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A Study of Romans

The book of Romans is one of the most well known books of the bible, as well as one

of the Apostle Pauls most influential letters.

After Pauls third missionary journey to Asia Minor, he returns to Corinth before

continuing on to Spain. Pauls return to Corinth most likely takes place in the spring of

perhaps A.D. 57 (Edwards 6). While there, he pens the book of Romans, a letter to the

Roman believers. At this time, the church in Rome had become predominantly filled with

Gentile Christians, who, according to Gundry, are the original audience of the letter (432).

Paul writes to the church in hopes of preparing them for his coming visit and seeking

financial support for his next journey to Spain. However, one of the most important topics

that Paul focuses in the letter is the theme of justification of believers through the

righteousness of God by Jesus death.

Romans 1:18 says, The wrath of God is being revealed against all the godlessness

and wickedness of men (New International Version), revealing the need for justification.

Paul makes it clear that no one can make himself or herself righteous. Only Gods grace can

one be sanctified. Paul illustrates his argument by using the nation of Israel as an example.

Paul writes, in Romans 9:31, but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not

attained it continues in Romans 10:3, [they] sought to establish their own, they did

not submit to Gods righteousness (New International Version). The desire to seek self-

righteousness through works was Israels downfall, a curse that continued to plague the Jews

even in Pauls time. Throughout the book of Romans, Paul counters the idea of self-

righteousness with the truth of grace through Jesus Christ .

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To begin his argument, Paul explains that God is the sole provider of justification. It is

Him and Him alone who can rescue mankind from sinfulness. Only through Gods grace and

the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, whom God set forth before our eyes as the one whose

sacrificial death has atoned for our guilt (Bruce 94), that anyone can be washed clean . Paul

further illustrates this point by bringing up the symbolic act of baptism. The complete

submergence of the sinful, dirty body into the cleansing waters of Christs sacrifice. The old

self left behind in the waters and the bursting forth of a new being, now made alive through

righteousness.

Paul also talks about the relationship of righteousness and faith . In Romans 1:17 he

says, For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealeda righteousness that is by faith

from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith (New International

Version). What Paul is saying, is that true and complete righteousness comes from believing

in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. It is through his love and grace that we are made

into new creations.

Besides emphasizing the righteousness of Jesus a, Paul also writes to the Romans in

hopes of diffusing growing tension between the Gentile Christians and Jewish believers.

When Jewish Christians began returning to Rome Edwards explains, we can imagine

their trials of readjusting to churches which had become increasingly Gentile in their

absence (15). In the new, Gentile church, the Jewish law had become largely irrelevant

(Edwards 15), upsetting the Jews and sending them into culture shock .

The returning Jews still had strong convictions about maintaining certain Jewish laws

like avoiding meat, observing sacred days, and abstaining from wine (Osborne 355), but to
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the Gentiles those laws represented an outdated belief that relied on works and social

structures to be seen righteous in the eyes of God. No longer did believers need to fulfill a

list of requirements to ensure their salvation, through the blood of Jesus Christ, they had been

set free. However, for the Jews, a people whose entire theology had been based on works,

relying on faith alone was hard to believe.

Because of the Jews weak faith the Gentile Christians had adopted a prideful

attitude. Paul makes it a point to warn Gentile Christians against boasting of superiority

over Jewish Christians (Gundry 433) and spends a good portion of the letter promoting the

importance of unity among the church. One of first points he makes to show unity among

believers is the fact that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), so

no Jew is greater than a Gentile and no Gentile is greater than a Jew; all people are sinful and

need salvation.

In chapter 12, Paul expands upon the idea of being tolerant of and loving each other

despite the many differences. He tells the church, Be devoted to one another in love. Honor

one another above yourselves (Rom. 12:10). Just as Jesus accepted both the Jews and the

Gentiles, Paul instructs both parties to accept each other as members of the same body, the

same family of God (Osborne 380). God loves all His children and wishes them to live

together in harmony, and Paul hopes to foster and encourage that kind of community through

his letter.

The book of Romans has always held a special place in my heart . As I flipped

through the pages of my small, worn out, marked to death travel bible, almost all of Romans
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is highlighted and underlined. (Some of the pages are even starting to fall out). When ever I

feel detached from God or lacking in wisdom or encouragement, my first instinct is to read a

chapter from Romans. Besides the overly highlighted verses that I always find comfort in, it

was not until we studied the books overall themes in class that I realized why I love Romans

so much.

The constant affirming of Christs complete and all encompassing redemptive powers,

reminds me of how great and wonderful our God is. So often I feel like I work so hard to

prove myself as a functional and effective Christian, trying desperately to live up to Gods

expectations. However, thats not how righteousness works. Jesus has washed my clean of

my sins and so now all I have to do is to live out my freedom. From Pauls emphasis of

justification and sanctification through Christs sacrifice, I can learn to let go of this idea that

I have to justify myself. I can be free in the love of my God .

I think the biggest theme in Romans that I did not pick up on until this class was how

important unity and acceptance among the church is. Pauls teachings to the Romans to put

down their pride and encourage each other to seek God and grow as one body is something

that I think the modern church has forgotten. Too often the church is corralling among itself

that the root of Christianity is lost. Where is the love? What happened to acceptance and

kindness to your fellow believer? There is far too much debating and theological conflict

among the church. We must head the warnings of Paul and learn how to stand with each

other again. Only then will we be able to effectively further the spread of the gospel and

loving message of Jesus Christ.

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Works Cited

Bruce, F.F. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Ed. 2. Vol. 6. Grand Rapids:

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1999. Print.

Edwards, James R. New International Biblical Commentary: Romans. Peabody, MA:

Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 1992. Print.

Gundry, Robert H. A Survey of the New Testament. Ed. 5. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

2012. Print.

New International Version. Ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 2002. Print.

Osborne, Grant R. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Romans. Vol. 6.

Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2004. Print.