Enjoy!
Verses 1-7:
These first seven verses are called the “greeting” in the book of Romans. Paul introduces himself as a servant of Christ and is an apostle who has been set apart for the gospel. Through the choice of words that Paul uses he is showing that he is a slave to Christ and to the call of the gospel and the impact it has on his life. The importance of the term “apostle” is that it means that Paul was specifically called by Christ Himself. And not only was he called by Christ he had also seen the Lord himself in person. We all know that Paul saw Jesus when he was on the road to Damascus and that is what lead Paul to giving his life to Christ. So in the first verse Paul basically shows the authority he has and why what he is about to write is important.
The second verse just lets the readers know that the Christ that Paul is speaking of is the same one that was promised in Old Testament scriptures and prophets. It lets us know that God fulfilled His promise to bring a savior to the nations through Christ.
The third verse lets us know where Christ came from genealogically. We are able to see that Christ came and was born like any other human being so that He could experience the things that humans experience and feel the things that we feel and even struggle with the same things that we struggle with on a daily basis. This is important because if Christ did not become human, His sacrifice would have meant nothing because He wouldn’t have lived a perfect, sinless life as a human.
Verse four is bringing about the credit that Christ deserves and tells the reader who He is! Paul lets us know that Christ is the Son of God and was declared it through the power of God. God the Father personally declared Christ as His Son. This verse is proof of Christ being the Son of God and being a part in the Trinity. Paul ends the verse with “Jesus Christ our Lord”. That means that Christ is to have 100% lordship and top priority in our lives.
Verse five: A good way to remember what grace is, is by the acronym G.R.A.C.E. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. We get grace through Christ because God loves us and sent Christ to take our place. If it were not for Christ we couldn’t have any connection to God on a personal level. Apostleship is where we are more of God’s. Meaning we are HIS, not our owns or someone else’s. We belong to God! The obedience of faith for the sake of His name is saying that we are to remain faithful to the call that God has on our lives: To conform to the image of His Son and to share the Gospel to all people. That is also why Paul adds: among all the nations, to the end of the verse so that we know as believers that obeying God and His call on our lives goes behind our local borders.
Verse six ties in very well with verse five in the fact that we belong to Christ. We are His and He is ours!
Verse seven: we see that this letter is for the believers in Rome.
Verse 8: Here Paul begins his letter to the Romans after the greeting. Within just this one verse we are able to see the hear t that Paul has for the believers in Rome. He opens up with a “thank you” to them. The fact that he thanks God for them and their faith in Christ shows where Paul is emotionally with the Romans. Paul uses the phrase: I thank my God through Jesus Christ; because he wants to emphasize the fact that Christ is the one and only mediator between God and humans. The Romans were very powerful people. This is why Paul adds that their faith is being reported all over the world. Christians from Rome are going out and using their high reputation and prestige as a way to share the gospel. My desire is that people can say that about me. That my faith and relationship with Christ is so strong and so intimate that it is being shown through my lifestyle all across the globe through everywhere I go, the people I meet and build relationships with, and the things I do.
Verses 9-10: Paul has a very strong desire for the Roman people. He longs to be with them and be able to serve with them in ministry face to face. He is in constant prayer for the Romans and that one day God will send him there. Paul uses the term “God is my witness” so that God Himself will hold Paul accountable to the things that he says. Prayer is very important and through this verse we can see how important it was to Paul. Paul constantly prayed. Prayer is conversation with God, it is our walkie-talkie during the daily war zone that we live in spiritually every day. God will always answer your prayers, maybe not in the timing or the way you want Him to, but it will always be the best answer and timing than you could ever imagine. Paul also says in verse 9 that he preaches the Gospel with his whole heart. The Gospel was Paul’s passion in life. The Gospel was Christ’s passion. The Gospel needs to be our passion as believers. I have this saying “I want to go everywhere and do everything so that everyone can be reached” God has given me such a desire for the Gospel to be spread. He has blessed me with wonderful creativity and imagination and through those two traits many, many different ministry ideas to start and careers or jobs to take and pursue so that I can reach many different people and personalities with the Gospel. Some are even “secular” jobs. But corporate America needs Jesus just as much and the Africans in a village. But I have the Gospel as my main passion in life. I have no idea where I will end up. All I know is that whatever I end up doing and wherever that may be, the Gospel and the need for it in the people around me lives’ will always be my central focus, just like how it was Paul’s central focus.
Verses 11-12: One thing that I realized that I missed greatly about SWO was the community that was built there. Paul longs to have community with the Romans. He wants to be able to build real, intimate relationships with these people so that he can encourage them in their walks, but also so that they can encourage him in his walk. Community is a beautiful thing. It is one thing I will definitely strive to be more deeply involved with this summer at SWO.
Verse 13: Paul simply tells the Romans that he has tried many times to get to them but the opportunity just has not been successful yet. But through this verse, we can see that even though the path to Rome has been long and hard for Paul he has not given up and continues to pray and seek God as to how and when or even if he will make it to Rome.
Verses 14-15: Again, Paul lets it out about his deep and longing desire to preach the Gospel to everyone, especially the Gentiles. He, like me, wants to reach everyone. Or at least, encourage others to go out and reach those that he cannot reach himself. He is very eager to go out and share the Gospel with these people. I always pray that God daily deepens my desire for the Gospel especially with the people that I am surrounded by daily.
Verse 16: Of all the verses in the Bible, this is my favorite one. When I sign yearbooks or cards, I always put “Rom. 1:16” under my name. Kind of like how athletes put their jersey number! This has always been my motto in life since I was in high school. It is such a bold statement about the gospel and how Christians should feel when it comes to the Gospel. Too often many Christians in America are ashamed of their faith. I have never understood why though. I mean think about it, of all the religious beliefs out there, Christianity is the one that has yet to be disproven and has been the one that brings people the most satisfaction if the believer is pursuing Christ. But anyway, Paul opens up the first with the bold statement that he is NOT ashamed of the gospel. He then continues to explain why. Paul is unashamed because he knows that the gospel is the “power of God for Salvation”. Christ is the only way to heaven and Paul lets the readers know this by saying that the gospel comes from God and it is through His power that we receive the offer for salvation. He means that through the power of God the message of Salvation is delivered and people come to know the Way. He then finishes by saying that the gospel was first offered to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. The only reason why the Jews got the offer first is because they were and still are God’s special people.
16 Reasons NOT to be ashamed of the Gospel:
· It’s the Good News
· It’s a love story of how a perfect God gave His only, perfect Son up for a bunch of sinful people because He loved them and wants to be in an intimate relationship with them
· It leads people to go after Christ for salvation
· When people accept the gospel they are able to get unending satisfaction in Christ
· Through it people receiving unending joy, hope, peace…
· It’s for EVERYONE
· It is an example of God reaching down to mankind, not mankind reaching up for God
· It is a true story
· It’s faithful
· It is a story of a new beginning
· It is a message of hope
· It reveals the righteousness of God
· It remains the same
· It is the bridge from sinful man to holy God
· When we accept it Christ saves us from a wasted life
· It is the message of ultimate grace
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