Commentary to the Book of Romans

1 Paul’s Epistle to the Romans Introduction: The awesome depth of this epistle forces any student of it to approach it with a sense of fear and trembling. Anyone who sets himself to this study will soon have the feeling that he has bitten off more than he might be able to chew. It is definitely with this kind of trepidation that we enter upon our study here. When commencing the study of any book in the Bible it is commendable to ask the question what that particular book adds to our understanding of truth. How big a hole would occur in the body of God’s revelation of Himself, if we cut the Book of Romans out of the New Testament? The answer is that we would remove one of the most important parts of the foundation of our Christian faith. In the Gospels we read the statement of the facts about the life and work of our Lord Jesus Christ; in Romans we find the application of those facts to the life of every individual. More than any other book in the Bible, Paul’s Epistle to the Romans ties the Old and the New Testament together. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans has rightfully been called The Constitution of Christianity. Luther, in his Preface to Romans, writes: “This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is well worth a Christian’s while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate on this letter too much or too well. The more one deals with it, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.” The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, in its introduction to the epistle, states: “This is the greatest, in every sense, of the apostolic letters of Paul; in scale, in scope, and in its wonderful combination of doctrinal, ethical and administrative wisdom and power. In some respects the later Epistles, Ephesians and Colossians, lead us to even higher and deeper arcana of revelation, and they, like Romans, combine with the exposition of truth a luminous doctrine of duty. But the range of Romans is larger in both directions, and presents us also with noble and far-reaching discussions of Christian polity, instructions in spiritual utterance and the like, to which those Epistles present no parallel, and which only the Corinthian Epistles rival.” J. Sidlow Baxter in Explore the Book, states in his introduction to Romans: “This is St. Paul’s magnum opus. Here we see him at his greatest as a constructive thinker and theologian. The Epistle to the Romans is the complete and mature expression of the apostle’s main doctrine, which it unfolds in due order and proportion and combines into an organic whole. For the purposes of systematic theology it is the most important book in the Bible. More than any other, it has determined the course of Christian thought.” Coming back to the question of what we find in Romans, that is lacking or less obvious in other parts of Scripture, we look at some of the key words Paul uses in his presentation of the Gospel. The topic of this epistle is “the Gospel,” euaggelion in Greek. It means: “good news.” The verb “to evangelize” is derived from it. Paul uses the noun ten times in this epistle. The most important word is “righteousness.” The Greek word dikaiosune means literally, “equity.” It occurs thirty-six times in this epistle. The Hebrew equivalent is tsaddiyq, meaning, “just.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines it as “[the attitude of] him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in heart or life.” In the context of Romans it refers to God’s character: “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed.”1 The most revolutionary concept in this epistle is the revelation that this righteousness is not acquired by human efforts but given by God to those who put their trust in Him. “To the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”2 1. Rom. 1:17 2. Rom. 4:5 2 Another unique concept is that God deals with mankind through representatives. This is the underlying idea expressed in Chapter Five, verses 12-21. The completion of the unfinished thought in the words “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…”1 requires the additional statement that righteousness also entered the world through one man, Jesus Christ, who committed the one act of righteousness in His death on the cross by which salvation becomes available to all. This means that, before God, we are all sinners because of one act of sin we did not commit ourselves and we may all become righteous through one act of obedience we did not commit ourselves either. In Paul’s words: “Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”2 Then there is the word “law,” nomos in Greek, which Paul uses seventy-five times in this epistle in a rather indiscriminate manner. In some instances it refers to the ceremonial Levitical law of sacrifices and purification, in other to moral requirements. In some cases it is used generically, as any kind of force or regulation that may govern human behavior. We trust the meaning of these variations will become clear as we pursue our study. Paul uses the word sarx, “flesh,” twenty-seven times. It has a variety of meanings, the most important one being “sinful nature,” in which sense it is used eleven times. Another definitive word is “faith,” pistis in Greek. In the context of Romans it is primarily used in the sense of reliance upon Christ for salvation. The word occurs forty times in this epistle. The Greek word soteria, “salvation” only occurs five times, but it is obvious that that is what Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is first and foremost about. Finally, the word “grace,” charis in Greek, is used twenty-six times in this letter. The primary meaning in this context is “unmerited favor.” Paul’s Reason for Writing: The Epistle to the Romans was, in a way, Paul’s résumé, his way of introducing himself to the church that existed there. Paul had not been involved in the planting of that church. In visiting Rome, Paul deviated from his own principle, expressed in this very Epistle: “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”3 Paul’s goal in visiting the church was to involve the believers in his missionary enterprise. He wanted them to become a catalyst in the evangelization of Western Europe. He writes: “I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.”4 But we owe Paul’s Epistle to the Romans to more than the apostle’s desire to enjoy the company of fellow believers in the capitol of the empire. The church at large urgently needed a clear statement of faith that would help the believers to understand the implications of the Gospel in the age in which they lived. Thus far the only source of knowledge of divine revelation had been in Judaism. The Old Testament Scriptures had molded both the Jews and the Gentiles who searched for truth. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, had been a potent medium for the spread of the knowledge of God. There 1. Rom. 5:12 2. Rom. 5:18,19 3. See Rom. 15:20. 4. Rom. 15:23b,24 3 was, however, a growing awareness that the Gospel of Jesus Christ meant a radical change for Judaism, if not its demise. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans would serve as a reliable compass in this sea of confusion. Date and Place of writing: The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary states about the date of writing: “The letter was written in Corinth during Paul’s three-month visit in Greece (Acts 20:2-3). This fact is made evident by reference to the apostle’s journey to Jerusalem with a collection for the poor at the time of writing (Rom 15:25-27). Since this collection was emphasized in the earlier letters to Corinth (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:1-9:15), it is quite evident that these letters were written about the same time. It clearly appears from these considerations that Romans is later than 2 Corinthians because the apostle is about to leave for Jerusalem (Rom 15:25). The second Corinthian epistle was written from Macedonia, and from Macedonia Paul went to Greece. Numerous instances in the Corinthian epistles point to the fact that the epistle to the Romans was written from Corinth not long after Paul penned 2 Corinthians, that is, A.D.

Load more