement for the Jew just because he is Jewish 2:28 29 (ESV) 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. c. The Law does not provide a solution, but Christ does 3:21 26 (ESV) 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 3:21 26 is an extremely important statement of how people can be declared righteous as a free gift of God by faith. For those who have no righteousness, God will provide his own righteousness. But this gift does not come out of the blue with no one paying for it: Christ died in our place and provided for our redemption. The gift is available through simple faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Promise-Plan of God, Location 6818 Justification is not equal to a pardon, for in a pardon only the debt/penalty is excused, a negative concept. In justification, however, there is full acceptance, a positive concept. Nor is justification similar to amnesty, where one is pardoned without principle. In amnesty, one simply decides to overlook and forget all the wrongdoing, declining to raise the issue, or to care for the debt or the penalty. But in justification we are declared righteous, not made righteous; it is an acquittal of a forensic type similar to what a judge would issue from the bench. The Promise- Plan of God, Location 6833 d. Faith was the path to justification from the very start 4:9 12 (ESV) 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 3
sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Let me repeat this, just to make sure you understand the significance of what Paul is saying: Abraham s belief and consequent justification came before he was circumcised. Paul seizes on the chronological order of these two events as crucial for understanding the Old Testament and salvation. Abraham s example is paradigmatic not just for circumcised Jews but for everyone, Jewish or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised. Salvation is for everyone who believes (1:16)! Justification is gained not by what we do but by a righteousness that is by faith from first to last (1:17). Or as Paul puts it in chapter 3, this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (3:22). It is by faith in his blood (3:25). The Message of the New Testament, Location 3014 e. Our future hope is based on our past justification 5:1 6 (ESV) 1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. f. The root of our problem 5:12 14 (ESV) 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. g. Death through the one, but life through The One 5:16 17 (ESV) 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 4
gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. h. Why the Law? 5:20 21 (ESV) 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. i. Grace should leads us to daily righteousness that represents our legal righteousness 6:1 7 (ESV) 1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. j. Stop traveling down the road of death if you have seen the light 6:20 23 (ESV) 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. k. The struggle with our flesh in this body 7:14 20 (ESV) 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 5
do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. l. While we struggle with sin, we still have hope 7:24 8:1 (ESV) 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. m. We live by the Spirit and not the flesh 8:12 17 (ESV) 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. n. An example of the Spirit aiding us 8:26 27 (ESV) 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. o. Our future is set 8:28 39 (ESV) 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that, who was raised who FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 6
is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you hear this symphony of God s grace in the first eight chapters of? Because all sin, all need to be justified. None will be justified by what they do. Sinners can be justified only because of Christ and only through faith in Christ. Therefore, all kinds of sinners can be justified. Justification is by faith alone, but justifying faith is never alone. Jews and Gentiles alike can sing of this wonderful way of salvation made by God in Christ. The Message of the New Testament, Location 3076 IV. Did God s Plan for the Jews Fail? No! ( 9-11:32) a. Jewish DNA does not guarantee you are a child of Abraham 9:1 7 (ESV) 1 I am speaking the truth in Christ I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. b. God s will show mercy on who He chooses 9:14 18 (ESV) 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. c. Israel s failure was that they thought righteousness was based on works FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 7
9:30 33 (ESV) 30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. Both the law and the gospel, in other words, pointed in the same direction toward a right relationship between God and his people, but God has provided Christ, not the law, as the means by which this relationship will be realized. By their rejection of the gospel and their insistence on living in the era dominated by the Mosaic law, many within Israel have implied that their own works (9:32) and their own righteousness (10:3) were preferable to the righteous status that comes from God through belief in the gospel (10:3). Theology of the New Testament, Location 11209 d. Salvation is the same for the Jew and the Gentile 10:8 13 (ESV) 8 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. e. God s use of His servants to proclaim salvation 10:14 15 (ESV) 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! f. Has God given up on the Jews? No! 11:1, 11-12, 25-27 (ESV) 1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 8
tribe of Benjamin 11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!...25 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob ; 27 and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. God s present choice of a large number of Gentiles and a mere remnant of Jews is only part of a larger scheme, the end result of which will be the influx of vast numbers of Jews into the believing community in the final days. Theology of the New Testament, Location 11246 V. What is our Response to What God has Done Through Christ? ( 11:33-16:27) a. Praise God for His infinite wisdom 11:33 36 (ESV) 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? 35 Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. b. Renew of our mind and do not conform yourself to this world 12:1 2 (ESV) 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. God is interested in the whole of a person's life, both body and soul. For Paul, the body was the battleground of spirituality, to the extent that he could even summarize the spiritual life as putting to death the deeds of the body by means of the Spirit ( 8:13 ). Paul does not merely say to present one's body to God. He says, in addition, offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God sacrifices that are pleasing to him. In light of the context of the book of, Paul means by this that the Christian should be free from the imperatives of the deeds of the sinful nature (cf. 6:13 ). He calls this a spiritual act of worship -i.e., a kind of worship that is carried out with a conscious intention of pleasing God. NIV Compact Bible Commentary FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 9
c. Our responsibility towards the government over us 13:1 7 (ESV) 1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. d. Bear with one another when there are differences of opinion 14:1 4 (ESV) 1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. e. Unity in the Body of Christ 15:5 6 (ESV) 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. f. Watch out for those who seek to cause problems 16:17 20 (ESV) 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 10
g. God saved us and is able to strengthen us 16:25 27 (ESV) 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Takeaways from Sin is a universal problem that has polluted everyone and has impacted everything The Gospel has been God s plan from the start The Law was given to define sin and help us understand the depth of our sin Through Christ we are justified before God meaning that we have been declared righteous through the righteousness of Christ God s plan for Israel has not failed, but His elect, that are ethnically Jewish, will turn to Christ The outflow of our lives in response to the greatness of God s grace is a life that pleases Him Bibliography Dever, Mark. The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2005. Kaiser, Walter C., The Promise-plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. Sailhamer, John. NIV Compact Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994. Thielman, Frank. Theology of the New Testament: A Canonical and Synthetic Approach. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005 Vanhoozer, Kevin J., Daniel J. Treier, and N. T. Wright. Theological Interpretation of the New Testament: A Book-by-book Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. FBC Durham Bible For Life Page 11