Week 1 - An Introduction to The Simplicity of the Good News

Romans

It’s always wise to lay down a solid foundation before constructing a building, right? Here, in this first week of Romans, that’s precisely what I plan to do. I hope you’ll find new and fascinating means to study Paul’s letter to the Romans from this first week on. Receiving a fundamental historical and contextual understanding of the Romans sets the stage for a fresh comprehension of what Paul was trying to teach this new church.

The following "blog" is an outline I used to create the vlog below. Either follow along or join in the study by watching the video below. Sometimes, I'll include information in the footage not contained in the blog. But it is easy to follow a long.

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Let me lay out a couple of basic ‘rules’ that will help us when we read the letter more closely.

RULE #1: The letter to the Romans is a letter, so let’s treat it that way.

Initially, the letter had no chapters and verses. Those were added later in the bible for readability. But it can be misleading if we are not careful. A letter is one stream of thought with a Jewish way of asking questions and answering them immediately to make a point. We can see how chapter/verse problems arise throughout this letter, like at the end of chapter 7, into the beginning of chapter 8. Scholars often agree that 8:1 should have actually been attached to the end of chapter 7.

RULE #2 Context, Context, Context

In order to be understood correctly, we need to read in context. One can easily read through the hard parts of Romans, and for example, we read in Romans 6 that Paul is free from sin, only to find out while reading Romans 7 that he’s bound by it again. A chapter a day…it can be confusing. Paul was writing to Roman Jews, so cultural context plays a role in this letter too.

OK, so, why did Paul write Romans anyway?

Let’s look at a few things.

First, the church in Rome was not planted by Paul, but as a well-known apostle, Paul had great authority in the Christian world. Perhaps a fellow worker planted the church and this way Paul was indirectly involved in spreading the Good News now to the capital city of the world: Rome.

A quick history lesson.

Second, the apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome, which was at that time the capital city of the world. All roads led to Rome. The church in Rome was originally made up of Jews who converted to Christianity. Obviously, there were Gentiles present as well, but they were a minority. One Roman emperor had the bright idea to kick all Jews out. Jews were expelled, and that changed the makeup of the church in Rome overnight.

Third, after a few years, the Jews were allowed back in Rome, and now the Jewish Christians came back only to find a church that was so different from what they were used to. Very understandable. But with changes in the church, people often get a bit uncomfortable. The Jewish part of the church still had some ideas of what it meant to live lives pleasing God. It was first based on the work of Jesus on the cross, but the law of Moses was still very much at the back of their minds. Keeping the Sabbath, food regulations, circumcision, etc.

Fourth, Non-Jewish Christians received the Good News a bit differently. They did not grow up with the Law of Moses and didn’t need to deal with that baggage. They embraced Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour and experienced a freedom in Him. It made the Jewish minority jealous at best and proud and judgmental at worst.

Fifth, Paul wrote Romans to give a strong foundation of the gospel, or the good news, as we also call it. His intro reads like a mini bible study in itself, where he claims that the good news is not new, but that it is actually ‘old’ in the sense that it was already promised in the OT. There is nothing ‘new’ about the gospel because it was God’s plan all along. The final 5 chapters of Romans deal with the practical part of what it means as a redeemed people of God to live in unity, love, and share the same hope in Christ. Chapters 1-11 are the preparation for that, where Paul lays out the foundations of salvation.

Finally, one final observation we need to make about Romans is this. Paul was on a missionary journey. He most likely wrote the letter from the city of Corinth somewhere in 57 AD. He was on his way to Jerusalem to help the big Christian community that was in dire need, with a generous offering from several churches all around the Roman Empire. He knew that his message of salvation, or good news, was embraced by some, but again, rejected, scorned, and sometimes violently opposed by Jews. It was as if Paul turned his back on the Law of Moses. Paul is so opposed to their teachings because they assault the very heart of the gospel. We are saved by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We can’t add anything to earn our righteousness or get into the good graces of God.

Remember this important fact: Good news is only good when there is also bad news. Paul doesn’t mince words in this letter. He reveals the good with the bad so we can appreciate the simplicity of God’s work through Jesus Christ.

Ready for the journey?

*Some information obtained from the blogs of Dianella Church of the Nazarene, Australia

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8