Romans Commentary

A Soul Set Free A Study of the Epistle to the Romans Stanford E. Murrell The Epistle to the Romans c. 57 AD Chapter 1 Spiritual revival in the Church will be connected to a deeper understanding of this book. ~*~ Godet A Servant of Jesus Christ: Romans 1:1 The apostle Paul was one of the most remarkable men to have walked on planet earth. Brilliant of mind, slow of speech, physically unattractive, his influence upon human history is without question. And yet, not many would ever have heard of him had he not had a crisis of conscience one day that led to a dramatic conversion experience. According to Acts 9, Paul, initially known as Saul of Tarsus, was part of a religious persecution of the Church in Jerusalem. He had already consented to the death of the Christian named Stephen, the implication being that Saul was in a position of leadership to stop the stoning of this saint. But Saul did not allow Stephen to live for he was angry and thirsty for blood. Saul felt threatened by the dynamics of the message of the gospel which proclaimed that the Messiah had come and that His name was Jesus. For Saul and many others, that was impossible! Jesus was an impostor. Jesus had been crucified. Jesus had been condemned for crimes against the state. Good people would not have killed the Messiah if He had not really been sent from God. Surely Christ was not the Chosen One of Israel, for He claimed to be the Son of God. He had also blasphemed by claiming to be very God of very God. Then He claimed that He could forgive sins because He was the Savior of the world! In addition, Jesus taught of a spiritual kingdom within the hearts of men, thereby destroying the political hopes and dreams of the nationalists. Now His followers were teaching that the Law of Moses was no longer effective and that the sacrifices should cease. All of this disruption was just too much for the people of Palestine. Neither Saul nor the other Jewish leaders could handle the moral, social, financial, and religious revolution that was going on. This Christian movement had to be destroyed and Saul was deemed the proper instrument suited for its demise. His qualifications were impeccable. ♦ Saul was a Hebrew of the Hebrews for he was of the purest Hebrew blood. He had been “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin” (Philippians 3:5). Despite the fact that Saul was born in the Gentile city of Tarsus in Cilicea (Acts 21:39), his devout Jewish parents made sure he preserved and honored his cultural and racial identity. ♦ Saul was, like his father, a Pharisee (Acts 23:6). He was not only racially a Jew, but also religiously a conservative Jew. ♦ Saul was a proficient Jew. Tarsus was celebrated as a school of Greek literature. Here, Saul acquired that knowledge of Greek authors and philosophy, which would later qualify him to challenge their thinking by quoting their own authors: Aratus (Acts 17:18-28), Menander (1 Corinthians 15:33), and Epimendies (Titus 1:12). In addition to a Greek education, Saul's main education was in the race of his people, for he sat at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). ♦ Saul was a hardworking Jew. As a young man he had learned the Cilician trade of making tents of goat's haircloth (Acts 18:3). Jewish custom required that each child learn a trade regardless of how wealthy the parents might be. ♦ To add to his advantages of having both a Jewish and Greek cultural upbringing, Saul possessed Roman citizenship from birth, which brought immediate and important privileges in certain circumstances (Acts 22:28). All of these natural elements helped to create in the soul of Saul a spirit of religious self- righteousness, worldly sophistication, and an unbridled zeal that led him to violently oppose any threat to his heritage. The growing Christian community possessed just such a threat, and so it was that Saul made havoc of the Church. He ravaged the Church as a wild beast by storming into the houses where worship services were being held and hauling men and women off to prison (Acts 8:3). Later, with many tears and much sorrow, Saul would confess that he did these horrible things in unbelief (1 Timothy 1:12-16). Though God had mercy upon him, Saul was still at fault for his crimes against Christ and His Church for Saul might have known the truth if he had sought for it. Saul did not seek the truth in Christ and remained dead in trespasses and sin. Only a supernatural act of sovereign grace could subdue the wild beast that rode Saul's will. Such grace did come to Saul when the resurrected Christ arrested him as he was seeking to arrest others. Of this great event, there are three accounts: one by Luke (Acts 9), and the others by Saul (Acts 22; Acts 16). According to Saul's own narrative, he was on his journey to Damascus with authoritative letters from the High Priest of Israel empowering him to arrest and bring back to Jerusalem all who were followers of The Way (Acts 7:2). It did not matter if the people involved were men, women, or children. It did not matter if economic hardships were created. It did not matter if fear and terror were unleashed. It did not matter if families were torn apart. The only caution was not to let the Gentile governors become involved in the persecution process. The Christians were to be brought to Jerusalem! And so it was, on a particular day, at noon time a brilliant light suddenly shone upon Saul and his company, who were committed to executing religious crimes against humanity. The light from heaven was equivalent to the explosion of a nuclear bomb, for it was brighter than the brightness of the sun itself. Saul was thrown to the earth, as were his companions. (Acts 26:14) After a few moments, some of them arose and stood up speechless, wondering what was happening (Acts 9:7). Then they heard the sound of a voice but did not understand what they were hearing (1 Corinthians 14:2). However Saul understood, for it was the voice of the Son of God saying in the Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, Why persecutest thou Me?” Jesus had taught His followers that when they were persecuted, He would be wounded with them (Matthew 25:40) and He was. “Saul, It is hard for thee to kick against the prick” (Acts 26:14). Saul was acting like an ox being driven. When the animal kicked back, it only made the goad pierce the flesh deeper (Matthew 21:44; Proverbs 8:36). So, when Saul kicked against the Church, he was ultimately hurting himself. When he heard these words, the Bible says that Saul trembled, as a Philippian jailer would later tremble (Acts 16:30-31). And Saul said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” In these simple words, all the facets of saving faith are manifested. First, Saul recognized the Lordship of Christ. Jesus is not only the Savior of the soul; He is the Sovereign of all life. The Biblical example of a true conversion experience records that individuals fall before Jesus and recognize Him as Lord and Savior. Second, there was submission to the Savior. “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” asked Saul. Until now, Saul had been doing all that He wanted to do, with the result that people were afraid of him. Saul was not bringing joy or happiness into the lives of others but hatred and hardship. Doing things his way had not made Saul or anyone else happy. Third, Saul on that Damascus Road manifested tremendous faith in the Person of Christ. Saul understood it all. Jesus was alive! Jesus had come back from the dead! Jesus really was who He claimed to be! Somehow, time managed to pass that day and the next. Life went on but Saul was never the same again. He had become a Christian, and he would grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Saul did grow in the graces of life to the point that he was ready to minister to the Church as an apostle. But that acceptance would not happen suddenly. Time had to pass before Paul was accepted as a true minister of Christ with a right to speak as an apostle of Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 14:37) He who had persecuted the Church had to prove himself. Separated unto the Gospel of God: Romans 1:1 In his preface to St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, the great Reformation leader Martin Luther began with these thoughts: “This Epistle is in truth the principal part of the New Testament and the very purest Gospel. It fully deserves that every Christian should know it by heart, word for word, and should feed upon it every day, as daily bread for his soul. It cannot be read too often nor too deeply pondered, and the more it is studied the more precious and sweet to the taste does it become.” Harry Ironside said, “It is the most scientific statement of the divine plan for the redemption of mankind. It is the orderly setting forth of the Gospel that the mind of man craves, the declaration of man’s need along with the gracious plan of God’s salvation which culminates in His glorification” With these wonderful words of exhortation and explanation the study of Romans continues in verse one.

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