A. IMPACT OF THIS EPISTLE
1. "When anyone gains a knowledge of this Epistle he has an entrance opened to him to all the most hidden treasures of Scripture." - John Calvin
2. "Time and again in the course of human history it has liberated the minds of men, brought them back to an understanding of the essential gospel of Christ, and started spiritual revolutions." - F.F. Bruce
3. "Augustine, a young man living in the 4th century, was distinguished for his brilliant mind, but he lived a life of unbridled immorality and licentiousness and had given himself to the exposition of pagan philosophy. But one day he heard some children playing. As part of their game, they repeated the refrain -- tolle lege, tolle lege -- literally, "take up and read, take up and read." These words seemed to grab Augustine, and he walked to where he could find a manuscript. The first that his eyes fell upon was a manuscript of the New Testament. As he let the page fall open randomly, it opened to a portion of Romans:
...not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery...Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think abouthow to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:13-14)
Augustine was seized with a sense of conviction for his sin as the Holy Spirit used those words to cut into the quick of the young man's heart. This was the conversion experience of the man many regard as the greatest saint of the first thousand years of the church." - R.C. Sproul: "Interact." Tabletalk, February 1989
4. "During his early years, whenever Luther came to the famous 'Reformation text' - Romans 1:17 -his eyes were drawn not to the word faith, but to the word righteous. Who, after all, could 'live by faith'? Only those who were already righteous. The text was clear on the matter: 'the righteous shall live by faith.'
Luther remarked, 'I hated that word, "the righteousness of God," by which I had been taught according to the custom and use of all teachers....[that] God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner.' The young Luther could not live by faith because he was not righteous, and he knew it."
'I was seized with the conviction that I must understand [Paul's] letter to the Romans...but to that moment one phrase in chapter 1 stood in my way. I hated the idea, "in it the righteousness of God is revealed"...I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners.... At last, meditating day and night and by the mercy of God, I...began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith...Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through gates that had been flung open.' - James M. Kittelson: "The Accidental Revolutionary." Christian History, Issue 34 (Vol. XI, No.2)
5. "On May 24, 1738, a discouraged missionary went 'very unwillingly' to a religious meeting in London. There a miracle took place. 'About a quarter before nine,' he wrote in his journal, 'I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.'
That missionary was John Wesley. The message he heard that evening was the preface to Martin Luther's commentary on Romans. Just a few months before, Wesley wrote in his journal: 'I went to America to convert the Indians; but Oh! who shall convert me?' That evening in Aldersgate Street, his question was answered. And the result was the great Wesleyan Revival that swept England and transformed the nation." - Warren W. Wiersbe: Be Right
B. NOTES ON THE AUTHOR OF THE EPISTLE
The Epistle to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul. There is little scholarly debate on this point. He was born Saul to prominent Jewish parents -- at about the same time as the birth of Christ -- in the cosmopolitan city of Tarsus, in Cilicia (modern-day Turkey). Tarsus, a Roman colony, was well- regarded as a city of international culture. As a male born in a Roman colony to a family that owned property there, Paul was privileged to hold Roman citizenship, a status that allowed for unlimited travel and strictly-protected civil rights. As an intelligent son of devout Hebrew parents, he was sent as a teenager to live in Jerusalem, where he was tutored by the foremost rabbi of the time, Gamaliel, of the sect of Pharisees. Saul, too, became one of the "Separated Ones" who felt that God had set them apart to live strictly by the Torah -- the Law of Moses. Their precise observance of the Law included adherence to the staggering volume of interpretations which had been written down and attached to the Torah by generations of Jewish scholars. This is why the Pharisees so opposed Jesus. He infuriated them by interpreting the Law uniquely and teaching His interpretations "as one having authority." When some began to hail Jesus as the Messiah ("Promised One"), they sought actively to have Him quieted, eventually plotting His death.
After Jesus was crucified, the Pharisees sought to weed out His remaining disciples. Saul, now a leading Pharisee in Jerusalem, helped to lead that effort. We get our first Biblical glimpse of him in Acts 7:58, as he witnesses the murder of Stephen. The persecution of the Christians intensified at that time, and Saul's role is recorded in the brief Scriptural account in Acts 8:1-3 [NKJV]:
Now Saul was consenting to [Stephen's] death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him.
As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.
It was while he was on his way to Damascas for the purpose of continuing his persecution of the Christians there that Saul had his Magnanimous Moment with Jesus Christ. It is recorded in Acts 9:1-8, and I encourage you to read that passage this week. Acts 9:10-30 contains the record of Saul's life immediately after his conversion on the road to Damascas.
- He spent some time in Damascas in the home of Ananias -- where he was baptized -- and in the company of other believers (9:10-19). He may have remained in Damascas for as long as three years (Galatians 1:17-18).
- He did his first preaching in the synagogues there, "amazing" the believers and angering the non-believing Jews there to the point that they plotted his assassination (9:20-23). He narrowly escaped death with the help of his Christian friends (9:24-25).
- He returned to Jerusalem to a skeptical Christian community, but was befriended by Barnabas, who became his constant companion for many years. Paul's own record of his return to Jerusalem indicates that he also met Peter and James there (Galatians 1:18-19). Again, a plot against his life was foiled by his friends, who got him to Caesarea and from there sent him back to his family in Tarsus.
- Saul is not mentioned again in Luke's narrative until Acts 11:25, when we learn that Barnabas went to Tarsus for the purpose of taking him to Antioch. Paul's personal comments regarding these "silent" years are condensed to a single reference in Galatians 1:21-24. Some scholars believe he remained in and around Cilicia for as long as seven years.
- It is understood that Saul embarked upon three separate missionary journeys. The first trip, on which he was accompanied by his dear friend Barnabas and his nephew, John Mark, took him to Cyprus and Galatia, and lasted perhaps two years. It was during this trip, as he began his ministry among the Gentiles, that Saul began to use the Greek form of his name: Paul. Upon their return to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas learned that their ministry had come under criticism by some prominent Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. They were accused of disobeying God by not requiring their many Gentile converts to fully embrace all the tenets of the Law of Moses, particularly the circumcision of males. Acts 15:1-29 contains the record of the Jerusalem Council to which Paul and Barnabas were summoned. Paul's stirring defense of his doctrine the critical endorsement of Paul and his unique ministry are included in this passage. By Paul's account, the episode occurred fourteen years after his conversion.
- Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch to deliver the news of the decree issued by the Jerusalem Council and afterward began planning their second missionary trip. They had a sharp falling out over the performance and potential of John Mark (Acts 15:36-39) and parted ways. While Barnabas and John Mark sailed for Cyprus, Silas and some others accompanied Paul on his four-year long second journey, planting churches in Asia, Macedonia, and Greece.
- After a brief trips back to Jerusalem and Antioch, Paul left for his third missionary journey, this time traveling to Ephesus and again through Macedonia to Corinth, where he had planted a church during his second journey. He stayed there about three months, living in the home of Gaius (Romans 16:23). It seems likely that while there Paul wrote the Epistle to the church at Rome. The date of letter has been set between AD 57-59, or about twenty-five years after his conversion on the Damascas road.
C. The Purpose of the Letter to the Church at Rome
Paul's purpose in writing a letter to the believers living in Rome included notification of his intention to finally visit them, but not until after another quick trip back to Jerusalem and a fourth missionary journey, this one to the western frontier of the Roman Empire in Spain. The content of this magnificent letter, of course, also reveals that he had much more on his mind than an itinerary. The profound doctrinal teaching in Romans indicates that he was being inspired by the Holy Spirit to write down the full exposition of the Christian gospel. Recent manuscript work by New Testament scholars suggests the possibility that the theological bulk of this Epistle -- with specific references to the church at Rome removed -- was copied and distributed throughout the Empire.
Whatever his reasons, we can rejoice that Paul was used of God to pen the Epistle which has had such a vast impact on the church down through the corridors of time.
D. TEXT: Romans 1:1-17
1. The first verse of the letter reveals four essentials about the apostle Paul.
a. re: his n __ __ __
(1) Contrary to what many think, Saul did not experience a name change in the dramatic fashion of Abram, Sarai, Jacob and Simon.
(2) "Paul" is, quite simply, the Greek version of the Hebrew name "Saul." (It may well be that Saul was named after Israel's first k __ __ __, the most famous member of the tribe into which Saul was born -- B __ __ __ __ __ __ __.
(3) L __ __ __, the writer of the book of Acts, introduces Saul's Gentile name to his readers rather matter-of-factly in Acts 13:9.
b. re: his c __ __ __ __ __ __
(1) The Greek noun which is translated in the New Testament as "a __ __ __ __ __ __" means "emissary," or "one sent with the full authority of the sender."
(2) If Peter, or Bartholomew, or John, or any other of the 12 d __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jesus, were to claim to be an apostle, no one would have blinked an eye. Everyone knew that they had virtually lived with Jesus during His earthly ministry and most were certain that they had seen Him after His resurrection.
"His audience understood, as contemporary believers sometimes do not, that in making this claim [of apostleship] Paul was announcing that he met the requirements which would qualify him to be an apostle." - R.C. Sproul: "One Who Has Seen; One Who Is Sent." Tabletalk, February 198
(3) An apostle of Christ:
- was sent by Jesus -- commissioned by Him personally (Matthew 28:19-20)
- was sent having had the a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jesus transferred to him, made evident by the signs of an apostle:
a. m __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 Corinthians 2:12; Hebrews 2:3-4)
b. great f __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ in ministry (1 Corinthians 9:2)
- was a d __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of Jesus and an e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of His resurrection (Acts 1:21)
(4) To some peoples' minds, Paul's claim of apostleship was fraudulent. To many others, this claim can be verified.
- He had seen Christ on the Damascas road and had been commissioned by the r __ __ __ __ Lord (Acts 26:16-18).
- His extraordinarily fruitful ministry was accompanied by s __ __ __ __ and w __ __ __ __ __ __ (2 Corinthians 2:12).
- He was openly accepted as an apostle by J __ __ __ __, P __ __ __ __, and J __ __ __ (Galatians 2:9).
"Even though Paul's call was dramatic and extraordinary, he could not begin his ministry until he was first received and endorsed by the rest of the Twelve, whose credentials were not in any way in question. It is theoretically possible for someone today to make the claim that God has called him directly and immediately to be an apostle. Joseph Smith did and started Mormonism. But it is impossible for that person to meet the biblical requirements for an apostle and to have his claim substantiated, corroborated, and confirmed by other apostles. The apostles have all passed from the historical scene. Just as the prophets were the agents of revelation in the Old Testament, so the apostles were God's spokespersons in the New Testament." - R.C. Sproul: "One Who Has Seen; One Who Is Sent." Tabletalk, February 1989
c. re: his r __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ with Christ
(1) The Greek word rendered in the KJV as "slave" and in the NIV as "servant" is doulos. Its most common translation is "slave."
(2) In the ancient world a servant was a hired employee who could come and go as he or she pleased. A servant could quit! But a slave ("doulos") was owned -- lock, stock and barrel -- by his or her master (Greek "kurios" -- more often rendered "lord").
(3) We who are Christians are not v __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __; we have been p __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
....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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
d. re: his p __ __ __ __ in the world
(1) Paul, when speaking of his having been "s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ to the gospel of God, could have chosen to pinpoint the moment of that separation to conversion on the Damascas road or to the precise moment at which he and Barnabas had been called out of the church at Antioch to begin their missionary ministry (Acts 13:2). As Paul understood his Spiritual destiny, these events -- wonderful as each was -- came in the midst of the call on his life given long before he was even born -- his divine e __ __ __ __ __ __ __. As he wrote to the Galatian Christians:
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles..... (Galatians 1:15-16a)
One of the many great Christian doctrines expounded in the book of Romans is that of election and predestination. We will surely consider Paul's teaching on the subject at length, God willing.
(2) The Pharisees were terribly wrong-headed in their sincere effort to live their lives as "separated" unto God. They tried to accomplish a status of righteousness by careful observation of the Law of Moses. This, of course, is not possible. While honourable behaviour may cause me to seem a "good" person -- even "better" than many others, these relative terms have little to do with righteousness. It is an absolute condition, one of the defining characteristics of God Himself. A Christian is called upon by God to be observably different from the sinful world in which he or she lives. That difference will manifest itself in my perspective of sin. Having been spiritually quickened by the Holy Spirit, believers cannot ignore sin in their lives -- they recognize it for what it is and strive to avoid it in the Spirit's power. A Christian who blatantly pursues sin or even casually allows it in his life does so only by "quenching" the Holy Spirit. This causes us to remove ourselves from fellowship with God and that condition "grieves" the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit of God within me is grieved, I suffer terrible symptoms. This awful condition is only experienced by those who are true believers. A "nominal" Christian won't feel anything, or, at least, will be able to rationalize and even justify the situation. That type of person -- and there are untold numbers of them in the world today -- is not a genuine Christian. An authentic believer -- one who has accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and who is then indwelt by the Holy Spirit -- will not be able to abide deliberate sin and will sense immediately a lack of fellowship with the Lord. Thus convicted of that sin, he will confess it before God, who will forgive the confessed sin, even cleansing away all trace of it (1 John 1:9)!
The believer's righteousness has nothing to do with the qualifications or the performance of the believer; it is a gift from God. We are, to be sure, "new creatures" by the grace of God, forgiven of our sins but not without sin. For this reason, we are not truly righteous in the sense that we are without sin. We are righteous because our sins are no longer assigned to our "account." When I accepted Christ as my Saviour by the faith God provided me to do so (Ephesians 2:8-9), my sins were, in a sense, transferred to Christ's "account." This was possible because His account was absolutely clean -- the result of His having, during His incarnate ministry on earth, lived a perfectly sinless life. Still, those sins had to be paid for (Romans 6:23), and Jesus Christ did pay for them, on the cross at Calvary. Not only did Christ pay the penalty for my sin (and the sins of the whole world), but He went on to achieve complete victory over both sin and death when He was raised from the grave! His victory, by the grace of God, is the victory experieced by every believer who accepts it by faith. So God calls me righteous in spite of my unrighteousness; God has given me victory in spite of my weakness in the flesh; and God has promised me eternal life in spite of my human condition. Hallelujah!
2. This is the "mystery of Godliness" that so thoroughly vexed Martin Luther. He knew that the only hope for a sinful man or woman was the grace of God in the exercise of faith in Christ. But he was tormented by his own continued sinfulness. How could God possibly consider the vulgar sinner Martin Luther "righteous?" He was particularly haunted by the last two verses of our text passage this morning, Romans 1:16-17, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
3. The g __ __ __ __ ("Good News") of Christ, says Paul here, contains all that is needed to know about God's plan for the s __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of mankind. For this reason, the most effective tool of e __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ available is the p __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of the unadulterated Word of God. That, I pray, will always be the cornerstone of any ministry to which the Church of the Saviour at Myersville, Maryland attaches itself. As Paul declared to the church at Corinth:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18) And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
4. Paul continues in Romans 1:17 to declare that the r __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of God is revealed in this same gospel. Is this not true, beloved? Who can read His Word without coming to terms with the utter holiness of the Sovereign Lord of the Universe? In the shimmering light of God's holiness our true colours are made manifest. When the prophet Isaiah was confronted with the righteousness of God, he was nearly frightened to death! His account of that lif-changing experience is recorded in Isaiah 6:1-5.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!" And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts!"
This was Luther's dilemma. Confronted with God's standard of absolute righteousness, Luther was horrified at his own pathetic sinfulness. Aware that he had no chance of meeting God's standard, Luther clung mightily to the gospel's promise of salvation and righteousness by faith alone. As a professor of theology and a student of the Bible, he was convicted of its timeless truth in matters of faith and righteousness.
5. But when he continued in Romans 1:17, he was stricken by these words:
...as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
a. Paul here is quoting the prophet H __ __ __ __ __ __ __. It would be good for you to read Habakkuk 2:1-4 to learn the context of these words.
b. Whenever Martin Luther read this verse, he felt condemned by it. To his understanding, the life of f __ __ __ __ required by God could only be lived by "the j __ __ __" -- righteous folks. And he knew that he was by no means righteous! He read it and re-read the verse; he labored in prayer over the verse. Could God be telling him that there was no hope for him? His church interpreted the verse much the same way and, by the time of Luther's life, had invented all sorts of "theological gimmicks" to help believers convince God that, even though they fell short of His righteous standards, they really were contrite and well-meaning. Luther knew that all the penance and penitence in the world could not make up for his lack of righteousness. It was all so confounding! Who could be righteous -- "just"?!
c. Finally Luther came to see that his perspective on the inspired words of the apostle Paul here was skewed. Paul was not stating that God gives faith only to the just. He was, instead, declaring that those whom God has declared righteous by the faith He has given them are to continue living in that faith! This can be understood in at least two separate ways:
(1) Those whom God has declared righteous must continue to t __ __ __ __ Him to meet all their needs -- even when "logic" and "common sense" tell them otherwise. This is certainly the context of Habakkuk's ordeal.
(2) Those whom God has declared righteous can do nothing to "improve" that status! No list of "Thou shalts" or "Thou shalt nots" can add anything to what God has done. This is perhaps the most liberating truth in all Scripture, and it is certainly the doctrinal essence of the Epistle to the Romans. God willing, we will be priveleged to explore Paul's practical application of this startling truth in Chapters 3, 6, 7 and especially 14, my favourite chapter in all the Bible.
Paul is not re-inventing anything in Romans 1:17. It was Jesus Himself who presented the concept of True Freedom to the "religious" Jews in John 8:31-36.
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits a sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, by a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."
Men and Women are justified (made right) by faith in order that having been made right by faith they might live rightly by faith -- or as Paul expressed it "from faith to faith." - D. Stuart Briscoe: Romans
The gospel would not be the good news if it simply disclosed the righteousness of God. Such a message would scarcely demand faith. In view of man's sinful state, it could well create fear. But if salvation as God provides it and offers it is fully in keeping with his righteous character, then it has integrity. If it satisfies God, man can be content with it. - Everett F. Harrison: "Romans." The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol. 10
D I S C U S S I O N G U I D E
1. When Martin Luther read the words "the righteousness of God" in Romans 1:17, he assumed that Paul was speaking of that righteousness by which God Himself is righteous -- the righteousness that belongs to the character of God. Later Luther decided that Paul's teaching in this verse is a revelation of the righteousness that God is making available to us.
a. Are there, in fact, two different types of righteousness?
b. If so (or, just for the sake of discussion) how might we describe the differences between the two? Try to bring Scripture to bear on your answer.
2. In his greeting to the Christians in Rome, Paul extends "grace" and "peace" to them (v.7). Write and be prepared to to share your favourite "grace" and "peace" verses from Scripture.
a. (GRACE)
b. (PEACE)
3. In v.8 Paul tells his readers that their faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. In v.11 he writes that he hopes that he and they may be "mutually encouraged" by one another's faith. How could your faith encourage another?
4. Also in v.11 Paul speaks of coming to Rome so that he might "impart some spiritual gift" to them. How many of the "Spiritual Gifts" can you list?
(HINT: Look up 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 and 28; Ephesians 4:11; and Romans 12:6-8)
Place an asterisk next to the gift (gifts) which you believe you have been given.
Circle the gift (gifts) which you wish you had.
4. Read Habakkuk 2:1-4. What lesson was God trying to teach His prophet when he declared "the just shall live by his faith."
