Recap

So far in Romans we've read through the section on how the gospel is good news for both Jew and Gentile, how it creates a new humanity, what happens to the Jews now, and started the section on the gospel in practice. We looked at how Paul was writing to a church of both Jews and non-Jews, Gentiles, drawn into a culture war. And we saw that from the beginning of the letter, Paul wanted to address this. 

Paul began his letter by emphasising his calling to share the gospel. This gospel is rooted in its Jewish heritage but is meant for all humanity, both Jew and Gentile. He explained that all humanity is trapped in sin, including the Jews. Their special relationship with God carried responsibility, not special privilege. The solution is faith in Jesus, who frees people from sin. Paul highlighted Abraham, who was saved by faith before the law. He serves as the father of all believers, making all who have faith in Jesus part of one family.

Paul explained that the gospel creates a new humanity where believers are justified through Jesus and made right with God. We rejoice in suffering, as it shapes us to be more like Jesus. While Adam's sin brought death, Jesus’ death and resurrection bring life and grace.

This new humanity is embraced through baptism, symbolising dying to the old self and rising to new life in Christ. Paul clarified that freedom in Christ doesn’t mean living in sin, as sin enslaves, but offering our lives to God brings true freedom. Though the law was meant to guide against sin, sin used it to trap people.

Through Jesus, believers are no longer condemned but live by the Spirit. Paul acknowledged his struggle with sin but reassured that the Spirit empowers believers to live in freedom, making them children of God and heirs of His promises. Though the struggle with sin continues, it pales in comparison to the future hope when all creation will be transformed by the Spirit. Meanwhile, nothing can separate us from God's love in Christ.

Paul addressed the question of Jews who have rejected Jesus and God's promises to them. He explained that throughout history, not all descendants of Abraham participated in the promises. There were descendants of the flesh and descendants of the promise. Some Jews rejecting Jesus allowed Gentiles to become part of the promise. These Jews have opted out by rejecting Jesus, but they can opt back in by accepting him. Paul also warned the Gentiles not to boast, as the Jews carried the faith they now share, and if pride led to the Jews' exclusion, it could happen to the Gentiles too.

After explaining the theology of the gospel, Paul shifted to its practical application. Believers should live for God, allowing transformation in line with His will. They should work together as one body, using their God-given gifts to support each other. Paul urged believers to show genuine love, live peacefully, serve others, offer hospitality, and overcome evil with good, avoiding revenge.

Paul urged believers to submit to civil authorities, focusing on those who maintain order and peace. Rebellion should be avoided unless it conflicts with God's will, with Paul highlighting paying taxes as a way to honour authority. The goal is to redeem communities, not overthrow them, aligning with Romans 12:21: "Overcome evil with good."

Paul also called for mutual respect among believers on issues like food and special days. Differences in personal convictions shouldn’t lead to judgment or division, as the kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace, and joy, not external practices. Believers should build each other up and honour each other's convictions.

Romans 15-16

Continuing this idea, Paul appeals to those who are strong to ‘put up with the failings of the weak’ (Romans 15:1). The strong here are those who, like Paul, have grasped that they no longer are bound by the letter of the law, but to the Spirit. They are those who aren’t worried about eating the right things or following the correct rituals.

In contrast, the weak are those who, despite being free in the Spirit, still bound to follow elements of the law. It is then the responsibility of those who have understood their freedom to bare with those who haven’t and not cause them to struggle. We please them so that we can build up and encourage them. This inevitable will mean, at times, limiting our freedoms to accommodate others.

As evidence for this, Paul quotes Psalm 69:9 as though Jesus was the one to say it. Just as Jesus limited his own freedoms and took offence from others to achieve freedom for all, we too must, at times, limit freedoms and accept offence so that we might bring freedom to others.

Paul then turns this into a blessing and prayer over his readers. May God give them the patience and encouragement to live in harmony with one another, just as Jesus would. May he do this so that they can stand together and give all glory to God and Jesus.

This then brings us back to the main message that Paul has been threading through this letter. The Roman believers are to welcome one another, just as Jesus has welcomed them. Jesus is the fulfilment of the promises given to the Abraham and the patriarchs and then passed down to the Jews. This fulfilment also includes the Gentiles.

Paul quotes three different passages to show this was always the plan (Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 117:1; Isaiah 11:10). This promise has come through the Jews to the Gentile. It includes both. And so Paul concludes with another blessing. May they all be filled with joy, peace, and hope in the Spirit.

We then started to see Paul wrap up his letter. Paul reminds the Romans that he is writing as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul is confident in their faith that they will continue to grow and encourage one another. He just wanted to be very clear about including one another because of his mission to the Gentiles, to include them in the gospel. He does not want to see any division in this area.

He can attest in his own life the incredible works that Jesus has done, and now he only wishes to share that with others, particularly the Gentiles. His main reason for this is he wants to share with people who have no idea who Jesus is. In this, Paul might be letting the Romans know that his work with them is almost over, so that he can then go on to tell others about the good news of Jesus.

With that said, he still hopes to see them one last time before his next goal, Spain. But before that, he needs to travel to Jerusalem to bring them support from Macedonia and Achaia. Paul is using these as an example of other Gentiles who want to support the Jews in a different nation.

We mentioned in Acts how the idea of different people groups supporting one another was just completely unheard of in the Greco-Roman world. Communities supported those inside the community, not those outside it. But here was a group of Gentiles in Greece who wanted to support some Jews in Jerusalem, all because of the good news of Jesus.

So Paul needs to sort that out first, and then he will visit the Romans on his way to Spain. He asks the Romans for their prayers as he goes to Jerusalem, that God will protect him from those in Jerusalem who would try to stop him.

Finally, we get Paul’s final greetings. First Paul commends Phoebe to them. Phoebe was likely the one who brought the letter to them. She is a deacon in the church at Cenchrae (a port in Corinth) and has been a great blessing to Paul.

Next comes a list of people Paul would like to give specific greetings. First are Prisca and Aquilla, who we met in Acts 18:2-3. They had left Rome when Claudius first cast out the Jews and had now clearly returned and were now leading a church in their house. We then have Epaenetus, Mary, Andronicus and Junia, and many more.

Note the number of women’s name included in this list. Some are on their own while others are paired with men, likely their husbands. That and the fact that Phoebe is given the role of deacon shows that Paul has a high respect for the role of women in the church.

Paul then gives more encouragements. The Romans are to keep an eye on those who are likely to course disunity and disruption. Avoid them. They just serve themselves. The Romans are well known for their obedience, and Paul has encouraged them to be tolerant with one another, but in the cause of those who disrupt do not tolerate them. They need to be wise while they wait on God to deal with evil permanently.

We then get greetings from Timothy, Tertius, Gaius, Erastus, and Quartus. Tertius is described as the writer of this letter. This is likely because while Paul could fluently speak Greek, as well as Hebrew and Aramaic, his Greek writing was probably not up to scratch to write this letter and communicate all that he wanted. Instead, he would have dictated what he wanted to say, and then Tertius would have written it down.

Finally, Paul ends with a closing doxology. He blesses Jesus, who strengthens them according to scriptures that have now been made known to the Gentiles, so they too may be obedient to God and to Jesus for their glory.

In Romans, we’ve read as Paul has addressed the division between the Jews and Gentiles in Rome. He pointed out how they were all trapped by the power of sin, but it was faith in Jesus that has freed them. This faith made them one family and a new humanity, which they participated in through baptism.

They are now freed from accountability to the law, but instead are bound to the Spirit, choosing to indulge the Spirit rather than the power of sin inside them. The Spirit is the one who empowers them to weed out the power of sin in their lives and makes them children of God.

He addressed the question of those Jews who have not yet accepted Jesus and then unpacked what all this means in practice. The Romans are called to love and serve one another. To make allowances for one another’s weaknesses and differences. This was always God’s plan and is his will.

Today in this letter, we can learn about our relationship to sin, the law, and the Spirit, and how that should impact how we live as individuals and as a community. We are to live in unity. That is the book of Romans.

Psalm 138

This psalm is attributed to king David and falls into the category of praise psalm.

Psalm 138:1-3 - I praise the Lord

Psalm 138:4-6 - All the earth will praise the Lord

Psalm 138:7-8 - The Lord preserves me

The psalmist starts with declaring that they give thanks to the Lord before the ‘gods’. The spiritual beings. In other words, they will declare the praise to all the heavens. They bow down in the temple and thank the Lord for his faithfulness and love. When the psalmist had called out to the Lord, the Lord answered them and strengthened them.

The psalmist then turns outward. All the earth should praise the Lord just as they have. The earth will sing the Lord’s praise because he is worthy of them. Even though the Lord is far above all things, he still cares for those who are low and poor. But those who set themselves up as important, the Lord keeps his distance from.

Bak to the psalmist, they recognise that, though they walk through difficult times, the Lord is the one that protects them and guides them. They know that the Lord will fulfil all that he has planned for the psalmist because he is a faithful and loving God. They then end with a request that the Lord never forget them, for he is the one that made them.

In this psalm, the psalmist has recognised all that the Lord has done to protect and guide them, and this has led them to praise. Their hope is that similarly all people will praise the Lord, and that the Lord will continue to keep and provide for them.