01 - Romans 1:1-15

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Romans 1:1-4

¹Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God ² which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

The Author

The Apostle Paul begins by introducing himself as the writer of the letter. You might wonder, “Why does he start his letter with his name?” When we write letters today, our names come right at the end, right? But in those days, they wrote on parchment or scrolls.  So if you were to write your name right at the end, as is our style today, you would have to unravel the entire scroll to get to the end. So they start with the person’s name. In fact, even today, when you write a letter in Tamil, we start with the name of the person writing the letter and then continue with the letter. So he started off by introducing himself by saying that he was the writer.

His Title

He then uses a title to describe himself – he calls himself a ‘bondservant of Jesus Christ.’ A bondservant was a person who has committed to serving somebody all through their life, but it was done out of his own choice. He wasn’t a slave as we would understand the term, ‘slave,’ in today’s context, where slavery is still in existence. In fact, even in those days, a slave was a slave for only 6 years, and then he was set free unless he chose to be with his master for the rest of his life. Paul is using a term that was understood then, but he was saying, “I am a bondservant of Jesus Christ. I’m choosing to serve Jesus Christ for the rest of my life.”

An Apostle

Paul was called to be an apostle – we know the story of what happened on the road to Damascus. He was going there to persecute the believers in Jesus, and Jesus Himself appeared to him on that road, and his life was transformed completely. He was called by Jesus Himself to be an apostle. An apostle was a person who was sent out, and the beautiful thing is that he was not sent out by any spiritual leader like Gamaliel, under whom he studied, or by chief priests or by anyone else. He was sent out by Jesus Himself on an amazing mission that would last the rest of his life, and would impact the lives of many people in many places. Paul didn’t expect those things to happen.

Separated to the Gospel of God

Paul then says that he was separated for a very specific purpose in life – to share the Gospel of Jesus far and wide. His entire life’s mission and purpose changed. Not only was he no longer persecuting the believers in Jesus Christ, but he was now committed to sharing the good news of salvation that Jesus came to offer the world. He refers to this good news as the Gospel of God. This was no ordinary news that people would be hearing – this was the greatest news they would ever hear – the most life-transforming news they would ever hear, as it came from God Himself. Paul was separated by God Himself to this service – what an amazing privilege indeed.

Which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures

Paul goes on to say that this gospel was no afterthought of God but was something the Lord had in mind long ago and had even revealed through His prophets in the Old Testament, referred to here as the Holy Scriptures. The Jews were aware that something amazing was going to happen; that God was going to do a work that would bring about salvation to the whole world, but they did not know the details, nor the time and ways of God’s working, and so when Jesus came, they did not recognise Him as being God’s Son and fulfilling Scripture that talked about Him.

Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord

This Gospel of God was concerning God’s own Son Jesus Christ, who is now Lord of all who believe in Him. This was no ordinary news about coming events, nor was it news about God’s desires for man or anything of that nature – it concerned His own Son Jesus Christ

Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh

When Jesus came in flesh and blood into the world, He was fully God and fully man – not half God and half man. As a man, he was a descendant of King David, as God had promised in the Old Testament. (Read Isaiah 11, Jeremiah 23:5-6). Even though Mary was not a descendant of David, but only Joseph was, by Mary marrying Joseph, Jesus became the legal descendant of David, tracing his lineage through this adoptive father, Joseph.

And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

Not only was Jesus the descendant of David (as a man), but He was also the Son of God and this happened because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel Gabriel had said to Mary in Luke 3:35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” He would also be declared to be the Son of God because the Holy Spirit would powerfully resurrect Him from the dead.

Romans 1:5-7

⁵ ”Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; ⁷ 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.”

⁵Through Him we have received grace and apostleship

Paul then goes on to say that it’s through Jesus that He and the other apostles have received God’s grace (unmerited favour) and the privilege of being sent out as apostles by Jesus Himself.

For obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 

The purpose of being sent out by Jesus was to invite people into the Kingdom of God – to become obedient to the faith, meaning that people were being called to become obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through faith. This gospel would go to all nations, and was not just limited to the Jews. It was the name of Jesus that was being proclaimed to all the world, because there’s salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus. Acts 4:12 says, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;

Paul then reminds his readers that they too are included among those who are being called to obedience to Jesus. They too (and we) are called by Jesus Himself through the Gospel, and those who respond by believing the Gospel are saved forever.

To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:

He then addresses his audience – the Romans. Paul had not yet visited Rome while writing this letter and was eagerly waiting to visit them, so this letter was going on ahead of him to both those who believed in Jesus and to those who didn’t so that they would read and believe in Jesus and be saved. He refers to them as being beloved by God – a term that was reserved for the Jews until then. The non-Jews (Gentiles) were never referred to as the beloved of God earlier, but this is an amazing revelation to his readers. He chose the Jews to be his instruments through whom He would display His glory to the world and eventually, through whom the Messiah would come into the world.

Paul then uses the term, ‘saints,’ which means, holy ones and set-apart ones. This word is misused today to refer to people who have died and based on the quality of life they lived as later given the title of saint. But in the early church, anyone who came to faith in Jesus were referred to as saints, because they had been made holy by Jesus and were set apart by Jesus to live a very different life here on earth and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus everywhere.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

He then greets his readers with two very specific terms that is best understood by those who’ve come to know Christ - grace and peace. He blesses them with God’s Grace (unmerited favour). This grace of God was revealed in its purest form through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Paul uses another term to greet his readers – ‘peace.’ This peace he’s referring to is a peace with God, where sinful man can be now reconciled with God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. Paul will refer to this peace later in Romans 5:1. It’s also a peace that surpasses human understanding. It’s not dependent on our circumstances but is based on an unconditional trust in Jesus to lead us through all situations in life no matter how hard they might be. Jesus talked about this peace in John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Paul says that this grace and peace are from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ – it is not of earthly origin but from heaven. No man could provide the grace and peace that God provides man with, and the earlier we discover this grace and peace, the quicker our lives will be transformed.

Romans 1:8-10

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.”

Paul then gets to the content of his letter, and he begins by expressing this thanks to God through Jesus Christ for his readers. He is thankful for their faith that is being spoken of throughout the whole world. Rome was a large and powerful empire, and anything that happened there made global news, so the fact that Romans were coming to faith in Jesus was making waves across the globe.

He goes on to say that he never ceases to pray for the Roman believers, requesting that by some means he might be able to get to meet them if it is God’s will to do so. He even says that God, whom He serves wholeheartedly in proclaiming the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ, is witness to this fact. We get a glimpse of the heart of Paul from these opening sentences. He has such a heart for people and for sharing the Gospel. Even in his desire to meet the Romans believers, he seeks the Lord’s will and doesn’t push his own.

Romans 1:11-12

¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

Paul then goes on to explain the reason why he’d like to meet the Roman believers – it’s a two-fold purpose; the first being to impart to them a spiritual gift so that they would be strengthened in their faith and the other, is that he might be encouraged by their faith, and thereby, both he and they would be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. This is the need of the hour today amidst these turbulent times; for each of us to be encouraged by one another’s faith.

Romans 1:13

¹³ 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. 

He goes on to tell the Roman believers that he wants them to know that he had planned several times to come to them, but was hindered from doing so, and thereason is mentioned again – that he might impact them, just like he had impacted the lives of the other Gentile believers. Paul spent most of his ministry years serving the Gentiles, making known to them the Gospel and encouraging them to grow in their relationship with God, and with one another in love and that’s the same desire he has for the Roman believers.

Romans 1:14-15

¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

He then goes on to say that he feels the necessity to preach the Gospel to the Greeks, who consider themselves were very learned, and the Barbarians (non-Greeks), who were not so learned as the Greeks were. Not only does he desire to preach the Gospel to them but he also greatly desires to preach the Gospel to the Romans as well.

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Michael Collins