Romans 1.1-17: Intro and Purpose

Romans can and should change us. You should walk away

• knowing Jesus more clearly, understanding the gospel more accurately,
• abandoning sin more thoroughly, feeling grace more deeply,
• and grasping more faithfully the large story of God’s purposes for this world and his faithful achievement of those purposes in spite of evil and sin.

Goal and Approach: Goal: to say enough… (can’t say everything, but that’s okay)

• To spark thought / generate conversation

• To send you back to the text

• Approach: walk through the text… (You will need to have read it for this to make sense!)

  • Zoom in, zoom out… verses that represent larger sections
  • Reflect on a big question (for yourself or your group)

• Today… What do I know and what do I expect to learn?

  • Look at 1.14-17 and see the purpose of Romans; why Paul wrote it
  • (3 of 4; other one is to raise support, which we’ll hit later)

Romans 1.14-17 (Paul’s “thesis statement”) Okay if you feel slightly lost (like a pre-tour video; “alright, let’s go for it…”)

• Clarify the gospel. (Rom 1.14-16a)

  • If you’re going to be a follower of Jesus, a Christian, you’ve got to know what the gospel actually is. If you’re going to be a church, a real faithful one, this is 1.0. Gotta get it, gotta get it right.
  • The words:
    • Gospel – good report
      • Background in Isaiah
      • Foreground in Roman media
    • Salvation – means being healed or put back together; restored to health
    • Faith: For all who believe… faith: trust, confidence, commitment
  • Literally the whole book is about these things, so we don’t need to have it all nailed down up front. But this is Paul’s purpose: clarify the gospel.
  • Practical edge to it…

• Unite the church. (Rom 1.16b)

  • You’ll see this all time: Jews and Gentiles, Gentiles and Jews…
  • Here’s the story:
    • Late 30s – gospel comes to Rome, mainly by and among Jews
    • 49 – Jews expelled
    • 54 – Jews return… to a very Gentile church
    • Paul writes in 56-57 to unite (or maintain unity)

• Prove God’s righteousness. (Rom 1.17)

  • This is a big part of what Paul wants to say about the gospel; and it’s a big part of how he aims to unite the two groups.
  • What does it mean? Righteous means “meets a standard” (waves; behavior);
  • God is his own standard. Two aspects
    • Legal: integrity as judge; to be righteous is to be just
    • Covenant: faithfulness as promise maker; righteous is to be faithful
  • Yes, Jesus was something of a surprise. Yes, Gentiles can now be saved without submitting to the Law of Moses (the OT). But no, this does not mean God changed his mind or came up with a plan B or reneged on his word. On the contrary, a right view of the gospel reveals a God who is faithful and just.