Get Ready
Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome is the most systematic statement of Christian theology and belief in the New Testament. It presents his argument for a unified understanding of God’s relationship with his creation: salvation for all people through Jesus Christ’s life, death and resurrection.
Author
The Apostle Paul is universally accepted as the author of Romans. Most scholars believe he wrote this letter during his last visit to Corinth (probably 56 or 57 CE). He was preparing to go to Jerusalem with the money he had collected from the churches he had founded in Greece and Asia Minor. He was then planning to go to Rome before going on to spread the Gospel in Spain [15:14-29].
Context
Paul did not start the church in Rome (and neither did Peter). Most historians believe Jewish Christians (who may have heard Peter’s testimony on Pentecost) carried the Gospel to the capitol city fairly soon after the church began in Jerusalem. The Gospel spread among the Gentiles as well as the Jews in Rome and believers probably met in house churches scattered around the city. In 49, Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome because of their supposed “rioting” over “Chrestus” (a corruption of “Christ”). Even though the Jews were allowed to return after Claudius died, the Jewish Christians came back to a church dominated – practically and theologically – by the Gentile believers who had remained in the city.
Paul was nearing the end of his missionary work in the eastern Mediterranean region and wanted to go to Spain, where he would be the first to preach the Gospel and start new churches. He planned to spend some time in Rome to build support “and to be sent on by you” to Spain [15:23-24].
The letter serves as Paul’s self-introduction to the believers and attempts to promote unity among them through his explanation of Christian belief as he had been preaching throughout his ministry.
Structure
Paul gave considerable thought to this letter, which is organized along the lines of a classical rhetorical argument. After the greeting and introduction [1:1-17], Paul presents his understanding of the Gospel in four major sections:
- The Gospel is God’s response to our separation from him: Jews
as well as Gentiles are separated from God because of sin; but reconciliation is available through Christ by faith – and only by faith [1:18-4:25]. - The Gospel is God’s provision of salvation: grace brings us into a new relationship with God – free from our former enslavement to sin and inability to follow the law [5:1-8:39].
- The Gospel is God’s fulfillment of his promises to Israel: the Jewish people will continue to have a special relationship to God, which will be revealed according to God’s plan [9:1-11:36].
- The Gospel is the way God transforms our lives: our restored spiritual relationship through Christ should result in a new way of living our lives in this world – loving one another as Christ loved us [12:1-15:13].
Paul concludes the letter with a series of “greetings” to believers Paul knows (or knows about) in Rome, and a doxology [16:1-27].
Major Themes
Paul presents his theme in the introduction: For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith,” [1:16-17, the quote is from Hab 2:4].
Paul stresses that both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) need salvation because both have sinned, and salvation is available to both Greeks and Jews because God loves all of his creatures. Therefore, Jews and Greeks should be equal in their relationship with each other.
Get into the Word
1. Who wrote this book? What is the author’s background? Where did he write this book? When did he write it? What was his personal situation at the time?
2. Who started the church in Rome? How did it start? Who were the initial members of the church? How did the church function in Rome? What was the relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers? How did this change? What was the effect of this change?
3. What was Paul’s relationship with the Roman church? Why do you think he wrote this letter? What did he hope to accomplish by his visit?
4. How is this book organized? What is the major subject of this book? Why do you think Paul chose to write on this subject? What are the major parts of Paul’s argument? What is the key statement in each section? Who is the primary character in each section? Who is the recipient of these actions? What is the ultimate goal of the Gospel?
6. Why is it important to have a good understanding of the doctrine of sin, the law and salvation? What are the four aspects of salvation? How is each aspect related to the others? What is the outcome of salvation?
5. What is Paul’s primary theme or message in this book? When does he first state it? How does he describe the Gospel? Who is the Gospel for? How does a person gain access to the Gospel?
Bible Trivia
Paul’s letter to the Galatian believers deals with the same subject of salvation by grace through faith, but Galatians was written to deal with a growing error in doctrine and is much more personal than Romans.
Doctrine Notes . . .
Sin: Sin is both the human situation of separation from God, and the thoughts and actions that are contrary to God’s law and the result of the separation.
Law: The law is not an arbitrary or unilateral set of rules. God gave humans the law so we can know what God expects of people who are in a relationship with him – what we should do and what we should not do. The Ten Commandments begins with a description of the relationship: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” [Exodus 20:1].
Salvation: Humans are not able to obey God’s Law. Our failure to obey the law results in our separation from God – death. But God does not want death – he wants people to be in a living, loving
- relationship with him. Therefore, he offers us salvation, which is available to people only through
- faith:Grace – God offers salvation in spite of our disobedience and sin, because he loves us.
- Sacrifice – Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross paid the “cost” of our sin. Because he was sinless his sacrifice was sufficient.
- Forgiveness – God no longer holds believers accountable for sin because Jesus’ sacrifice “paid” for our freedom.
- Righteousness – God views believers as if they have Christ’s righteousness, and God’s Spirit “grows” a believer to be more like Jesus: more righteous.
64: The Law and Sin & Life in the Spirit – Romans 7:7-8:17
Get Ready
When you start a fairly involved or complex project, do you focus on the end result and the advantages of successfully completing it, or are you the type of person who breaks it into its component steps and finishes each task in sequence before starting the next step?
The Word
77 What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10 and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.
13 Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. 17 But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,
23 but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin.
8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. NRSV
Get into the Word
1. How does Paul describe the situation of a Christian? What particular sin does he focus on? Why do you suppose he chose that one? What do you think about that sin? How has it affected you?
2. What is the role of the law in all this? How does the law affect a sinner? How does the law affect a person trying to keep the law? How does the law affect a Christian?
3. What is the role of sin in an unbeliever’s life? What it its role in a law-keeper’s life? What is its role in a believer’s life? How did Paul feel about this situation? How do you feel about it?
4. What dilemma does Paul face? Why is it such a problem for him? What does he say about the conflict? How does he deal with the conflict? How does he solve it?
5. How has God resolved the dilemma sin creates for humans? How does Christ’s death deal with the requirement of the law? What is the outcome of setting one’s mind on the “flesh?” What is the result of focusing on the Spirit? What are the differences?
6. Why is the believer “not in the flesh?” How does God accomplish this change? What is Christ’s role here? What does this mean for our individual lives?
Get Personal
What is your current understanding of sin? Of sins? How has God helped you understand the power of sin in your life? How does he help you deal with it?
Notes . . .
7:7. The law is not sin, but the law is the lens that identifies and clarifies what sin is — similar to the way eyeglasses help a person see clearly.
Covet — the 10th commandment is the one that goes straight to our inner life and shows us that our attitude about people and things is contrary to what God expects.
7:8. Opportunity — the Greek word also refers to the concept of a military base for an attack.
7:9. Once alive — people who are unaware of a rule or requirement usually think their actions are OK until some one points out the violation.
7:10. Promised life — God had told Israel: You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances, by doing so one shall live, [Lev 18:5].
7:13. Paul underscores that sin is what
leads to (“brings”) death; the commandment, which is holy and good [v. 12], makes us aware of the true nature of our thoughts and actions.
7:15-24. I do not understand — Paul expresses the frustrating situation facing Christians: our human-ness still responds to sin, even when we want to follow Christ and obey God. The ultimate solution to the problem is Jesus Christ.
8:4. Walk according — through Christ God puts his Spirit within us [check Exe 36:27]. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross satisfies the “just requirement of the law.”
8:15. Adoption — under Roman law an adopted son had the same rights and privileges as a naturally born son – “joint heirs.”
Abba! Father! — “Daddy” in today’s English.
Memory Verse
When we cry “Abba! Father!” it is is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [Romans 8:15-16].
Next Lesson
1 Corinthians 12: Spiritual Gifts.
My understanding is that we really have no power over sin because we are not always aware of what is sin–that a lot of sinful thoughts are human nature? and that we have to make it a choice not to sin–even though we don’t actually know sometimes that we are sinning?–I’m thinking negative thinking is a sin? yes? we search for ways to erase the negative thoughts and that is where Christ enters the picture
No one is going to accuse you of asking softball questions. The possible responses here are at least equal to the number of denominations in the Christian church, if not all of religious thought . . . and then some. Because the different responses are what divides one religion from another and one denomination from the others.
So . . . here is one response (it’s longer than I like, but this is one of the big questions).
Most Christians agree with the concept of sin as separation from God. And a lot of Christians agree with the dualistic, transactional view that the separation is punishment for violating God’s law. And those violations are called “sins.” In this view human sins (actions that violated God’s law) caused us to be separated from God (“in sin”) which causes us to further violate God’s law . . . It seems like a “Catch-22,” (Yeah, if you’re not of a certain age you’ll need to Google it).
In this transactional view Jesus seems to be “Plan B”. He shows up in human form, but he is still connected to God (the Father), so he is not “in sin” and he doesn’t commit any sinful actions. So when he dies on the cross, he somehow “pays” the penalty for our sin (and, yes, ongoing sins); so we are re-connected with God.
But let’s take a couple of steps back — actually let’s go all the way back to the beginning, when, a wind from God swept over the waters. Then God said let there be . . . [that’s Genesis 1:2-3, and the Hebrew word for “wind” also means “spirit”]. Creation, and everything in it comes from God, from his spirit. When it comes to humans, God said, “let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and God breathed into the human’s nostrils the breath of life, and the human became a living being, [Genesis 1:26 and 2:7]. We are in God’s image and likeness and we are alive because we have his breath.
God gave us his breath to make us alive. Every time we inhale we are taking in what God gave us. So how can we be separate from God? The truth is, we can’t. God’s spirit animates every part of his creation, including us. It’s only when we look at the world with our transactional thinking that we get caught up in these, “Yes, but . . .” conundrums.
According to Genesis (and many other passages in both testaments) God created a unitary world — one that incorporates both the either and the or, the this and the that, the good and the not good. The system that underlies this both/and world is not transactional — it’s love.
And this is where Christ enters the picture. Jesus is the “word” (blueprint might be a better metaphor) for our life with God. He showed us how to recognize and respond to the breath of God that is in us. His invitation to “follow me” calls us to live as he does — in a loving relationship with God the Father. It’s very hard to get outside of our transactional worldview and the idea that we have to do something, but Jesus said the “work” of God’s kingdom is to trust the one who was sent. We just need to accept that it’s a one-item To-Do list.
Helen Sanford
Wed, Jul 8, 6:51 PM (2 days ago)
to Richard
thank you–what I got from what you said was that sin, just is and that we only need to be aware enough that we have no control and that all we can do is love God and not worry about it; it’s interesting, the daily reading in my “Jesus Calling” book basically said the same thing; and that when we realize we are thinking in a sinful way that is when we talk to God and that way he will know that we are aware.
interesting–thank you