Romans 1:7

To 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. 

While Paul specifically addressed the letter to those in Rome, we can see in a broader sense that the letter is directed to all who are called by God to be saints. I think it's important to spend some time looking at what this means.


This letter is addressed to any person who has been born again, and is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. There are many things in this letter, and throughout the Bible as a whole, that will not and can not make sense to anyone void of the Holy Spirit. (1 Co 2:14, 1 John 4:6)

There are difficult truths in this letter, for as the righteousness of God is revealed, our unrighteousness becomes more and more visible. It's our nature to want to hide or justify our unrighteousness as it is revealed. It is because of this that we need to approach these God-breathed Scriptures with total submission to the wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit (Pro 3:5), casting aside the need to "make sense" of things according to our human mind.

We can be confident that if we do seek God fully He will not let us down (James 4:8) and we will find a peace that the world cannot know and a discernment only available to those who know Christ as Lord and Savior (Php 4:7)

While it is probably safe to assume that Paul knew this letter would also be read by or to those who do not know Christ, he specifically addressed it to those of us who have been called to be saints, by God. It is our responsibility to take everything that has been written very seriously, and pay close attention as God molds and sanctifies us through the convictions of the Holy Spirit (as painful as it may be)!

I look forward to any other thoughts on this verse. I look forward to digging into this book with you, and pray that we all, myself included, will grow closer to God as we look at each verse. Please take a minute today and pray that God will give all of us the strength to set aside all human opinions and ideas, and guide us with the pure spiritual wisdom and discernment of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 1:5-6

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 

A quick recap of the gospel of God as explained by Paul in the verses previous to these two:
-the gospel of God was promised throughout the Old Testament
-the gospel is all about Jesus Christ, the Son of God
-Jesus was fully man, a descendent of King David, and dealt with all of the feelings and temptations that we do as humans.
-Jesus was fully God, He was not born with a sin nature, and unlike us lived a perfect life-free from sin and full of righteousness
-Jesus was declared as the Son of God with power, by His resurrection from the dead which declared victory over sin, death, and Satan.

Note: Nothing that Paul wrote when laying out these foundational truths about the gospel has anything to do with us. It has everything to do with Jesus Christ!

In the next two verses, we will see how this gospel affects us.

through whom we have received grace: Through Jesus Christ, who is the center of the gospel of God, we have received grace! What is grace exactly? Grace is unmerited favor, or a free gift - a gift that cannot be earned. Through Jesus Christ, we have received a free gift from God that cannot be earned!

and apostleship: Along with grace, we have also received the responsibility of apostleship through Jesus Christ. We are all commissioned by God to go out and spread the truth about the gospel of God, the truth about Jesus Christ and what He has done, the truth about this free gift that no man can earn! Romans 10:14 tells us of the importance of sharing the gospel.

 to bring about the obedience of faith: This is the purpose of our commission. We are called to spread the gospel, because when a soul believes and trusts these truths about Jesus Christ, obedience in the form of saving faith occurs. Saving faith is what salvation hinges on...salvation is the free gift!

for the sake of His name among all the nations: This is the culmination of all that Paul was writing in the previous verses. All that has been accomplished, all that has been displayed, all that has been conquered, all that we have been called to do - it is ALL for the sake of HIS name! As Ephesians 1:14 states "...to the praise of His glory."
His name is to be lifted up by God's children among all the nations, including those in Rome in Paul's day, and including you and me today. His glory is to be the purpose of all that we do.

 I am convicted...I make the gospel about me way to often. After reading these verses, the Holy Spirit is once again reminding me that everything points to Jesus. Nothing I do has any bearing on what He has done. I am called to live my life in appreciation for the free gift, given to me through Him and because of what He did. This is simply what the gospel is all about!

I look forward to any thoughts on any of these past six verses. I grow so much from hearing how God has used His words in the lives of His children. Once again, I pray that anyone who reads this will take a minute to meditate on these verses. Spend some time with God, allow Him to speak to your heart!

Romans 1:2-4

...which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and 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...

A question that begs to be answered: what exactly is the "gospel of God" that Paul was set apart for?

I was asked once to write down what the gospel was in my own words. I realized very quickly that I didn't have an exact, precise answer to this question. The gospel can be described in many different ways. A person's culture, upbringing, life experiences, mentors...a lot of things can affect the way a person views and describes the gospel.

I liken it to fingerprints or snowflakes...no two are alike but a fingerprint is always a fingerprint and a snowflake is always a snowflake, no matter how you describe it. The point is this: if God's purpose for Paul, and for us, is to live out and spread the gospel, we need to know it's foundation...the truths in scripture about the gospel that never change, no matter how we describe it.


The verses today shed a lot of light on the truth about the gospel:

"promised before hand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures": The gospel is a big deal. God planned it long before it came to pass, and He points to it throughout the Old Testament.

"concerning his Son": the gospel is all about God's Son

"who was descended from David according to the flesh": God's Son was fully man, a descendent of King David (prophesied in the Old Testament, which the readers of this letter would have recognized)

"declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead": God's Son was fully God, as proven by His victory over death.

"Jesus Christ our Lord": When we proclaim Jesus as Christ, we proclaim Him as our Liberator, our Savior, freeing us from bondage to sin. When we proclaim Jesus as Lord, we proclaim Him as our Supreme Authority, our Master.

I encourage all of us today to take some time and talk to God about His gospel. How would you describe it? Is it all about God's Son, as our Liberator and Supreme Authority. Has our view of the gospel become cluttered with an earthly perspective? Now is the time for all of us to take a deep look at the foundational truths of the gospel, and form our beliefs accordingly!

I look forward to any other thoughts on these verses, as well as any ways these verses have played a role in your life. Most of all, I pray that anyone who reads this will take a moment to meditate on these verses and allow God to work in your heart!

Romans 1:1

Paul, a servant (bondservant) of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

A few words that I think are important to define in this first verse: servant (bondservant), called and set apart, and apostle.

servant (bondservant): an entire post could be dedicated to the Hebrew meaning of this word, its history, and what the readers of this day would have thought when they heard it. To keep it simple, a bondservant was a slave or servant who was willingly serving his or her master.

called and set apart: these two words both point to the idea of being appointed.

apostle: this indicates a person who was seen as a delegate, or one who was sent

Paul explains that he was specifically appointed to be an apostle, specifically appointed to spread the gospel of God. By who? His master Jesus Christ, to whom he was a willing servant.

Keep in mind many of these people may have never met Paul, and many of them may know him as the extreme persecutor of the Christians in Jerusalem. With this first verse, Paul is validating his authority to write this letter to them. It was his responsibility, a task he was willing to accept as a bondservant of Jesus Christ.

This way of thinking should play the central role in how we see ourselves as God's children. Paul was not the only one specifically appointed to share the gospel. We are all called, as children of God, to live out the gospel in our own lives.

This brings to mind something I heard in our current sermon series "Intimacy with God" at church. The most important thing we are to do is, like Paul, recognize what God's purpose is for our life, and then do it with all of our heart and soul.
As we can see here, and elsewhere in Paul's letters (namely Philippians 3:9), Paul's identity was securely in Christ. This defined who he was and was evident in how he lived.

We are not all called to start churches, but we are all specifically placed in a designated place, not by chance but by appointment, for God's purpose - spreading the gospel through us. Think about all the people you come into contact with on any given day...are they seeing the Good News lived out in front of them on a daily basis?

Like Paul, let's all lift each other up and encourage each other to perform the tasks that we have been called to, as willing servants of our Holy Master, Jesus Christ!

I look forward to any other thoughts on this verse, as well as any ways this verse has played a role in your life. Most of all, I pray that anyone who reads this will take a moment to meditate on this verse and allow God to work in your heart!

Setting the Stage

I am by no means a scholar on Rome, so I pray that my feeble attempt to "set the stage" will at least give us an idea of Rome was like in Paul's time.

The year the book of Romans was written was approximately AD 56.
Most likely the book was written from Corinth, by Paul.
Paul had never visited this group of believers in Rome, though he had wanted to for quite a
while (Romans 1:13)

The city of Rome:
A population of over 1 million, with up to a third of these being slaves.
Magnificent buildings along with massive areas of extreme poverty, slums.
     There was a two tier population: the rich and the very poor, there was no middle class.
This was not a place that was kind to criminals, slaves, etc.
     Definitely not a place you would want to get arrested or end up in jail.
There were about 420 temples to Roman gods and gods of conquered people.
     These pagan gods did not exactly encourage a "moral" lifestyle.
     Living a life of Christian values would have been a tough battle, with many obstacles.

The Christians in Rome:
They were established as a result of the Dispersion
     This was basically a spreading of Christians due to persecution in Jerusalem.
     Ironically, Saul (now Paul) was a key player in that persecution before his conversion!
This was a strong group of believers (Romans 1:8)
     Consisted of Jews (Romans 2:17, 4:12) and Gentiles (Romans 11, 15:15,16)

Purpose?
What is the book of Romans all about? People much smarter than me have described this beautiful book in many ways. It's a book of doctrine, it's the righteousness of God revealed, it's the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think it's all of this, and I look forward to digging in with anyone who would like to.

If anyone has any other information that would help us get a better idea of what times were like in and around Rome in the days of Paul, please share!

The format of this bible study is very fluid. I will post on the blog and leave it open to discussion through the comments section. The pace of the study will be determined by the amount of interaction on any given post. 

Overview

MISSION: Bring God's children together by eliminating the barriers of distance, denomination, and tight schedules!

I feel moved to start an online bible study. I pray that God will move throughout this study and bring anyone who reads it, as well as myself, to a deeper understanding of who He is. I plan for the study to be a deep verse by verse study of Romans, but I am open to wherever God leads. I look forward to input from anyone who takes part in this study, so that we can all grow together to the praise of His glory!

The format of this bible study is very fluid. I will post on the blog and leave it open to discussion through the comments section. The pace of the study will be determined by the amount of interaction on any given post.