Romans 01

(1) This letter is from *Paul, a **slave of Christ Jesus, ***chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

• *Paul: His Hebrew name was Saul. The name "Paul" was Roman. Paul's name heads all his epistles, except Hebrews.
• **slave: The proper meaning of this word servant (doulos) is slave, one who is owned or indebted to another or subservient to superior.
• ***chosen by God indicates that he had not assumed the office himself, but that he was set apart to it by the authority of Christ himself.
  • Galatians 1:15: But then something happened! For it pleased God in his kindness to choose me and call me, even before I was born! What undeserved mercy!

(2) God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.

(3) The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King *David’s family line,

• *David’s family line: The promise to him was, that there should not fail a man to sit on his throne, 1 Kings 2:4; 8:25; 9:5; 2 Chronicles 6:16. This ancient promise was understood as referring to the Messiah; and hence in the New Testament he is called the descendant of David, and so much pains is taken to show that he was of his line, Luke 1:27; Matthew 9:27; 15:22; 12:23; 21:9; 22:42,45; John 7:42; 2 Titus 2:8. The Jews universally believed that the Messiah would be descended from David.

(4) and he was shown to be the *Son of God when he was **raised from the dead by the ***power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

• *Son of God:
  • Matthew 11:27: "My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."
  • John 1:14: So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
  • John 5:16-23: So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, "My Father never stops working, so why should I?" So the Jewish leaders tried all the more to kill him. In addition to disobeying the Sabbath rules, he had spoken of God as his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. Jesus replied, "I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and tells him everything he is doing, and the Son will do far greater things than healing this man. You will be astonished at what he does. He will even raise from the dead anyone he wants to, just as the Father does. And the Father leaves all judgment to his Son, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. But if you refuse to honor the Son, then you are certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.
  • Hebrews 1: Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. The Son reflects God's own glory, and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven. This shows that God's Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is far greater than their names. For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus: "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. " And again God said, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son." And then, when he presented his honored Son to the world, God said, "Let all the angels of God worship him." God calls his angels "messengers swift as the wind, and servants made of flaming fire." But to his Son he says, "Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal power is expressed in righteousness. You love what is right and hate what is wrong. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else." And, "Lord, in the beginning you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will roll them up like an old coat. They will fade away like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will never grow old." And God never said to an angel, as he did to his Son, "Sit in honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet." But angels are only servants. They are spirits sent from God to care for those who will receive salvation.
  • 2 Peter 1:17: And he received honor and glory from God the Father when God's glorious, majestic voice called down from heaven, "This is my beloved Son; I am fully pleased with him."
• **raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit: When God raised Him up, therefore, it was not an ordinary event. It was a public attestation, in the face of the universe, of the truth of his claims to be the Son of God. The resurrection is proof and pledge hat His purposes will be fulfilled.
  • Acts 17:31: For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead."
• ***power: dunamis (where we get our words "dynamite", dynamic", "dynamo").

(5) Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.

(6) And you are included among those *Gentiles who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ.

• *Gentiles:
  • Romans 11:13: I am saying all of this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I lay great stress on this,
  • Galatians 3:28: There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female. For you are all Christians -- you are one in Christ Jesus.

(7) I am writing to all of you in Rome who are loved by God and are called to be his own *holy people. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

• *holy people: "saints" - hagios. God says we're saints (sanctified ones), not the Pope! Man's religion tries to elevate men and give them grandiose titles.

(8) Let me say first that I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith in him is being talked about all over the world.

(9) God knows how often I pray for you. Day and night I bring you and your needs in prayer to God, whom I serve with all my heart by spreading the Good News about his Son.

(10) One of the things I always pray for is the opportunity, God willing, to come at last to see you.

(11) For I long to visit you so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord.

(12) When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

(13) I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to visit you, but I was prevented until now. I want to work among you and see spiritual fruit, just as I have seen among other Gentiles.

(14) For I have a great sense of obligation to people in both the civilized world and the rest of the world, to the educated and uneducated alike.

(15) So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.

(16) For I am not *ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes - **the Jew first and also the Gentile.

• *ashamed:
  • The Christians in Rome were not the wealthy or powerful; in fact, many were slaves. Yet, Christ overcame even powerful, boastful Roman empire. Every Roman citizen was patriotic and proud he was Roman - all others were inferior. Sound familiar?
  • 2 Timothy 1:12: And that is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return.
• **the Jew first: During the Acts period, the Gospel went first to the Jew.
  • Mark 7:27: Jesus told her, "First I should help my own family, the Jews. It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs."
  • Acts 13:46-48: Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, "It was necessary that this Good News from God be given first to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life -- well, we will offer it to Gentiles. For this is as the Lord commanded us when he said, 'I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.' " When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were appointed to eternal life became believers.
  • Acts 16:13: On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we supposed that some people met for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had come together.
  • Acts 17:1-3,10; 18:4,8,19; 19:8; 28:17-28: Now Paul and Silas traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he interpreted the Scriptures to the people. He was explaining and proving the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his rising from the dead. He said, "This Jesus I'm telling you about is the Messiah." ... That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the synagogue. ... Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. ... Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and all his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also became believers and were baptized. ... When they arrived at the port of Ephesus, Paul left the others behind. But while he was there, he went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews. ... Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. ...Three days after Paul's arrival, he called together the local Jewish leaders. He said to them, "Brothers, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Roman government, even though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors. The Romans tried me and wanted to release me, for they found no cause for the death sentence. But when the Jewish leaders protested the decision, I felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no desire to press charges against my own people. I asked you to come here today so we could get acquainted and so I could tell you that I am bound with this chain because I believe that the hope of Israel -- the Messiah -- has already come." They replied, "We have heard nothing against you. We have had no letters from Judea or reports from anyone who has arrived here. But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about these Christians is that they are denounced everywhere." So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul's house. He told them about the Kingdom of God and taught them about Jesus from the Scriptures -- from the five books of Moses and the books of the prophets. He began lecturing in the morning and went on into the evening. Some believed and some didn't. But after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to our ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 'Go and say to my people, You will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes -- so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' So I want you to realize that this salvation from God is also available to the Gentiles, and they will accept it."

(17) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, *“It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

• *“It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”: This is the theme of Romans - the key verse! Romans 1:18-3:20 develops Paul's argument that no one can claim to be saved by their own works (see Ephesians 2:8-9).
  • Habakkuk 2:4: "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith.
  • Galatians 3:2,11: Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the law? Of course not, for the Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. ... Consequently, it is clear that no one can ever be right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."
  • Hebrews 10:38: And a righteous person will live by faith. But I will have no pleasure in anyone who turns away."
  • Ephesians 2:8-9: God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
  • Philippians 3:8-9: Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

(18) But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

(19) They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

(20) For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

(21) Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

(22) Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools.

(23) And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

(24) So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies.

(25) They traded the truth about God for a *lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

• *lie:
  • 2 Thessalonians 2:11: So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies
  • John 8:44: For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

(26) That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other.

(27) And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

• Alexander the Great is very well known to be bisexual. Homosexuality was common in the Greek and Roman bathhouses. A frieze at the Suburban Baths in Pompeii shows a series of sixteen sex scenes, including a male-male and a female-female couple, and same-sex pairings within scenes of group sex. Some Roman men kept a male concubine before they married a woman. Within the hierarchy of household slaves, the male concube held a special status that was threatened by the introduction of a wife. Hadrian (76 AD – 138 AD) was the first leader of Rome to make it clear that he was gay. Tacitus (56-117 AD), the great Roman historian, wrote of the shameful sexual exploits of a string of Roman emperors from Tiberius to Nero. The Christians there and in most of the empire found themselves in a pagan culture where there were few restrictions on sexuality at all - a culture that looks increasingly like ours.

(28) Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.

(29) Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip.

(30) They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.

(31) They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy.

(32) They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

• Our movies, movie stars, TV shows all seem to encourage this kind of behavior.
• 2 Timothy 3:1-5: You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at romansoverview.blogspot.com/2012/12/romans-references.html