Romans
1
Around 58 A.D. the apostle Paul wrote a letter to Christians in Rome. He was in the Greek city of Corinth at the time. It is an amazing document. Someone has said, “Romans is the whole Bible in embryo.” Warren Wiersbe writes, “The Protestant Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival were both the fruit of this wonderful letter.”
Romans contains the Christian worldview and it was written by one of the sharpest intellects on the planet. Martin Luther was fulsome in his praise of this document. He wrote, “This epistle … is the very purest gospel, well worth not only to be memorised word by word, but also to be used daily by every Christian as the daily bread of his soul.”
The great theme of this book is “the righteousness of God.” Romans 1:17 is the key: “The righteous shall live by faith.” This book shows us how to be right with God, with ourselves and with others.
Paul calls himself ‘a servant of Christ’ (Romans 1:1). The Greek word used is ‘doulos’, meaning ‘slave’. He’s been bought by His master. Paul was ‘called to be an apostle’ (Romans 1:1). He’s been given grace ‘to call people from among all the Gentiles’ (Romans 1:5). We often refer to him as the apostle to the Gentiles. He’s writing to ‘those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ’ (Romans 1:6). He reminds them they ‘are loved by God and called to be saints’ (Romans 1:7).
Did you know, Christian, we are ‘called to be saints’? We’re not called to be awkward, or difficult or unpleasant. We’re called to be saints.
The message Paul is authorised to proclaim is expressed thus in “The Living Bible” (Romans 1:2-4): “This Good News was promised long ago by God’s prophets in the Old Testament. It is the Good News about his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who came as a human baby, was born into King David’s royal family line and by being raised from the dead was proved to be the mighty Son of God with the holy nature of God himself.”
Paul is grateful to God for the Christians in Rome. He’s heard about their faith – everybody has – and he unceasingly mentions them in his prayers. He hopes it won’t be long before he meets them in person, for he yearns to see them. He says: “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong.” (Romans 1:11). He explains that he’d planned many times to come to them but had been prevented until now. His desire was “that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.” (Romans 1:13)
Paul wanted to know as many of the Lord’s family personally as he possibly could. He wanted the church to be established with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Only a spiritual church is an established church.
Often life doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would – and that’s what Paul discovered. When he prayed that ‘by God’s will the way may be opened’ for him to go to Rome, he little realised he’d be taken there as a prisoner to be a martyr. The dark shadow of persecution under the Emperor Nero was upon the church in Rome and he eventually joined the Christians there in their fiery trial.
Paul was such a determined man. He didn’t capitulate in the face of the enemy. He saw the vast Imperial City as a great vineyard of souls and he purposed to gather fruit there for His Lord. He may have been prevented and hindered so far, but he was pressing on. Gospel preachers will always be resisted as long as the devil is out of the lake of fire.
In Romans 1:14 Paul states he has an obligation to get the message out. He’s ready and eager. This good news is for Greeks, who reckoned themselves wise and who sought after wisdom. He felt duty bound to preach to them Christ, the Wisdom of God. Equally urgent was his desire to confront non-Greeks with the gospel and lighten their darkness.
Paul declares, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, (not even in the capital city of the Roman Empire) because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Romans 1:16).
He is gripped by a divine, dynamic message. The preacher traffics in immortal souls. He trades in the merchandise of eternity. His words are applicable to everyone. The gospel preacher has a commission from heaven and must speak:
“Oh that the world might taste and see
The wonders of His grace.
The arms of love that compass me
Would all mankind embrace.”
The biblical pattern is always “to the Jew first” for ‘salvation is of the Jews.’ When Samuel Chadwick went to any town or city for a mission he enquired where the Jews were and made it his first business to proclaim Christ to them. He was never deterred by those who argued, “They have their religion”, because Judaism is not a saving religion. Here was an international message for everybody, everywhere, Jew or Gentile, religious or non-religious, wise or foolish.
Romans 1:17 is the key verse in this ancient letter. Let me read it to you: “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘the righteous will live by faith’. Here’s the good news. God doesn’t ask us to behave, but to believe. It is faith in Christ that saves the sinner. God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel on the ground of faith. Believe and you receive. In the death of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by punishing sin; and in the resurrection of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by making salvation available to the believing sinner.
What does it mean to be righteous? When a person believes in Jesus, God the Father sees that person as if they had never sinned. Those who trust completely in God’s son are reckoned as perfect by the Father.
Let me put it another way. The Father imputes to that person the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. The Father credits that person with the perfection of His son and God sees him now covered by Christ’s righteousness. Righteousness is “the state of being ‘in the right’ in relation to God. This is exceptionally good news!