Romans 1:1-17
The Romans Revolution and the Power of the Gospel



Martin Luther said this about the book of Romans:

“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.”

This book has a lot of hard concepts to deal with. But you know what? I’ve learned that when you hear something in scripture that seems hard to deal with, or seems to go against anything that you or I think. The bible isn’t wrong. It’s my head! Scripture is God breathed(2 Tim 3:16-17) and there is nothing wrong or contradictory to it. When I come across difficult sayings or concepts I dig deeper and study harder. Those are the times where God shows Himself to be even greater, even more loving, even more almighty and gracious.

Romans is a book that I consistently go back to for understanding and clarification on so many things. It deals with all the main components of the Christian faith: Law, Sin, Grace, Faith, Justice, Flesh, Spirit, and so on.

Paul does 3 things in this section of the text.

He Gives a greeting (vs. 1-7)

Paul gives an introduction and intention (vs. 8-15)

Paul gives the theme of the entire book (vs. 16-17)



Paul’s Greeting

Read Romans 1:1-2
1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

Usually all letters during this time were started out with some sort of greeting in this style. Paul, here, has a very extensive greeting where he introduces himself by:
- Name: Paul
- Identity: (servant) Someone who is under total control of his or her master.
- Job (apostle) An official messenger of the gospel.
- Purpose (set apart for the gospel) God is the source of the message he brings

In verse 2 Paul is explaining that this isn’t something that he created himself, but the gospel was revealed in the Old Testament through prophets, which were God’s voice to the people.

Read Romans 1:3-6
3concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

Paul is pointing out the dual nature of Christ. He was “ man” (descended from David) or “flesh”. As well being declared the Son of God, or “divine”.

He was made flesh to share our weaknesses (cf. Heb 4:15-16)

15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

He was divine and declared fully the Son of God (cf 2 Cor 13:4)

4For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

• Paul also shows that through his obedience of faith, God appointed him to bring the gospel message to the World (gentiles)

Read Romans 1:7
7To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a very gospel soaked greeting and only sets the stage for the things to come in the rest of this letter.

Paul’s Introduction and Intention

Read Romans 1:8-12
8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

· First, Paul is giving an encouragement. The church at Rome has been an example to other churches that have heard of the things they were doing.

· Second, Paul is telling them how excited he is for them and the foundation they have laid as a new Christian church. As well as how much he labors in prayer for them.

· Third, he shows his desire to visit them for 2 reasons:
1. “to impart to you a spiritual gift”
This is not a spiritual gift like tongues or prophecy, but of encouragement through
what I believe is the gospel message

2. “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith,”
This message of the gospel not only encourages Paul’s hearers, but Paul as well.
Note:
I just want to point this out to you guys. Us, as Christ followers should be built up and take encouragement from the gospel message. So many times we sit here and look for things to make us happy: music, boyfriends/girlfriends, ipods, looks, etc, etc. we need to not take satisfaction in the gifts we think we need, but in the gift giver. Christ is our gift! We shouldn’t be looking for the next thing that will make us feel happy and worthwhile. We need to be built up, and encouraged in Christ as our ultimate gift!

Illustration:
This would be like if someone gave you a million dollars and sent you the check in the mail and all you did was hug and thank and kiss the mailman who simply handed you an envelope. Was the mailman responsible for that million dollars? NO! In the same way, we don’t need to look for God where he isn’t. We need to be satisfied and infatuated with the giver and creator of all, not the created things.

Paul’s theme to the book of Romans

Read Romans 1:16-17
16For 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. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

· WOW! How awesome are these two verses? There is nothing more powerful than the gospel message. Paul is stating here that the work Christ did had such a power that it actually transcends all barriers. It is not something that is exclusive but is for anybody and everybody through faith in Him and His son.

· The faith we have is giving to us by a mighty and powerful God. God reveals this in the Old Testament:

Habakkuk 2:4
4"Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

God’s righteousness is shown in the righteousness of Christ, which is imparted to, or considered by God to belong to the one who believes. This is the how we are justified or saved. This has nothing to do with our merits or the things that we try and do to save us or please ourselves. It is purely from God, through Christ by faith. This is what Paul means by from faith to faith.

· Paul also points out that “the righteous shall live by faith” meaning; life is a continuing fellowship with God. It’s trusting and depending on Him from the moment we are regenerated till the end.

The revolution starts now. I don’t want to oversimplify anything or try and tell God what to do. But we see in the bible how big things start and huge moves of God begin with prayer and God’s word. Do you guys read your bibles? Don’t you want to know what’s on the mind of God? Don’t you want to know what it is like to be satisfied in Him and nothing else? This is it. I have been praying and will continue to labor in prayer for God to revolutionize your hearts. I pray that you do the same.

Pray that God shows you truly who you are and also, that He then reveals the new person He wants you to be in Him.