ROMANS

PART 2

In our first lesson, we did an overview of the Book Romans, and we took a brief look at the timeline of Paul since this letter is his work by means of the Holy Spirit. As we make our way through this Book verse by verse, I will take a close look at each verse, but I will try not to go too deep so that we get bogged down or go to shallow that we just barely get our feet wet.

Our journey begins with Romans 1. Let’s begin with the first 7 verses.

Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God ² which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. ⁵ Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; ⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

These first seven verses are actually one sentence in the Greek, which is 93 words, but is 125 words in the NKJV. As, I read it, I am sure you noticed that Paul jumps from one thought to another, which is why sometimes it becomes challenging to keep up with him. We are going to break these verses down and talk about some of the details that they reveal.

Everyone of Paul’s letters contain almost the same greeting as we see here in Romans.

First, he says who he is.

Second, he says who the letter is to, which in this case is to all in Rome (1:7).

Third, he says a greeting that says grace and peace (1:7).

Paul calls himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ. A bondservant is defined in the following way:

1) a slave, bondman, man of servile condition 1a) a slave 1b) metaph., one who gives himself up to another's will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing His cause among men 1c) devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests 2) a servant, attendant (Strongs).

The people in Rome fully understood what it meant to be a slave because it has been estimated that about half the population (around 600,000) were slaves. One was not usually proud to say that he was a slave, but Paul was, and he became a slave of Jesus voluntarily. Paul said:

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Whether you realize it or not, every Christians is also a slave of Jesus because we have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. Again, Paul writes:

1 Corinthians 6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

When you read Romans 6, you will find a description of what happens to us when we are baptized into Christ, but it also emphasizes that when we obey the gospel that we make ourselves slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Everyone is a slave of something, but like Paul, we can be proud to call ourselves slaves of Jesus because our Master is full of love, mercy, grace, and peace. He is not a hard task Master who doesn’t care about what happens to us because He loves us and gave His life for us so we can conquer sin and escape the depths of hell. So, we should all be thankful that we are slaves of Christ and rejoice in the opportunities we have to serve Him.

Paul also says that he was called to be an apostle.

Roy C. Deaver observes that the KJV rendering "called to be an apostle" has the words "to be" in italics, demonstrating that they are not in the original text. Deaver thus writes, "Paul was not discussing what he was called "to be." He was discussing what he actually was. He was -- a called apostle."

We all have a role to play in the kingdom of God. Paul was numbered among the apostles. He is unique in that he was not part of the original 12 nor was he with them during Jesus’ time here on earth. He said that he was born out of due season and was the least of the apostles because he persecuted the church in the beginning, yet he was still an eye witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Paul had to spend a lot of time proving and reminding people that he was an apostle of Christ. He didn’t lack any authority or ability that the original 12 had.

One thing we can learn from this is that it doesn’t matter what you were doing before you became a Christian even it was trying to destroy the church itself, God can use you in his kingdom and can accomplish great things through you. Like Paul, many rotten people who have been converted don’t feel worthy of God’s love, and they may be hesitant to speak out for the cause of Christ and against sin, when they used to be the chief of sinners. Like Paul, we must realize that when we obey the gospel and become slaves of righteousness, we have been forgiven, and we need to press forward and speak out against sin even if we used to swim in that same sin.

The word ‘apostle’ simply means one sent forth. So, you have to look at the context to know if the Bible is talking about one of the official apostles or just one sent out as a representative. For example, Barnabas is called an apostle, but he was not one of the official apostles chosen by God, but he was sent out by the church at Antioch. One of the qualifications of being an official apostle of Christ was being an eyewitness of His resurrection, which means that the official apostles of Christ were limited to the first century and none exist today because this was not an office that was to be passed down.

Next, Paul says he was separated to the gospel of God. Paul started his life out being separated or appointed to the life of Pharisee and the Law of Moses, but now he has been appointed by God to proclaim the gospel of God, which is the good news of Jesus Christ. Paul tells us what the gospel of God is in:

1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-- unless you believed in vain. ³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is the core of the gospel. Paul wants his readers to understand that the gospel points to Jesus, which is why he goes on to say this:

² which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord,

While the prophets from the Old Testament were not able to clearly understand all they were prophesying concerning the coming Messiah (1 Pet. 1:10-12), they were teaching about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. This was important for the Jews to understand especially since they respected the Old Testament. There are over 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament and He fulfilled them all. Just as side not, the Book of Romans contains 74 quotations from the Old Testament. Though the we are not under the Law of Moses, there is still much for us to learn from the Old Testament as Paul said:

Romans 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Next, Paul says this about Jesus:

who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus had a fleshly connection to David through Mary who was in the lineage of David. So, when Jesus was born and became flesh, He was fully man, but He was also Deity as well. He proved that He was more than just a fleshly decedent of David because He did things that no ordinary man could do. He worked many miracles and signs that proved that He was the Son of God. He healed the blind, the sick, and cast out demons. He turned water to wine and even walked on water just to name a few of the things He did.

The Pharisees did not like Jesus, and while they could not deny His lineage, they did deny that He was the Son of God. For example, notice this exchange between Jesus and them.

Matthew 22:41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?" They said to Him, "The Son of David." ⁴³ He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him`Lord,' saying: ⁴⁴ `The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool "'? ⁴⁵ "If David then calls Him`Lord,' how is He his Son?" ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.

Jesus always had the ability to leave the Pharisees speechless, and He just made the point that He is the Son the God.

Back in our text we read ⁴ and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

This text is specifically talking about the spiritual side of Jesus and points out that He is Deity. As, I already stated, Jesus’ miracles and signs and even the way He taught proved that He was God. Some think the phrase, “according to the Spirit of holiness” could refer to the Holy Spirit and to the part He played in revealing the truth about Jesus, but others believe it is referring to the attributes of Christ being a Divine being, which makes more sense based on the context. Either interpretation does no harm to the text. However, Jesus’ resurrection is absolute proof that He was Deity. Now it is true that there were some who had been raised from the dead before Jesus, but Jesus was the first to be raised from the dead to die no more. All those others you read about in the Bible who came back to life died again.

Man tried to prove that Jesus was a just man by putting Him to death on the cross, but God proved that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Son of God by Him conquering death and leaving that tomb empty. The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead proved that His sacrifice was accepted by the Father. I cannot even put into words how important it was for Jesus to be raised from the dead because it means everything. In fact, Paul explained it this way:

1 Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁴ And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. ¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up-- if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! ¹⁸ Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Now, let’s look at verses back in our original text:

⁵ Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,

Paul reminds them that he had received grace and apostleship from Jesus. Who can ever forget how Jesus chose Paul to be an apostle. Jesus told Ananias to go to the blinded Paul, but Ananias questioned Jesus about this since Paul had been persecuting the church, but Jesus said:

Acts 9:15 …"Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. ¹⁶ "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."

Jesus chose Him just as He chose the original 12. Paul loved to use the word ‘grace’. Though he used the word ‘grace’ in many different ways, he always had in mind that grace was a gift from God that was given to us even though we did not deserve it. When Paul said, He received grace, this certainly includes allowing him to become a saved child of God, but it also includes how God chose him to be an apostle to the gentiles even though he did not deserve such an honorable position and work in the kingdom.

Back in our text, Paul says that his purpose as an apostle was to teach obedience to the faith among all nations for the glory of God. There are two different views on what is meant by the phrase “obedience to the faith.” Some see it saying obedience to the system of faith and others see it saying an obedience which comes from faith. No matter which view you take, both views have the same connection as pointed out by James Boyd.

"The truth can be seen in either presentation. Whether the phrase is emphasizing how one must obey "the faith" (the system of faith, the gospel plan, the religion of Christ), or whether one must possess the kind of faith (belief) that obeys, in either instance obedience is made essential and stressed at the start and finish of Romans."

When you read Paul’s writing, you will discover this common theme that faith and obedience go hand and hand. It’s never about just believing in something, which rules out the faith only doctrine because one cannot separate faith from obedience and be pleasing to God. God has always demanded an obedient faith in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Paul did exactly what he was supposed to do. He went out and preached to the nations both Jew and Gentile though most of his ministry was to the Gentiles.

Let’s examine verse 6.

⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

Paul lets them know that they too are the called of Jesus Christ. In other words, they have also received the grace of God by being obedient to the faith. You might ask, “how were they called?” Well, they were called like all Christians are called.

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, ¹⁴ to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, it is by the gospel that we are called because it has the power to prick our hearts and transform us as we learn about Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection and all that entails. Finally, let’s look at verse 7.

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul could have chosen several different greetings, but he chose to call the Christians at Rome beloved of God. The reason they are beloved is because they were obedient to the faith. Of course, every Christian is beloved of God because we are His children. While God loves everyone, Christians have a special relationship with God that nonChristians don’t. John wrote:

1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

You will also notice that Paul said these Christians were called to be saints. The word ‘saint’ means holy and set apart. So, every Christian who obeys the gospel is a saint. There is no process found in the Bible that says that only a few are saints and that they must have miracles happen in their name after they are dead to be added among the saints per the Catholic doctrine.

Paul ends his greeting by saying, “grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The usually Greek greeting was grace and the usual Jewish greeting was peace. Paul combines them and therefore covers both Jews and Gentiles. Also, Paul mentions two members of the Godhead, the Father and Jesus.

Now that we have examined the details of these first 7 verses. I want you to think about all that we have learned as I read these verses one final time.

In our next lesson, we will begin at verse 8. I hope you are making the Book of Romans part of your daily Bible reading.