Overview of Romans

Moving on to the epistles, these were letters written by key church leaders to churches to address specific issues that those churches were facing. The first is Romans, a letter written by Paul, the apostle that we’ve followed through the book of Acts, to the church in Rome.

The Roman church was a mixture of Jewish Christians and Gentile, non-Jewish, Christians. But then, in around 50 CE, the Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews from Rome. It was about five years before the Jews were allowed to return to the city, and by this point, the church has become very Gentile, non-Jewish, in culture. This annoyed the Jews who felt displaced from a faith that they felt was theirs to begin with.

This led to a culture war within the Roman church, with the Jews and non-Jews at war with one another, fighting over different practices and believing themselves to be superior to the other. It was into this context, around 55-58 CE, that Paul wrote this letter, and it is important to remember this, as it’s going to feature throughout out Paul’s letter. Some speculate it was while Paul was in Corinth on his third missions journey (Acts 18:1).

Romans 1-4 - The gospel is good news to Jew and Gentile

• Romans 1:1-17 - The gospel
• Romans 1:18-32 - All nations are trapped
• Romans 2:1-3:8 - This is includes Israel
• Romans 3:9-26 - But Jesus' death and resurrection justifies by faith
• Romans 4 - This justification makes all who believe part of God's covenant family through Abraham

Romans 5-8 - The gospel creates a new humanity

• Romans 5 - This justification by faith creates a new humanity
• Romans 6 - Baptism is how we die to the old humanity and live in the new humanity
• Romans 7 - But then what was the point of the law of the Old Testament
• Romans 8 - The Spirit does what the law cannot

Romans 9-11 - The gospel and Israel

• Romans 9 - Reviewing the reality of Israel in the past
• Romans 10 - How then do we view Israel now
• Romans 11 - What does this mean for Israel in the future

Romans 12-15 - The gospel and the church

• Romans 12-13 - The gospel involves us loving, serving, and forgiving one another
• Romans 14-15 - The gospel heals divisions

Romans 16 - Closing messages

This is potentially Paul's most comprehensive outline of the gospel. Because these epistles are just letters written to churches addressing specific issues, they were never written as systematic theology books. Concepts and ideas are explored in part, and often specifically in relation to the issue they are addressing.

This means that we have to take these bits and pieces across these letters, along with the rest of scripture, to piece together our theology. Romans then is the closest we get to a systematic unpacking of the gospel and its significance.

As we’ve mentioned, the primary goal for Paul with this letter is to heal the cultural and ethnic divisions in the church, and so his unpacking of the gospel is told through that lens.

Romans 1-2

As we will see from most of Paul’s letters, Paul opens with a greeting to his readers. The greetings normally introduce Paul and then include some sort of encouragement and prayer over the readers.

In some letters, as he does here in Romans, Paul also mentions how much he wants to visit them in person. All of these are fairly common in letters written at this time, so it’s not a surprise that we see them here.

But Paul isn’t one to waste words, and so even in these greetings, he is setting the tone for the letter. He introduces himself as an apostle called to preach the good news of God’s son. But more than this, he makes a point of noting that this good news was promised by the prophets and holy scriptures.

These are each part of the Jewish heritage. On top of that, he notes that Jesus is a descendant of David, the greatest king in Jewish history. So Paul is rooting this gospel in the Jewish identity.

But Paul also wants to make it clear what this good news is; that Jesus, the son of God, died and was resurrected so that all nations can believe and know him. While this good news may have Jewish roots, its message is to all people, both Jew and Gentile. Paul then describes God as ‘our father’. If God is the father of both Jews and Gentiles, then that would suggest we are one family.

And so Paul makes his intentions clear. His desire is to strengthen the church in Rome, to help them encourage one another as brothers and sisters. Paul is called to speak to all people, no matter if they are a Jew, Greek, or some other group. He is not ashamed of the gospel, this good news about Jesus, because for Paul, it is God’s power to save. And to save everyone. Both Jew and Gentile.

Having introduced himself, and laid the groundwork of the letter Paul launches into the meat of the message. He starts with laying out the problem.

The problem is that people have turned from God. While it’s not said explicitly, Paul is talking about the foreign nations here. Anyone who is a non-Jew. They have chosen not to honour God, but to pursue their own wisdom. And according to Paul, they’ve had no excuse. Creation itself is evidence that God is there.

The problem with choosing your own wisdom rather than choosing God is that we become enslaved to our selfish desires. We taint our own bodies and become increasingly corrupt. This is why there is gossip and murder, and jealousy. Because humanity has chosen its own way and it has become trapped in its own wickedness.

Having read this, the Jewish members of the church are probably feeling pretty good about themselves. The Jews were chosen by God himself and remained loyal to him. And this is where Paul turns to speak to his Jewish readers. He challenges them for jumping straight to that position of judging anyone who isn’t Jewish, because the Jews have been just as bad.

The story of people turning from God and choosing their own wisdom appears throughout the Bible, and the Jews are just as guilty, if not more, of doing it. Even those who outwardly continue to commit themselves to God still inwardly fall into this trap of wickedness, giving into their own desires. They shouldn’t be so quick to judge the Gentiles, because they fail the same expectations that they accuse the Gentiles of failing.

Paul continues to unpack this, explaining that the Jewish community should not boast in their own ability, or show of how great they are at being living how God wants. There are plenty of Gentiles who live right without knowing God, while plenty of Jews claim to no God and don’t live right.

Paul then attacks the main thing that Jews boast in. Their ethnicity. The primary stamp that someone is a Jew is that they are circumcised, but Paul points out that their circumcision means nothing if inwardly they are still far from God.

So Paul has laid out the problem. All of humanity is trapped, corrupted, and led by its own wickedness. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Gentile who grew up far away from God, or a Jew that has tried to be loyal to God all their life. All are equal in their corruption and wickedness. So what’s the answer to the problem? That’s what Paul is going to address in tomorrow’s reading.

Psalm 131

This psalm is to king David and is named as a psalm of ascent. These psalms were sung by worshippers as they ascended to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Tabernacles) or possibly by the Levites as they ascended the steps of the Temple. Psalm 120-134 are all psalms of ascent.

Psalm 131:1-2 - I do not strive for myself

Psalm 131:3 - Hope in the Lord

In this ascent journey we’ve gone from being far from God's presence (Psalm 120), to seeking God’s presence (Psalm 121), and then to reaching God’s presence (Psalm 122). From there, the psalmist has asked the Lord for help (Psalm 123) and then praised the Lord for his protection (Psalm 124).

From within Jerusalem, they reflected on the nature of righteousness and wickedness (Psalm 125). They thanked God for how he has restored his city, but also ask for more (Psalm 126). This leads the psalmist to reflect on the importance of God being first and foremost in our live (Psalm 127) and fearing God (Psalm 128).

Having focused on God’s authority and power, the psalmist then reflects on how God rescued them and Israel from oppressors (Psalm 129). Then the psalmist called out to God to rescue them from, and forgive them for, their sin (Psalm 130). Now, the psalmist places their trust in the Lord.

The psalmist starts by pointing out to the Lord that they are not proud. They do not think too highly of themselves or seek power or position above their station. This didn’t come easily to them, but they have learnt to quiet their soul.

Now they are a like a weaning child with their mother. They simply trust that their mother will provide for their needs and rest in that. The implication in this is that the Lord is the mother who they are trusting in. And because of this, the psalmist encourages the rest of Israel to hope in the Lord in the same way.

It’s fitting that this psalm is attributed to king David. Starting out as a shepherd boy, we never saw David striving for power or position. Twice he had the opportunity to kill Saul and make himself king, and twice he simply trusted in the Lord’s timing (1 Samuel 24, 26). Trusting in the Lord means learning to be at peace with what you have and trusting that the Lord will provide what you need in his timing.