Romans

Romans

Book Outhne

Key theme: The righteousness of God

Key verse:

I. Introduction ()

II. Sin—Righteousness Demanded ()

A. The Gentiles guilty ()

B. The Jews guilty ()

C. The whole world guilty ()

III. Salvation—Righteousness Declared ()

A. Justification stated ()

B. Justification illustrated in Abraham ()

C. Justification explained in Adam ()

IV. Sanctification—Righteousness Defended ()

A. Victory—the flesh ()

B. Liberty—the law ()

C. Security—the Spirit ()

V. Sovereignty—Righteousness Declined ()

A. Israel’s past riches ()

B. Israel’s present rejection ()

C. Israel’s future restoration ()

VI. Service—Righteousness Demonstrated ()

A. In the church body ()

B. In society ()

C. Toward the weaker believer ()

VII. Conclusion ()

Book Overview

Christians are established by the truth, which explains why Paul wrote this letter—to explain the truth of God’s plan of salvation to Christians so they would be established, and so they would share this truth with the lost. After all, we cannot really share with others something we do not have ourselves.

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, most systematic presentation of the core of the Christian faith. Because the assemblies in Rome were a mixture of believing Jews and Gentiles, it presented the apostle with an audience to which he could address the common message that applied to all, without eliminating the distinctions that continue to exist in the way God has chosen to work through the Jewish nation. Everywhere he took the gospel and planted churches, Paul dealt with the tension between the Jewish origins of the Christian faith and the degree to which Jewish tradition could be applied to Gentile believers. Although the issue was addressed by the church in Jerusalem (see ), it remained a source of controversy throughout the early years of Christianity. The letter to the Romans puts the problem into perspective and shows that “all have sinned” (); that “having been justified by faith, we have a peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (); and that “there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (). Paul is gently encouraging all believers to keep their sights on the deeper matters of God’s plan for them. He tells them, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” ().

This means that our own study of Romans should make us more stable in the faith, more able to worship wholeheartedly with other believers, and more excited to share Christ with those who have not yet come to faith in Him.

“Be Transformed”

On May 24, 1738, a discouraged missionary went “very unwillingly” to a religious meeting in London. There a miracle took place. “About a quarter before nine,” he wrote in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

That missionary was John Wesley. The message he heard that evening was the preface to Martin Luther’s commentary on Romans. Just a few months before, John Wesley had written in his journal: “I went to America to convert the Indians; but Oh! who shall convert me?” That evening in Aldersgate Street, his question was answered. And the result was the great Wesleyan Revival that swept England and transformed the nation.

Paul’s epistle to the Romans is still transforming people’s lives, just the way it transformed Martin Luther and John Wesley. The one Scripture above all others that brought Luther out of mere religion into the joy of salvation by grace, through faith, was : “The just shall live by faith.” The Protestant Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival were both the fruit of this wonderful letter written by Paul from Corinth about the year A.D. 56. The letter was carried to the Christians at Rome by one of the deaconesses of the church at Cenchrea, Sister Phoebe ().

Imagine! You and I can read and study the same inspired letter that brought life and power to Luther and Wesley! And the same Holy Spirit who taught them can teach us! You and I can experience revival in our hearts, homes, and churches if the message of this letter grips us as it has gripped people of faith in centuries past.

Greeting

2which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

4and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

5Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name,

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Desire to Visit Rome

8First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

9For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers,

10making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.

12that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

13Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but was hindered until now), that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles.

The Just Live by Faith

God’s Wrath on Unrighteousness

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

22Professing to be wise, they became fools,

23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

25who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,

30backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;

32who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

God’s Righteous Judgment

3And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?

5But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

7eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;

8but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,

9tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

10but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

11For there is no partiality with God.

13(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

14for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves,

15who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them)

16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.

The Jews Guilty as the Gentiles

17Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

18and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

19and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

21You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

22You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

23You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

Circumcision of No Avail

25For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.

26Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?

27And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law?

28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;

God’s Judgment Defended

2Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

3For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect?

4Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:

“That You may be justified in Your words,

And may overcome when You are judged.”

5But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)

6Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?

7For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

8And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

All Have Sinned

10As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

11There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

12They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”

13“Their throat is an open tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;

“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

14“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

15“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16Destruction and misery are in their ways;

17And the way of peace they have not known.”

18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

20Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

God’s Righteousness Through Faith

23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

26to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Boasting Excluded

28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

29Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,

30since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

31Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Abraham Justified by Faith

2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

4Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.

David Celebrates the Same Truth

6just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

7“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

And whose sins are covered;

8Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”

Abraham Justified Before Circumcision

10How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,

12and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

The Promise Granted Through Faith

13For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,

15because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

17(as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

18who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

19And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

20He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,

21and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

22And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

23Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,

24but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

Faith Triumphs in Trouble

1Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

2through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;

4and perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Christ in Our Place

6For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

7For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

10For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

11And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

13(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

14Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

16And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

17For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

18Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

19For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

21so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

2Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

5For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

13And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God

15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!

17But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

18And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

19I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

20For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

22But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.

23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Freed from the Law

2For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.

3So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.

5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.

Sin’s Advantage in the Law

8But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

9I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.

11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.

Law Cannot Save from Sin

16If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.

17But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

19For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

20Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

22For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Free from Indwelling Sin

3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Sonship Through the Spirit

13For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

16The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

From Suffering to Glory

19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;

21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

23Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

24For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?

26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

God’s Everlasting Love

32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

34Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

37Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Israel’s Rejection of Christ

2that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart.

3For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,

5of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Purpose

6But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel,

7nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

8That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

9For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

10And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac

12it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.”

13As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

15For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”

17For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”

18Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

20But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”

21Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

22What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

23and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

24even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

“I will call them My people, who were not My people,

And her beloved, who was not beloved.”

26“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,

‘You are not My people,’

There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

27Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

“Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,

The remnant will be saved.

28For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,

Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”

29And as Isaiah said before:

“Unless the LORD of Sabaoth had left us a seed,

We would have become like Sodom,

And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Present Condition of Israel

30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;

31but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.

33As it is written:

“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,

And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

Israel Needs the Gospel

2For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

5For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”

6But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)

7or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

13For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Israel Rejects the Gospel

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,

Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

16But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?”

17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

18But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:

“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,

And their words to the ends of the world.”

19But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says:

“I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation,

I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.”

20But Isaiah is very bold and says:

“I was found by those who did not seek Me;

I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

“All day long I have stretched out My hands

To a disobedient and contrary people.”

Israel’s Rejection Not Total

1I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

3“LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?

4But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

6And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.

7What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

8Just as it is written:

“God has given them a spirit of stupor,

Eyes that they should not see

And ears that they should not hear,

To this very day.”

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,

A stumbling block and a recompense to them.

10Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,

And bow down their back always.”

Israel’s Rejection Not Final

13For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,

14if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them.

15For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

17And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree,

19You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.”

20Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear.

21For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.

22Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

24For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,

And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

27For this is My covenant with them,

When I take away their sins.”

28Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.

29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

31even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy.

32For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.

34“For who has known the mind of the LORD?

Or who has become His counselor?”

35“Or who has first given to Him

And it shall be repaid to him?”

36For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Living Sacrifices to God

2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Serve God with Spiritual Gifts

4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

5so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

6Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;

7or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;

8he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Behave Like a Christian

10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

12rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

13distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

15Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

18If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

19Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

20Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him a drink;

For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Submit to Government

2Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.

4For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

6For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing.

7Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Love Your Neighbor

9For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

10Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Put on Christ

12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.

13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.

The Law of Liberty

2For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.

3Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him.

4Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

5One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.

6He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.

7For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.

9For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

10But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

11For it is written:

“As I live, says the LORD,

Every knee shall bow to Me,

And every tongue shall confess to God.”

The Law of Love

15Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

16Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;

17for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

18For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

20Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.

21It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

22Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

23But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Bearing Others’ Burdens

2Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification.

3For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

5Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,

6that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Glorify God Together

9and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:

“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,

And sing to Your name.”

10And again he says:

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”

11And again:

“Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples!”

12And again, Isaiah says:

“There shall be a root of Jesse;

And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,

In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”

13Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

From Jerusalem to Illyricum

14Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

15Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God,

16that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God.

18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient—

19in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

20And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation,

21but as it is written:

“To whom He was not announced, they shall see;

And those who have not heard shall understand.”

Plan to Visit Rome

22For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you.

23But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you,

24whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

26For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.

27It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.

28Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain.

29But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

30Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me,

31that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

32that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.

33Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Sister Phoebe Commended

2that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also.

Greeting Roman Saints

3Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

4who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

5Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.

6Greet Mary, who labored much for us.

7Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

8Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord.

9Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved.

10Greet Apelles, approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus.

11Greet Herodion, my countryman. Greet those who are of the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord.

12Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis, who labored much in the Lord.

13Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.

14Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren who are with them.

15Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.

16Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.

Avoid Divisive Persons

18For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

19For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.

20And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Greetings from Paul’s Friends

21Timothy, my fellow worker, and Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my countrymen, greet you.

22I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, greet you in the Lord.

24The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Benediction

25Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began

26but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith—

27to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

Annotations for Romans

Paul’s self-description as “a bondservant of Christ” would have been meaningful to the Romans because the Roman empire had an estimated sixty million slaves, and a slave was seen as a piece of property, not a person. In loving devotion, Paul had enslaved himself to Christ, to be His servant and obey His will.

The word “apostle” means “one who is sent by authority with a commission.” It was applied in that day to the representatives of the emperor or the emissaries of a king. One of the requirements for an apostle was the experience of having seen the risen Christ (, ). Paul had seen Christ on the road to Damascus (), and that’s when Christ had called Paul to be His apostle to the Gentiles. Paul received from Christ divine revelations that he was to share with the churches.

Jesus Christ is the center of the gospel message. Paul identified Him as a man, a Jew, and the Son of God. Jesus had been born of a virgin (; ) into the family of David, which gave Him the right to David’s throne. He had died for the sins of the world and then had been raised from the dead. This miraculous event of substitutionary death and victorious resurrection constitutes the gospel, and this is the “Good News” that Paul preached.

, Believers in Rome probably gathered in several assemblies, not just one church, because in chapter Paul greets a number of home church groups (, , , ). We do not know for certain how these churches began, but likely believers from Rome who had been at Pentecost in Jerusalem had established the assemblies upon their return to Rome ().

Paul’s special commission was to take the gospel to the Gentiles, and this is why he was planning to go to Rome, the very capital of the empire. Paul was a preacher of the gospel, and the gospel was for all nations. In fact, Paul was also anxious to go to Spain with the message of Christ ().

Rome was a proud city, and the gospel came from Jerusalem, the capital city of one of the little nations that Rome had conquered. The Christians in that day were not among the elite of society; they were common people and even slaves. Rome had known many great philosophers and philosophies, so why pay any attention to a fable about a Jew who arose from the dead ()? Christians looked on each other as brothers and sisters, all one in Christ, which went against the grain of Roman pride and dignity. To think of a little Jewish tentmaker, going to Rome to preach such a message, is almost humorous.

, “I long to see you.” This is the pastor’s heart in Paul, the great missionary. Some of the saints in Rome were very dear to Paul, such as Priscilla and Aquila (, ), who risked their lives for him, “beloved Persis” (), and others who had labored and suffered with Paul. But he also loved the believers that he did not know, and he longed to be able to share some spiritual gift with them. He was looking forward to a time of mutual blessing in the love of Christ.

The Greeks considered every non-Greek a barbarian, uncivilized and uneducated. Steeped in centuries of philosophy, the Greeks saw themselves as wise and everyone else as foolish. But Paul felt an obligation to all people, just as we need to feel a burden for the whole world. Paul could not be free from his debt until he had told as many people as possible the good news of salvation in Christ.

Paul’s concern for the Christians at Rome was evident. These saints could not but give thanks to God for the apostle Paul and his burden to come and minister to them. Actually, the epistle to the Romans, in which Paul explained the gospel he preached, was his letter of introduction that prepared the believers for his visit.

, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. He had confidence in his message for the following reasons: (1) the origin of the gospel (it is the gospel of Christ, v. ); (2) the operation of the gospel (it is the power of God, v. ); and the outcome of the gospel (it is the power of God at work, saving everyone, v. ).

The word “saving” or “salvation” carried tremendous meaning in Paul’s day. Its basic meaning is “deliverance,” and it was applied to personal and national deliverance. The emperor was looked on as a “savior,” as was the physician who healed someone of illness. The gospel delivers sinners from the penalty and power of sin.

No doubt the false teachers had already gotten to Rome and were seeking to poison the Christians against Paul (see ). Some would accuse him of being anti-law; others would say he was a traitor to the Jewish nation. Still others would twist his teaching about grace and try to prove that he taught loose living. No wonder Paul was eager to get to Rome. He wanted to share with them the fullness of the gospel of Christ.

This is the key verse of the letter, for it announces Paul’s theme: “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’.” This phrase “the righteousness of God” is used in one way or another over sixty times in this letter (righteous, made right, just, and justified). God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel; for in the death of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by punishing sin; and in the resurrection of Christ, He revealed His righteousness by making salvation available to the believing sinner. The question “How can a holy God ever forgive sinners and still be holy?” is answered in the gospel. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God is seen to be both just and justifier (see ). The gospel reveals a righteousness that is by faith “from start to finish.”

Suppressing God’s truth, and refusing to acknowledge God’s glory, human beings were left without a god, and humans are so constituted that they must worship something. If they will not worship the true God, they will worship a false god, even if they have to manufacture it themselves! This fact about people accounts for their propensity to idolatry. They exchanged the glory of the true God for substitute gods that they themselves made. They exchanged glory for shame, incorruption for corruption, truth for lies.

The result of this self-deification was self-indulgence, and here Paul mentions a vile sin that was rampant in that day and has become increasingly prevalent in our own day: homosexual activity. This sin is repeatedly condemned in Scripture (.; , ; ). Paul characterizes it as “vile,” “debased,” “shameful,” and “against the natural way.” Not only were the men guilty, but “even their women.”

People not only committed these sins in open defiance of God, but they also encouraged others and applauded them when they sinned. How far humans had fallen! They had begun glorifying God but ended exchanging that glory for idols. They had begun knowing God but ended refusing to keep the knowledge of God in their minds and hearts. They had begun as the highest of God’s creatures, made in the image of God, but they ended lower than the beasts and insects because they worshiped them as their gods.

Certainly the Jews would applaud Paul’s condemnation of the Gentiles in . In fact, Jewish national and religious pride encouraged them to despise the Gentile “dogs” (see , ) and have nothing to do with them. Paul used this judgmental attitude to prove the guilt of the Jews, for the very things they condemned in the Gentiles, they were practicing.

God judges according to truth. He does not have one standard for the Jews and another for the Gentiles. One who reads the list of sins in cannot escape the fact that each person is guilty of at least one of them.

Instead of getting special treatment from God, the Jews had a greater responsibility to obey Him and glorify Him because of the blessings they had received from Him. In His goodness, God had given Israel great material and spiritual riches: a wonderful land, a righteous law, a temple and priesthood, His providential care, and many more blessings. God had patiently endured Israel’s many sins and rebellions and had even sent them His Son to be their Messiah.

Paul was not teaching salvation by character or good deeds. He was explaining another basic principle of God’s judgment: God judges according to deeds, just as He judges according to truth. Here Paul was dealing with the consistent actions of a person’s life, the total impact of that person’s character and conduct.

True saving faith results in obedience and godly living, even though a person may fall from time to time. When God measured the deeds of the Jews, He found them to be as wicked as those of the Gentiles. The fact that the Jews occasionally celebrated a festival or even regularly honored the Sabbath day did not change the fact that their consistent daily life was one of disobedience to God. God’s blessings had not led them to repentance.

Jews boasted in the law. They were different from their pagan neighbors who worshiped idols. But Paul stated clearly that the possession of the law was not what counted but the practice of the law. The Jews looked on the Gentiles as blind, in the dark, foolish, immature, and ignorant. But if God found the deprived Gentiles guilty, how much more guilty were the privileged Jews! God not only judges according to truth (v. ), and according to people’s deeds (v. ), but He also judges “everyone’s secret life” (v. ). He sees what is in a person’s heart.

Instead of glorifying God among the Gentiles, the Jews were dishonoring God, and Paul quoted to prove his point. The pagan Gentiles had daily contact with the Jews in business and other activities, and they were not fooled by the Jews’ devotion to the law. The very law that the Jews claimed to obey only indicted them!

God judges according to “everyone’s secret life” (v. ), so He is not impressed with mere outward formalities. An obedient Gentile with no circumcision would be more acceptable than a disobedient Jew with circumcision. In fact, a disobedient Jew turns his circumcision into uncircumcision in God’s sight, for God looks at the heart. The Jews praised each other for their obedience to the law, but much more important is the praise of God and not the praise of human beings.

Paul’s four witnesses from the previous chapter—the Gentiles (), God’s blessing (), God’s law (), and circumcision ()—all agreed: The Jews were guilty before God. God’s chosen people had failed in their special role and were liable for judgment along with the rest of humanity.

Paul has already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are guilty before God. Now he will declare that all people are sinners, and he will prove it with several quotations from the Old Testament. Note the repetition of the words “all” and “no one,” which in themselves assert the universality of human guilt.

Catalyst

In , Paul uses the Old Testament quotations to show that the whole of a person’s inner being is controlled by sin: the mind, the heart, and the will. Measured by God’s perfect righteousness, no human being is sinless in any way. No sinner seeks after God. God, therefore, must seek the sinner (; ).

The word “for” in carries the meaning of “because” and gives the reason why the whole world is guilty: No flesh can obey God’s law and “be justified in His sight.” Nobody can do what the law demands.

Are you boasting of your own self-righteousness and defending yourself before God? If so, then perhaps you have never been saved by God’s grace. Only when we stand silent before Him as sinners can He save us. As long as we defend ourselves and commend ourselves, we cannot be saved by God’s grace. The whole world is guilty before God—and that includes us!

Go to the

Paul’s theme in this second section of his letter is “salvation—righteousness . . . revealed.” He has proved that all people are sinners; now he will explain how sinners can be saved. The theological term for this salvation is “justification by faith.” Justification is “the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Christ on the basis of the finished work of Christ on the cross.” Each part of this definition is important, so in this section of Romans Paul will consider each concept carefully: How does God declare a sinner righteous? What is the role of believing (faith)? What is the finished work of Christ on the cross?

God had revealed His righteousness in many ways before the full revelation of the gospel: His law, His judgments against sin, His appeals through the prophets, His blessing on the obedient. But in the gospel, a new kind of righteousness has been revealed (, ), and the characteristics of this righteousness are spelled out in these verses.

Under the Old Testament law, righteousness came by behaving; under the gospel, righteousness comes by believing.

Faith is only as good as its object. All people trust something, if only themselves, but the Christian trusts Christ. Law righteousness is a reward for works. Gospel righteousness is a gift through faith. Many people say, “I trust in God!” But this is not what saves us. Only personal, individual faith in Jesus Christ saves and justifies the lost sinner. Even the demons from hell believe in God and tremble, yet this does not save them ().

, God gave His law to the Jews, not to the Gentiles, but the good news of salvation through Christ is offered to everyone. All people, everywhere, need to be saved. Jews and Gentiles are alike when it comes to condemnation. God declared all people guilty so that He might offer to all people His free gift of salvation.

, Salvation is free but it was not cheap! In these verses three words express the price God paid for our salvation: redemption (“being justified freely by His grace”), propitiation (“the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”), and blood. The best illustration of all three is the Jewish Day of Atonement described in . God built into the religious history of the chosen people the concepts of redemption, propitiation, and blood that would allow them (and us) to understand His plan for salvation.

God has two kinds of attributes: absolute (what He is in Himself), and relative (how He relates to the world and to human beings). One of God’s absolute attributes is love: “God is love” (). When God relates that love to you and me, it becomes grace and mercy. God in His mercy does not give us what we deserve, and God in grace gives us what we do not deserve.

The word “redemption” means “freed us from the penalty of our sins.” Redemption takes on intimate meaning in societies where slavery still exists. It refers to buying back or paying a debt that has in some way compromised the party that is redeemed. Sin creates a moral debt we can never pay; but God graciously allowed Christ to pay that debt for us on the cross. In our world, the need for redemption can be seen in the concept of mortgages. Sin allows Satan to claim a lien on our lives. We may call it “our” life, but Satan owns it because we have sinned. Jesus paid the impossible mortgage of sin that was levied against our lives.

In human terms, “propitiation” means appeasing someone who is angry, usually by a gift. But this is not what it means in the Bible. Propitiation means the satisfying of God’s holy law, the meeting of its just demands, so that God can freely forgive those who come to Christ. God doesn’t just ignore the offense of our sin; He settled that offense through Jesus Christ.

The key concept here is the “blood” of Jesus. Blood is life (see ). The radical nature of sin means that it couldn’t be ultimately settled with a payment or a punishment. It had to be settled with life—a life for a life. Sin is about more than “I’m sorry” and “Will you forgive me?” We can ask the question “How can I make things right?” but the answer is something we can’t do. Everything, including our lives, is tainted with sin. Only a perfect life offered on our behalf could overcome the offense created by sin. That’s why the cross was much more than punishment—it was death for Jesus. His wounds that heal us meant the shedding of His blood.

Because of his Jewish readers, Paul wanted to say more about the relationship of the gospel to the law. The doctrine of justification by faith is not against the law because it establishes the law. God obeyed His own law in working out the plan of salvation. Jesus in His life and death completely fulfilled the demands of the law. God does not have two ways of salvation, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles, for He is one God. He is consistent with His own nature and His own law.

The Jewish Christians in Rome would immediately have asked, “How does this doctrine of justification by faith relate to our history? Paul, you say that this doctrine is witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Well, what about Abraham?” Paul accepted the challenge and explained how Abraham had been saved. Abraham was called “the founder of our Jewish nation,” referring primarily to the Jews’ natural and physical descent from Abraham. But in verse , Abraham was also called “the father of all those who believe,” meaning, all who have trusted Christ (see ).

Abraham was justified by faith, not works. Paul called two witnesses to prove that statement: Moses () and David (, ). God promised, and Abraham believed God’s promise. The Hebrew word translated “believed” means “to say amen.” God gave a promise, and Abraham responded with “Amen!” This faith is what was counted for righteousness.

Paul made a starthng statement: God justifies the ungodly! The law said, “I will not justify the wicked” (). The Old Testament judge was commanded to “justify the righteous and condemn the wicked” (). When Solomon dedicated the temple, he asked God to “condemn the wicked” and “justify the righteous” (, ). But God justifies the ungodly because no godly people exist for Him to justify! He put our sins on Christ’s account that He might put Christ’s righteousness on our account.

Abraham was justified by grace, not the law. As we have seen, the Jews gloried in circumcision and the law. If a Jew was to become righteous before God, this person would have to be circumcised and obey the law. But Abraham was declared righteous when he was in the state of uncircumcision. From the Jewish point of view, Abraham was a Gentile. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised (). This was more than fourteen years after the events in .

Abraham did not walk by sight; he walked by faith. What God promises, He performs. All we need to do is believe. Abraham’s initial faith in God as recorded in did not diminish in the years that followed. In , Abraham was “strong in faith.” This faith gave him strength to beget a son in his old age.

The fact that Abraham was justified by grace and not the law proves that salvation is for all people. Abraham is the father of all believers, both Jews and Gentiles (see also , ). Instead of the Jews complaining because Abraham was not saved by the law, they ought to rejoice that God’s salvation is available to everyone by grace.

The application to salvation is this: God must wait until the sinner is “dead” and unable to help himself before He can release His saving power. As long as lost sinners think they are strong enough to do anything to please God, they cannot be saved by grace. Only when Abraham admitted that he was “dead” did God’s power go to work in his body. When lost sinners confess that they are spiritually dead and unable to help themselves, then God can save them.

Catalyst

In listing the blessings in , Paul tells us how wonderful it is to be a Christian. Our justification is not simply a guarantee of heaven, as thrilling as that is, but it is also the source of tremendous blessings that we enjoy here and now.

What are some specific blessings that Paul mentions? First, we have access to God (v. ). Jews were kept from God’s presence by the curtain in the temple, and Gentiles were kept out by a wall in the temple with a warning on it that any Gentile who went beyond it would be killed. But when Jesus died, He tore apart the curtain () and broke down the wall ().

Second, in Christ we have glorious hope (v. ). “Peace with God” takes care of the past: He will no longer hold our sins against us. Access to God (“access by faith into this grace in which we stand”) takes care of the present. We can come to Christ at any time for the help we need.

Third, we have strength in tribulations (vv. , ). Justification is no escape from the trials of life. As we go through tribulations and depend on God’s grace, the trials only purify us. God is working in us to develop character.

Fourth, God’s love, given through the Holy Spirit, fills our hearts (v. ). God proved His love by sending Christ to die for us. Now that we are His children, surely He will love us more. The inner experience of this love through the Spirit sustains us as we go through problems and trials.

Finally, we will be saved from God’s condemnation (vv. ). Paul argued from the lesser to the greater. The unsaved person is one of God’s “enemies” (v. ; ), because he cannot obey God’s law or fulfill God’s will. But God did not declare war on humanity. Instead, He sent His Son as the Peacemaker (see ), that people might be reconciled to God. If God saved us when we were His enemies, surely He will keep on saving us now that we are His children! We can be assured that justification lasts.

Go to the

This section contrasts Adam and Christ. Adam was given dominion over the old creation; he sinned, and he lost his kingdom. Because of Adam’s sin, all people are under condemnation and death. Christ came as the King over a new creation (). By His obedience on the cross, He brought in righteousness and justification. Christ not only undid all the damage caused by Adam’s sin, but He accomplished much more (“much more [is] the grace of God,” , ) by making us the very sons of God. Paul has already listed some of the “gifts by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ” in verses through .

Adam’s offense is contrasted with Christ’s free gift. Because of Adam’s trespass, many died; because of Christ’s obedience, the grace of God generously flows to many, bringing life. The word “many” (literally “the many”) means the same as “everyone” in verses and .

, Law and grace are contrasted. Grace was not an addition to God’s plan; grace was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning. God dealt with Adam and Eve in grace; He dealt with the patriarchs in grace; and He dealt with the nation of Israel in grace. He gave the law through Moses, not to replace His grace, but to reveal humanity’s need for grace. The law was temporary, but grace is eternal.

In the same way that the law made humanity’s sins increase, God’s “grace abounded much more.” God’s grace was more than adequate to deal with people’s sins. Even though sin and death still reign in this world, God’s grace is also reigning through the righteousness of Christ. Christians’ bodies are subject to death, and their old natures tempt them to sin, but in Jesus Christ they can reign in life because they are part of the gracious kingdom of Christ.

The basic truth Paul is teaching is the believer’s identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Just as we were identified with Adam in sin and condemnation, so believers are now identified with Christ in righteousness and justification. At , Paul made a significant transition from discussing “sins” to discussing “sin”—from the actions to the principle, from the fruit to the root. Jesus Christ not only died for our sins, but He also died to sin once for all, and we died with Him.

Catalyst

In Paul defends the doctrine of justification by faith. He anticipates three objections people make: (1) “If God’s grace generously flows when we sin, then let’s continue sinning so we might experience more grace” (); (2) “If we are no longer under the law, then we are free to live as we please” (); and (3) “You have made God’s law sinful” ().

These objections prove that the readers did not understand either law or grace. They were going to extremes: legalism on the one hand and license on the other. So as Paul defended justification he also explained sanctification. He told how we can live lives of victory (ch. ), liberty (ch. ), and security (ch. ).

The tendency to presume on and even abuse God’s grace on the one hand or ignore human responsibility on the other continues to be at the heart of our struggles to grow spiritually. These chapters tell us that the process feels like a struggle because it is a struggle. But the answers (victory, liberty, and security) are all found in what Christ has done for us and not in anything we can do for ourselves.

Go to the

The mode of baptism in the early church was immersion. Believers were “buried” in the water and brought up again as a picture of death, burial, and resurrection. Their immersion was a picture of what the Spirit did: the Holy Spirit identified them with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

, Many Christians are “betweeners”: they live between Egypt and Canaan, saved but never satisfied; or they live between Good Friday and Easter, believing in the cross but not entering into the power and glory of the resurrection. Our union with Christ assures our future resurrection after we die. But verse teaches that we share Christ’s resurrection power today. In Christ we have eternal life even though we are not yet living in eternity.

Sin is a terrible master, and it finds a willing servant in the human body. The body is not sinful; the body is neutral. It can be controlled either by sin or by God. But a person’s fallen nature, which is not changed at conversion, gives sin a beachhead from which it can attack and then control.

, Justification by faith is not simply a legal matter between me and God; it is a living relationship resulting in justification of life (). I am in Christ and identified with Him; therefore, whatever happened to Christ has happened to me. When He died, I died. When He arose, I arose in Him. I am now seated with Him in the heavenly realms (see ; ). Because of this living union with Christ, the believer has a totally new relationship to sin.

Sin wants to be our master. It finds a foothold in the old nature and through the old nature seeks to control the members of the body. But in Jesus Christ, we died to sin, and the old nature was crucified so that the old life is rendered inoperative. Paul was not describing an experience; he was stating a fact.

, Trust in Christ is an act of the will based on the knowledge we have of what Christ has done for us. It is an intelligent act, not the impulsive decision of the moment based on some emotional stirring. The believer must experience that final and complete surrender of the body to Jesus Christ. This does not mean no further steps of surrender will be necessary because they will. The longer we walk with Christ, the deeper the fellowship must become.

Sin and death have no control over Christ. We are “in Christ”; therefore, sin and death have no control over us. Jesus Christ not only died for sin, but He also died unto sin. That is, He not only paid the penalty for sin, but He broke the power of sin. This idea of control takes us back to , where Paul dealt with the reigns of sin, death, and grace.

, We yield ourselves to God because of His grace. Paul has proved that we are not saved by the law and that we do not live under the law. The fact that we are saved by grace does not give us an excuse to sin, but it does give us a reason to obey.

The illustration of the master and servant is obvious. Whatever we yield to becomes our master. Before we were saved, we were slaves of sin. Now that we belong to Christ, we are freed from that old slavery and made servants of Christ.

If we serve a master, we can expect to receive wages. Sin pays wages—death! God also pays wages—holiness and everlasting life. In the old life, we produced fruit that made us ashamed. In the new life in Christ, we produce fruit that glorifies God and brings joy to our lives.

Marriage is a physical union (“they shall become one flesh,” ) and can only be broken by a physical cause. One such cause is death. As long as they live, the husband and wife are under the authority of the law of marriage. If the woman leaves the man and marries another man, she commits adultery. But if the husband dies, she is free to remarry because she is no longer a wife. Death has broken the marriage relationship and set her free.

, When we were unsaved (“controlled by our old nature” v. ), we were under the authority of God’s law. We were condemned by that law. When we trusted Christ and were united to Him, we died to the law just as we died to the old nature (). The law did not die; we died.

We are released from the law. This is the logical conclusion: The law cannot exercise authority over a dead person. We were delivered that we might serve. The Christian life is not one of independence and rebellion. We died to the law that we might be married to Christ. We were delivered from the law that we might serve Christ. This truth refutes the false accusation that Paul taught lawlessness.

The law is a mirror that reveals the inner person and shows us how dirty we are (). Note that Paul did not use murder, stealing, or adultery in his discussion; he uses coveting. This is the last of the Ten Commandments, and it differs from the other nine in that it is an inward attitude, not an outward action. Covetousness leads to the breaking of the other commandments. Believers who try to live by rules and regulations discover that their legalistic system only arouses more sin and creates more problems. The churches in Galatia were very legalistic, and they experienced all kinds of trouble.

, The law cannot give life; it can only show the sinner that he is guilty and condemned. This explains why legalistic Christians and churches do not grow and bear spiritual fruit. They are living by the law, and the law always kills. Few things are more “dead” than an orthodox church that is proud of its high standards and tries to live up to them in its own energy. Often the members of such a church start to judge and condemn one another, and the sad result is a church fight and then a church split that leaves members—or former members—angry and bitter.

, The law shows the sinfulness of sin. Unsaved people know that sin exists, but they do not realize the sinfulness of sin. Many Christians do not realize the true nature of sin. We excuse our sins with words like “mistakes” or “weaknesses,” but God condemns our sins and tries to get us to see “exceedingly sinful” sin really is.

Paul’s argument here is tremendous: (1) The law is not sinful—it is holy, just, and good; but (2) the law reveals sin, arouses sin, and then sin uses it to slay us. (3) See how sinful sin is when it can use something good like the law to produce such tragic results. If sin can use something as good as the law to accomplish these results, then sin is indeed “terrible.”

The character of the law is described in four words: “holy and just and good” (v ), and “spiritual” (v. ). That the law is holy and just and good, nobody can deny because it came from the holy God who is perfectly right in all that He says and does. The law is spiritual, as it reveals God’s holiness to us and helps us to see our need for a Savior. The problem is not with the law; the problem is with our sinful nature.

The pronouns in this section indicate that the writer was having a problem with self. This is not to say that Christians have split personalities because they do not. Salvation makes a person whole. But it does indicate that the believer’s mind, will, and body can be controlled either by the old nature or the new nature, either by the flesh or the Spirit. The statements here indicate that believers have two serious problems: (1) they cannot do the good they want to do, and (2) they do the evil that they do not want to do.

The law cannot set us free. All believers have an old nature that wants to keep them in bondage, but believers are united to Christ. They are dead to the law and no longer under its authority, but they are alive to God and able to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul was saying that of himself he could not obey God’s law, and that even when he did, evil was still present with him. No matter what he did, his deeds were tainted by sin. Even after he had done his best, he had to admit that he was an “unprofitable servant” (see ).

The final sentence in the chapter does not teach that believers live divided lives: sinning with their flesh but serving God with their minds. Believers realize that in them the flesh and the Spirit struggle (), but they know that one or the other must be in control.

In we see the unavoidable “therefore” of condemnation (“no flesh will be justified”), but here we see the unexpected “therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”—a tremendous truth and the conclusion of a marvelous argument. The basis for this wonderful assurance is the phrase “in Christ Jesus.” In Adam, we were condemned. In Christ, we have no condemnation!

The law cannot condemn us. We have been made free from the law of sin and death. We now have life in the Spirit. We have moved into a whole new sphere of life in Christ. The law no longer has any jurisdiction over us: We are dead to the law () and, as a result, free from it ().

The law cannot control us. The believer lives a righteous life, not in the power of the law, but in the power of the Holy Spirit. The law does not have the power to produce holiness; it can only reveal and condemn sin. But the indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to walk in obedience to God’s will.

The unsaved person does not have the Spirit of God (v. ) and lives in the flesh and for the flesh. This person’s mind is centered on the things that satisfy the flesh. But the Christian has the Spirit of God within and lives in an entirely new and different sphere. This person’s mind is fixed on the things of the Spirit. This does not mean that the unsaved person never does anything good, or that the believer never does anything bad. It means that the bent of their lives is different. One lives for the flesh, and the other lives for the Spirit.

The evidence of conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit within, witnessing that we are children of God (v. ). Our bodies are the very temple of the Holy Spirit (, ). Even though the body is destined to die because of sin (unless, of course, the Lord returns), the Spirit gives life to that body today so that we may serve God.

Having the Spirit is not enough; the Spirit must have us! Only then can He share with us the abundant, victorious life that can be ours in Christ. We have no obligation to the flesh, because the flesh has only brought trouble into our lives. We do have an obligation to the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit convicted us, revealed Christ to us, and imparted eternal life to us when we trusted Christ.

The word “adoption” in the New Testament means “being placed as an adult son.” We come into God’s family by birth. But the instant we are born into the family, God adopts us as well and gives us the position of an adult son. A baby cannot walk, speak, make decisions, or draw on the family wealth. But the believer can do all of these the instant he is born again. This child of God by faith can draw on his or her spiritual wealth as an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ (v. ).

When God finished His creation, it was a good creation (). But today it is a groaning creation, filled with suffering, death, and pain. All of this is, of course, the result of Adam’s sin. Creation is not at fault. Note the words that Paul used to describe the plight of creation: “suffering” (), “futility” (v. ), “bondage” (v. ), “corruption” (v. ), and “groans and labors with birth pangs” (v. ). But believers do not focus on today’s sufferings; they look forward to tomorrow’s glory (v. ; ).

God is concerned about the trials of His people. When He was ministering on earth, Jesus groaned when He saw what sin was doing to humankind (; , ). Today the Holy Spirit groans with us and feels the burdens of our weaknesses and suffering. But the Spirit does more than groan. He prays for us in His groaning so that we might be led into the will of God.

We believers are not condemned, because we share the righteousness of God and the law cannot condemn us. We have no obligation, because we have the Spirit of God who enables us to overcome the flesh and live for God. We have no frustration, because we share the glory of God, the blessed hope of Christ’s return. We have no separation, because we experience the love of God.

We are free from judgment because Christ died for us and we have His righteousness. We are free from defeat because Christ lives in us by His Spirit and we share His life. We are free from discouragement because Christ is coming for us and we shall share His glory. We are free from fear because Christ intercedes for us and we cannot be separated from His love.

Paul moved skillfully from the joy of chapter into the sorrow and burden of chapter . When he looked at Christ, he rejoiced, but when he looked at the lost people of Israel, he wept. Like Moses (), he was willing to be cursed and separated from Christ if it would mean the salvation of Israel. What a man Paul was! He was willing to stay out of heaven for the sake of the saved (), and willing to go to hell for the sake of the lost.

The purpose of all of this blessing was that Jesus Christ, through Israel, might come into the world. (Note that v. affirms Jesus Christ as God.) All of these blessings were given freely to Israel and to no other nation.

We see that God’s choices are not based on human merit because God chose Jacob before he and his brother were born. The two boys had done neither good nor evil, so God’s choice was not based on their character or conduct. Verse is a reference to , and refers to nations (Israel and Edom) and not individual sinners. God does not hate sinners; makes it clear that He loves them. Since God’s election of Israel does not depend on human merit, their disobedience cannot nullify the elective purposes of God. The Lord is faithful even though His people are unfaithful.

The fact that God chose one and not the other seems to indicate that He is unrighteous. But our holy God could never commit an unrighteous act. Election is always totally a matter of grace. If God acted only on the basis of righteousness, nobody would ever be saved.

No one will deny that many mysteries are connected with divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Nowhere does God ask us to choose between these two truths because they both come from God and are a part of God’s plan. They do not compete; they cooperate. The fact that we cannot fully understand how they work together does not deny the fact that they do.

God is holy and must punish sin, but God is loving and desires to save sinners. If everyone were to be saved, that would deny His holiness; but if everybody were to be lost, that would deny His love. The solution to the problem is God’s sovereign election. God chose Israel and condemned Egypt because this was His sovereign purpose. Nobody can condemn God for the way He extends His mercy because God is righteous.

This is one of Paul’s logical arguments about God’s absolute freedom to choose. God is the Potter and we are the clay. God is wiser than we are, and we are foolish to question His will or to resist it. (The reference here is to .) To be sure, the clay has no life and is passive in the potter’s hand. We have feelings, intellect, and willpower, and we can resist him if we choose. (See , where this thought is developed.) But God determines whether a person will be a Moses or a Pharaoh.

God was not unjust in saving some and judging others because He was only fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies given centuries ago. He would be unjust if He did not keep His own Word. But even more than that, these prophecies show that God’s election has made possible the salvation of the Gentiles. This is the grace of God. At the exodus, God rejected the Gentiles and chose the Jews, so that, through the Jews, He might save the Gentiles. The nation of Israel rejected His will, but this did not defeat His purposes. A remnant of Jews does believe, and God’s Word has been fulfilled.

We need to decide what kind of righteousness we are seeking, whether we are depending on good works and character or trusting Christ alone for salvation. God does not save people on the basis of birth or behavior. “By [His] grace [they] have been saved through faith” (, ). He offers us His salvation by faith. The offer is made to “whoever desires” (). After we have trusted Christ, then we have the witness and evidence that we are among God’s children ().

Many religious people today are making the same mistake Israel made. They think that their good works and religious deeds will save them, when, in reality, these practices are keeping them from being saved. Certainly many of them are sincere and devout, but sincerity and devotion will never save the soul.

Israel was ignorant of God’s righteousness, not because they had never been told, but because they refused to learn. Some ignorance comes from lack of opportunity, but Israel had had many opportunities to be saved. Theirs was an ignorance that stemmed from willful, stubborn resistance to the truth. They would not submit to God.

Everything about the Jewish religion pointed to the coming Messiah—their sacrifices, priesthood, temple services, religious festivals, and covenants. Their law told them they were sinners in need of a Savior. Instead of letting the law bring them to Christ (), however, they revered their law and rejected their Savior.

This passage is often used as the basis for the church’s missionary program, and rightly so, but its first application is to the nation of Israel. The only way unbelieving Jews can be saved is by calling on the Lord. But before they can call on Him, they must believe. For the Jew, this meant believing that Jesus Christ of Nazareth truly is the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel. It also meant believing in His death and resurrection (vv. , ). But in order to believe, they must hear the Word, for the Word creates faith in the heart of the hearer (v. ). This meant that a herald of the Word must be sent, and the Lord does the sending.

We must never minimize the missionary outreach of the church. While this passage relates primarily to Israel, it applies to all lost souls around the world. They cannot be saved unless they call on the Lord Jesus Christ, but they cannot call unless they believe. Faith comes by hearing, so they must hear the message. How will they hear? A messenger must go to them with the message. But this means that God must call the messenger and that the messenger must be sent. What a privilege it is to be one of His messengers and have beautiful feet! (See .)

God still yearns over His people. Through Paul, God was stretching out His arms of love to His disobedient people, yearning over them, and asking them to return. God’s favor to the Gentiles did not change His love for the Jews. God wants to use us to share the gospel with both Jews and Gentiles. God can use our feet and our arms just as He used Paul’s. Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem and longed to gather His people in His arms. Instead, those arms were stretched out on a cross where He willingly died for Jews and Gentiles alike.

Israel is God’s elect nation; He foreknew them, He chose them, and they are His. The fact that most of the nation has rejected Christ is no proof that God is finished with His people. In his day, Elijah thought that the nation had totally departed from God (see ). But God had preserved a remnant of true believers. Elijah thought he was the only faithful Jew left, and God told him about seven thousand more!

, The remnant Paul mentions is saved by grace and not by works. Note also the parallel in . Grace and works don’t mix, for the one cancels the other. Israel’s main concern had always been to try to please God with good works (). The nation refused to submit to Christ’s righteousness, just as religious, self-righteous people refuse to submit today.

, Paul quoted from , . This is one of the most important of the messianic psalms and is cited several times in the New Testament. Israel’s spiritual blessings should have led them to Christ; instead they became a snare that kept them from Christ. Their very religious practices and observances became substitutes for the real experience of salvation. Sad to say, this same mistake is made today when people depend on religious rituals and practices instead of trusting in the Christ who is pictured in these activities.

Three tragedies occurred in Israel: The nation fell (v. ), turned down God’s offer (v. ), and was rejected (v. ). None of these words suggests a final judgment on Israel. But the amazing thing is that through Israel’s fall, salvation came to the Gentiles. God promised that the Gentiles would be saved (, ), and He kept His promise.

Israel still has a future. Paul said they would finally accept (vv. , ). Today, Israel is fallen spiritually, but when Christ returns, the nation will rise again. Today, Israel is cast away from God, but one day they shall be received again. God will never break His covenant with His people, and He has promised to restore them.

The olive tree is a symbol of the nation of Israel (, ; ). Paul was not discussing the relationship of individual believers to God but the place of Israel in the plan of God. The roots of the tree support the tree; again, this was a symbol of the patriarchs who founded the nation. God made His covenants with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He cannot deny them or change those covenants. Thus, God’s promise to Abraham sustains Israel even today.

Paul warned the Gentiles that they were obligated to Israel; therefore, they dared not boast of their new spiritual position. The Gentiles entered into God’s plan because of faith and not because of anything good they had done. Paul was discussing the Gentiles collectively, and not the individual experience of one believer or another.

, No matter how far Israel may stray from the truth of God, the roots are still good. God is still the “God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (; ). He will keep His promises to these patriarchs. This means that the olive tree will flourish again!

What has happened to Israel is all a part of God’s plan, and He knows what He is doing. The hard heartedness of Israel as a nation is neither total nor final: it is partial and temporary. Individual Jews are being saved, of course, but this present age is primarily a time when God is visiting the Gentiles and building His church. When this present age has run its course, and the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then God will once more deal with the nation of Israel.

The reference here is , , and completes the picture. God has promised to save His people, and He will keep His promise. Some interpret this as meaning salvation comes to individuals through the gospel, but I believe the prophet has national conversion in mind.

We must remember that God chose the Jews so that the Gentiles might be saved. “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,” was God’s promise to Abraham (). The tragedy was that Israel had become exclusive and had failed to share the truth with the Gentiles. They thought that the Gentiles had to become Jews in order to be saved. But God declared both Jews and Gentiles to be lost and condemned. This meant that He could have mercy on all because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.

Only a God as wise as our God could take the fall of Israel and turn it into salvation for the world! His plans will not be aborted, nor will His purposes lack fulfillment. No human being can fully know the mind of the Lord, and the more we study His ways, the more we offer Him praise.

, Just as Jesus Christ had to take on Himself a body in order to accomplish God’s will on earth, so we must yield our bodies to Christ that He might continue God’s work through us. We must yield the members of the body as “instruments to do what is right” () for the Holy Spirit to use in the doing of God’s work. The Old Testament sacrifices were dead sacrifices, but we are to be living sacrifices.

Catalyst

If the world controls our thinking, we are conformers; if God controls our thinking, we are transformers. If we copy the behavior and customs of the world, we become a cheap imitation; if we let God transform us into new persons, we will be original creations of His! God transforms our minds and makes us spiritually minded by using His Word. As we spend time meditating on God’s Word, memorizing it, and making it a part of our inner selves, God will gradually make our minds more spiritual (see ).

We surrender our wills to God through disciplined prayer. As we spend time in prayer, we surrender our will to God and pray, with the Lord, “Not as I will, but as You will” (). We must pray about everything, and let God have His way in everything.

Go to the

Christians must know what their spiritual gifts are and the ministries they should have in the local church. For Christians not to recognize gifts in their lives and in the lives of others is not wrong. What is wrong is having false evaluations of ourselves. Nothing causes more damage in a local church than believers who overrate themselves and try to perform ministries that they cannot do. Each believer has a different gift-set, and God has bestowed these gifts so the local body can grow in a balanced way. But each Christian must exercise his or her gifts by faith.

Here the emphasis is on the attitudes of those who exercise the spiritual gifts. It is possible to use a spiritual gift in an unspiritual way. Love is like the circulatory system of the spiritual body that enables all the members to function in a healthy, harmonious way. This must be an honest love, not a hypocritical love (), and it must be humble, not proud ().

Paul reminded believers that they must enter into the feelings of others. Christian fellowship is much more than a pat on the back and a handshake. It means sharing the burdens and the blessings of others so that we all grow together and glorify the Lord.

Christians must not play God and try to avenge themselves. Returning evil for evil, or good for good, is the way most people live. But Christians must live on a higher level and return good for evil. Of course, this requires love, because our first inclination is to fight back. It also requires faith, believing that God can work and accomplish His will in our lives and in the lives of those who hurt us. We must give place to the revenge of God ().

God has established the governments of the world (see ). This does not mean that He is responsible for the sins of tyrants, but only that the authority to rule comes originally from God. To resist the law is to resist the God who established government in the world, and this means inviting punishment.

We move a bit higher in our motivation here. Any citizen can obey the law because of fear of punishment, but a Christian ought to obey because of conscience. Of course, if the government interferes with conscience, then the Christian must obey God rather than human authority ().

Paul enlarged the circle of responsibility by including other people besides government officials. “Love each other” is the basic principle of the Christian life. It is the “new commandment” that Christ gave to us (). When we practice love, we need no other laws because love covers them all.

We have come a long way in our reasons for obeying the law: from fear to conscience to love to our devotion to Jesus Christ! The emphasis is on the imminent return of Christ. As His servants, we want to be found faithful when He returns.

Christian citizens ought to be the best citizens. Christians may not always agree on politics or parties, but they can all agree on their attitude toward human government.

Paul was addressing those who were strong in the faith, that is, those who understood their spiritual liberty in Christ and were not enslaved to diets or holy days. The “weak in faith” were immature believers who felt obligated to obey legalistic rules concerning what they ate and when they worshiped. Many people have the idea that the Christians who follow strict rules are the most mature, but this is not necessarily the case.

We don’t have the responsibility to decide the requirements for Christian fellowship in a church; only God can do this. To set up human restrictions on the basis of personal prejudices (or even convictions) is to go beyond the Word of God. Because God has received us, we must receive one another.

Our first responsibility is to the Lord. If Christians would go to the Lord in prayer instead of going to their brother with criticism, the fellowship in our churches would be stronger. See also .

Every church has weak and strong believers. The strong understand spiritual truth and practice it, but the weak have not yet grown into that level of maturity and liberty. The weak must not condemn the strong and call them unspiritual. The strong must not despise the weak and call them immature. God has received both the weak and the strong; therefore, they should receive one another.

If we stopped with the first admonition in verse , we might give the impression that Christians should leave each other alone and let the weak remain weak. But this second admonition explains things further. The emphasis is not on master-servant but on fellow believer. It is the principle of brotherly love. If we love each other, we will seek to edify each other and build each other up in the faith (v. ). Paul shared several facts to help his readers help their brothers.

Not the externals but the eternals must be first in our lives: righteousness, peace, and joy (v. ). Where do they come from? The Holy Spirit of God at work in us (see , ). If each believer would yield to the Spirit and live a godly life, we would not have Christians fighting with each other over minor matters. Spiritual priorities are essential to harmony in the church.

Christians must help each other grow. Both strong believers and weak believers need to grow. Strong believers need to grow in love; weak believers need to grow in knowledge. So long as a fellow believer is weak in the faith, we must lovingly deal with that person in his or her immaturity. But if we really love the weaker believer, we will help him or her to grow. For a Christian to remain immature, having a weak conscience is wrong.

Paul classified himself with the strong saints as he dealt with a basic problem—selfishness. True Christian love is not selfish; rather, it seeks to share with others and make others happy. It is even willing to carry the younger Christians, to help them along in their spiritual development. A person’s spiritual maturity is revealed by his or her discernment. The person is willing to give up personal rights so that others might be helped. The believer does this, not as a burden, but as a blessing. Just as loving parents make sacrifices for their children, so the mature believer sacrifices to help younger Christians grow in the faith.

Paul shared the two sources of spiritual power from which we must draw if we are to live to please others: the Word of God (v. ) and prayer (vv. , ). We must confess that we sometimes get impatient with younger Christians, just as parents become impatient with their children. But the Word of God can give us the patience and comfort that we need. Paul closed this section praying for his readers, that they might experience from God that spiritual unity that He alone can give.

The result of all spiritual growth is, of course, glory to God. Disunity and disagreement do not glorify God; they rob Him of glory.

The supreme example of ministry must always be Jesus Christ. He came first of all to minister to the Jews, that through Israel He might be able to minister to the Gentiles. “To the Jew first” is a principle that was followed in the earthly ministry of Christ and in the early ministry of the church.

Catalyst

Unless we understand the distinctive ministry of Paul, we will not fully appreciate the message of God’s grace. Paul explained the characteristics of his ministry.

It was centered in the gospel (v. ). The imagery is on priestly service. Paul was a “special messenger” from Christ to the Gentiles. Paul looked on himself as a priest at the altar, offering up to God the Gentiles he had won to Christ.

It was done for God’s glory (v. ). Paul was not bragging about his ministry; he was boasting in what the Lord had done. The apostle did not serve and suffer as he did just to make a name for himself, for he had a much higher purpose in mind. He wanted to bring glory to Jesus Christ.

It was done by God’s power (vv. , ). The Holy Spirit empowered Paul to minister and enabled him to perform mighty signs and wonders. The miracles God gave Paul to do were “signs” in that they came from God and revealed Him to others.

It was according to God’s plan (vv. ). God had a special plan for Paul to follow: He was not to preach where any other apostle had ministered.

Each of these purposes is still applicable today. Methods may change to meet changing historical and cultural situations, but the underlying purposes that make ministry effective are the same for us as they were for Paul.

Go to the

Paul and his associates had received a special offering from the Gentile churches in Greece for the suffering Jewish saints in Jerusalem. Details about this collection are recorded in and . This special offering had several purposes. To begin with, it was an expression of love on the part of the Gentiles toward their Jewish brothers. Second, it meant practical relief at a time when the poor Jewish believers needed it the most. Third, it helped to unite Jews and Gentiles in the church, forming a bond that brought them closer together.

Paul looked on this offering as the paying of a debt. The Gentiles had received spiritual wealth from the Jews. They now returned material wealth, paying their debt. Paul considered that he was a “debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise” (). He also considered the Gentile Christians debtors to the Jews, for it was the Jews who gave to the Gentiles the Word of God and the Son of God.

What a remarkable chapter! In it Paul greeted at least twenty-six people by name, as well as two unnamed saints, and he also greeted several churches that were meeting in homes. He closed with greetings from nine believers who were with him in Corinth as he wrote the letter. Why is this significant? It shows that Paul was a friend-maker as well as a soul-winner. He did not try to live an isolated life; he had friends in the Lord, and he appreciated them. They were a help to him personally and to his ministry.

, Paul listed Phoebe as a servant. This is possible because women in the early church served by visiting the sick, assisting the young women, and helping the poor. Paul confessed that Phoebe had been a helper (literally “protector”) of himself and other Christians. And he encouraged the church to care for her.

Not everyone was working with Paul for the spreading of the gospel. Some for selfish reasons were dividing the churches by teaching false doctrine. These people were probably the same Judaizers who had given Paul trouble in other churches (see ). Instead of preaching the truth, these people spread their own religious propaganda, using deceit and clever speeches. We have the same problem today, and Christians must beware of false teachers.

The closing benediction is the longest one Paul ever wrote. It reflects his special ministry to the Gentiles. God was using Paul to unite believing Jews and Gentiles in the one body, the church (see ). This was Paul’s special message. Thus, the Judaizers persecuted Paul because they wanted to maintain Jewish privileges. Both Jews and Gentiles in the Roman churches needed to know the details of God’s program.

Romans 1

1:1

1:1 ;

1:2

1:2

1:3

1:4 ;

1:4 []

1:5

1:5

1:5

1:7 ,

1:7

1:8

1:8

1:9

1:9

1:9

1:11

1:12

1:13 []

1:13

1:16 ,

1:16 ,

1:16

1:16 NU-Text omits of Christ.

1:17 ;

1:17

1:17

1:18 []

1:18

1:19 [; ]

1:19 []

1:20

1:21

1:22

1:23 ; ,

1:23

1:24 ,

1:24

1:24

1:25

1:25

1:26

1:28

1:29 NU-Text omits sexual immorality.

1:31 NU-Text omits unforgiving.

1:32 []

1:32 []

1:32

Romans 2

2:1 []

2:1 []

2:4 [, ; ]

2:4 []

2:4

2:4

2:5 []

2:6 ;

2:6 ;

2:8 []

2:9

2:10 []

2:11

2:13 [, ]

2:15

2:15

2:16 []

2:16 ;

2:16

2:17

2:17

2:17 ,

2:17 NU-Text reads But if.

2:18

2:18

2:19

2:20 []

2:21

2:22

2:23 ;

2:24

2:24 ;

2:24 ;

2:25 []

2:26 []

2:27

2:28 []

2:29 []

2:29

2:29

2:29 []

Romans 3

3:2

3:3

3:3 []

3:4

3:4 []

3:4

3:4

3:4

3:5

3:6 []

3:8

3:9

3:10 ; ;

3:12 ; ;

3:13

3:13

3:13

3:13

3:14

3:14

3:15 ; ,

3:17 ,

3:18

3:18

3:19

3:19

3:20 []

3:21

3:21

3:21

3:22 []

3:22 NU-Text omits and on all.

3:23

3:24 []

3:24 [, ]

3:25

3:25

3:25 ;

3:27 []

3:28

3:30 [, ]

Romans 4

4:1

4:1

4:1 Or Abraham our (fore)father according to the flesh has found?

4:2 ,

4:3

4:3

4:4

4:5 [, ]

4:5

4:6 ,

4:7 ,

4:8 ,

4:11

4:11

4:12

4:13 ;

4:14

4:15

4:16 []

4:16 []

4:16

4:17

4:17 []

4:17

4:17

4:18

4:18

4:19

4:19

4:21 []

4:22

4:22

4:23

4:24

4:25 ,

4:25 []

Romans 5

5:1

5:1 []

5:1 Another ancient reading is, let us have peace.

5:2 [; ]

5:2

5:2

5:3 ,

5:3

5:4 []

5:5

5:5

5:6 [; ; ]

5:8 [; ]

5:9

5:9

5:10 []

5:10

5:10

5:11 []

5:12 []

5:12

5:13

5:14 [, ]

5:15 []

5:18 [, ]

5:18 []

5:19 []

5:20

5:20

Romans 6

6:1 ;

6:2 []

6:3 []

6:3 []

6:4

6:4

6:4

6:4 []

6:5

6:6 ; ;

6:6

6:7

6:8

6:9

6:10

6:10

6:11 [; , ]

6:11 []

6:12

6:13

6:13 ;

6:14 []

6:15

6:16

6:17

6:18

6:20

6:21

6:21

6:22 ;

6:23

6:23

Romans 7

7:2

7:3 []

7:4 ;

7:4

7:5

7:5

7:6

7:7

7:7 ; ;

7:7 ;

7:8

7:8

7:10

7:12

7:14

7:15 []

7:18 [; ]

7:22

7:22 []

7:23 []

7:23 ,

7:24 [, ]

7:25

Romans 8

8:1

8:1 NU-Text omits the rest of this verse.

8:2 ,

8:2 []

8:2 ,

8:3

8:3 []

8:4 ,

8:5

8:5 []

8:6

8:7

8:7

8:11

8:11

8:12 [, ]

8:13

8:13

8:14 []

8:15

8:15

8:15 []

8:15

8:16

8:17

8:17

8:18

8:19 []

8:20

8:21 []

8:22 ,

8:23

8:23 ,

8:23 []

8:23 ;

8:24

8:26

8:26

8:26 NU-Text omits for us.

8:27

8:27

8:28

8:29

8:29 ,

8:29 []

8:29

8:30 [; ]

8:30 []

8:30

8:31

8:32 ,

8:32 []

8:33 ,

8:34

8:34

8:34 ;

8:36

8:36

8:37

8:38 []

Romans 9

9:1

9:2

9:3

9:3 Or relatives

9:4

9:4

9:4

9:4

9:4 ,

9:4 [; ]

9:5

9:5 [, ; ]

9:5

9:6

9:6 []

9:7 []

9:7

9:7

9:8

9:9 ,

9:9 ,

9:10

9:11 [; ]

9:12

9:12

9:13 ,

9:13 ,

9:14

9:15

9:15

9:17

9:17

9:17

9:18

9:19

9:20

9:21

9:21

9:22 []

9:22 []

9:23 []

9:23 []

9:24 []

9:24

9:25

9:25

9:26

9:26

9:27 ,

9:27

9:27 ,

9:28 ;

9:28 NU-Text reads For the LORD will finish the work and cut it short upon the earth.

9:29

9:29

9:29 Literally, in Hebrew, Hosts

9:29

9:30

9:30 ; ;

9:31 []

9:31 []

9:31 NU-Text omits of righteousness.

9:32 []

9:32 NU-Text reads by works.

9:33 ;

9:33 ;

9:33 ;

Romans 10

10:1 NU-Text reads them.

10:2

10:3 []

10:3 []

10:4 [; ]

10:5

10:5

10:6

10:6

10:7

10:7

10:8

10:8

10:9

10:11

10:11

10:12 ,

10:12

10:12

10:13

10:13

10:13

10:14

10:15 ;

10:15 NU-Text omits preach the gospel of peace, Who.

10:15 ;

10:16

10:16

10:18

10:18

10:19

10:19

10:19

10:20

10:20

10:21

10:21

Romans 11

11:1

11:1

11:1

11:2 []

11:3 ,

11:3 ,

11:4

11:4

11:5

11:6

11:6 NU-Text omits the rest of this verse.

11:7

11:7

11:8 ,

11:8 ,

11:8 ;

11:9 ,

11:10 ,

11:11 ,

11:11

11:13 ;

11:14

11:15 []

11:16

11:17

11:17 []

11:18 []

11:20

11:22

11:22 []

11:22 NU-Text adds of God.

11:23 []

11:25

11:25

11:25

11:26 ,

11:26 Or delivered

11:27

11:27 ,

11:28 ;

11:29

11:30 []

11:32 []

11:34 ;

11:34

11:34 ;

11:35

11:35

11:36

11:36

Romans 12

12:1

12:1 ,

12:2

12:2

12:2 []

12:3

12:3

12:3 []

12:4

12:5 []

12:6 []

12:6

12:7

12:8

12:8 []

12:8 []

12:8

12:9

12:9

12:10

12:10

12:12

12:12

12:12

12:13

12:13

12:14 []

12:15 []

12:16 [; ]

12:16

12:17 []

12:17

12:18

12:19

12:19

12:19

12:20 ,

12:20 ,

12:21 [, ]

Romans 13

13:1

13:2 []

13:3

13:5

13:5 [, ]

13:7

13:8 [, ]

13:9 ;

13:9

13:9 NU-Text omits “You shall not bear false witness.”

13:9 , ; ,

13:9

13:10 [; , ]

13:11 []

13:12

13:12 [, ]

13:13

13:13

13:13 []

13:13

13:14

13:14 []

Romans 14

14:1 [; ]

14:2 []

14:3 []

14:4 ,

14:5

14:6

14:6 []

14:6 NU-Text omits the rest of this sentence.

14:7 []

14:8 ,

14:9

14:9

14:9 NU-Text omits and rose.

14:10

14:10 NU-Text reads of God.

14:11

14:11

14:12

14:13

14:14

14:15

14:16 []

14:17

14:17 []

14:18

14:18 NU-Text reads this.

14:19

14:19

14:20

14:20

14:20

14:21

14:21 NU-Text omits or is offended or is made weak.

14:22 []

14:22 NU-Text reads The faith which you have—have.

14:23

14:23 M-Text puts here.

Romans 15

15:1 [, ]

15:2 ; ,

15:3

15:3

15:3

15:4

15:5

15:6

15:7 ,

15:7

15:7 NU-Text and M-Text read you.

15:8

15:8

15:9

15:9 ;

15:9 ;

15:10

15:10

15:11

15:11

15:12 ,

15:12

15:13 ;

15:14

15:14 ; , ,

15:14 M-Text reads others.

15:15 ;

15:16

15:16 []

15:17 ;

15:18 ;

15:18

15:19

15:20 [, , ]

15:21

15:21

15:22

15:23 ;

15:24

15:24

15:24 NU-Text omits I shall come to you (and joins Spain with the next sentence).

15:25

15:26

15:27

15:27

15:28

15:29 []

15:29 NU-Text omits of the gospel.

15:30

15:30

15:31 ;

15:31

15:32

15:32

15:32

15:33

Romans 16

16:1

16:2

16:2

16:3 , ,

16:5

16:5

16:5 NU-Text reads Asia.

16:7 ,

16:7

16:11 Or relative

16:13

16:16

16:16 NU-Text reads All the churches.

16:17 []

16:17 []

16:18

16:18

16:18 NU-Text and M-Text omit Jesus.

16:19

16:19

16:20

16:20

16:20

16:21

16:21

16:21

16:21

16:23

16:23

16:24

16:24 NU-Text omits this verse.

16:25 []

16:25

16:25

16:25 ; ;

16:26

16:26

16:27

16:27 M-Text puts after .

↑ Back to top