Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

Paul’s letter to the Romans is probably the most influential single book of the New Testament. It has had an enormous influence in church history right up to the present day. It has also been the subject of much discussion and debate. In this study we will try to provide some guidelines and perspective on this most exciting and challenging New Testament text.

1. Why is Paul writing to the Romans?
   In his opening address Paul acknowledges that he has wanted to visit the church at Rome several times but up to this point he has been prevented from doing so (Romans 1:11-13). This then sets the letter to the Romans apart from other letters of Paul which are addressed to churches that he knew or even helped start.
   
   Paul represents a double perspective. His background is that of being ‘a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees” (Acts 23:6). As such he was an expert in the Jewish law (Philippians 3:5). Yet Paul’s mission was to be an apostle to the Gentiles, the non-Jews of the Roman Empire and beyond (Galatians 2:7-8). The goal of his mission is “to bring about the obedience of the faith among all the Gentiles” (Romans 1:5). In the Greek the word “all” with an article, as in “all the Gentiles” usually means all inclusive as in Herod ordered the deaths of “all the children” in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16). Paul later defines his ministry as proclaiming the gospel, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (or “Gentile”) (Romans 1:16). Understanding the focus of Paul’s ministry in this opening section is crucial to understanding the whole letter to the Romans. To appreciate the crucial issues in interpreting the letter it is worth reviewing some of the ways this important letter has been understood in the history of the church.
    
2. Interpreting the Epistle to the Romans
   The most important interpreter of the letter to the Romans in the early church was Augustine (354-430). Augustine, coming out of the Greek heritage of the Roman Empire, saw Romans as a response to human pride and confidence in human goodness. Over against these traits which he found in philosophy he interpreted Romans as an indictment of human sin and the need for God’s grace alone for salvation. Augustine saw grace ultimately as the source of an individual’s being right with God based on God’s predestination. Martin Luther (1483-1546) followed Augustine but was concerned by the Medieval Church’s emphasis on human merit through good works. Luther stressed faith as a gift from God and understood Romans as teaching that salvation was by faith alone (Romans 1:17). Luther’s great insight was that “the righteousness of God” (Romans 1:17) was not the righteousness which God requires of us but rather the righteousness which God gives us as a free gift in Jesus Christ.
   
   John Calvin (1509-1564) and the subsequent Reformed and Presbyterian tradition essentially followed Luther’s role. The greatest American Presbyterian commentary was written by the Princeton theologian Charles Hodge (1797-1878).
   
   This approach, following Augustine, emphasized the following points in their reading of Romans:
   
   1. Romans teaches that all are sinners (Romans 3:23).
   2. Good works, including the works of the law, are completely inadequate for salvation (Romans 3:20).
   3. A person is saved only by God’s grace (underserved favor) through faith (trust) in Jesus Christ (Romans 4:1-16).
   4. Once saved by grace through faith nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:31-39).
   5. Our salvation is not based on us in any way but comes from God. Indeed God elected or predestined us for salvation before we were born solely by his free choice (Romans 9:6-24).
   6. Jews as well as Gentiles share in God’s grace through faith in Christ (Romans 11).
   7. Having been saved solely by God’s grace we should serve God not by following the law literally but by following its spirit as an expression of our love and gratitude to God for the gift of salvation (Romans 12:1-13, 13:8-10).
   
   This has been the standard interpretation of Romans in the Protestant and Reformed tradition. There is no question that it is based on a number of clear and definite passages in the book. However, this interpretation, as good as it is, leaves a number of themes in the epistle unanswered:
   
   1. In chapter 2 Paul speaks of Gentiles receiving eternal life “by patiently doing good” (Romans 2:7). This seems to contradict the later emphasis that all are under sin and condemnation (Romans 3:10-20).
   2. The traditional interpretation does not seem to deal adequately with such important themes as creation (Romans 1:20, 8:19-23) and the history of Israel (Romans 4, 9-11). If Paul’s focus is on “faith among all the Gentiles,” (Romans 1:5) why does he spend so much time on Israel’s history (Romans 9-11)? What does Paul mean when he says, “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26)?
   3. The traditional interpretation doesn’t fully answer the question of why Paul is writing to the Romans in the first place. Paul speaks several times of being hindered in coming to Rome (Romans 1:13, 15:22). He speaks of wanting to be sent on to Spain by the Romans (Romans 15:22-29). He speaks as a missionary about his “ministry” (Romans 11:13, 15:25-32). Is the letter to Romans perhaps a “missionary letter?”
   4. What does Paul mean by “mystery,” a term mentioned here (Romans 11:25, 16:25) as well as in a number of other epistles (Ephesians 1:9, 2:19; I Corinthians 2:1, 15:51; Colossians 1:26-27)?
   
   In the past hundred years there have been many commentaries written on Romans seeking to answer all these questions. Almost a century ago Karl Barth (1886-1968) wrote a commentary which sought to expand on the traditional Reformed view by seeing Paul as raising questions about human culture, not only individuals and the issue of personal sin and guilt. Barth also saw Paul as emphasizing a further dimension of human sin, that we cannot comprehend anything valid about God apart from God’s revelation in Christ (Romans 1:18-23, 8:7). This is a theme that was also found in Calvin. This point raises the question that if people in sin have no capacity to understand the gospel how do we share its message with them?
   
   For more than thirty years we have seen what some have called a “new perspective on Paul.” This chiefly has emphasized Paul’s continuity not only with his own Jewish background but with Judaism in general. These scholars have pointed out that the idea that Jews believed they were saved by keeping the law is simply not true. Paul’s problem with the law, according to them, is not that the law promises a salvation by works but rather with the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ is now the complete fulfillment or end of the law (Romans 10:4). One of the proponents of this approach, James D. G. Dunn, wrote an excellent commentary on Romans (1988) where he saw Paul’s central theme as “to the Jew first and also to the Greek,” emphasizing the continuity of God’s promises to Israel with those made to Gentiles in Jesus Christ (Romans 11:29).
    
3. So where do we go from here?
   Paul’s opening statement in Romans emphasizes three central themes which should alert us to his purpose in writing.
   
   1. Paul himself has been “set apart” for the gospel. Paul’s view of his role as an apostle will be crucial in understanding his message here (Romans 1:1).
   2. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the promise of God (Romans 1:2-3). It is the power of God “to everyone who has faith,” to the Jew first and also the Greek (Romans 1:16). What does Paul mean by “Jew first?” Is it first in priority or first in sequence? Is it just the case that Israel received the promise first historically?
   3. This promise is for the benefit of the Gentiles “including yourselves” (Romans 1:6). Paul is debtor both to Greeks and Barbarians (Romans 1:14). We will need to understand how he, as a Pharisee, can make such a claim.
   
   In the course of this study I would like to explore another view of Romans which I first encountered in a study at Princeton Seminary over twenty years ago. This is the view that Paul’s epistle here is ultimately a picture of God’s future plan for all creation, humans (Jew and Gentile), spirits, powers, everything God called into being. If this is the case Paul is interpreting all the events of the present in the light of God’s final, planned outcome, not only for individuals but for all humanity, all creation. Then the key text of the epistle might be,
   

   “For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11b-12).

4. Questions for Discussion –
   1. What do you see as the most important statement in Romans 1:1-17? Why?
   2. Romans has often been seen as an anti-religious book (this was a major emphasis of Karl Barth). Why do you think this is?
   3. However we interpret Paul, especially in this opening section, he is full of confidence. What is it about the gospel that gives us confidence?

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