Romans/Chapter 1:1-17/Commentary

Romans 1:1-17

Romans 1:1 “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called {to be} an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God” “Paul”: The name Paul means “little”. It was a favorite name among the Cilicians (Acts 22:3).

According to some both Saul and Paul were names borne by this man since childhood. Saul being his Hebrew name and Paul being his Roman or Greek name. “Servant”: A bondservant. He was not a servant of sin, Jesus Christ was his Master. He is completely at the disposal of Jesus. “Called to be an apostle”: An apostle by vocation, he was not a self-appointed apostle (Galatians 1:15; 1 Corinthians 9:16-17). “Separated”: Set apart, Paul was set apart for something by God, that is, he was set apart to preach the gospel. “Someone has said: ‘Don't simply be good. Be good for something’” 1 “The gospel of God”: It is the good news from God, not man, because man did not invent this message (1 Corinthians 2:9ff).

Romans 1:2 “which He promised afore through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures” “Which”: That is, which gospel. The Old Testament had predicted the arrival of the good news (1:17; 3:21; 4:3,6; 1 Peter 1:10-12). “God's good news was not unknown in the Old Testament. This is why we read of the apostles (in the book of Acts and elsewhere) making a constant appeal to the Old Testament Scriptures (Acts 17:1-3). Those who see the Church Age as a great parenthesis or gap between the cross of Christ and a coming kingdom have seriously misunderstood God's mind in this matter” 2 “Holy Scriptures”: Here such a phrase refers to the Old Testament that Jesus (Matthew 5:18) and the apostles (2 Timothy 3:16) knew to be the inspired word of God and not a collection of mere stories, embellished history or fables.

Romans 1:3 “concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh” “Concerning”: The good news is all about one person, the Son of God (John 5:46; Luke 24:27). In reference to His humanity, He was a descendant of David, the line that had the Divine right to rule over God’s people (Psalm 89:34-36; 2 Samuel 7:12). On a side note observe that Jesus was born “according to the flesh”, that is, along with being fully divine He was also fully human, yet He was 1 2

McGuiggan p. 51 McGuiggan p. 52

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sinless (1 Peter 2:22). Obviously then being “born” does not make a person automatically sinful.

Sin or depravity is not inherited (Ezekiel 18:20).

Romans 1:4 “who was declared {to be} the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; {even} Jesus Christ our Lord” “Who”: Jesus. “Was declared to be the Son of God with power”: See Acts 2:36. The Resurrection was the final miracle that confirmed the obvious in a very striking and triumphant manner, this is the Son of God. “According to the spirit of holiness”: Many feel this expression refers to the Divine side of Christ. Compare with verse 1:3 “according to the flesh”. Remember, Jesus did teach that He would raise Himself (John 10:18). In addition, the Holy Spirit would announce to the world the reality of Jesus’ resurrection through the apostles.

Romans 1:5 “through whom we received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake” “Through whom”: That is, through Jesus Christ our Lord (1:4). “We received”: The we in this verse may refer to the apostles, seeing that all Christians have received grace but only a very limited number received apostleship. “Grace”: Seeing that grace in this verse comes through Jesus Christ, it is clear that Jesus is God, for only God can dispense such grace. “Apostleship”: Paul had not coveted or campaigned for the job of being an apostle, rather he was selected by Jesus personally. “Unto obedience of faith”: Paul's purpose as an apostle involving bringing those from all nations to an obedient faith. Therefore the faith that is under consideration in the book of Romans is an obedient faith. Of course, we already knew that from Acts, the gospels and the Old Testament (Habakkuk 2:4; Matthew 7:21; Acts 2:38). “Among all the nations”: There is only one way for all men. In Romans we find a very exclusive path of God. There are not many ways, or many faiths, rather one is either saved by the gospel or not saved at all (Romans 1:16). “For His name’s sake”: Romans 1:8 “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world” “First”: Gratitude towards God is always a priority over other matters. “I thank my God”: Because one needed to be thankful that a sound, active church in a metropolitan area such as Rome existed (1 Thessalonians 1:7-8). Do we forget to thank God for all the Christians that exist through our world today? Notice how Paul calls God, “my” God. Yes, God created all men, but for the Christian, God is also “my” God. This indicates a very personal relationship.

Romans 1:9 “For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers” “God is my witness”: He is not making a light statement, he is dead serious. This is another 2

indication that the church in Rome had existed for some time and that Paul had been aware of their activity. “Whom I serve in my spirit”: “To whom I offer the humble service of my spirit” (NEB). Paul's heart was in the work that God had given him to do. “How unceasingly”: Paul practiced what he preached (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Romans 1:10 “making request, if by any means now at length I may be prospered by the will of God to come unto you” Some in Rome may have been trying to discredit Paul by telling the brethren that Paul's oftrepeated promises to come were never intended to be fulfilled. He reminds them that his travel plans were subject to God’s purposes and will. The prayers of Paul went beyond his immediate circle of close friends.

Romans 1:11 “For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established” “I long to see you”: Paul is a great example of a Christian who really did love his brethren, even brethren he had never seen (John 13:34-35). People still long for many things, but how many of us long for the right things, like heaven, God and the fellowship of other Christians? “Impart unto you some spiritual gift”: It appears that the congregation here already possessed spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6). Yet, seeing that such gifts were only available through the apostles (Acts 8:18), he may have wanted this congregation to have more members with such gifts. In addition, the next verse seems to clarify what Paul says by “spiritual gift”. “To the end”: This would be the purpose of such a gift. “Ye may be established”: That is, grounded in the faith (Colossians 1:23; Acts 14:22; 15:41). The word established means “to confirm, fix, and strengthen”.

Romans 1:12 “that is, that I with you may be comforted in you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine” “That is”: An explanatory correction. “Instead of saying that he had a spiritual gift for them, he wishes to add that they also have one for him” 3 “Paul is always careful not to leave the impression that he is some spiritual tycoon, here he assures the Romans that he would gain from the visit also.

They'd help him as surely as he would help them. This is not just good psychology, it is gentlemanly and Christ-like” 4 Thus the spiritual gift in this section maybe the spiritual edification that happens when faithful Christians interact. This brings up a convicting question, “Is our presence a spiritual gift to other Christians or do we take something away by our presence?”

Romans 1:13 “And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles” 3 4

Robertson p. 326 McGuiggan p. 63

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At times God had changed Paul's plans (Acts 16:6-7). At others times unruly people forced a turn of events (17:10,14). In addition, Paul had spent his time preaching in regions where no preacher had gone before (Romans 15:18-23). Other, very important work had kept him from Rome.

Romans 1:14 “I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish” “I am”: Three great “I am's” follow: I am a debtor, I am ready and I am not ashamed. “Debtor”:” “Under obligation” (NASV). Being a Christian didn't make Paul any “better” than others, but it made him a debtor of all. “A practical question arises here: Was Paul under any obligation that the rest of us are not under?” 5 Simply put, Paul had to preach. “We owe Christ to the Christ-less”.

“Barbarians”: To the Greeks all non-Greeks were barbarians. This is the term used for the whole human race from the Greek point of view. Observe that Paul believed that the uneducated and backward need and can understand the gospel just like anyone else. “Foolish”: In preaching, Paul saw no racial, culture or social barriers. It is hard to preach the gospel to someone that is behaving foolishly.

Romans 1:15 “So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome” “As much as in me is”: He was eager to the limits of his capacity. One writer said, “I fear we dabble a lot; I fear we play at being Christ's”. 6 Paul simply required of others, what he himself practiced (12:18). “I am ready”: How long have we been studying and are we ready yet? (Heb. 5:11-12; 1 Peter 3:15) Concerning This Gospel: 1:16-17 Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” “I am not ashamed”: Even in the capital city of the Empire, Paul would not back down.

“Many a youth who couldn't be made afraid was silenced in life by a sneer or a look of disdain”. 7 “Even at Rome; where riches, pomp, and glory are held in admiration, where the heights of genius and learning…the humbling doctrines of a religion that demands severe self-denial would be likely to attract derision”. 8 In other places, such as Corinth and Athens this message had been ridiculed.

(Acts 17:32; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31) 5 6 7 8

Commentary on Romans. R. L. Whiteside p. 14 McGuiggan p. 64 McGuiggan p. 65 Whiteside p. 15 4

“For”: The reason for his boldness and pride in the gospel. “The power of God unto salvation”: This much Paul knew by experience (Acts 18:8). He had seen the dynamite of God at work. “God's effective means for saving man”. “In the whole Roman capital, yea, in the whole empire, no power existed that could save even one lone beggar”. 9 Let the world bring forth it's religions and philosophies, which cannot save even one soul. The Gospel, is God's one message that can bring about salvation. This infers that all other messages/religions are powerless to save.

“To everyone that believeth”: Just listening to the gospel doesn't save anyone. “Jew first”: First in point of time (Acts 1:8), they were given the first opportunity to hear and respond.

Various truths are to be found in the above verse: (1) Salvation does contains conditions, such as “believeth”. (2) The faith under consideration is an active faith, that includes repentance, confession and baptism (Mark 16:16; Romans 10:9-10). (3) Man needs to be saved. (4) Man needs to be saved from something, that is, eternal destruction is real. (5) The gospel message is adapted to man’s lost condition. That is, sinners can understand it, man is not so depraved that he cannot understand what God requires of him or what to do to be saved. In the great commission (Mark 16:15-16), Jesus gave not one hint that sinners could not obey the gospel. Sinful men can be convicted by this message (Acts 2:37). This verse contradicts the 'direct operation of the Spirit' theory, i.e. that God must operate miraculously on men prior to them even hearing the gospel, to make them receptive to it.

Romans 1:17 “For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith” “Therein”: In the Gospel message. “A righteousness of God'”: Not that God is righteous, for the Old Testament clearly taught that God was righteous. The gospel reveals that God is righteous, but even more to the point, the gospel reveals how a holy God can make a sinner righteous. The answer will be by an obedient faith in Jesus Christ, which includes baptism, the sinner comes into contact with the blood of Christ which results in forgiveness.

“From faith unto faith”: Some say, from “the faith-gospel” unto (the hoped for direction) my own personal faith. Others, from the faith demonstrated by Christ to bring about this salvation, to our own faith in Him. Others, from one act of faithfulness to another, that is, resulting in a life of faith.

“As it is written”: The quote here is from Habakkuk 2:4. The purpose of this quote seems to be to establish the fact that this had been in God's plan all along. Even the Old Testament taught the fact that God's true people were the those who lived by faith in Him. The New Testament reveals the fact that this faith must be exercised towards Christ and His sacrifice.

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Lenski p. 74

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