Strengthened: Introduction to Romans
- Date: Letter written in AD 57 (Paul wrote it from Corinth on his 3rd missionary journey).
- Theme: The Gospel (12x). Romans is a Gospel letter.
- Purpose: To strengthen believers (establish).
• Romans 1:11, “For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established…”
• Romans 16:25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel …”
• If you want to be a stronger Christian, read and study Romans.
The Historical Background: Claudius Caesar
• He reigned from AD 41-54 • The 4th Roman Emperor (blind). • Indirectly responsible for the spread Christianity. How? • AD 49 – Suetonius, the historian said, “...he expelled the Jews from Rome due to conflict surrounding someone named Chrestus” (Christ). • Some of these scattered Jews met Paul in Corinth like Pricilla and Aquila. (Acts 18:2) • 28 names are mentioned in Romans 16. Paul has never been to Rome, but some of Rome came to him. After these Jewish believers returned to Rome, Paul wrote to them and the Gentile believers who stayed behind. • Paul wrote Romans to strengthen and reunite the Roman Christians (Jewish and Gentile). He would rive out anti-Semitism by driving the Gospel home. • AD 64 – About 6-7 years after Romans was written, Claudius’ adopted son, Nero began persecuting Christians in Rome.
• The church in Rome will need God’s strength!
Romans 1:1-17
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, 4 who was declared the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles in behalf of His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, 10 always in my prayers requesting if perhaps now, at last by the will of God, I will succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; 12 that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also just as among the rest of the Gentiles. In verses 14, 15, and 16, Paul says “I am” three times. These give us the heart of Paul and the heart of this letter of Romans… 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to the uncultured, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: “But the righteous one will live by faith.”
- I am under obligation – a Gospel obligation (14)
• Everyone needs to hear the gospel. Paul was obligated to tell them all. • Greeks were non-Jewish people, many living in big cities like Rome. Uncultured were country folk, the wise were the cultural elites, the foolish would be anyone who does not believe in God or know God. • Oswald J. Smith, “No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there is someone who hasn’t heard it once.” • Nothing troubled Paul more than the thought that people did not know Jesus. • Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, in part, to fulfill this gospel obligation. • Romans is the most complete explanation of the Gospel in the whole Bible. • Obligated can also mean “indebted.” • Have you ever thought about your obligation to the Gospel? Who do we owe the Gospel to?
- I am eager to preach the gospel (15)
• Paul says, I am ready and willing, to go, preach and share the Good News of Jesus. • Who is YOU? Believers! • Yes, believers need the Gospel preached to them over and over again. • The Gospel isn’t just a decision, it isn’t just a baptism, it’s a lifetime of faith and discipleship. • Paul was also eager to preach in Rome – the center of imperial power. • He was not intimidated in the least. • Paul was eager to preach the Gospel, not because He thought he was a great preacher, but because everywhere the Gospel went, the Gospel changed lives. • Did Paul ever make it to Rome? • Read Acts 28:30-31 • 2-3 years after this letter, Paul was in Rome, preaching the Gospel unhindered. • Eagerness to share the Gospel is the very heart of Paul, and the early Church, and our denomination. • A. B. Simpson, “The Christian is not obedient unless he is doing all in his power to send the Gospel to the world."
- I am not ashamed of the Gospel (1:16)
Five reasons to not be ashamed….
• The Gospel is the power of God. • For salvation. (past, present, future) • To everyone who believes (to the Jew first then the Greek). • For the righteousness of God. • Revealed (received) by faith
Martin Luther’s whole life changed when he studied v. 17 in Greek for the first time.
Romans 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written: 'But the righteous one will live by faith.'” Luther said in his commentary…
“I labored diligently and anxiously as to how to understand Paul’s word … the expression ‘the righteousness of God’ blocked the way, because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is righteous and deals righteously in punishing the unrighteous. Although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner … therefore I did not love a righteous and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him… Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise … I broke through. And as I had formerly hated the expression ‘the righteousness of God,’ I now began to regard it as my dearest and most comforting word.”
This was called Luther’s Tower Experience. For the first time, Luther understood that God’s righteousness was a gift, a gift revealed to us, and received by faith!
THAT breakthrough changed him, changed Germany, and led to the Protestant Reformation. We need that kind of gospel reformation today.
CONCLUSION
• Paul says: I am under obligation. I owe people the Gospel. Who do we owe the Gospel? • Paul says: I am eager to preach and share the gospel. Who are we eager to share the Gospel with? • Paul says: I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Are we ashamed of the Gospel? If we are, we have lost power, lost faith, and lost our purpose. The sooner we get back to the Gospel agenda, the sooner we get our power back, our faith back, and our sense of purpose back. • In Romans, Paul will marinate us, immerse us, pickle us in Gospel – and who knows what God will do to revive us again.
Charles Spurgeon, “I contend for this, that to gospelize a man is the greatest miracle in the world. All the other miracles are wrapped up in this one. To gospelize a man, or, in other words, to convert him, is a greater work than to open the eyes of the blind.”
