Romans

Background

---

When was it Written

• Dated to 57AD, likely written from the time that Paul was in Corinth
• Nero and Agrippa are still in charge
• This takes place about 5 years before the Great Fire (64AD), so persecution is slowly mounting

What was Going on in Rome at the Time

• Jews considered themselves superior to the Romans (same as Jesus’s day)
• The church had existed for a while but Christianity, still “The Way”, consisted of a mixture of Messianic Jews and Pagan converts
  • The Jews pushed the Torah, circumcision, and abstaining from unclean meat - be that sacrificed to idols or adhering to a Kosher diet
  • The Pagan converts, coming out of a life of “envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderes, God-haters, insolence, arrrogance, boastfulness, disobedience, and inventers of evil”, no doubt struggles of “what was ‘still’ ok” were occurring
    • It feels like half of chapter 1 is dedicated to homosexuality. This was a prime example of the rejection of God and how, insodoing, perversion occurs. Some believe that this was discussing purely the concept of lust, in any capacity. It is clear from 1 Cor 6:9 that Paul was not ok with loving homosexual relationships but condemned them all as “ervah” - sexual sin (as laid out in [[Leviticus]])

Paul’s Purpose for Writing

• His purpose was to present the gospel and, secondarily, to address the issues that were occurring in Rome at the time

• Paul indicates that he had often tried to make it to Rome and was hoping to visit soon on his way - or as a stepping stone - to Spain. The letter served as a bit of an introduction to lay the groundwork for his visit that would never occur - Paul’s imprisonment and death (in Rome) took place 10 years after its writing

• Some hold that Romans was writted as an explaination of Paul’s argument from start to finish, to defend himself from those that twisted his words based on heresay or other letters: namely that he was opposed to the law in favor of living by faith (Rom 3:1, 8, 31) Rom 3:1-2a Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? Actually, there are many advantages. Rom 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? - as some who slander us allege we say Rom 3:31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law

• Catholic sources indicate that Peter lead the church in Rome (now St. Peter’s Basilica) though sources vary as to whether he actually ever visited

  • Peter likely only spoke Aramaic and was a fisherman before meeting Jesus
  • Peter and James lead the church in Jerusalem according to Acts 15 (Jerusalem Council, 48AD)
  • Giaus, 2nd century, wrote of Peter’s acts within the church in Rome
  • The Acts of Peter details Peter’s time in Jerusalem, defeat of a heritic, flee from the city, and encounter with Jesus who was on his way to Rome “to be crucified again”

• Whether or not Peter was in a leadership role, or even had visited Rome, the Roman church was plagued with extremists on both sides of the truth vs faith dispute: Jews vs Pagan converts to “The Way” (name for Christianity before formalization in 320AD; [Acts 9:2](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/[[Acts]]%209.2); 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)

Chapters 1-4

---

• In this seciton, Paul lays out the condition of man
• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
• He singles out the Jews as being EVEN WORSE than the Gentile who they condemn, as they had the Law and should, therefore, know better
• He indicates that the Law was given for that exact purpose: to indicate what righteousness looks like and to prove the depravity of flesh
• God’s solution is to send His son, one for all
• Justification, then, comes from God and never from the Law, the the Law is good (Ps 19:7 “law of the Lord is perfect”) and does provide guidance to what righteousness is, a standard to practice God’s righteousness and a mirror that shows us our faults

Chapters 5-16

---

• Adam is presented as a first “kind of” messiah that introduced sin to the flesh of men

• Flesh, by nature, is a slave to sin as a result of Adam’s introduction to it

• Jesus allows us to die along with him, spiritually, allowing us to choose between spirit and flesh. Paul implores that we follow after the spirit vs remaining a slave to the flesh

  • Flesh is slave to sin, which leads to death
  • Spirit is slave to righteousness, which leads to life

• He indicates that the law was provided to us to demonstrate further that our flesh is evil, drawing us from the righteousness of God

• He offers examples of the Pharaoh and Moses and the golden calf to illustrate that grace abounds all the more in the context of disobedience and that this principle applies both outside (pharaoh) and inside (golden calf (of Israel)

• Paul is clear that we should not go on sinning so that grace may abound, but that we should make effort to resemble God’s righteousness (the Torah tells us how)

• He is clear that the law is not sinful but is a mirror for our sin, showing us how dead we already are. in face “we know that the law is spiritual” and that the flesh is “sold as a slave to sin” - they contrast eachother

• Paul talks about Israel’s unbelief despite having the Law and discusses Israel not as a nationality but as an olive tree with a signle root: God. All the branches have the same root but some may be pruned out as they are dead. In their place, a wild olive branch is grafted in that the tree may bear fruit (domesticated olive trees do not bear fruit without wild branches being grafted in)

• We, as gentiles, should not be boastful of this - or consider ourselves a replacement to Israel. Rather, we should feel that we are now a part of the name of Israel, God’s chosen people, those that will be saved.

• We should keep in mind that, if God didn’t spare the natural branches, he wouldn’t spare us

• Also, we should remember that if we - wild branches - can be grafted into the root, how much easier is it for a natural branch to be grafted in

• Paul then talks to specific issues of the church:

  • Love - superiority and lack of understanding
  • Judgement around food

• Paul then wraps up the letter and commends especially Phoebe, who is believed to have read the original letter to the church at Rome