Romans 1:1-17 Paul's Introduction

Prologue 1:1-7

In a meandering and insightful prologue, Paul touches on who he is (1a), what the gospel is (1b-5), and who the Romans are (6-7).

Paul himself is a slave of Jesus Christ; the word means the absolute property of someone. A slave has zero authority in himself; but then Paul says he is called to be an apostle. The apostle carries the full authority of the One who sent him! An amazing balance, almost a paradox. The word for "set apart" in 1a is a combination of Greek words, meaning "off-horizoned." Paul has a new center of gravity! Having Jesus as Lord will do that to you.

The gospel, or Evangel, is a word and a concept taken from the Old Testament. In Isaiah is it the joyful announcement that the exiles have been delivered out of bondage and can go home. This was a foreshadow of the ultimate redemption Jesus offers us! This good news is FROM God, FORETOLD in the written Scriptures, and FOCUSES on God's Son. It's all about Jesus, descended physically from David, but declared God's Son when the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead. From this wonderful Redeemer Paul says he received both grace and apostleship. Again, the Bible shows a perfect balance in all things. We are freely brought into the family of God, AND given responsibility! The goal of this apostleship is to bring about "obedient faith" (another balance, see Gal. 5:6) for the sake of His name, among all the nations. This sounds like Paul is reflecting on the Great Commission.

1:6-7 speaks of who the Romans are:

Called to belong to Jesus (like Paul)
God's Beloved
Called to be saints.

Notice the structure; what they are called to be, called to strive toward, but in the center is who they ARE already. They...and we...are the beloved of God.

1:8-10 Paul's Prayer

It is a thankful prayer (8), a ceaseless prayer (9), and a petitioning prayer (10). How was this request granted? Paul finally arrives in Rome...as a prisoner! Yet God never answers our prayers with some kind of gotcha gimmick. All of God's answers are good, and for our good. Great good came out of Paul's witness in those chains.

1:11-15 Paul's Passion

The apostle wants to impart some edifying gift (11), find mutual encouragement (12), and reap some harvest among them (13) because of his sense of obligation (14) and his zeal to proclaim the good news (15).

1:16-17 Paul's Pride

Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, a round about way of saying He is proud of it. It is God's power for salvation for the person who believes, Jew or Gentile; it reveals the very righteousness of God. Here we come across the key word of the entire epistle: righteousness. The Greek root is brought over into English with a variety of words: just, justification, righteous, righteousness. The fundamental meaning of righteousness is to declared "in the right," especially in a courtroom setting. This forensic meaning of the word is really inescapable. The most important thing in all of life is to somehow gain this right relationship with our Maker, which we have lost. Paul's whole point is that we cannot earn or acquire this right standing on our own; it is given to us by God, "by faith from first to last." Paul's grammar is amazingly consistent on this theological point: we are saved by grace, through faith in God's Son. Just compare Paul's wording with these two passages:

Rom. 3:21-22 "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

Phil. 3:9 "...not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith."

Here in Romans 1:17, Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4: "The just shall live by faith." In this context, the meaning is clear: "The person who is righteous (gets this right relationship with God) through faith is the person who will live." To me, this is a precise reflection of the same truth found in John 3:16: "whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Grace is the source, faith is the key, righteousness is the gift, everlasting life is the result...the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ!