The Letter to the Romans

THE MAGNIFICENT CREDENTIALS   Read Romans 1:1-7

   Paul does not extend greetings simply by explaining how he happened to be writing — he sets off a blast of trumpets! He is qualified to write the Roman Christians because he has received grace and apostleship from God himself through the risen Christ. There is no flattery here, no soft-soap, no avalanche of Greek rhetoric. His words have the royal ring of simplicity; they breath dignity and confidence. The Romans are God's noblemen, called saints, called of Jesus Christ. The letter begins with height signaling to mountain height and deep calling unto deep.

THE IMMEDIATE REASON FOR WRITING   Read Romans 1:8-17

   Now Paul's aim is clear: he wishes to share in person with the Christians of Rome some spiritual gift, in order that they may be established. But he is not haughtily setting himself up as a spiritual "giant." He considers himself to only be doing his part. He expects to receive blessings as well as to share, if and when God permits him to visit Rome.

   Yet he will not hide behind the cloak of false humility. He is not ashamed of the gospel, and he intends to proclaim it, since it is nothing less than the power of God unto salvation; that is, it can make men righteous before God by faith.

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THE STARK URGENCY OF THE SITUATION   Read 1:18-25

   Perhaps the Romans are not aware that ungodliness and unrighteousness are not only keeping mankind from fellowship with God, but are bringing down his wrath on human heads. They should be aware of it, for the hand of God is clearly seen everywhere if men would only take the trouble to look. There is no excuse for men who blindly take the honor and worship due to God and lavish it on creatures — themselves.

THE UGLY TRUTH MUST BE FACED   Read 1:26-32

   When men ignore God, of course, they go from bad to worse morally, and God judges them first of all by giving them up to their sins; the jealous man has to live with himself, the filthy man with his filth. And down the toboggan man goes, below the animal level, until he violates the order of nature and rots in the stench of his reprobate mind. He is of no earthly use to God or himself and is only worthy of death.

IF THE SHOE FITS PUT IT ON   Read 2:1-11

   If you have been nodding in agreement, be careful — some of you are doing the same thing and thinking you will escape because you have special status with God. You forget that with him there is no partiality. Why should you be spared? If you decide for eternal life in word and deed, it is yours; but if you choose to disregard God's truth for the self-launching, self-orbiting life of sinful man, you are building up your own backlog of tribulation and anguish.

THE LAW OF THE HEART   Read 2:12-29

   God gave his ten commandments to the Hebrew people through Moses, but that fact alone will not save a man. It is not hearing or having the law that counts, but living by it. You don't have to be a Hebrew to know the law of the heart, for God has given it to all men, and they can either keep it or break it.

   As for the Hebrew, it certainly doesn't make much sense if he makes his boast of God, and pretends to be an instructor and teacher

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and a light to those who are in darkness, and then turns around and breaks the very Law he is supposed to uphold. Yet that is just what is happening and the very name of God is blasphemed through you. The Hebrew can talk all he wants about circumcision; the real circumcision is that of the heart. God chooses his people not by race or ritual but by righteousness.

WE'RE ALL IN IT TOGETHER   Read 3:1-23

   To be of Hebrew origin is, of course, a great honor, for it was to Israel that God committed the Old Testament scriptures. However, some take God's faithful promises to Israel to imply that any good Jew is exempt from God's judgment upon sin. This is tortuous reasoning; the blunt truth is that nobody is exempt — Jews and Gentiles are all under sin [Proverbs 30:6, Psalm 51:4, Psalm 98:9, Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Psalm 5:9, Psalm 140:3, Psalm 10:7, Isaiah 59:7, Psalm 36:1]. In the full light of God's righteousness, distinction doesn't matter. No one is "better"; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

BUT THERE IS A WAY OUT   Read 3:24-31

   The only way any person can be declared righteous before God is through the faith of Jesus Christ, who died for us upon the cross, shedding his blood so that our sins might be forgiven and our lives might be justified freely by his grace. And since it is Christ's righteousness that brings this to pass, all man's boasting of his own status or achievement is neatly punctured. Even to be born under the Hebrew law is meaningless, for this is not a question of national law but of personal faith.

HERE IS THE VALIDATION   Read 4:1-17

   Let's prove the point by going back of the law, clear to the early days of the patriarchs. How was Abraham our father made right before his Lord? We are told that he believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness; in other words, all that he needed was faith — not heredity, or noble deeds, or tradition, or law — to make him fit for God's sight. God rewarded the man's faith by declaring him righteous. The rite of circumcision was

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simply a seal proclaiming the fact that he had already been justified, and designated Abraham the father of all believers — mark this — whether they are circumcised or not.

   It must be by faith alone, because if salvation could come to us any other way — for example, as a hand-me-down from our fathers — then how could it be said to be by grace, and to what end did Christ die? Don't get the idea that God shows partiality. On the contrary, he is gracious and is concerned with all his creatures, not just with those who happen to get the "breaks" of life.

JUST ONE THING IS NEEDED   Read 4:18-25

   Abraham had one great asset: he was strong in faith. In the matter of Sarah's pregnancy he was taxed beyond credulity, yet he never doubted God's promise. Abraham decided that if God had made a commitment, he was able also to fulfill it, and it was precisely Abraham's kind of faith that God could use, so it was imputed to Abraham for righteousness.

   What God worked for Abraham, he will work for us also, for we believe that he raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. We don't have to worry about God holding our offenses against us. What he did for his Son by the resurrection, he has promised to do through his Son for us.

WHO WOULDN'T REJOICE AT THIS?   Read 5:1-11

   The glorious upshot is that not only do we have peace with God, we stand in a favorable relationship to him. Along with our rejoicing, of course, we have tribulations — who hasn't? — but here's the difference: we look on our troubles as testings that give us necessary experience in Christian living.

   We aren't forgetting that it was just when things were darkest — while we were yet sinners — that Christ died for us. So instead of being the Lord's enemies, we're his friends and have joy in God.

SIN IS STRONG, BUT GRACE IS STRONGER   Read 5:12-21

   With or without law, you must remember that the whole human race was lost in sin, due to the transgression of our first parent,

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and that death ruled from Adam to Moses. That covers a lot of territory, and yet what God is now offering — the free gift of his grace in Jesus Christ — covers that much and more territory and is much more abounding.

   For whereas Adam's sin of disobedience brought death to all, Christ's obedience in suffering and death brought the grace of God, righteousness and eternal life to all who believe.

WE CANNOT OUTWIT GOD   Read 6:1-13

   What shall we say then? That God encourages us to sin so that he can forgive us? That would be a travesty of the gospel! Besides, if we are dead to sin, how can we live in it? That is what baptism means — our sins are buried, our old man is crucified — we are finished with that old life for good. Now we are alive unto God, but it is a different kind of life, a life in Christ. We are not to permit sin to control our bodies, but are to keep them in an attitude of yieldedness as implements for God to use.

FOR WHOM ARE YOU WORKING, ANYWAY?   Read 6:14-23

   Now if you yield yourself to someone, you become that man's slave; he has you where he wants you. Under the law you were all in a fix, slaves to sin; but under grace you have heard the gospel and have obeyed it, and so now you are free — to be holy and righteous, and to serve God. See that you stay that way! Did your sins ever bring you real satisfaction? Of course not. The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life — through Christ.

CALVARY FREED US FROM THE LAW   Read 7:1-6

   Look at it another way: a good Hebrew is expected to live under Hebrew law until he dies, is he not? And when he dies, his wife is free of her marriage vow. But that same law put Christ to death, did it not? So that every man who belongs to Christ is now dead to the law and therefore free. He can begin to serve God in newness of spirit.

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NOW CHRIST SAVES US FROM SIN   Read 7:7-25

   Don't get the idea that the law in sinful. The law is holy and just and good. If it weren't for the law, you and I wouldn't know what sin is; it took the law to expose the ugly truth that each of us is carnal, sold under sin. How do I know this? It is simple enough: take my own example. I want to do what is right, but I find myself not doing it. I want to avoid evil, but I find myself doing the very things I hate. In other words I appear to have two natures, each battling against the other, with the yearning toward goodness always on the losing side. What a wretched state for a man to be in! Is there any hope of deliverance? Yes, there is, thank God.

SO WE STAND UNCONDEMNED   Read 8:1-13

   The good news of the gospel is that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, rescued his law from the dilemma in which sin placed it, and re-established it as the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Our Lord did this by his sacrifice on the cross and by his resurrection from the dead. He did it for our sakes, that we might be made right with God and might walk henceforth not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, as free men, unjudged and uncondemned by any law.

WHAT AN INHERITANCE IS OURS!   Read 8:14-22

   If we have Christ, then we have his Spirit, and we have life, and the heavenly Father adopts us as his children. So we become heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. This means we can expect suffering just as our Lord faced it; but what is that, compared with the glory to be revealed to us? The whole universe is really in bondage and suffering and corruption, waiting and hoping for the glorious liberty of the children of God.

WE ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE   Read 8:23-39

   Meanwhile, we are to be patient, and to rest in hope, and to lean on the Holy Spirit, who helps our weaknesses, and even prays through us when we find our prayer life confused. For

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those who love God, everything ultimately works out. Are we not in his prearranged plan, and do we not have his word and promise? Then what are we worrying about? Who can be against us? God is our judge, not man, and God is for us: he proved it by giving us his Son. So face the facts: nothing can ever separate us from Jesus, while through him we become champions — and more!

BUT WHAT ABOUT ISRAEL?   Read 9:1-16

   Nevertheless, this glorious gospel that binds us to Christ is not for us alone; we are to share it. And it is my continual sorrow that the Israelites, my kinsmen according to the flesh, have failed to receive it. God gave Israel so many advantages to start with, and his own Son was born an Israelite. We should remember, however, that God does not call his own those who are children of Abraham after the flesh, but rather those who are children of the promise: that is, children who have received God's promise of eternal life. Otherwise we are back in the boasting business again. God shows mercy and compassion wherever he wishes and to whom he wishes.

GOD KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING   Read 9:17-33

   At the same time he hardens hearts where he wants to, and we are pretty foolish to call him to task about it — it is like the clay talking back to the potter. We can contend that we are not at fault because nobody can resist his will, but the truth is that God has been very patient with men who have turned against him, in order to make known the riches of his glory to all of us, whether Israelite or Gentile.

   Hosea and Isaiah, the great prophets of Israel, declared centuries ago that God was going to sift Israel until only a remnant was left. And now it has come to pass: through faith in Jesus Christ, the pagan Gentiles have attained to righteousness; while Israel, seeking to be saved by the works of the law, has stumbled.

ISRAEL MISSED THE POINT   Read 10:1-11

   I keep on praying for my brethren, that they might be saved, even though they have not submitted themselves to Christ.

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Their failure in this matter is due to their ignorance of the way God makes people right — that is, the way he establishes fellowship with them. The word of faith we preach is not that we lift ourselves up to heaven by zealously keeping the commandments. It is really much simpler: if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved. God wants our hearts to have faith, and he wants our lips to speak that faith unashamedly.

SO THE GOSPEL HAS GONE TO OTHERS   Read 10:12-21

   This gospel is universal and applies to the Jew and the Greek alike; the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. Now, it is most important that this message be preached to the Israelites, for how can they be expected to believe in Christ if they have not heard of him? Yet as we study the scriptures we see that in a sense Israel has always known the word of God. Moses predicted that other nations would respond if Israel did not, and Isaiah boldly described his people as disobedient, and suggested that God would reveal himself to those who were not even looking for him.

ALL IS NOT YET LOST   Read 11:1-6

   From what I have written, you might imagine that God has cast away his people, but it is not so. Remember that I, Paul, am also an Israelite, and I am far from being the only one God has chosen. In Elijah's day the Lord kept a remnant for himself, and by the grace of God the same thing is happening today.

GOD CAN SAVE JEW AND GENTILE   Read 11:7-24

   When Israel as a nation turned from Christ, God used this act of stumbling, first of all, to bring about the reconciliation of the Gentiles to himself, thereby spreading the riches of his love far and wide. And what if Israel did fall! Does that mean she is lost? After all, is not ours a God who raises the dead? You Gentiles were a wild olive tree, yet God grafted you to a natural olive tree through the gospel. Can he not also graft back to that same olive tree the good Hebrew branches that were broken off because of unbelief?

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   It is a mistake to assume that God has rejected Israel so that he might welcome the Gentiles. Don't boast, friends; if God can bring salvation to wild Gentile branches, he can bring it to natural Hebrew branches too — if they abide not still in unbelief.

HIS PLAN IS RICH IN MERCY   Read 11:25-36

   Scripture suggests, in fact, that Israel will only remain blind toward the gospel until the fulness of the Gentiles come in. When the blindness of unbelief is transformed into faith, the wonderful riches of God's mercy will be revealed fully. Oh, how deep is his wisdom, how unsearchable are his ways! The more we study them the more we see that, in the final sense, everything is from him and through him; yes, and to him.

WHAT THEN IS OUR PART?   Read 12:1-3

   I ask you to forget trying to imitate the world, and rather to present your bodies as a living sacrifice of service to God. In his sight, none of us has the right to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. We should be yielding both body and mind completely into his hands, and testing his will through the experience of doing it.

LET'S GET TO WORK FOR HIM    Read 12:4-8

   We ought to realize that not every man has the same measure of faith. To be sure, we all belong to Christ and to each other, yet our gifts differ according to the grace given us. The important thing is to use well what he has given us, whether in ministering, or teaching, or giving, or ruling, or works of mercy.

IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT    Read 12:9-21

   In each capacity let us serve as Christ taught us, with spirits that are loving, straightforward, compliant, diligent, fervent, humble, patient, prayerful, generous and hospitable. Share each other's joys and sorrows. Your life among other men — regardless of who they may be — is to be open, honorable and peaceful. If you have a score to settle, let the Lord do it for you, as he has

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promised to do. Never return evil for evil, but rather seek to overcome evil with good.

LIVE CIRCUMSPECTLY   Read 13:1-14

   Being Christians, we should place ourselves under the authority of the present government, for it is operating with divine sanction. Only evildoers need to be in terror of the civil authority. With us obedience is not something compelled by fear, but it is a matter of conscience, honor and citizenship.

   Keep free of all human obligations except the one supreme obligation to love your fellow man. While you observe the commandments, don't forget that our Lord, in summarizing them, said, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," for the demands of the law are fulfilled through love. Remember too that we are rushing toward the end of time, and we need to walk honestly, not seeking to gratify our lower physical desires, but rather clothing ourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is for us the armor of light.

BUILD UP THE WEAK   Read 14:1-23

   In every church varying views are held among the membership. Some folk are weaker than others; some observe different days and practice different diets. We ought to welcome and greet them all, and not make major issues out of nonessentials. None of us lives to himself, but living or dead we all belong to God. There is nothing to be gained by judging each other, for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Even if it is true that there is nothing unclean of itself, we should avoid making occasions of stumbling for weaker brethren.

   Keep your habits above criticism, for the kingdom of God is not habits and practices, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. If your faith is strong, don't flaunt it, keep it to yourself, and use your strength to follow the things which make for peace and build up your weaker brother.

CHRIST SET THE EXAMPLE   Read 15:1-7

   If we patiently put up with the infirmities of the weak and go out of our way to please our neighbor, the scriptures show us that we are then following the example of Christ Jesus and giving glory to God.

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WHY I DARE TO WRITE   Read 15:8-33

   Jesus Christ's ministry was to the Jews in order to order to establish the truth of God and to confirm the promises made to the fathers. It was to the Gentiles in order that they might glorify God for his mercy. I am aware that you know this, and that you have the ability as well as the godly qualities, to conduct the affairs of your church. But I have written the more boldly that you might understand the grace that is given to me of God and my own qualifications as a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

   I, Paul, will not claim one thing that Christ did not do by me, but I will say that he has used me and empowered me to preach the gospel to the Gentiles from Jerusalem clear around Illyricum.

GREETINGS AND FINAL ADMONITION   Read 16:1-27

   I want you to take good care of Phoebe, who bears this letter, and to extend greetings to my many friends in the church at Rome: to Priscilla, Aquila, Epaenetus, Mary and all the rest.

   Don't think me presumptuous (for your Christian integrity is well known), but I would suggest that you avoid those who like to argue about religion. Use your knowledge to discern the good and shun the evil with childlike simplicity.

   My friends send their greetings. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

   After you have read the above, compare it with the Letter to the Romans in your own New Testament, and with some modern translation. Look up each reference to the Old Testament. You will want to examine especially carefully chapters 1,3,5 and 12. Then see if you can answer the question, "How can a person become righteous before God?"

   While making the transition from chapters 7 to 8, read John 3:1-5 and see whether it does not clarify Paul's contention. Also, for understanding our approach to other Christians, few passages are more important than chapter 14. Range through the whole letter until you feel at home in it. Paul wrote to Rome, but the Holy Spirit has directed this letter to us all. Suggest to some of your Christian friends that you get together and study Romans once a week. If you are already in a Bible class, perhaps you can take up this book. Where you find difficult passages, mark them and bring them up for discussion but don't restrict yourself to them.

   Remember that you are now studying the most important letter ever written. Paul's Letter to the Romans has changed the course of history not once, but several times. Karl Barth's commentary on Romans, published in 1918, stirred a theological revival in Europe in our own day. No one can read this letter carefully and ever be the same again. God bless you in your own study of His marvelous Word.

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