Romans

Holy Writer and Recipients

Once again the Holy Writer and the recipients of this letter are identified in the opening verses: “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God... to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1:1,7). Thus the title of the letter is aptly, “Romans.”

While Paul was the individual inspired by the Holy Spirit to record the words of this letter, we find that Paul did not write the words of this letter himself, but dictated them to Tertius for writing: “I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.” (16:22).

From a study of the letter and the history recorded in the book of Acts we can again determine the approximate time of writing and from where.

First, we know that when Paul wrote this epistle, he had not yet been to Rome: “Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles” (1:13). Paul also says, “from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (15:19). The end of the book of Acts records how Paul was imprisoned when he came to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey, and was finally sent to Rome to have his appeal heard by Caesar (Acts 21-28).

At the time that Paul wrote, he was still free, and able to make his own plans for coming to Rome: “For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints” (15:22-25). So this letter was written before Paul had come to Jerusalem and had been imprisoned in Jerusalem. At the same time, this letter must have been written near the end of Paul’s Third missionary journey, since Paul states that his work in that area was now completed, “no longer having a place in these parts.”

The book of Acts tells us that Paul concluded the work of his third missionary journey with a three month stay in Corinth, and then returned to Jerusalem through Macedonia because of a plot by the Jews against him (Acts 20:1-3). That Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Rome from Corinth is supported by the inclusion of several names in the final chapter: Phoebe who was from the church in Cenchrea, not far from Corinth (16:1-2); greetings are sent from Gaius who was their host (16:23 - 1 Corinthians 1:14 we are told that Gaius was baptized in Corinth); and greetings are also sent for Erastus (16:23) whom we find later on “stayed in Corinth” (2 Timothy 4:20).

From all of this we conclude that Paul wrote his letter to the Romans during his three month stay at Corinth at the end of his Third missionary journey around the year 57 A.D.

The Church at Rome

This letter to the Romans is somewhat unusual in that it was written to a church which had not been founded by Paul, neither had he ever visited them. It seems that this congregation had been in existence for quite some time as Paul indicates by how long he has desired to come to them (1:13), and by the fact that their faith “is spoken of throughout the whole world” (1:8). This congregation may even have dated from the day of Pentecost where people from Rome were present to hear Peter’s Pentecost sermon (Acts 2:10). These Romans who were present on Pentecost may have been among the first converts to Christianity and among the three thousand believers who were added to the church on that day.

The church in Rome was a mixture of both Jews and Gentiles. While the Jews may have outnumbered the Gentiles in this church at one time, it seems from this letter that at the time of Paul the Gentile believers outnumbered the Jewish believers (cf. 1:5-6 and 15:15-16). This is something which Paul deals with throughout this letter as we will see.

Theme

The Theme of the letter is the Lord’s grace as displayed in the doctrine of Justification by Faith and summarized in these words: “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’” (Romans 1:16-17).

Purpose

Paul had never been to Rome, but as we can see from the last chapter, he knew many of the people of the Christians who were in Rome. Since Paul had never been there personally, we see that this letter takes on a more dogmatic approach than his other letters - offering a broad summary of Christian doctrine. Paul wrote to build them up in the faith, as part of his calling to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles: “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (15:15-16). In addition to this primary purpose, Paul had other purposes in writing to the believers in Rome as well.

Because of the differences between Jew and Gentile, Paul also wrote to reinforce their unity as like-minded Christians: “Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (15:5-6).

There was another purpose in Paul’s writing to the Christians in Rome - and that was to enlist their help in the spread of the Gospel further west: “But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while” (15:23-24).

Luther on Romans

Paul’s letter to the Romans played an important role in the life of Martin Luther and in the Lutheran Reformation. In his preface to this letter Luther wrote: “This epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament, and is truly the purest Gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. We can never read it or ponder over it too much; for the more we deal with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”

Outline

I.    Introduction (1:1-17)

II.   Doctrinal Part of the Letter (1:18-11:36)

       A.   The sinful corruption of all men (1:18-3:20)

       B.   God’s plan of salvation: Justification by faith (3:21-5:11)

       C.   Justification by faith as a power of God unto salvation (5:12-8:39)

       D.   The problem of the unbelief of the Jews (9:1-11:36)

III. Practical Part of the Letter (12:1-15:13)

       A.   The Christian’s new life in sanctification (12:1-13:14)

       B.    Application to the Roman church (14:1-15:13)

IV.  Close of the Letter (15:14-16:27)

       A.   Personal News (15:14-33)

       B.   Greeting to individuals at Rome (16:1-16)

       C.   Warning against false teachers (16:17-20)

       D.   Greetings from Paul’s companions (16:21-24)

       E.    Conclusion (16:25-27)

Note: This study was prepared for the Bible Class at Zion Lutheran Church, Lawrenceville, GA by Pastor Nathanael Mayhew.

If you would like more information about this study,
please contact Pastor Mayhew