Romans Introduction and Chapter 1a– John Karmelich

1. If I asked you, “Can you explain to me the basic’s of Christianity, could you do it?

a) On a similar note, if someone were to ask you, “What book of the bible best explains what Christianity is all about, what book would you pick? (No fair peaking at the title. ☺)

b) Even if that question is not an issue, can you understand what it means to be a Christian?

c) If you ever wanted a checklist on seeing where you stand “spiritually”, I can’t think of a better place to start that the Book of Romans.

2. If someone were to ask me “What single book in the bible best explains Christianity, I would answer “Romans”, or it’s longer title, “Paul’s letter to the Romans”.

a) No book in the bible has had a greater impact on civilization than Romans.

b) No book in the bible is more thorough in explaining all the keys issues of Christianity.

c) Paul wrote the largest chunk of the New Testament. Of all of the books written by Paul, Romans is placed first. Paul’s books (i.e., letters) are not listed in chronological order. We don’t know who decided what order to place them in. The only thing we know for sure is “somebody” decided Romans should be first. They were right.

3. I will be the first to admit that for many years, I struggled with reading Romans.

a) In my early years as a Christian, as I systematically read my way through the bible, I dreaded when I came to Romans. I just found much of it confusing to read.

b) It’s hard to follow a writer like Paul who likes to talk in sentences that often go on for five to seven verses. (For the newcomers out there, the chapter numbers and verse numbers were added roughly 1,200 years later. They are not part of the original text.)

c) Part of my motivation for teaching Romans is to understand it better. One of the greatest pieces of advice I ever received is, “If you want to understand a topic, teach it”. Thus, this is my selfish motivation for attempting to tackle Paul’s letter to the Romans.

d) If you are not that familiar with Romans, I often recommend for beginners to read a good paraphrase version of Romans first. For example, I happen to love “The Living Bible’s” paraphrase of Romans. While paraphrases miss the subtitles of a literal translation, it does help to give the flavor of the book. I am indebted to Ken Taylor who wrote “The Living Bible” for helping me through my early years in comprehending Romans.

4. Now it’s time for the disclaimers: Studying the Book of Romans is like trying to eat an elephant.

a) It can be done, but one can only eat a little at a time and we need a big refrigerator. ☺

b) One commentator I respect (Donald Grey Barnhouse) wrote a ten-volume set of books on Romans. He spent over a decade preaching on Romans from his pulpit. My point is Romans is complex. With that said, I go back to my standard prayer, of “Lord, show me the things you want me to learn, and show me the things you want to pass on, Amen.”

c) I promise you this study of Romans will not be as thorough as Barnhouse’s. Hopefully, what it will do is give you a flavor of the book as well as some personal applications to help you be a better Christian. That has always been the main goal of these studies.

5. On to the letter itself. Let me try to give a few key overview points:

a) This is the only letter Paul wrote to a church he did not know personally. Paul spent his life as a missionary. The Book of Acts, which is mostly a biography about Paul, records three missionary journeys and his travels to Rome as a prisoner on trial for Christianity. Most historians believe Paul wrote Romans near the end of his third missionary journey prior to ever seeing Rome. The Book of Romans makes it clear Paul has never been there.

b) All of Paul’s other letters are written to people or churches Paul knew well. The other letters are to churches that Paul has personally started or letters to his personal assistants (Timothy, Titus) who were now on their own.

c) Because Romans is the only letter written to a church Paul did not know personally, it is the most thorough book on Christianity. Some believe that since Paul had never been to Rome, he wanted to make sure the Rome-based Christian church understood the fundamentals of Christianity. Thus, this letter is very thorough in explaining the key doctrines of what Christians believe.

d) The other thing to keep in mind as you read this letter is that it is written to Christians.

i) Parts of Romans, especially in the first few chapters, deal with the behavior of non-Christians. Those characteristics are written for the benefit of believers. This “check-list” is to help show Christians how they should not act. My point is to read this letter from the perspective of the Christian believer and not just the condemnation of those who refuse to believe.

6. There is a Christian buzz-term that goes well with Romans: “Justification” or “The Just” for short.

a) When you think of “Justification”, think of “Just-as-if-I-never-sinned”. It is the idea of being perfect in God’s eyes in the sense that were are perfectly forgiven.

b) Much of Romans teaches the principals behind justification.

c) In a sense, you can give the gospel message in one or two sentences. A perfect punishment was given on our behalf (Jesus death on the cross) so that we can be “perfect” forever in God’s eyes. We can live forever in heaven because God is perfect, and a perfect-punishment was given on our behalf. We can live for eternity, “Just-as-if-we-never-sinned”. That is justification in a nutshell.

d) Yet, Paul will go on, for essentially eight chapters to explain “Justification”.

i) The problem isn’t God, or the fact that Paul likes to ramble in his speech. ☺

ii) The problem is our egos. We think there are areas of our life that are “good enough” and we don’t need God’s help. The first seven chapters of Romans focus on all the possible excuses we can give God. Paul goes through each one of those excuses and argues why they are no good.

e) “Ah”, I hear you say. ☺ I already believe I am a sinner and I need Jesus. Why should I study Romans? Remember that Christianity is a growth process and not just a one-day-and-it’s-over-conversion. What God desires of all of us is to grow in our faith. Think of Romans as a “regular checklist” of every aspect of our lives that need to be turned over to God. The goal of our lives is to live in conformity to God’s will. As we mature, we realize, “Hey, it never occurred to me until now that this part of my life is a problem.” Or, “I’ve been dealing with this issue for years, and it won’t go away, why is that?” That is what this “Romans checklist” that covers the first 8 chapters of Romans is all about.

7. While the first 8 chapters deal with the topic, of “Justification”, the next three chapters deal with the topic of the nation of Israel. I always like to summarize those three chapters as, “Israel past, Israel present and Israel future”. It summarizes the history of the nation of Israel from its conception and ends with its future destiny.

a) What most Christians fail to grasp is the parallel of the first eight chapters of Romans with these three chapters all about the Nation of Israel.

b) The first eight chapters deal with the fact that no matter how much we mess up, our eternal salvation is secure as long as we are trusting in Christ for our salvation.

c) The next three chapters of Romans, which deal with the Nation of Israel, conclude with the key point that God will one day redeem the nation of Israel despite its failure to recognize the long-awaited Messiah. The point of those chapters is that God’s promises to the Nation of Israel were unconditional and still are unconditional.

d) I stated earlier that Romans is written to the Christian believer. A key point of these chapters is that, “If God’s promises to Israel are unconditional, so are His promises to the believing Christian.” God can’t go back on His promises since His reputation is on the line. If the Christian can’t trust God’s unconditional promises to the Nation of Israel, how can we ever trust in His promises to Christians through the resurrection of Christ?

8. After those three chapters, come the final four chapters on application.

a) My paraphrase of the final four chapters are: “Now that you know what God has done for you, and know that you know you are justified (just-as-if-you-never-sinned) by faith alone, here is what I, God expect of you as believers.

b) In other words, the last few chapters deal with our behavior.

c) A key point of this letter is we are saved for eternity only by our faith in God.

i) If that is the case, what is the point of doing good deeds?

ii) The short answer is that good-deeds are a “natural output” of living for God. The more we have faith in God, the more God works through us to do His will.

iii) Therefore, final four chapters of Romans deals with our behavior. The reason this comes last in the book is that our behavior can only stem from our faith and not vice-versa.

iv) Confused? Good. ☺ Welcome to the club. We’re now ready to tackle Romans.

9. Before I touch Verse 1, let me summarize a few key overview points, and then we can move on. People always like to know the who, what, when’s and why’s of any book.

a) When: Most people date Romans about AD 58. This is about 25 years after the death and resurrection of Christ. Remember Paul was not one of the original 12 disciples and did not convert himself until some time after Jesus’ resurrection.

b) Where: As best we can tell from bible “clues”, Paul wrote the letter from Macedonia, (southern Greece) on his third missionary trip.

c) Who: Paul writing to the only Christian church in Rome at that time. Paul says he is the author in the first verse of the letter. There is no serious scholarship doubting this. I am convinced that no one single person had a greater impact on Western Civilization, other than Jesus himself than Paul. It is the most dominant religion in the Western Hemisphere. Paul is the one most responsible for the spread of that religion. The impact of Paul’s writings has affected billions of people over the last 2,000 years.

d) What: Remember Paul has never been to this church. Therefore, the purpose is to explain what “is” Christianity and how to be a follower of Christ.

10. Chapter 1, Verse 1: Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

a) First, let me warn you that the first sentence of Chapter 1 goes on for six verses.

i) In order to understand this sentence, it needs to be broken down into bite-size chunks. Therefore, I’m going to tackle it one phrase-at-a-time.

ii) This will not be the pace for the entire study of Romans. What I want to do is set a “strong foundation” for Paul’s style and purpose for writing this letter, and with that understanding, we can move at a faster pace through the letter.

b) When you and I write a letter, the style of the letter is usually, “Dear Whoever”, then comes the text of the letter, and finally comes our name. In a business letter, we may state our authority after the letter. For example, the letter may end with “John Smith, president of such-and-such corporation”.

i) In ancient times, the style is backwards from how letters are written today:

a) First, you state who is writing the letter. (In this case, Paul).

b) Next, you state your authority. (The first six verses of Chapter 1)

c) Next, you state who the letter is written to. (Verse 7)

d) Finally comes the text of the letter. (The remainder of Romans).

ii) Therefore, we are going to spend the next six verses discussing Paul’s authority for writing this letter.

a) Yes, that sounds boring. ☺ Here is the key point: A purpose of the bible is for us to study how to model our behavior.

b) If you desire to do “God’s will”, it is not praying, “Lord, is it your will for me to brush my teeth this morning?” God’s answer is usually, “I gave you a brain and a toothbrush, get moving.” ☺

c) Christianity does involve regular prayer to do God’s will. We pray for God’s guidance. With that said, we also should, if and whenever possible, systematically study God’s word as a model for our behavior in life.

d) Therefore, we study Paul’s “authority” not so much that we can be experts on Paul’s life, but so God can work through us as well as Paul!

e) God uses people to get His will done. He can and does use us as much as He used Paul. We may not impact millions, but not everyone is called by God to impact millions. Some are called to impact one or two people, some a few dozen and so on. It’s not the size of the ministry that’s important, it’s the fact that we are living our lives to conform to God’s will so that He can use us to impact those God wants us to impact.

f) Much of the bible is direct instructions. There are many places that bluntly say to “do this and don’t do that”. For the most part, the bible is stories and word-pictures for us to model our behavior.

c) This letter covers the major beliefs of Christianity. If Paul is going to give these beliefs that we are to follow, then Paul must first give his authority for us to follow those doctrines. That is the case with Paul’s authority section.

d) What do you say we actually get back to the first verse again? ☺ I better restate it: Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

i) The first thing Paul says about himself is that he is a “servant” of Jesus Christ.

ii) The English translation doesn’t quite give the same impact as the original Greek. The idea here is we are a “slave by choice”. It is the idea of one is a slave, then when one has the option to be set free, chooses to remain a slave by choice out of a love for his or her master.

iii) The concept is to freely choose to give every aspect of our lives over to Christ. I’ve always stated that to be a Christian is like taking your wallet (or purse for a woman), your keys to your house and car and throwing them to God and saying in effect, “OK God, these represent all that I own. They are now yours.” God usually then hands them back to you and says in effect, “Great. I’ve been waiting for that. You can (usually) still keep all of this stuff, but you need to use them for My glory!”

iv) Remember that the majority of the Roman Empire were slaves at that time. People understood slavery. In a sense, much of Romans is a commentary on why we should be “slaves-by-choice” for Christ.

e) The next phrase is “called to be an apostle”.

i) The word apostle means “sent one”. If you hire a messenger to deliver a message, that messenger is your “apostle” for that particular message.

ii) We tend to think of “the“ apostles as the 12 guys Jesus choose and “that’s that”. No more members need apply to this club. ☺ There is some truth in that the “12” (less Judas) were the foundation of the church. The early church treated those apostles how we might respect say, the “Founding Fathers” of the United States.

iii) Did you know Jesus himself is called an apostle? (Hebrews 3:1). The point there is He is a “sent one” of God the Father. Guess what? If you have turned your life over to Jesus, you are called to be an apostle. Jesus first and great command after the resurrection was for all believers to go preach the Gospel to all nations. (Matthew 28:19). That means we are all “sent ones” by Jesus to preach The Gospel. In that sense, we are all apostles. Might as well get used to that halo. ☺

iv) By the way, that doesn’t mean we all have to quit our jobs and go be missionaries in some foreign countries. God calls most of us to stay put and “Be His witness” right where we are. Others are called elsewhere. The point is that if we do call Jesus “Lord”, then we ought to obey what He teaches us. That means we are to be “sent ones” to do His will. Therefore, we are apostles.

v) Paul’s “order of phrases” are important: You can’t be an apostle until you have turned your life over to Jesus!

a) First, Paul says he is a servant of Jesus.

b) Next, Paul says he is a “sent one” (apostle) of Jesus.

c) This is about acknowledging Jesus as Lord. If He is Lord of our lives, then we have to act as such.

f) The final phrase of Verse 1 is, “Set apart for the gospel of God”.

i) The term “set apart” is special. Let me give you an illustration:

a) Suppose you have a set of dishes. There is one dish that is only to be used for “mom”. Nobody else in the house may ever eat out of that dish except for “mom”. The idea is that specific dish is “set apart for mom”.

b) There is a Christian buzz-term called “Sanctified”. It is a fancy word that just means we are set apart for a specific purpose. Like the other dishes, we may look like every other dish, but we are “set apart”, or “sanctified” for a specific purpose.

c) Not everyone is going to heaven. Some do, and some don’t. Those that do are therefore, “set apart” in the sense that we are “sealed” by God for His eternal purposes. If God wants to use us, and we freely choose to be used by God, it starts with the idea that we are somehow, someway, set apart from nonbelievers for the purpose of serving God.

d) Bottom line? If you believe in Jesus, you are “set apart” by God for Him.

ii) The last phrase of Verse 1 is “The Gospel of God”.

a) We tend to think of the words “Gospel” as being associated with Jesus, i.e. God the Son. This phrase is referring to the “Gospel of God (The Father)”.

b) Reading Verse 1 in context of Verses 2-3, “God” refers to God the Father.

c) The word “Gospel” means good news. During that time era, for example, when good news about a Roman Emperor is spread through the Empire, the messenger read the “Good News”, i.e., the Gospel.

d) What is this “Good news (Gospel) of God-The-Father?” It is more than just Jesus dying for our sins, but that is a key plot point. ☺ The “Good news of God” encompasses God’s whole redemption plan for mankind. It covers the predictions about the Messiah in the Old Testament. It covers those who are saved who never heard of Jesus. It covers the religious Jesus in the pre-Christian era that served God based on what knowledge they did have. In summary, again, it covers God’s entire redemptive plan for mankind. Yes, the center point is Jesus, but it covers all the events leading up to the Cross as well as our maturity and growth as believes once we believe the message of the Cross.

iii) Well, we actually made it to the end of Verse 1. I warned you the early chapters are slow going. It is necessary to explain the details to understand the foundation of what Paul will teach through Romans.

11. Verse 2: the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

a) Remember that Verse 2 is part of a single sentence that goes on until Verses 5-6.

b) Verse 1 ended with “The Gospel of God”.

c) Verse 2 explains the “when” and the “how” of “The Gospel of God”.

i) The “when” is the fact that Jesus is predicted throughout the Old Testament.

d) Let me expand on Verse 2: “The gospel (The good news of God’s redemptive plan for mankind that ) he (God the Father) promised beforehand (before the time of Jesus) through his (God the Father’s) prophets (the speakers and writers of the Old Testament) in the Holy Scriptures (The Old Testament).

i) Paul is validating that the Holy Scriptures as God Inspired.

a) God Inspired, as I define it, means that the “original autographs” of the bible are the Word of God. Through the centuries there has been some copyist errors, but those errors are relatively trivial and do not affect any of the major tenants of Christian beliefs.

b) Since the New Testament was not organized and canonized at this point, Paul is referring to the Old Testament.

c) Paul is also stating the individual writers and speakers in the Old Testament were sent by God to preach about Jesus.

e) Let’s go to a statement made by Jesus. He was speaking to the Pharisee’s: “You (Jewish religious leaders) diligently study the Scriptures (Old Testament) because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me (Jesus), yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40, NIV)

i) The point of that sentence is that the predictions of Jesus First Coming (as well as His Second Coming) are written all throughout the Old Testament. One scholar counted over 300 bible predictions that were fulfilled in Jesus First Coming and over 600 predictions that tie to His Second Coming.

ii) Now let’s get back to Romans. Paul states the Old Testament specifically predicts Jesus death and resurrection. If I asked you to find a specific passage in the Old Testament that read, “The Messiah will die for your sins and be resurrected on the third day”, such a passage does not exist. What you do find is clues from prophetic passages and actual stories that are predictive of future events.

a) For example, when God told Abraham to offer his only son Isaac in Genesis Chapter 22, in Abraham’s mind, Isaac was “as good as dead”. It was on the third day after that command when the actual sacrifice was going to happen. On the third day, God then told Abraham not to do the sacrifice. Therefore, Isaac “lived again” on the third day. This was a literal, historical event, but it was also predictive of Jesus. The place where Abraham’s sacrifice took place, is the also where Jesus died on the cross!

iii) I believe the Old Testament bible is not blunt about Jesus death and resurrection is that the Gospel story has more validity if there is a “clue here” and a “clue there” so when it is tied together, the whole Gospel picture is like a jigsaw puzzle.

a) The important point is Paul is stating that he is preaching the message about Jesus that was predicted long before Jesus was born.

iv) When you think about it, God could have sent Jesus to die for man’s sins right after Adam and Eve, and then let them deal with spreading the Gospel. Instead, we have a four thousand year biblical history prior to Jesus. Why wait so long? Again, the answer has to do with the validity of the message. We have dozens of prophetic witnesses (i.e., Old Testament writers) from different backgrounds at different times all giving us pieces of the puzzle of Jesus’ ministry.

v) Remember, if you wanted to validate a book as being “from God”, the best way I know how to do it is to write history in advance. Fill it up with hundreds of predictions about history prior to the actual events taking place. That would validate the authors as God-inspired. Roughly thirty percent of the entire bible is predictive in its writing. It’s all about validation.

vi) Why did God go to so much trouble? Because He wanted as many people as possible to be saved. At the same time, God doesn’t say, part the Red Sea every 24 hours because He wants men and women to come to Him by faith and not by massive physical evidence.

12. Verse 3: regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,

a) Remember that the purpose of this opening sentence (that goes on for six verses) is to state Paul’s purpose for writing this letter.

b) Verse 2 focuses on God the Father and His “purpose”. Verse 3 focuses on God the Son.

c) Here is an important bit of Christian theology to comprehend about Jesus:

i) Jesus is “fully God, and fully man”. Jesus always existed as God, and then he became man one day. When Jesus was resurrected, he still has his human nature in a resurrected body, yet He is still fully God.

ii) Here is my favorite illustration on this: “One day God and I were traveling around in spaceship. Then God pointed out a planet that was all dogs. I took a closer look, and the dogs were all killing and harming each other. Then God said, “You see those dogs? I happen to love them all. I (God) want you to go to those dogs and tell them how much I love them. They’re going to hate you. They’re going to hate your message. In fact, they’re going to kill you. Don’t worry I’m going to resurrect you. Here’s the tough part. I need you to become a dog for this trip. In fact, when I resurrect you, you will always be a dog, but you’ll still be “you”. Now get going.” (Illustration from Jon Curson).

a) In that sense, Jesus always existed, he “became” man and “stayed” man, and at the same time, he was always God and still is always-God.

iii) Understanding the trinity is confusing. The term “Trinity” is not in the bible. It was term coined by the early church. It is a solution to explaining the problem of three gods in one god as opposed to a problem itself.

iv) God is one. He is singular, yet He is “plural”. In the sense that “One Nation” is a singular and plural term, so is the Trinity. We use the terms “Father and Son” to express the idea that they are one family, but the Father out-ranks the son.

d) Now let’s get back to Verse 3: “regarding his Son (Jesus), who as to his human nature was a descendant of David.

i) The descendant of David is a reference to King David. In 2^nd Samuel Chapter 7, Verses 13-14, a specific promise was given to King David that one of his descendants would rule forever. To this day, religious Jews believe that the Messiah (Hebrew for “king”) would be a descendant of King David.

ii) The Gospel of Matthew teaches that Jesus was a descendant of King David through his “father” Joseph. Joseph legally adopted Jesus when he agreed to marry the pregnant Mary. By Hebrew law and custom, an adopted son still has the legal rights as an heir. For example, if a king has no sons, and adopts a son, that son is legitimately the “prince” until the king dies.

iii) The Gospel of Luke teaches that Jesus was also a descendant of King David through Mary. The lineage goes a different route through a different grandson of King David. Remember that David lived roughly a thousand years before Christ. Therefore, Joseph and Mary were very distant cousins, but a thousand years of different lineages.

e) Again, the purpose of all of this is validation. When Romans was written, the temple in Jerusalem was standing. Among the items in the temple were detailed genealogies of the descendants of David. One could go to this “library” and validate the claims that Jesus was a descendant of David. Both Matthew and Luke did their homework.

13. Verse 4: and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

a) Verse 2 dealt with God the Father.

b) Verse 3 dealt with God the Son.

c) Verse 4 now deals with God the Holy Spirit.

d) The Holy Spirit is probably the most difficult part of the Trinity to explain and study. Part of the problem is that the job of the Holy Spirit is to give the glory to God the Father and God the Son. Therefore, the Holy Spirit stays in the background. You can’t find scriptures of anyone ever praying to the Holy Spirit. Yet there are Scriptures where we are encouraged to “get the Holy Spirit” involved in our prayer life.

e) So how we do know the Holy Spirit is part of the Trinity?

i) Let’s look at the first reference to Him in the New Testament:

a) This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18 NIV)

b) The New King James Version says, “child of the Holy Spirit”

c) Somehow, someway, The Holy Spirit got the seed of God the Father into the womb of Mary. That’s a pretty good argument for deity. ☺

d) Even in the NIV, Matthew 1:20 says the child is “from the Holy Spirit”. It doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit was a messenger delivering Jesus to Mary. The text means the Holy Spirit is part of the deity of God.

f) Let’s get back to Romans. Paul’s point in this verse is that the Holy Spirit who declared that Jesus was the Son of God and resurrected from the dead.

i) Remember that the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify God. Specifically, a function of Holy Spirit works through believers to declare Jesus as God.

ii) Let me give another illustration. Jesus one day asked Peter “who am I?” Peter answered that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus then told Peter that you yourself did not say this on your own, but God worked through you to declare this statement. (My paraphrase of Matthew 16:17). My point here is that secretly, invisibly, the Holy Spirit gives us the power and the ability to understand and accept the resurrection of Jesus as fact and the fact He is the Son of God.

g) Remember why Paul is stating all of this. Paul had never been to Rome. Paul had never been to the Roman Christian church. Therefore, Paul wanted to make sure that this church has its “theological ducks in a row”. (That’s a cliché that means he wanted to make sure they had their facts straight.)

h) Paul continues his thoughts on the Holy Spirit in Verse 5.

14. Verse 5: Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

a) Congratulations, we have actually made it to a period in a sentence. ☺ Technically, some translations don’t have the period until after Verse 6. The first word of Verse 6 is “and”, indicating that Paul is continuing his thoughts in the next sentence.

b) In Verse 5, we have a purpose of the Holy Spirit: To receive God’s grace and apostleship. Again, “apostle” means to be a messenger. We are messengers to tell people about Jesus.